Those might have been the magic words. Above all else, she couldn’t let them win, not this time. They’d won almost every battle so far in her life, and even the ones they’d lost, they still tortured her over. She’d fought way too hard for him to ever give up.

For the second night in a row, she fell asleep in his arms, and she didn’t think she could ever go back to being alone in bed. When her mother’s harsh voice echoed in her dreams all night, he was there. When she heard his voice, saw his face in her mind, only to wake up to a split second’s terror that their time together had been nothing but a dream, he was there.

When sunlight replaced the moonlight channeling into the room, and she figured she wasn’t going to wring another moment’s sleep from her feverish, overworked mind, she tunneled beneath the covers, intent on giving him a really good morning.

Chapter Nineteen

If only they could market an alarm clock like this.

Brian was already in the middle of a fairly PG-rated dream about her, but it turned X-rated in a heartbeat the moment her warm tongue slid over his cock. His eyes flew open and he reached under the covers to grasp her hair, thanking God above she was really with him.

She didn’t show him any mercy, getting him up and going down with none of the timidity she’d had the first time. His piercing didn’t even faze her. She took it all with a fervor that had his abdominal muscles contracting with the sudden rush of blood to his cock.

She groaned as he swelled in her mouth, the vibrations of it skittering up his shaft. His head pressed back into the pillow as he lifted his hips, instinctively trying to push deeper, but she raised her head to evade him. Her hand wrapped around his base and stroked, using the moisture she’d already left to ease her motions, and he was in heaven.

“Oh, God, Candace. Try to take it deeper, baby. Oh, shit.”

She did, and he felt his tip graze the back of her throat. So hot, so wet, so f**king good. He tore at the covers desperately, needing to see her, needing to watch her swallow him down. Her gaze flickered up at him, fiery blue, and he nearly passed out from the eroticism of those sweet eyes looking at him with such ferocity. With a tenderness he didn’t know he possessed at this point, he stroked her face one time before collapsing onto the bed and losing himself in the heat of her lips wrapped around him, the suction, the sweetness.

At some point he dimly heard his phone ring, but it wasn’t as if he could be bothered to deal with anything else at the moment. She had him pinned and helpless as a bird in the clutches of a hungry cat.

The building pressure reached a fever pitch and welled up in his shaft. A torrent of curses fell from his lips. The tip of Candace’s tongue was a stiff little instrument of torment, pressing hard into the underside of his c**k as her mouth rode the length, and he lost his last grip on control almost before he had time to warn her.

She paid no heed, letting him erupt in her mouth as his every muscle pulled tight enough to rip away from the bone and he fisted both hands in her hair, careful not to shove her down. After the past two days, he should’ve been spent, but he kept finding more to give her, until she took the last and only reluctantly stilled her stroking hand.

The way she pulled back and licked her lips then killed him. If he hadn’t been utterly annihilated, he’d have had her on her back in an instant.

She crawled from the bed as he lay panting. He’d somehow managed to turn half sideways on the mattress, and he spent the next few minutes drifting and gathering his strength back, staring up at the sketch he’d done of her. When she came back and cleaned him up with a towel, he surprised her by grasping her and throwing her down, her thighs spread around his hips.

“I love you, baby,” he said, pinning her hands down. Her lips parted as his gaze traveled down to her naked br**sts and caressed each one in turn. “I want to taste every inch of you.”

Her words were little more than a whimper, and goddamn, did that ever turn him on. “Brian, I want that too, but I have my final and—”

“Shh. I know. So I’ll taste every inch of you tonight. Right now, I’m going to taste those inches that make you cry out my name.”

Sliding his hands up her thighs, he pushed them farther apart and moved down the length of her body, breathing warm air over her pu**y before he let her feel the touch of his lips. Her muscles pulled taut under his hands and he tightened his grip on her in response, keeping her spread beautifully open the way he wanted. Her pink flesh glistened in the sunlight pouring into his room, and he kissed her there as deeply as he would her mouth, lips caressing, tongue gently swirling. When her hands flew down and scrabbled for something to grab, he released her thighs and laced his fingers through hers.

“Ohhh, Brian…”

She was getting close already, delectable pink flushing a deep rose. He dipped his tongue as far as it would go into her, seeking a taste of her tangy female essence. When she was as slick as he could get her, he raised up, seeing that the pretty blush had also stolen into her cheeks and splotched her chest. Releasing one of her hands, he slipped one finger inside her. Then another. She tossed her head and moaned. Blowing out a breath, he eased in a third, wiggling them deeper inside her and feeling her hand clamp down on his as her brow furrowed.

Oh, f**k. She was so tight on his fingers he could hardly move them. But she was moving, barely rocking her hips, trying to help him go deeper. He leaned down, fluttering his tongue over her clit until she went liquid around him and he could ease through her better. His c**k was aching for attention again, but this time was all about her.

But, holy hell, when her fingers crept over her own breast and teased the nipple into a stiff peak, he almost broke that vow to himself. Something in his eyes as he watched her must have scared her, because the next time her gaze alighted on his, her own eyes widened and she drew a sharp intake of breath.

“Come, baby, before I lose my mind and f**k you raw.” For his own sanity, he drew her between his teeth, sucking her clit with gentle pulls he wouldn’t stop until she exploded. She was so wet his fingers were coated with her juices, and the sudden, added rush of moisture as she moaned didn’t help his ragged mindset. Jesus Christ, she was hot, and she was his, only his. He’d never been one to get caught up in obsessing over a girl’s former lovers, but knowing he was the only one to go where he was right now…

The only one to ever make her tighten up, shudder and sob. Her pu**y rippled along his fingers and her thighs spread even wider, allowing him to plunder her depths. He took advantage, searching for the spot, hoping he could get deep enough with his fingers to find it. Abandoning one, he plunged back in and barely grazed the tiny rough patch among all her softness. Her hips wrenched off the bed. He manipulated it ruthlessly, sucked her hard, and she flew over the edge.

The cries she emitted were musical, and he wished he could be everywhere at once because he’d love to drink them up, kiss her into a frenzy. Hell, he’d love to flip her over, haul her ass into the air, and fill her up. He could only stay right where he was, watching over her mound as her head tossed and her br**sts heaved and her body formed a lovely arch. It was enough to make a motherfucker weep.

The tension bled from her, and he knew she needed him to hold her, to still the tremors. He moved up, carefully settling his weight over her as he slid his arms under her. She wrapped him up in her embrace and sighed.