She had both hands in his hair now, her grip urgent, hips rocking against his tongue, utterly lost in her need. Fucking gorgeous. “Please, now,” she panted, gazing down at him with pleasure-drugged eyes.
Triumph roared through him, along with that familiar rush of territorial protectiveness she always brought out in him. He’d put that sensual look on her face. He’d made her so hot and desperate she was begging for release, and only he would satisfy her now.
Moving fast, Liam pulled back and reached for his discarded pants, grabbing the condom he’d brought with him from his pocket. Before he could rip it open, her hands wrapped around the length of his aching cock.
The breath halted in his throat. Liam shuddered at her knowing, confident grip, his head falling back as she began to stroke him, wrenching a groan from his lips. He looked down to watch those slender hands slide over him, the pleasure streaking through his body so intense it made him tremble. Before he could move, she got to her knees and bent to take him in her mouth.
Liam shuddered and bit back a strangled moan as her lips wrapped around the swollen head. Both his hands slid into her hair, his fingers contracting around the sleek red-gold strands. His heart pounded out of control, his breathing shallow. It was so hot, so perfect, her soft little tongue caressing the sensitive underside of the head while she sucked on him.
More. He guided her head down farther, forcing her to take more of him before backing off, waiting until she’d almost released him before repeating the motion. Slow and easy, letting the sensation burn up his shaft, boil in his balls and belly. One of her hands smoothed over the shrapnel scars on his left hip, the side of his thigh.
The touch should have been soothing, healing, but it only ramped him up higher. Then her eyes lifted to his, and the sight of her sucking him off while she gazed up at him like that nearly did him in.
“Stop,” he managed hoarsely, tugging on her hair to still her. He pulled out of her mouth and rolled the condom on with shaking hands. Without hesitation Honor lay back and reached for him. Her arms wound tight around his back, her legs coming up to encircle his waist as she pulled him down into her embrace.
Pure need pounded through him. He propped his weight onto his elbows and paused, his cock sliding against her slick mound. Then he made the mistake of looking into her eyes and froze.
Her expression was so open, so full of tenderness and longing as well as heat that he almost balked. This was supposed to be about closure, about having the goodbye they’d never gotten last time. How was he supposed to leave after if she gave herself to him this completely?
Her hand came up to cradle the side of his face, her thumb stroking back and forth across his jaw, her touch gentle and loving. “Need you,” she murmured, rocking her pelvis against him.
For the life of him, he couldn’t pull away.
Unable to refuse her or himself, he braced over her and slowly sank into her warmth. Honor’s eyes fluttered closed at the slow penetration, her mouth parting in a soundless cry of pleasure that set off a warning buzz at the base of his spine. The feel of her slick heat surrounding him, squeezing him tight, was indescribable.
And in that moment, he realized he’d made a colossal tactical error.
What was supposed to be just sex and getting her out of his system had become a thousand times more meaningful. Emotion poured through him: grief, longing and a deep-seated tenderness he couldn’t shut off.
“Don’t stop,” she begged, her voice tight with unfulfilled desire.
Fuck. Heart pounding, back and chest slick with sweat, he pushed deeper.
God, it was good. Even better than he remembered. Liam buried his face in the side of her neck and sucked in a breath, struggling to hang on.
Being cradled in Honor’s arms, buried to the hilt inside her while she opened her body and heart to him was the most incredible thing in the world. How the fuck was he going to walk away later?
Without warning his eyes began to sting.
As though she sensed how close he was to coming unglued, Honor murmured to him and pressed kisses to the side of his face, her hand urging his head to turn toward her. Liam shook his head, unable to bear that final level of intimacy when he knew this was their last time.
Keeping his face in her neck he fought back the swell of emotion and began to move, a slow, shallow rocking motion that was more profound than words could ever be. He loved her. Would always love her, but it wasn’t enough because some things couldn’t be undone and he just couldn’t let her in the way he had before. All they had left was this bittersweet farewell, and he was going to make it memorable.
He shifted the angle of his hips to hit her sweet spot and Honor gasped, holding him tighter, moaning as she lifted into his rhythm. He drove deeper, a little harder now that her body had adjusted to him. A lump settled in his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut, torn between the excruciating pleasure swelling inside him and the need to see her face as he took her this last time.
In the end, his heart won out.
Powerless to stop himself, he lifted his head and looked down at her. Anguish sliced through his chest when he saw the tears glistening in her beautiful eyes.
Don’t. Don’t cry. Shit, he didn’t want either of them to hurt anymore. He was sick of hurting. That’s why he was ending it all tonight.
With a low sound of regret he covered her mouth with his, his tongue sliding against hers as he took her. Honor kissed him back deep and slow, the steady friction between their bodies pushing them both closer and closer to the edge. Liam reached one hand down to stroke her clit gently as he pumped into her.
Her answering whimper of pleasure and need made his protectiveness rise to the surface. Cupping her cheek with his free hand he gave her everything he had left to give, allowing his emotional shields to drop for these final moments.
She tightened around him, her inner muscles squeezing his cock as she met every stroke of his tongue. Hunger took over. It burned through everything else, leaving both of them defenseless.
Together they strained toward the peak. He drove into her over and over as the pressure built and her moans turned to cries of pure ecstasy. More perfect than he’d remembered.
Breaking the kiss as she neared the edge, Liam stared down into her face, drinking in the sight of her, cheeks flushed, lips swollen and parted, lost in what he was making her feel. Her inner walls contracted around him and then her cries of release filled the air.
Liam fused his mouth with hers and drank them down, driving into her deeper, faster. His own orgasm barreled at him through her silky contractions and he went after it with single-minded intensity. Sensation burned through him like fire, gathering low in his belly and spreading outward. With one last thrust he buried himself deep inside her and exploded.
He threw his head back, teeth bared as a raw groan tore free. The climax blasted throughout his entire body, wiping out thought and sound. When it faded at last he sagged on his forearms, panting for breath. Honor made a murmuring sound and gathered him close, and he was too weak in that moment to pull away.
Utterly destroyed, he lay atop her with his face resting against the side of her neck, her sweet, clean scent invading his senses. She ran her fingertips up and down his back in a soothing motion, her body limp and pliant beneath his, legs still wrapped around him.
And all of a sudden he felt like crying.
He felt too much, was in too deep again.