“Nathan.”

 His name, so sweetly said. She smiled up at him and caressed his face with gentle hands. He kissed her palm and closed his eyes as she clenched around his cock. Warm, wet and so damn exquisite that his eyes rolled back in his head.

 She lifted her hips, taking the choice from him. Her movement sent him deeper, and she let out a moan that sent shivers of delight down his spine.

 “Please, Nathan. I need you.”

 He could no more deny her than he could deny the overwhelming urge to claim her. He fastened his hands over her hips and began to thrust. With each push into her body, the more he lost of himself. The more he became hers.

 She went slick around him, liquid silk. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as she lifted her hips to meet his every thrust. His fingers slid around to cup her buttocks and he helped her, lifting as he pushed and rode harder, deeper.

 “Tell me you’re close. Can’t last much longer,” he gasped.

 Instead of answering him, she kissed him. Hot and breathless, her tongue licking over his. He was lost. So very lost.

 He was spilling into her before he could even think to make sure she was with him. Mindlessly he thrust, each glide releasing more of himself into her. And through it all she touched him, caressed him, made soft sounds of acceptance and pleasure.

 He slipped his fingers between them once more and found her heat. He thrust again as he stroked the taut nub of flesh. He wouldn’t leave her until she’d gained as much pleasure as he had.

 She cried out as he thrust again. And then again, all the while gently stroking her clitoris. She went hot and liquid around him in a rush. She strained upward, every muscle in her body rigid.

 “That’s it, baby. Come for me.”

 She writhed uncontrollably, her behind lifting from the mattress. She cried out again and then touched his hand to stop his gentle manipulation. He withdrew and then lowered his body to hers and rolled to the side so he could hold her close.

 She lay against him, naked, her limbs twined with his. Her chest rose and fell rapidly and her breath huffed out over his neck. And he thought that, in this moment, he’d never experienced something so perfect. So fucking beautiful that it made his teeth ache.

 This wasn’t sex. This was something so deeply emotional that he couldn’t even find words to describe it. He’d missed her with every cell and now she was finally here. A part of him. Linked so intimately with him that nothing could come between them.

 He stroked her back, enjoying the feel of her skin against his palms. Then he kissed and nuzzled her neck, just wanting to inhale her sweetness all over again.

 “Did I hurt you?” God, don’t let him have hurt her. He never should have pushed her into this, but he’d been helpless to stop it.

 She kissed his shoulder and snuggled deeper into his embrace. “You were perfect, Nathan. So very perfect.”

CHAPTER 18

PAIN splintered through Nathan, and he came awake with a gasp. For a moment he thought he was having another dream, reliving his captivity. But he felt it again, a thin blunt object smacking his flesh.

 He made a grab for his arm and breathed away the sensation and in the process bumped into Shea’s sleeping form. She lay beside him, curled into a protective ball, the sheets in a tangle at her feet.

 She flinched and made a low sound of distress and it was then he realized it was she who was dreaming. She who was reliving her captivity, and he was still so closely linked to her that he felt everything she was experiencing.

 His gut tightened in rage and his throat knotted at what she’d endured. His hands shook as he turned and pulled her into his arms.

 “Shea. Baby, wake up.”

 When he got no response, he called to her with his mind.

 Shea. I’ve got you. No one can hurt you now. Wake up and look at me. Feel me. I’m right here. I have you.

 She came instantly awake. No gradual climb to consciousness. Her eyes flew open and her breath exploded from her lips in harsh puffs.

 “Grace,” she croaked.

 Nathan frowned. “Grace?”

 She scrambled to sit up in bed. Her hands shook. Her entire body shook. She raised her hands to wipe away her hair but then buried her face against her palms and rocked back and forth.

 Distress radiated from her like a beacon. Her shoulders started to twitch and he realized with alarm that she was crying.

 Her mind was a chaotic mess. He frowned at the images of her captors and then he saw a beautiful, dark-haired woman. Taller than Shea. Toned and tanned. Just as quickly as he caught the image, his mind went completely blank. Shea had slammed the link shut and closed herself off from him.

 It stunned him how empty he suddenly felt. A surge of hurt followed by anger built before he could call it back. It felt like a betrayal. Like she didn’t trust him.

 The thoughts were irrational. But he couldn’t turn them off no matter how much he thought she was justified in her caution.

 He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do now. She shut him out so maybe she didn’t want him prying. So he sat there, feeling like an idiot as she wept into her hands.

 Then the decision was made for him. She turned and flung herself into his arms, holding him so tight that for a moment he couldn’t breathe.

 “I’m sorry,” she choked out. “I didn’t do it to hurt you.”

 He eased his arms around her and stroked her back, trying to comfort her.

 “What the hell is going on?” he asked softly.

 “I just didn’t want you to see. It was so overwhelming and I couldn’t shut it off, so I shut you off instead.”

 His hold tightened around her. “That’s bullshit.” He took another breath and tried a more tactful, sensitive approach. “You and I are quite a pair, aren’t we, Shea?”

 She pushed up to face him, her eyes drenched with sadness and shame. “What do you mean?”

 He touched her cheek, his heart growing soft at the sight of her tears. “We both try to hide from the other and yet we have a more intimate connection than any two other people on the planet. You can’t hide this from me any more than I can hide my scars from you. Why would you demand to see my shame and then hide yours from me?”

 She sighed and then her lips turned up into a rueful half smile. “I knew it would upset you and I didn’t want to be the cause of that.”

 He leaned forward and kissed her nose. “How about you let me decide what I want to be upset about? Damn right it upsets me. The idea of you in those bastards’ hands makes me crazy. But it doesn’t mean you’re going to hide it from me to protect my fragile little psyche. Anything that involves you, I want to know about. Are we clear on that?”

 She smiled. “Crystal clear.”

 “Good. Now come here.”

 He pulled her against him and kissed her hungrily. They’d just made love a few hours earlier and yet he still ached. His need for her defied logic. He couldn’t explain it any more than he could fight it.

 Already he was as hard as a rock, his dick straining upward, tenting the sheet that covered his thighs. He pushed impatiently at the covers, not wanting any barrier between them.

 He settled her astride his thighs so that his erection rested against the blond curls that covered her tiny mound. She looked so damn sexy sitting atop him, her blond hair disheveled and falling over her shoulders. Her eyes were sweet and sleepy looking, but when he cupped her breasts, her pupils flared and her eyes went more black than blue.

 He loved the feel of her plump breasts against his fingers. Small against his much larger hands. He rubbed his thumbs over her nipples, fascinated by the hardening nubs.

 Unable to resist, he stroked over her shoulders, down her back then around the curve of her waist and then over her hips and underneath to her buttocks. He couldn’t get enough of simply touching her.

 She was the softest, most beautiful thing he’d ever touched. There was a reverence to his caresses. He didn’t feel worthy to touch her but he wanted it more than anything.

 She let out a sweet sigh as his hands coaxed back up her body to her breasts. She swayed atop him, her eyes closing as a dreamy smile glowed on her lips.

 “Like that?” he murmured.

 “Oh yes. I love to be touched.”

 “And I love touching you. I wonder if you even realize how much I’ve dreamed about this. Having you right here in front of me. Me holding you. Tasting you. So deep inside you that you realize we won’t be apart again.”

 Chill bumps raced across her chest and shoulders. Her fingers tightened on his arms and her breathing sped up. Her pulse jumped in her neck, and as he pulled her closer, he could feel the rapid fire of her heartbeat against his chest.

 “Inside you,” he whispered. “Deep. Hard. Over and over.”

 Her breathing became shallower and her eyes glazed. She licked her lips, which were already swollen from being ravaged by his. The image of her mouth around his cock exploded into his mind. Sweat broke out on his forehead, and he had to work to keep from ejaculating all over her belly.

 Smooth. Real damn smooth.

 She smiled then. A wicked little smile that should have been a warning but he was too dumbstruck over having her naked and in his arms, her luscious breasts pressed tightly to his chest.

 Carefully she pushed away, leaning down to kiss a scar across his chest. She swiped her tongue over the puckered flesh, and he groaned both in protest and sheer pleasure. She wasn’t the only one who liked to be touched. He could sit here for hours if only she’d put her hands on him and caress him, pet him, touch him. Just touch him.