Oh, how she loved that. A single soft word could stop this brutal, dangerous man in his tracks. He turned to face her and she took a moment to simply drink in the sight of him. Cael was cut from the same cloth as his father, tall with dark hair and green eyes, but he was built thicker. Thick chest, thick torso, thick thighs. His tux was perfectly tailored but it did nothing to hide the fact he had the physique of a brawler.

How many hours had she spent worshipping this man’s body? More than she could count, and yet nowhere near enough.

He was twenty years younger than her, but it didn’t matter when they were together. He made her feel young in a way she’d never been allowed when she was actually in her twenties. She certainly wasn’t allowed it now.

“Cael.”

A fine tremor went through him when she said his name. “Don’t, Eleanor.” His rough voice had her fighting back a shiver. “Just… Fucking don’t.”

He was right. She knew he was right. But she suddenly didn’t care. She moved forward, her gown swishing with each step, and pressed her hands to his broad chest. “Cael, I miss you.”

“Goddamn it,” he whispered. “I miss you, too.”

The only warning she got was a slight tensing of his muscles against her palms and then he closed the distance between them and banded one arm beneath her ass, lifting her until their faces were even. His gaze snagged on her mouth and stayed there. “You want this?”

“Yes.” Need made her voice shake. “I want you.”

He closed his eyes for a long moment and she thought he might put a stop to this. Eleanor opened her mouth to say… She honestly wasn’t sure, because he kissed her before she could get a word out. At the first stroke of his tongue against hers, she melted against him.

This. This is what she needed.

Eleanor sank her hands into his hair and kissed him back, putting every bit of longing and need she’d stored up over their long year apart into action. He wouldn’t believe her words, but maybe he’d believe this.

It had been real for her, too.

Impossible and fatalistic, but so incredibly real. She’d loved Cael O’Malley, even though she knew from the first moment they crossed the line that she could never have him. Not truly.

He walked them back to a nearby couch and sank onto it. Her dress got tangled up around her legs, and she made a frustrated noise against his mouth. Cael responded by fisting the fabric and yanking it up to her waist. Just like that, it was only her panties and his pants between her…and his giant cock.