He kissed his way over her chin and along her jaw. Under it. Down her throat. She nearly purred, and the sound vibrated through his body, through his muscle and bone straight to his cock. Her skin was soft, like satin, and he inhaled her unique scent. He loved the breathy little sounds escaping and the way her body went boneless for him. This time he was careful. Very careful. Her first time should have been perfect, not him slamming her to the floor like a savage animal. He should have worshiped her body. Memorized it. Showed her how much she meant to him, not taken her in a heat he couldn’t control.

“I love the feel of your hair against my skin,” he murmured softly. He kept her curled into him, off her back, off the injury to her right leg. Even so, her hair fell like a waterfall, pooling beneath them, rubbing along his bare shoulder and chest as he kissed his way along her collarbone. He wanted to bury his face in all that silk. He dreamt of that too. The way it would feel. The way it would smell. Perfection, and it was.

Her hands moved over his back. Slow. As if she was memorizing every muscle there, the line of his body. He reveled in that simple touch, and he hadn’t expected to. Her fingertips and palms moving over him shouldn’t have felt sensual, but it was, that slow, almost leisurely exploration. His belly did a slow roll and heat rushed through his body from every direction to center in his groin. He liked that too. The blood moving through his veins in urgent need. The heat pooling, filling his cock until he felt fully, completely alive, not living in the half world where he had nothing. No one. Where he was alone even when he was in a room filled with others. She was finally in his bed where he’d wanted her—even needed her—all along.

He lifted his head to look down at her. She was beautiful, her face flushed, her lips slightly swollen from his kisses, her breasts moving with every ragged breath. Such beauty, and she was giving it all to him. He knew she was afraid of him—afraid of his temper and his passion, but she still was willing to take that chance even though he hadn’t yet earned it.

He nuzzled her breast, his tongue stroking her nipple. “You’re so beautiful, Siena. So fucking beautiful I’m almost afraid to believe you’re real. That this is real.”