And he knew exactly how precious the gift of her trust was. “Blue. Sushi.”
A furrow appeared between her brows. “What?”
“My favorite color is blue, and my favorite food is sushi.”
Now her eyes widened.
“The only family I have left…that would be Victor and a woman you haven’t met.” Not yet. If he had his way, though, they would. One day soon. “Her name’s Jasmine, and she’s the closest thing to a sister that I’ve ever had. I mentioned her to you before.”
She kept staring at him. What did the woman want? For him to bare his soul?
For her, I will.
“I met Jasmine and Vic when I was a teenager.” He lifted his right hand and stared at the line of scars across his knuckles. “I was a fighter, so was Vic. Any battle, any place, as long as we got paid.” There hadn’t exactly been a lot of employment options for him back then. But he’d been big and strong and the wrong kind of people had been interested in watching him beat the living hell out of others. “One day, I fought Vic. The bastard was as strong as I was. When it was over, we were both so bloody and broken we could barely move. Everyone else just walked away from us…everyone but Jasmine.”
Her hand lifted and caught his. She brought his scarred knuckles to her mouth and pressed a gentle kiss to them. Saxon inhaled sharply, but he continued, “It became the three of us against the world. We stayed together, through thick and thin. Through so much darkness. Victor is the one who wanted to join the FBI. I’d had his back for years, so I followed him.” And he’d kept doing the job, one bloody day at a time until… “Then I realized I wanted something for myself. Jasmine—she married a lucky bastard from Vegas. He helped set the deal for the winery.” Now his lips curled. “The guy would do anything for her.” Even nearly die. But that was another story. “And I knew that place was going to be my ticket out.”
“But you’re risking that ticket, for me. What if someone tracks me here, what if they find you, what if—”
“I can handle anything that comes my way.” Only that wasn’t exactly true. He couldn’t handle her. She made him feel off-balance and uncertain. And he wanted her too much. “This is our chance for a normal life, Elizabeth. Yours and mine. No one knows about our pasts here. We’re safe.” They could be just like every other person out there. They could actually have a shot at happiness.
If she’d just take a chance on him.
He stepped closer, closing that final distance between them. “Keep trusting me,” he told her. “Always, no matter what. Because I swear, I will never betray you. Not for anything or anyone.” She could count on him.
“Why?”
He frowned down at her even as his left hand curled under her chin.
“Why have you done all of this for me? Why are you still doing so much?”
“Because I want you.”
Her breath whispered out. “It has to be about more than desire. I’m sure you’ve wanted plenty of women.”
“I have.” He wouldn’t lie to her. “But I didn’t think about them every minute of every day. I didn’t dream about them.”
Her gaze searched his.
“You’re in my blood, sweetheart, and I can’t get you out. I want you, more than I’ve ever wanted anything.” Even the new life he’d worked to get.
“Saxon…”
His c**k jerked. “I like the way you say my name.” Soft and husky, with an edge of desire. His head lowered toward hers and he kissed her, a light press of his mouth at first, but when her lips parted, his tongue swept inside, claiming her. Deeper, harder, he kissed her as the need he felt for her raged ever hotter within him.
The bed was right behind him. He could have her on that bed, have her na**d and spread beneath him, in about five seconds flat.
He started to lift her into his arms.
Elizabeth pulled her mouth from his. “No.”
The drumbeat of his heart seemed to echo in his ears. Lust surged through him, his c**k ached and she was telling him—
“This time, we’re doing this my way.” She slid away from him. “Do you trust me?”
He blinked at her. He trusted Vic. He trusted Jasmine. He—
“I trust you,” Elizabeth said. “Now it’s your turn to trust me.”
Then her hands went to his belt and her knees hit the floor before him.
The surge of desire that hit him then was so strong that Saxon almost felt light-headed. “Sweetheart, no, you don’t—”
She had the belt unhooked. She unsnapped his pants, slid down the zipper, and then she had his straining c**k in her hands. Soft, silken hands that caressed him and pumped his flesh, making him grit his teeth and lock down all of the muscles in his body.
Because I want in her. I want to make her scream when she comes for me.
I want to come in her. Want to prove she’s mine. Always mine. Forever.
But he didn’t move. He waited, for her.
Elizabeth stared up at him. Elizabeth on her knees before him—her eyes tinted with desire and her cheeks flushed as she leaned toward him—that was probably the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
Then her lips touched him and his eyes squeezed shut. Fuck.
Her hands were still around him, pumping his flesh. Bringing his desire to a feverish intensity, but her mouth—oh, hell, yes, her mouth had closed around the tip of his cock. A wet, hot heaven as she sucked him. Her name broke from him as a frenzied growl when Elizabeth took him in even deeper, moving her head now in a rhythm designed to absolutely shred his control.
His hands were on her shoulders. Holding her far too tightly. He forced his eyes open because he wanted to see her, and, hell, yes, she was even sexier now. Moving with sensuality as she licked and caressed and—
I can’t take anymore.
He lifted her up.
“Saxon, no, I wasn’t finished—”
He put her on the bed. When she reached out for him again, he managed to bark, “Don’t.”
She froze.
Only a thin sliver of his control remained.
He stripped while her eyes stayed on him. Such deep, green eyes. The first time he’d seen her eyes, he’d known then that—
“Oh, Saxon.”
His shirt had hit the floor. Her gaze took in the wounds that were now fresh scars.