Page 107 of Studs Up
“Nolan,” I needed to protest. I needed to make him understand how bad this was and how far he needed to run from us. He didn’t seem to get it. Being out in this league was a career ender.
“Step two. I’m not going anywhere,” he reaffirmed in a deep, graveled voice. I wanted to sink into the comfort he was offering. I wanted to drown in it. But I couldn’t.
“Nolan, this guy is threatening you too. This is going to fuck everything up.”
“Step two,” he said resolutely.
I opened my mouth to protest more, but he beat me to it.
“I’m not going any fucking where. Give me a chance to work through this.”
“There’s nothing you can do, they know about you.”
“Maybe,” he said. Then he pressed his finger into my heart. “But do they know about this?” He turned his finger on his own heart.
I let my head rest on the cupboard. I closed my eyes and rolled my head on the hard surface. No. They couldn’t possibly know about this. They would have to be in the room with us. Where we went wrong was going to have to be autopsied later. I didn’t have the brain power to do it now.
He laid his hand on the curve of my neck. With great effort, I opened my eyes to find his and fell right into them.
“You’ve been alone for this,” he said. “You aren’t anymore. I will work through this with you.”
“I can’t tonight,” I said. There just wasn’t enough in me to go through it all again. A smile I had never seen before lifted the corners of his lips. It was filled with agony and torment. He wanted to fix this so bad it was physically hurting him.
“No, not tonight,” he said. His thumb stroked along my throat, and what I needed now more than anything was just him.
I parted my knees enough to fit him between them and hooked my ankles around his thighs. He didn’t need the pressure of my heels to step into the space I created, but I did it anyway.
My hands slid up his chest, and he pulled me in, wrapping me up the way I desperately needed.
He kissed my forehead softly. I shivered and relaxed into him.
“How did you know?”
“I’ve been obsessed with you since we were kids.” His fingers played with the fine hairs on the back of my neck. “If it was just a bad night, you would have been furious. Tonight, you couldn’t pull yourself together. Something was wrong.”
I slid my arms around him and held on.
“Thank you,” I shuddered as the sobs came bubbling back up. I held on tight, digging my fingers into his back and my heels into his thighs.
He pressed a kiss to the top of my ear.
“You’re mine,” he growled. “And no one is going to touch you.” My cock snapped to attention. The steamy breath in my ear and the possessive declaration had me hot and panting.
“Nolan,” I moaned involuntarily. His hands gripped my ass, and he lifted me off the counter, carrying me into my bedroom and laying me on the bed.
He laid his hand over my heart and felt it pound against my ribs. He gazed down at me with fierce reverence.
“I’m not going to let this go,” he whispered. “I can’t. I won’t give you up.”
He didn’t give me a chance to respond before he kissed me. A deep, passionate, wanting kiss.
The tears trickled from the corners of my eyes. This man loved me. He didn’t need to say it. I knew it in the way he looked at me, held me, and was so determined to save me.
I kissed him back. My hands pulled at his shirt, and he let me take it off. The kiss got deeper, his hips rolled harder, and the urgency was building. I needed him naked and went for his pants and pried them open.
“Nolan,” I whimpered and shoved his pants down. His cock sprang free. He sat up and dragged my pants off.
“Now,” I demanded. “Please now.”
