First and Only (Callaghan Brothers #2)

“Ian...“ she warned breathlessly. He pulled away just enough to look into her eyes, now half-dazed with hunger. The need he saw there speared through him, nearly knocking him on his ass. For the first time in a long time, he allowed himself to see what was there, and it humbled him greatly.

“I don’t deserve you,” he murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her. She was like nothing in his arms; too light, too thin. How could he not have seen what he was doing to her? He’d thought he could keep her safe by keeping his distance, but the reality of the situation finally hit home. Lexi needed him. She fucking needed him, and he would never let her down again.

He laid her carefully on the bed, slipping off her shoes. Next came her jeans, and it was all he could do not to cry out in anguish when he saw the bones protruding from her hips. She was still beautiful, always would be to him, but he missed the full, hot flesh of her curves.

“Twenty pounds,” he whispered, placing hot, stinging little kisses across her sunken abdomen as he removed her thong. “I want you to gain at least twenty pounds. And for each one I’m going to do this...”

Lexi’s back arched, as Ian pressed himself between her legs, kissing the inside of her thighs. His hot breath blew over her sex and she trembled. It fed his hunger, made his eyes glitter with need. “Christ,” he whispered, awed by her reaction. He’d never been so needed, so wanted, by anyone. He must have been a complete idiot to believe she would be better off without him.

He placed tiny, light kisses along her sex as his hands pressed her legs open wider. A long, languorous lick of his tongue had him groaning again. There was nothing like his Lexi. He buried his face, nose to chin in her sweet, slick folds. He felt her heels against his shoulder blades, her legs slung over his shoulders as she surrendered herself to him. He would reward her greatly for that, for this chance to love her again. To feel her fingers in his hair again, scraping against his scalp. Ah, it was heaven.

The muscles in his back flexed as he took her with his mouth, rimming her entrance with his tongue before dipping into her. She cried out softly, tugging on his hair, pushing him into her with her legs. She was close, on the edge, and he wanted her falling off, right into him.

Ian began a steady, methodical pattern that had her writhing beneath him. A few short, quick suckles against her sensitive nub. Long, full strokes along her lips. Teasing circles around her entrance, then dips of his tongue deep to stroke the sensitive inner flesh until she held her breath, all the while his hands stroking over her belly, her breasts, her hips. Then, just as she was about to come, he’d begin all over again.

“Ian, oh God, Ian,” she sobbed, raking his scalp with her nails. They were too short. He wanted them longer. He wanted her talons gripping him hard enough to draw blood.

“What do you want, baby?” he asked in between licks.

“Please, Ian. I need to come. Make me come, Ian.”

“Say you love me, Lex.”

“I love you. I love you so much,” she sobbed.

“I love you too, baby. Say you’ll stay with me.”

Lexi hesitated, her fingers stilled. Ian flicked his tongue over her a few more times, holding her hips in place.

“Say it, Lexi,” he coaxed, blowing softly on her, making her shudder. His heart beat faster, stronger, needing to hear her say the words. “Say it and I’ll let you come, baby. Promise me.”

Lexi wriggled beneath him, but he wouldn’t allow her to move an inch. “You’ll stop...”

“No, I promise you, I’ll never stop. As long as you stay, I’ll never stop again. I swear it.” Ian dipped his tongue into her again, swirling, filling his senses with his woman.

“I’ll stay.” She breathed the words so quietly he wasn’t sure he actually heard them. He lifted his head enough to look up across the span of her body, caressing her with his chin. “What was that?”

“I’ll stay,” she said, stronger this time. “But only if you let me love you, too.”

Ian grinned in triumph. “That’s my good girl,” he crooned, before submerging himself within her with renewed fervor. Lexi was several inches off the surface of the bed when he finally took her over the edge. He held onto her as she seized beneath him, crying out his name in tortured whispers.

When the tremors began to fade, Ian crawled up along her body and held her to him. Only then did he realize she was crying. A few moments of intense fear gripped him – had he hurt her again? But then her arms wrapped around him so tightly, and she pressed her body close to his, and he knew the truth. These were tears of joy, of relief. Because he had finally come home.

“Sshhh, baby, it’s okay,” he told her as she gripped him. He felt the tension returning to her body, felt the desperate hold she had on him. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what she was thinking, and he hated the fact that he had put so much fear, so much uncertainty into her heart. He kissed the top of her head, making a silent promise to spend the rest of his life rectifying that.