Page 48 of Solitary Man

He shook his head, not listening. “I’m your husband, and you kept asking if I could keep you safe, and you were having nightmares. Christ, Riley, I missed it. Something was hurting you, scaring you, and I should have known. I failed you. I should have…”

“Cash…”

“Just tell me,” he said, agony in his voice. “Did you come here to escape?” He leaned in, a ragged breath shaking from him. “Because…there’s nothing keeping you here, not now that that asshole’s been caught, now that you know the truth.”

What? “Was Keith part of the reason I decided to search for something else, somewhere else? Yes, and I should never have kept that from you. But, Cash, as soon as I saw you…as soon as I looked into your eyes in that picture, I knew you were it for me. I just…knew. You think I don’t know the real you? I’ve been living with the real Cash for nearly two months. You, Cash, are the quiet, stoic, hard-working, tender, generous, fiercely protective man standing in front of me. The man who showed me how much he loved his parents and cared for me by gifting me his mother’s chair. The man who showed me how much he loves his cousins and their families by making the effort to see them regularly, who gets on the floor with the kids and plays with them and loves every moment of it.”

He swallowed thickly. “Riley…”

“The man who cooks for me, who makes sure I’m warm by chopping wood for hours, or holding me safe and warm through the night. Who washes my hair when we shower. Who checks on me when we fly because you know I get scared, and who made me the office of my dreams just because you noticed I was sore after writing on the bed all day. The man who makes sure he’s given me pleasure before he takes his own.”

“Wife,” he said, voice cracking.

I pulled my hands free, and he let me. I cupped his whiskered jaw. “Nothing’s keeping me here? God, everything is keeping me here. You are everything, Cash Smith,” I whispered, my lips trembling. “How could I miss it? You were showing me this whole time.” I held his gaze. “You love me, don’t you?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “So damn much. I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

I smiled wider. “And I love you, the man in front of me, not the man in those emails. You.”

His arms came around me tight, that big body trembling as he buried his face between my neck and shoulder. “You love me? Promise you’ll never leave me, darlin’. I don’t want to be here, be anywhere without you.”

I slid my hands up under his shirt, desperate to feel his hot skin under my hands, running them over his chest, then down his rigid abs. “You won’t ever have to worry about that. I’m exactly where I want to be. With you. With my husband.”

“I missed you so much.” His hands roamed over me roughly, restlessly.

“I’m right here,” I said as I popped open the button of his jeans and slid down the zipper. “I’ll always be right here.” I took his painfully hard cock in my hand, and he shuddered, his broken gasp tearing through me. “Let me show you how much I love you,” I whispered and lowered to my knees in front of him.

His jeans sat low, his massive cock rock solid and weeping for my mouth.

“Please,” he rasped.

That single word broke me. I’d give him anything. Do anything for this man. I certainly wouldn’t make him wait. I gripped his heavy length and stroked him firmly as I leaned in and lapped at the glistening head. He bucked, a shout exploding from him. His hands shot out, and he planted them against the wall in front of him, like he needed to hold himself up.

I was trapped between the wall and Cash, his huge body looming over me. His head dipped, watching me as I sucked the head into my mouth and rubbed my tongue around the rim. Strain lined his ruggedly handsome face, and his blue eyes that I loved so much were fastened on mine.

He was letting me in, all the way, and I saw everything, right down to his beautiful soul.

I took more of him, stroking him with my hands, my mouth, taking as much as I could, desperate to make him feel good, to show him what he meant to me in a way he’d understand. Cash knew I loved him—I’d told him—but he was a man of action, not words. I wanted…needed to give him both.

Cash

I couldn’t take my eyes off Riley on her knees in front of me, her heavy-lidded gaze holding mine captive. She owned me. Heart and soul. My sweet, fiery, little wife had stormed into my life and turned it on its head.

She sucked me deeper, and my knees nearly buckled under me.

I gripped the wall harder with one hand and reached down, cupping her precious face with the other. I clenched my ass and gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to thrust, but then she stroked me harder and swirled her tongue around the head. My control snapped.

I needed inside her.

Now.

I pulled from her mouth, gripped her arms, and tugged her to her feet. She was already shoving down her pants and underwear. She’d gotten them off one foot when I scooped her up, hooked her legs over my arms, pressed her into the wall, and thrust inside her.

She cried out, and I took her mouth, sliding my tongue deep. I needed to taste her, and she gave it right back to me. In this position, all she could do was take my relentless thrusts, just the way Riley loved it. I forced myself to slow down when all I wanted was to slam deep.

Instead, I dragged it out for both of us, nowhere near ready for this to end. I filled her slowly and slid back out, over and over, until we were both trembling. Riley was so wet, as hungry for me as I was for her. I rested my forehead against hers, our mouths brushing, shaky breaths mingling, and I fed off her little gasps and helpless moans as I moved inside her.

I’d been so scared of losing her that I’d pushed her away, trying to protect myself. Told myself it was for the best.