First and Only (Callaghan Brothers #2)

Little by little Lexi found herself surrendering to his sorcerous touch, coaxing out the darker nature that lurked deep within her, the one she kept locked and hidden away with all of her deepest, darkest secrets.

Torture. Pleasure. Ache. Want. Need. Ian stoked the fire burning inside her with his mastery of her body, bringing her to her peak over and over again but never letting her plunge over the edge. The sound of desperate sobbing reached her ears, and Lexi, nearly out of her mind now, realized on some level that it was her.

“Ah, you’re killing me, baby,” Ian groaned. “So fucking hot, and all mine. You want this, don’t you? Tell me you want this, Lexi. Tell me and I’ll give it to you.”

“Please, Ian,” she begged, well beyond any rational thought or objection. He’d reduced her to a sobbing pile of need, of hunger. She needed him to fix this. He was the only one who could. There would only be Ian, ever. And she – her body, her mind, her heart - belonged to him. “I need you.”

“That’s my girl,” he murmured approvingly. His fingers were suddenly gone as he rolled her onto her side, her back against his chest, and lifted her upper leg. “Here baby, you hold this...” He moved her hand to the vibrator, wrapping her fingers around it. “Use it, baby.”

Lexi barely had time to comprehend his words when she felt him lengthen his strokes. In this new position, he felt harder. Longer. Thicker. And with each thrust, he hit her exactly where she needed him most.

“That’s it,” he encouraged. “Let go. Give me everything, Lexi. I want it all.”

Lexi’s entire body tightened as the overwhelming climax consumed her, each sensation magnified by another. The pulse of her toy. The feel of having Ian inside of her, wrapping around her body, his teeth nipping at the tender curve of her neck.

Stars burst behind her eyes, relief exploding through her body with incredible force. She thought she might have screamed, but couldn’t be sure. As if from far, far away she heard Ian curse, right before she felt pulsing jets of heat deep within while Ian’s hands held on to her, anchoring her.

Then she gave herself up to the blackness.





Chapter Twenty




Ian willed his heart to slow down, to ease the fierce pounding against his chest for fear of waking her. Lexi lay limp in his arms. He had pushed her too hard, and she’d let him. He had tried to be gentle, but Lexi was like a drug coursing through him. With each fix, he wanted more. And tonight she had given him everything.

He lifted her carefully, wrapping her in a blanket and carrying her to the bathroom. She barely moved as he drew a warm bath, murmuring only slightly as he lowered her into the water and cleaned her reverently.

He frowned when he saw the blossoming purple marks along her hips. He hadn’t realized he’d gripped her quite so hard, but then it was difficult to recall anything besides the blinding hunger that had driven him well past the point of rational thought.

God, what he had just done to her. What she had given him. What she had somehow known he needed. Lexi had sensed his darker side. And yet she still loved him.

Ian dried her as carefully as he could, tucking her into bed before heading to the shower himself. It was a quick one; even a few minutes away from her were too much. He needed to hold her. He would, through touch, find some way to convey that in a few short days she had become the most important thing in his world.

He crawled between the sheets, thinking about the ring that still sat in the pocket of his suit jacket. He had planned on proposing at the restaurant, of taking her out into the gardens and going down on bended knee, the whole nine yards. But it just didn’t work out that way. The mood had changed after their little tete-a-tete with the chef, and this wasn’t something he would force.

Lexi was meant for him, he knew this. Besides, he thought with a grin as Lexi burrowed against him, she deserved a more unique proposal than that. Maybe he’d ask her atop the Ferris wheel at the county fair tomorrow...

*

It was still dark when Lexi woke. Ian’s body was wrapped around her protectively, his deep, even breathing a soothing rhythm. How many times had she dreamed of waking like this in his arms? She could stay like this forever, she thought, her eyes drifting shut again.

A sharp, cramping pain sliced through her lower abdomen, jolting her back into alertness. She breathed through it the best she could. As it subsided, she tried to extricate herself.

“You okay?” Ian asked softly, his strong arm like a steel band around her.

Even though it was too dark for him to see, Lexi forced a smile, hoping it found its way into her voice. “I just need to use the bathroom.”

Ian’s grip loosened. “If you’re not back in five minutes I’m coming in after you,” he warned, his voice still thick and heavy with sleep.