Chapter 23 — Foreplay Can Wait

~ RONAN ~

My phone hums for the umpteenth time, but I ignore it. Lowering my head, I brush my lips over Lyra's and nearly lose control when she moans into my mouth, sagging against me. When she bites my bottom lip, all bets go off. My woman wants me, and nothing—nothing—is more important than her happiness. I'll make sure she has no reason to fear, no reason to worry, and certainly no reason to feel unsatisfied. I'll be the one to chase the nightmares away and flood her world with pleasure. The man she can lean on, no matter what.

No one will ever harm her.

If they try, I'll kill them.

The brush of her fingers across my chest combined with the scent of her arousal nearly drops me to my knees. I yank her closer, my hands gripping her hips. A breeze from the nearby water sweeps past us, carrying her scent and merging it with the natural world, and I growl—consumed by the feel and taste of my mate. When her hand drifts down my torso and skims over my stomach, I snap.

"Lyra," I groan, barely clinging to restraint. Lust claws at my self-control, fighting my need to do things properly. Taking her right here on the ground isn't how I imagined this moment—even if the bed of fallen leaves would cradle her perfectly. She deserves softness. Clean sheets. Fluffy pillows.

She deserves everything.

But when she cups me through my jeans, pressing her hand along my length...

Fuck it.

I bury my fingers in her hair and hold her steady as I claim her mouth, my cock rock-hard and throbbing. My restraint? Gone. She’s burning me alive with her desire.

---

~ LYRA ~

I’m pretty sure Ronan wasn’t planning on sex—not today. On the ride to the cabin, he kept his distance, sticking to small talk. Even after we arrived, he’d pulled away. I tried to follow his lead. I even helped him make his damn bed. But after what I’d seen, after what he’d done for me, I can’t fake it anymore. This new part of me—the wild, urgent part—wants more.

And I want more from him.

Slow might be smart. But I don’t feel like being smart. After talking to Tess, something cracked open inside me. I miss the cocky, confident version of him. The one from last night who was all Alpha power and dark promise.

“You make me want to do bad things,” Ronan growls, his voice rich and rough. “Very, very bad things to you, sweet Lyra.”

I shiver, wetness soaking my panties. When he talks like that, I want to drop to my knees and give him anything—everything. I imagine it for a heartbeat: on my knees, lips wrapped around him, right here in the open. Yesterday, that would’ve mortified me. Today? It turns me on.

My skin’s on fire, calmed only by his touch. I want those hands everywhere—rough fingers mapping every inch of me. He seems to know exactly what I need, provoking responses in me I never thought existed. Even now, with a heated kiss, I’m ready for whatever he wants to give me.

“How bad?” I whisper, goading him. “Tell me.”

“Fuck that.” The words come out as a desperate snarl. Yanking my hair, he forces me back and locks eyes with me. “I’ll show you.”

Oh, Goddess.

I bring a hand to grab his ass and feel his pocket vibrating. Before I can even consider the fact that his phone might be ringing, Ronan lowers me to the ground. Even though he’s aroused, he’s gentle with me, bracing my back with his arm. My thick coat cushions my shoulders as he lowers himself over me. The hard ridge of his cock presses against my thigh as his hips parts my legs for him. My nipples pucker, straining against my bra as a steady pulsing settles over my clit, making me remember how he’d used his tongue on me last night.

Going on instinct, I roll my hips, creating delicious friction between us. Our tongues dance, darting away and returning, touching and entangling we kiss. Each breath I take is strained, my lungs feeling like they’re shutting down. I just need a little more, just one more touch, and I’ll fall over the edge.

From the look of things, my newfound sexuality doesn’t want to be contained. I’ve been hovering on the brink all morning, walking on pins and needles, eager for a repeat of last night. Lord knows I'd do anything to get him pounding me into the grass right now.

“Rock against me, sweet Lyra.” He brings his hands to my waist, guiding my movements so I can drag my cleft along his denim-clad shaft. “Rub that hot pussy of yours against my cock. Take what you need.”

Shamelessly, I do, grinding my mound against him. Heat rolls over me, beads of sweat forming on my brow despite the cool weather. I claw at his leather coat, burying my nails in the material, wishing it was his skin instead. The scent of Ronan, the earth, and the alluring fragrance of pine fill the air as I bury my face in his neck, reaching for what I want and rubbing myself against him. A fiery sensation builds inside me, intensifying.

I’m so close... so, so close.

One more hard thrust and I shatter, shuddering as I come with a soul-wrenching moan, my eyes pinching shut. I gyrate against him, keeping the glorious electric currents flowing as long as I can, trembling as the world rotates on its axis. Strangely, the orgasm isn’t enough. I feel empty inside, my vaginal walls flexing. I need Ronan above me, surrounding me, filling me with his thick, long cock.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get there,” he rasps against my ears, like he’s read my mind.

Unzipping my jacket, he cups my breasts, thumbing my nipples, and my head falls back. Small twigs and leaves snag in my hair, their sharp edges poking my scalp. I gasp as the unexpected harsh sensations stir the animal inside me.

Foreplay can wait.

I want Ronan.

Now.