“You need any other help, you be sure to let me know, Dash.” Mike sighed. “You have a lot of people who would help you in a heartbeat.”

Dash took a deep breath. He had never considered how close he was to some of the men he had fought with until his near death. And even then he had shied away from the knowledge, always feeling that he would bring friends more danger than comfort if his secret was ever revealed.

“Serena, Mica and I are heading into town for the day,” Mike told him as they entered the house. “We’ll be back in time to catch you before you leave. Rest while you can. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Dash didn’t go to his room, though. He went to Elizabeth’s. She was still curled in the middle of the bed, a slender mound beneath the blankets, her hair flowing in wild abandon around her. He listened as Mike and his family left the house, shaking his head at the knowledge his friend—and he admitted it now, Mike was a friend—had forced him to realize. He had more than he ever dreamed he could have. A child, his woman, and a network of men and women working to make certain he could protect them both. Not because they were fellow soldiers, but because they were friends.

And those friends were now gone. The house was silent. There was no one there but him and Elizabeth, and the raw, aching throb of his cock. As he stood there, she rolled over, her eyes opening drowsily, watching him with a silent question. He could smell her heat, smell the soft cream building between her thighs, the need racing through her system.

“Undress, Elizabeth.” He almost winced at the growl that rumbled in his throat. “I can’t wait much longer.”

Amazingly, she moved from the bed. Her hands were shaking, the vein at her throat pulsing almost violently as she began to undress.

Her shirt fell to the floor. She loosened her jeans, drawing them slowly down her hips. Elizabeth watched him closely as she revealed the black silk and lace thong he had bought her. The scraps of sensual material matched the bra hiding the full mounds of her breasts from his view. He undressed slowly, watching her, knowing this first time could be more than either of them could handle. If what Callan suggested was the truth, it would be better to learn now rather than later. Better to let her go before they were firmly in place back in California. He also knew there was no way he could wait any longer.

“Take off the rest.” His gaze never left hers as she unclipped the bra, drawing the cups back from the swollen mounds and shrugging it from her shoulders. Her hands went to her panties, slender fingers hooking beneath the elastic and easing them down her hips. He wanted to moan in hunger as she stepped out of them, revealing the smooth, shaven mound beneath. It glistened with her juices, the sweet earthy scent making his mouth water.

He laid his clothes over the chair as he stroked the tormented length of his erection. He was thick, large and would fill her until she screamed with the pressure. It wasn’t abnormal, but it was striking. Her eyes widened as she finally glanced lower than his face. He knew the one time she had held the hard flesh in her hand hadn’t been long enough for her to realize the full effect of this erection. He would more than fill her. He would take her as no other man ever had. Perhaps in ways neither of them could imagine. He had never been with a woman like Elizabeth, either. One so small, so sexually uncertain and inexperienced. His women had always been raw-boned and lusty, well able to take the formidable flesh he pushed between their thighs. Elizabeth was delicate, slender. The thought of the amazing tightness he knew he would find when he entered her was enough to make his breath catch in need.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered as he approached her, feeling the hunger for her rising so sharp and fast it nearly overwhelmed him.

Her scent wrapped around him, made him drunk on the need to touch her, taste her. He stopped in front of her, his cock throbbing and heavy between his thighs, pressing against her tummy as he leaned his forehead against hers. Her hands were trembling as he linked his with them, pulling her arms gently behind her body, arching her breasts against his chests.

She was breathing roughly, staring up at him with those dark, hungry eyes.

“Maybe I need it to hurt a little.” Her whispered moan had his jaw tightening with the effort to control himself. “I never asked you to be easy, Dash.”

He growled then. “You have no idea what I’ve imagined doing to you, Elizabeth,” he told her roughly.

“The many ways I’ve taken you in my dreams. How many times you’ve screamed for me in my fantasies. Screamed because you needed what I was giving you. Begging for more.”

She swallowed tightly as his head lowered, his tongue licking at her shoulder as her hands flexed within his.

“Have you ever been tied?” he asked her. “Completely restrained? Helpless? At the mercy of the man taking you?”

“No.” She shook her head roughly.

“I want you helpless beneath me, Elizabeth.” He wanted it, needed it until it was a hunger in his soul. “I want you begging, so wet and hot that when I start stretching you open you can only beg for more.”

He heard her whimper, a sound of naked longing. His sweet little Elizabeth, always so in control, always so proper and levelheaded, was shaking in arousal at the thought of being tied down for him.

“I won’t lie to you.” He secured her hands in one of his while the other ran over the soft curve of her rear. “I won’t be easy on you. I can’t be. You won’t let me protect you from everything else, I’ll be damned if I’ll protect you from who or what I am. Do you understand that?”

“I don’t need another warning, Dash.” Her eyes flashed in the dim light of the room, her body straining closer to him. “I don’t need protection from anything. Least of all you.”

Her lips moved over his shoulder, then her teeth scraped before nipping at him gently. Dash closed his eyes as he fought the need to take her fast and hard.

“Shall I show you,” she asked, “just how much I do want you, Dash Sinclair?”

Her lips moved farther down his chest as she tugged roughly at the grip he had on her hands. Her tongue, liquid fire, lashed over a hard male nipple as he groaned roughly and released her. Dash stood there, damned near helpless in ways he had never been, and watched one of his greatest fantasies come to life.

Chapter Eighteen

Elizabeth had never known a need in her life as powerful as the need to taste Dash. To lick his skin, feel the muscles rippling under his tight flesh. His hands released her wrists, caressed over her arms as she moved lower and sampled his rapidly moving chest. His skin was free of hair except for a very faint, very soft covering of tiny fine hairs that tickled her tongue. But even that was erotic. Sensual. Everything about the man was sexy as sin.

She sank her teeth into the thick muscle below a hard male nipple, her womb clenching at the hard growl that tore from his throat. His hands clenched at her shoulders, his fingers rubbing against her bare flesh as her head moved lower. Down, past his heavy chest until she was exploring the clenching muscles of his abdomen. Her tongue licked over the hard, tanned flesh, her teeth nipping, moving steadily closer to the hard, thick erection awaiting her below.

“Elizabeth.” His voice was a dark, sexy rumble that had her pussy creaming with hungry abandon. Her vagina ached, her womb clenching convulsively as her hands moved to his thighs. She licked closer, excited, frightened, wondering if she could possibly contain the bulging head of his cock in her mouth comfortably. Who said science didn’t know what the hell it was doing? When they created Dash they gave him everything a man would need: a tall, strong body, an honorable heart, and a cock that would fill her in every way imaginable.

She went to her knees, her fingers gripping the smooth, heated flesh as she slid her tongue delicately over the throbbing head. It was the size of a large plum, dark and velvety soft, tempting her as her hunger demanded she consume him.

“Sweet heaven,” he groaned as she slid her lips over the hard flesh. Surprisingly, a soft pulse of precome shot from the tip into her mouth. She hummed her approval of the taste. A mix of salty sweetness that made her long for more but had Dash whispering a heated curse and trying to pull free of her.

“No,” she whispered as his cock slid free of her mouth. “Not yet.” Her mouth covered him again as a strangled growl echoed around her.

“Wait,” Dash protested, but his cock slid deeper as his hips thrust against her. Her fingers enclosed the length, her mouth taking him as deep as possible. Another hard pulse of fluid shot into her mouth as she tightened on him, hearing his gasping breaths above her, feeling the tense, desperate arousal that tightened his body.

“Elizabeth, we need to talk first.” Another small spurt of pre-come pulsed in her mouth, making her hungrier for more.

She licked the underside of the shaft slowly, suckling at the hard flesh hesitantly as she fought to accustom herself to the thickness. She had rarely gone down on Dane. He hadn’t liked it. Hadn’t wanted her mouth there. Dash hadn’t been far from the truth when he said missionary only and lights out. She wasn’t terribly experienced, but she was greedy now. She wanted to experience every sexual act a man and woman could experience with Dash. She wanted it all.

His fingers threaded through her hair, tightening in the long strands as he pulled at it gently, as though to dislodge her. As though he would pull her from the treat she was giving herself. She rarely allowed herself any type of treats, especially one like this. She hadn’t been touched sexually in more years than she cared to count. Now here she was, on her knees, this powerful cock filling her mouth, this strong man breathing harshly, desperately, as she suckled at his flesh and decided now was the time to make up for her lack of treats.

“God help me, Elizabeth, please…” Another strong pulse of fluid filled her mouth now. The pre-come was liquid silk and slid easily down her throat as she drew on his cock slowly, gaining confidence as he fought and failed to pull away from her.

Surely she was doing it right, she thought. Something he enjoyed as much as she enjoyed his touch. He couldn’t stop, even though she knew he seemed unwilling to spill himself into her mouth. Still, he thrust against her, moaning with a pleasure that made her skin prickle with awareness. Her tongue flickered over the pulsing head with greedy licks. Her hands pumped the shaft, slick now with her saliva and the slick essence of his pre-come. His thighs were corded and tight, his hands kneading her hair, sharp growls rumbling from his throat as she pleasured him. Elizabeth felt her own arousal surging at the knowledge that she was pleasing him, that he was unable to pull from her, that the sensations she delivered to his throbbing erection kept him from forcing his will on her. For now. She knew it wouldn’t last long, that each second was a miracle as he allowed her to push him closer to the climax she knew was building in his scrotum. She could feel the tight sac beneath his shaft, drawn close to the base of his cock, flexing periodically as she drew on the pulsing head. She wanted to taste him, wanted him filling her mouth with his come, hearing his cry as he released his semen, his release shuddering through his body. She wanted it all as she had never wanted anything in her life.

“Damn. Baby.” His voice was guttural now, harsh and exciting as he fucked against the strong pull of her mouth.

Shallow, strong strokes powered past her lips, sinking the head of his cock deep in her mouth as she tongued it hungrily. Another pulse, a hard throb of his cock and then he stilled, his hands tightening in her hair, holding her steady as he pulled slowly from her mouth.

“No. Dash, please.” She tried to follow, to take him again, to force him back. He pried her hands from his cock then pulled her to her feet, jerking her against his chest as she stared up at him, needing him. Her cunt wept with the need; her body vibrated with it.

“Look at me,” he growled with feral savagery. “We might have a serious problem here, Elizabeth.”