Eternal Rider - Larissa Ione [102]
He was pretty sure he’d accomplished that goal, and male pride made him puff up as he lay next to her, listening to her catch her breath after her eighth orgasm. He’d come almost as many times himself, but he could still go another round if she wanted to. The ability to have multiple orgasms was one of the few bennies he’d gotten from having a succubus for a mother.
Cara snuggled against him, twining their legs together and settling her palm on his chest. “Thank you.”
“Sex with you isn’t charity work.”
She laughed, and the beautiful sound went straight to his heart. “I should hope not. But I wasn’t talking about that. I was talking about everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yeah, you know, for bringing me here. Showing me your world.”
He shifted his gaze to the night sky so she wouldn’t see the concern in his face. “Why would you be grateful to be here? You’re in danger. You’re dy—” He cut off with a curse.
“Dying. I know.” She pressed a kiss into his pecs and lay her head on his shoulder. “And at first, as you know, I wasn’t real happy about being in this situation. But then Reaver pointed out that I was stuck here, even if we can transfer the agithingy-ma-bob, and he’s right. I mean, it’s not just because of Hal. It’s because I know too much to really integrate back into the life I had. Which brings me to my point.” Her fingers drew random patterns on his chest as she spoke. Such a minor thing, but the intimacy in the skin doodles put a trickle of sweet warmth in his bloodstream. “I didn’t have a life. There’s nothing to go back to. Even if my time here is short, I’ve found something here that I’d lost.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You said I was weak—”
He captured her hand. “God, Cara, I’m sorry.”
Her full, sensual lips parted on a smile. “Don’t be. You were right. But I’ve found my strength again.” She pulled his hand to her and kissed his palm. The tender gesture laid him out, knocked his emotions into a tailspin that he doubted he was going to pull out of. “See, back home, I’d been in a bad place for a couple of years. I was about to lose my house, I’d lost confidence in myself, and my boyfriend left me.”
He had to bite back a growl at the mention of the male. “What happened with your boyfriend?” Another long silence stretched, so long that he thought she’d fallen asleep. “Cara?”
“Yeah.” She wriggled in tighter against him. “Jackson left. He couldn’t deal with the attack.”
“Attack?” The way she said it set off alarms inside him. She’d flipped out earlier when he’d asked if she… oh, fuck. He’d asked if she liked being attacked. Yeah, he was ready to kick his own ass.
“I’m sure you don’t want to hear the gory details.” She shifted to look up at the star-strewn sky. “I love this place. I’d spend all my time outside.”
“That’s why I live here.” He feathered his fingers over her shoulder, loving how velvety smooth her skin was under his callouses. “And I do want to hear the gory details.”
A tremor went through her, and he tugged her closer. “Jackson was my realtor when I moved to South Carolina. I was recovering from my father’s death, and he was there for me. We dated, pretty whirlwind. He moved in after just a couple of months and helped me with my holistic vet business when the real estate market slowed down.”
“And?”
“And one night I’d come home from taking care of a sick horse. I walked in on three men robbing my house.” She swallowed audibly. “I tried to run, but they caught me and dragged me inside. They tied me up…”
“What did they do to you?” His mind worked overtime on the horrible scenarios.
“Nothing at first. They mainly just scared me. But then Jackson came home.” She shivered, and he grabbed the blanket off the back of the sofa to cover her. “They beat him, and then they made him watch