Dean watched her as he anchored one arm beside her head and smoothed her hair away from her face with the other. He kissed her and watched as tears sprang to her eyes.
“Why the tears, sweets?”
“Because I don’t want this to end. Ever.”
“Then let’s make it last a lifetime,” he murmured as he moved down her body and kissed her pussy. Catherine tasted like the juiciest fruit, tangy and sweet. Dean wanted to eat her up. Catherine held still as he pulled her legs over his shoulders on either side of his head and began lapping at her throbbing clit. His mouth suckled her hard bud into his mouth and flicked it back and forth with his voracious tongue. She moaned his name and mashed her lower body against his face. When he slipped his tongue into her tight passage, the rhythm akin to what he wanted his dick to do, she cried out and arched upward. His hands toyed with her breasts, kneading and pinching the pretty tips. Too quickly, Catherine screamed his name as she burst all around him in a magnificent climax.
Seconds passed before she opened her eyes. At the knowledge that he’d so thoroughly satisfied her, a sense of predatory satisfaction took him. “No way am I going to live without you,” he bit out. “One way or the other, Catherine, you belong to me.”
“I’ll always be yours,” she said, but Dean could see the uncertainty in her eyes. She didn’t think they could make it work. Dean would simply have to prove her wrong on that score.
He gently placed her legs back down onto the bed and rose above her. They held each other’s gaze as Dean carefully positioned himself against her entrance. “Now, sweetheart.”
Catherine took hold of the headboard and smiled her acceptance. Her gentleness sucked the air out of him. She was so beautiful and willing, and Dean wanted to hold the image of her like this in his head forever.
He began pushing inside her heat, and tears sprang to Catherine’s eyes. Dean paused. “Catherine?”
“I love you,” Catherine whispered.
Her words made Dean want to howl at the moon. He covered her mouth with his in a claiming kiss as he thrust his cock deep. He swallowed her moans as he began making slow, sweet love to the woman of his heart. Soon, Catherine was pleading for more. Dean gave up any hope of maintaining his control and fucked her faster, harder. She matched his rhythm stroke for stroke. All at once, Dean lost control.
He threw his head back and let out a low, rumbling growl. The untamed sounds coming from Catherine had him nearly careening over the cliff. His hips gyrated against hers, forcing her body into the mattress as he fucked her with feral abandon.
Dean watched as Catherine appeared to climb higher and higher, the sensitive bud of her clitoris rubbing against his body with each thrust. His thoughts splintered as his climax began to pull him under. Dean flexed his hips and shoved deep once more, then he poured his come inside her, filling her up.
Catherine moaned and clutched the headboard in a tight grip as she shouted, her orgasm pouring over her. To Dean, watching Catherine come was the single most beautiful thing he’d ever witnessed. Once she’d settled back to earth, Dean untied her hands and began massaging her wrists. Once she lay limp, Dean pulled out of her. Her eyes opened, and they stared at each other, no words passing between them. Tomorrow she would be going back to Georgia, and Dean would have to watch her go. He didn’t know how the hell he would survive it.
He lay down beside her and pulled her into his body, holding her close. His name came out as a breathless whisper, and it was the sweetest sound Dean had ever heard. He ached to hear it night after night, but how? The thought kept him awake until after dawn.
27
Dean woke instantly alert. Something was off, he could feel it. He reached out and found Catherine’s side of the bed cold. When he opened his eyes and looked around the room, only to find it empty, he frowned. He shoved out of bed and pulled his jeans on. When he heard a noise in the kitchen he thought maybe she’d decided to make breakfast, but as he entered the room, Dean found her sitting at the table, papers spread out in front of her. Oh, God, no. It can’t be. Catherine looked up. Tears were streaming down her cheeks only to fall to the table unchecked.
“When were you planning to tell me about this?” She grabbed one of the papers in a tight fist and waved it in the air. “When were you going to tell me that my father was a rapist!”
Dean saw the devastation on Catherine’s face, and it tore him up inside. “I just got the information yesterday,” he said in a quiet voice. “I was going to tell you about it today.”
She threw the paper down and shoved out of the chair. “You had me investigated, didn’t you? You never truly trusted me at all.”
Dean shook his head and crossed the room. He took hold of her shoulders and shook her. “Stop it, Catherine. You know that’s not true. I do trust you. Hell, I’m in love with you.” He pointed to the papers and bit out, “I did ask Jonas to do some digging, but that was before, sweetheart.”
“Before we had sex the first time, Dean?” He winced. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
She tore out of his arms and headed to the bedroom. Dean followed, his stomach in knots. “Just give me a chance to explain.”
“Explain that you had me investigated? Explain that you had these papers last night and didn’t say a word about them?”
Dean stood helplessly by while Catherine went about getting dressed. “I didn’t trust you at first—you knew that, damn it. I did have you investigated, but when I told you I trusted you, I meant it. When I told you I loved you, I meant it.”
She snorted. “Yeah, right. Did you get a kick out of finding that information, Dea
n? You were right all along. As it turns out there were more secrets. You must be so freaking thrilled!”
“Damn it, Catherine, that’s not the way it happened!”
She slumped. “God, I’m such a colossal fool, but then again I’m the product of a rape, so maybe it’s in my DNA to be a complete loser.”
Dean’s anger boiled over. He closed the distance between them and took hold of her upper arms and shook her. “Don’t ever say that to me again,” he bit out. “That son of a bitch has nothing to do with you, Catherine. Nothing, do you hear me?”