Chapter 8

My heart is racing. Fingers twitching. Cock throbbing like crazy as I keep shifting, trying to keep it from touching Sage.

She"s so gorgeous, so perfect. I shouldn"t be having these incredibly possessive feelings about her. This longing. This…need.

Not just a need to hear every tiny sound she makes as I thrust inside her. I need to feel her joy. Need to take care of her.

Maybe if I only touch her, and don"t allow her to touch me, that will keep us from going too far too fast. I"m totally making up the rules as I go along, but I need to feel that I"m not rushing her.

"Sage, I need you to do something for me."

"Anything." I love how immediate her response is.

"I need you to clearly say the word "stop"."

Her eyebrow quirks up, then her eyes soften. "And if I don"t want to say it?"

I shake her hip slightly. "Just say it."

She grins. "Stop."

"There." I place our foreheads together. "Feel free to say that at any time, okay?"

"Okay. But I don"t think I will."

This girl. A deep, grumbling groan echoes low in my throat.

Rolling Sage gently onto her back, I kiss her softly, wanting to be sure that she isn"t nervous about having my body over hers. I don"t want her to feel trapped, even though the feeling of possessing her is revving my lust to the limit.

She tries to wrap herself around me, clinging to my frame. Gently shoving up her t-shirt, I run my palm along her stomach and ribs. She kisses me deeply, her fingers threaded through the back of my hair.

It"s obvious she wants more. A sense of responsibility for caring for this luscious girl washes through me. I"ve never shirked responsibility of any kind, even taking on much more than I should when it comes to patrolling the local trails, and helping neighbors. A man has to do his duty.

Well, now my duty is to make Sage feel incredible. Feel safe with me. Her health and comfort is now all on me.

Pushing her shirt up a little more, my rough palms skim across her tender breasts. Her breath becomes fluttery, sending a deep shudder down my spine. This precious girl has never been touched by another man, I can feel it. The wave of possession coursing through my veins feels like adrenaline mixed with molten steel.

My lips wander down her throat, skipping over the bunched-up t-shirt to circle lazily around her left breast. Her fingers tighten in my hair and she sighs the moment my lips clamp around her nipple.

Damn, I love how expressive she is. How easy to read. Sage guides me like her rows of sticks in the forest, telling me without words that she loves it when I touch her gently. Slowly. How she loves feeling my thick fingers digging into her skin, grabbing her firmly as I scrape my teeth carefully across her pebbled flesh.

I switch to the other side, caressing and kissing her breast as my right hand slides down her stomach. "Remember that word you"re supposed to say?" I rasp as my fingertips inch into the top of her panties.

"I have no idea what you"re talking about." My head pops up for a moment to see her give me a saucy wink.

I groan as my fingertips make contact with her softest skin. Through a faint dusting of silky hair, I feel her silky lips, spreading them open to discover moisture. I didn"t think my cock could get any harder, but knowing that Sage is wet for me makes it pulse in time with my heartbeat.

She begins to sway on the bed, as if she enjoys being pinned down by my much larger frame. I put a pillow under her injured foot to remind her not to move it around. I don"t want my princess to be troubled with the slightest bit of pain. As her legs splay apart, I accept the silent invitation to run my blunt fingertip straight through her inner lips, teasing at her opening.

Her faint breathy moan makes my long-neglected heart swell.

My finger dances and twists, gently teasing before drifting slightly upward. Moving in slow, meandering circles, I explore the nub of her clit, watching the way her eyes grow hooded and heavy. Sucking her nipple hard enough to make her jump slightly, I lift my head to study her. It"s like she"s melting against me, warm and soft, giving in to every sensation.

My palm massages her pert breast as I run my teeth along her bottom lip. "You like it right here, princess?" My finger brushes straight across her clit as Sage"s back arches, her breath coming in halting, stuttering gasps.

"Yeah." The harder and faster my finger circles, the more frantically her fingers rake through my hair, her nails pricking my scalp lightly.

"Oh…" she gasps, as I replace my circling finger with my thumb, pressing gently against her sensitive skin. This leaves the rest of my fingers free to explore her folds, dragging carefully across every pulse point as she begins to pant hard.

"Yes. Let go for me." My voice is too deep, too rough. I shouldn"t scare her with such a command, yet it bursts out.

Sage"s eyes light up. "Mmm…" she moans. "Say that again."

And something inside me snaps.

I need to get closer. I need to be as intimate with this gorgeous girl as I possibly can, without plunging myself inside her. At least, not that way. Not yet.

She moans when I pull away, then gasps as I pull her panties down one leg and shove them aside. I shift and settle between her soft thighs, my shoulders spreading her legs wide as I dive right in, kissing her beautiful pink pussy. I lick her as though I"m starving, dragging my tongue slowly around, then gently pushing inside her tender skin.

Sage gasps, her fingers gripping my hair just above my ears. Once she"s nice and wet, I begin swirling my tongue around her clit. "Let go for me," I growl again.

"Oh!" Her soft gasps and moans are becoming erratic. My hand presses down on her hip bone to hold her steady, and my splayed fingers can feel the fluttering deep in her lower belly.

"Come on my tongue," I command, lapping straight across her sensitive button as my thick finger slips inside her just enough to make her start to shake. "Let me feel it."

I hope that she can see in my eyes how much I need this. Need her pleasure. Her surrender. Her trust in me.

I groan deeply as she pulls my face right into her soft, wet pussy. Licking steadily, I watch her eyes grow wide, then she falls back with a soft, broken scream as the climax crashes through her. Her legs tense around my ears, her hands shaking, her perfect perky breasts bouncing.

I"ve never seen anything so gorgeous in my life.

As her quivering slowly subsides, I lick all around her pussy lips, drinking in her juices as if I want to absorb her sweetness. Then I sit up, looking around for her underwear to slip it back on.

Sage looks surprised, but stays quiet. I kiss each of her nipples in turn, then pull the t-shirt back down and throw the blankets back over us.

Once she"s cuddled safely in my arms, I whisper, "You"re so beautiful when you lose control."

She smiles, her fingers trailing slowly around my shoulder. "That was incredible. Thank you. There aren"t even words."

Our lips meet so naturally, as if I was destined to kiss this girl for the rest of my life. I can already feel the magnetic pull. The need. To make her mine, not just for tonight, but forever.

Then she pulls away to examine my eyes. "Don"t you want to… I mean, I could?—"

"Easy, princess. It"s our first night together."

I can"t tell her that I would probably come in less than a minute if she simply ran her delicate palm up and down my aching cock. Can"t tell her of the visions I"m having of the look in her eyes once I finally plunge my shaft into her.

Caring for my lovely girl will include making sure that she doesn"t feel trapped with me.

In town, everyone thinks of me as the grump who avoids people. Out here in the middle of the forest, people know me as the rescuer. The good guy.

I"m not yet positive what kind of man Sage needs, but I"m prepared to be anything and everything for my princess.