Radiance

by Shayne McClendon

  “Brie?”

  She pressed her hand to her heart. “It’s been a weird night. I’m sorry. Give me a second to get my balance.”

  In her kitchen, she conducted mindless tasks and fought tears she didn’t want to cry.

  “You’re moving so much better.”

  “I had my appointment last week. I’m doing great. Should be on track for June like I hoped. I shaved three months off their initial estimate. I’m proud of that.”

  A warm hand slid along her upper chest and pulled her against him. She stared at the skyline across the room.

  “Riya and Tawny had their birthdays. Yesterday we celebrated with like forty security guys covering the bar we went to. I’m off a shit ton of meds so I can drink again.”

  “Brie.”

  “I worry about Natalia. She told me about the photos the day you left. I was glad to be brought up to speed at the same time I found out my best friend’s soulmate could be kidnapped or shot in the head because she joined me for coffee.”

  “Brie.”

  “I think that’s about it. What’s happening with you?”

  “I’m new at this part. The only person I’m accustomed to truly communicating with is always with me. I’m sorry.” Turning her, he held her face in his hands.

  She’d ached to see the beautiful green of his eyes.

  “I missed you. I talked to Winters but I should’ve talked to you. Your progress is incredible and I’m so proud of you. You’ve worked hard.”

  He stroked the pads of his thumbs over her brows. “You’re handing everything better than anyone else would.”

  “I won’t bother you. I know you’re busy.” She reached up to hold his wrists and silently cursed the tears in her voice. “If you could let me know you’re alive once a week, that would go a long way to helping me not freak out.”

  “Fuck. I’ll get you a secure cell.”

  “I don’t care if it’s a smoke signal just…let me know you’re breathing so I don’t assume the worst and lose my mind. I need to know you’re breathing, Elijah.”

  “I’ll do better.”

  He bent his head to kiss her. It was so easy to fall into his kiss and forget what planet she was on. It didn’t matter.

  Whatever planet he was on, that was where she wanted to be.

  * * *

  Elijah watched Brie sleep. She had his hand tucked between her breasts as she laid on her stomach.

  He’d held her, hugged her, for a long time after she told him everything he’d missed in her life over the two weeks he hadn’t thought to pick up a phone.

  He knew every move she made throughout the day if she left her apartment. He forgot she didn’t have the same resources to know he was okay.

  Other than Harper, no one else had ever been concerned whether or not Elijah’s heart was beating at the end of the day.

  Seconds after he laid down beside her, she slipped into deep slumber she clearly hadn’t been getting. There was a small pout on her lips and her curly black hair flowed over her pillow and down her back.

  Sighing softly in her sleep, she scooted closer to him and sealed her naked body along his side. For a moment, her eyes fluttered open. “I love you, love you, ‘Lijah.”

  Wrapping his arms around Brie, he allowed himself to stop the world for a few hours and just be with her.

  * * *

  Elijah let her sleep when the sun came up and went down to the lobby to brief his team in the conference room there.

  Carlo smiled as he stepped off the elevator. “Good morning, Mr. Eklund. Brie left something at the desk for you last night.”

  Taking the envelope, he broke the seal and a key dropped into his palm. She’d included a note.

  Elijah, use this whenever you’re around. I don’t want to miss your knock. I listen for it. I miss you. Brie

  In the conference room, he briefed his team, left instructions to contact him by text with any updates, and informed them he was taking the day off.

  Then Elijah returned to the apartment of a beautiful sleeping woman, using the key she left him to get inside.

  He had promises to keep.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Brie woke slowly, rested for the first time in weeks, and took in the empty space beside her. Reaching out, she touched the pillow where he’d slept.

  Pulling it closer, she wrapped her arms around it and inhaled deeply. The clean, male scent of him lingered.

  She wanted to cry but she didn’t.

  Instead, she took a deep breath, put it back, and turned over to get up. Elijah knelt on the floor beside the bed.

  Unable to play it coy, she wrapped her arms around him with a gasp and pressed her face to his neck.

  “You’re still here.”

  He hugged her tightly, involved the way Hudson always was, and she accepted the fact that she’d found another man she really wanted to hug her for the rest of her life.

  “Good morning, Brie.” She tightened her hold. “You love hard. It makes me feel stronger.”

  Leaning back, she blinked back tears. “It does?” He nodded and she stroked his face. “That’s what it’s supposed to do.”

  Raking her fingers through his hair, she whispered, “Your hair is longer.” One fingertip traced a brow that was lighter than it had been. “You’ve been in the sun. You soak it up.”

  “You see me in ways no one ever has.”

  “I love you. Every part of you matters.”

  Rising from the floor, he pushed her back to the mattress and she knew she would accept the risk if he wanted to make love to her. One arm held his weight above her, the other stroked from her neck to her breast.

  “I made you a promise. We were interrupted. I always keep my promises, Brie.”

  Then he was gone and she watched as he stripped his clothes away for her. When he was naked, she got up and stood close to him, her palms spread on his chest.

  * * *

  Brie’s voice was quiet. “I’ve never seen you all at one time. I just want to touch you, take you in.” Raising her gaze, he stared into her dark blue eyes. “Is that alright?”

  Elijah nodded and remained still as she explored him.

  Raking her fingers through his hair, she traced the outline of his ears, the lines of his face, and down his neck.

  Gentle hands ran over his chest and shoulders, down his arms to his hands. She petted him, squeezed muscle, and compared the size of his hand to her own. Her short nails raked his nipples, pressed the planes of his abdomen, and held his hips.

  “I can’t kneel yet,” she murmured in disappointment.

  She touched the tops of his thighs, lightly caressed the skin of his cock, and cupped his balls. Walking behind him, she repeated her exploration over the marred skin of his back and planted a kiss between his shoulder blades.

  He felt her fingertips trace the indentations just above his waist and warm palms smoothed over his ass, squeezing lightly.

  Returning to stand in front of him, her smile was heart stopping. The pleasure on her face at the simple opportunity to touch him almost sent him to his knees.

  “You’re such a beautiful man. Thank you.” With her palms on the sides of his neck, she whispered, “I’m yours to command, Elijah.”

  He kissed her.

  The simple act of kissing Brie was more earthshaking than sex with women in his past. She was fully involved, present in a way he’d never known to miss.

  Palms cupping her face, he gave her what she deserved. Only when she was shaking, whimpering into his mouth, did he lift away to look at her. She always followed his lips, seeking him.

  It was who she was.

  She held his gaze for a long minute of silence. “May I ask a question?” He nodded. “Should I not look at you? The things I’ve read, I’m not sure.” One side of her mouth lifted in a smile. “That one might be hard for me. I love your eyes.”

  “The way your mind works is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever had the good fortune to wit
ness.” Holding the back of her neck, his thumb stroked the skin beneath her jaw. “Submission is the will, not the rules. Your desire to love and submit is evident in everything you do.”

  “You’ll tell me if I’m doing something wrong?”

  “I’ll tell you if there’s something I need from you. There’s no right or wrong, Brie. There’s you and me.” He placed his palm over her heart. “Every beat here means you’re doing it right.”

  Tears slipped from the corners of her eyes and he knew he would burn down the world to protect her.

  He stepped forward, backing her to the edge of the bed. Holding her shoulders, he encouraged her to sit. He lowered to his knees between hers, held her hips, and she smiled.

  Almost a foot taller, he knew Brie liked when he was close. She started to reach for him and lowered her hands with a small frown.

  “Touch me, Brie.” Her eyes lit up and she did so instantly. “If I want you to remain still, I’ll tell you or I’ll bind you. I love your touch.”

  “It’s wonderful for me.”

  He allowed her to pet him for a couple of minutes and plant kisses over his face. Her toes traced the skin of his calf while her fingers kneaded the muscles of his shoulders.

  “Your similarity to a kitten is adorable.”

  Hugging him, she whispered, “Your similarity to a hot as hell bodyguard with a dominant nature and a gift for the violin makes me pretty damn happy, too.”

  Her ability to make him laugh was always a surprise.

  Reaching to the top of the bed, he grabbed her pillows and stacked them behind her.

  “Lay back, Brie.”

  She did and kept her eyes on his.

  Resting his palms on her thighs, he said, “The first night I saw you, your hair hung loosely, framing your face and shoulders. You didn’t move from the chair you sat in all night but others flocked to you.”

  Smoothing his hands over skin that had been ripped and torn as a car ran her down in the street, Elijah watched her hold her breath. He bent to kiss the worst of her scars.

  “I remember thinking you seemed to light up the space around you. People are drawn to your natural iridescence, to you, to the smiles you offer in welcome.”

  Trailing his hands down her legs, he cupped her feet and massaged gently. Working his way over her calves, he kissed her knees.

  “Even Harper was drawn to it though he didn’t understand what it meant. He wanted you initially because of your relationship with Winters. They’ve always been in silent competition. One can’t have more than the other.”

  Holding her hips, he pressed his lips to the bend of each. Her breathing stuttered softly.

  “I warned him, as did Winters, that you were outside his frame of reference. Women hold one place in his mind and it was clear to me you’d never fit such a small classification.”

  He rubbed his cheek over her slightly rounded belly and knew her hands itched with need.

  “You can touch me, Brie.” Instantly, fingers stroked through his hair and he closed his eyes in the pleasure of it.

  “At the theater, I saw the same glow. It struggled against sadness, loneliness that was getting harder for you to hide. It pressed darkly, trying to snuff you out, but you fought. I wanted to soothe you, but I wasn’t sure what you needed.”

  Rising over her, his fingers smoothed the outsides of her breasts and her nipples furled even tighter as he watched.

  “At the after party, you showed me how easy it was. Simply holding your hand lit you up in a way I’d never seen. You give so easily of yourself and accept others without condition.”

  Taking a taut peak in his mouth, he suckled it firmly and her fingers curled tight in his hair as she held him to her.

  The taste and texture of her pushed his own need higher than it had ever been. He released her with a soft pop and blew over the damp tip. A shiver passed over her skin.

  “Every interaction with you teaches me, Brie. You find pleasure in the smallest things. It makes me want what I’ve never wanted before and causes me to think about my future in ways I thought were closed to me.”

  Taking possession of her other nipple, she moaned softly. Her hands drifted to his shoulders, lightly scratching and rubbing his skin.

  He was a glutton for this woman’s touch.

  “You’ve touched me more in our time together than I’ve ever been touched in my lifetime, by any person. I didn’t realize how addictive it would be.”

  Kissing his way over her chest and up the column of her neck, he claimed her lips. She opened herself to him, gave to him, and made him feel worthy.

  Her hips lifted slightly and brushed her bare mound over the heated skin of his cock. He broke the kiss with a growl.

  His forehead against hers, he murmured, “You’d give to me at risk to yourself. Your love humbles me, Brie.”

  Moving back quickly, he buried his face between her legs and tasted the only woman who’d ever made him hunger.

  She gasped his name into the quiet room.

  Gently placing the back of her thigh over his shoulder, he closed his eyes to savor the musky tang of her pussy.

  For the rest of his life, he would crave the delicacy.

  Within a minute, she trembled, clenched her thighs, her breathing rapid. He pulled back enough to glide three fingers over her, circling gently, before trailing them to the snug entrance that made his cock throb painfully.

  Pressing inside, he turned them, raking the tips along her inner walls as he set his mouth to the task of breaking her down to the simplest part of herself.

  The first time she came, he pushed deeper inside her, resting his other palm over her belly to feel the way her womb pulsed under her skin. Her upper body arched, her fists tangled in the bedding and his hair, he watched her absorb all he gave.

  His voice hoarse with need, he told her, “When my cock is gifted with the honor of taking you, I hope I can withstand the pleasure, Brie.”

  Sitting up, she cupped his face and kissed him in desperation, licking away the evidence of her release.

  “Now, take me now. I’ll be okay.”

  “I won’t endanger you.”

  He gripped the hair at the back of her neck and kissed down the column of her neck. Sucking her nipple hard, he let her feel his teeth while he continued to thrust deep with his hand.

  She touched him everywhere she could reach. “Elijah…take from me. Let me please you.”

  “You’ll please me by giving me more of your come. Lay back.” He watched as she collapsed against the pillows, her hair a wild tangle around her upper body. “Watch me eat you.”

  He returned to licking and sucking her, the blue of her eyes darkening further as her lower lip trembled.

  Slickness eased from her body. He removed his hand to rub it into her folds so he could lick it away. Holding her gaze, he dragged his tongue between swollen lips and circled her clit.

  She held on for three minutes before her body took over.

  “C-coming…”

  The sight of Brie’s torso lifting from the pillows, her eyes closing as her orgasm stole her ability to control anything made him want to drive his cock inside her until both of them were unable to move.

  Her body shook, his name was a chant on her lips, and she gripped the sheets to anchor her.

  Need too great to deny caused him to stand. Wrapping his fist around his length, he used her juices to stroke himself.

  Pulling her lower lip between her teeth, she whispered, “Yes. Please god, yes.”

  She probably didn’t intend to cup her breasts or realize that she rolled her nipples while she watched him fist his cock.

  Her thighs pressed the outside of his legs and he ground out, “I won’t come until you do, Brie. Touch yourself for me.”

  Releasing one of her breasts, she settled her fingers over her mound. She used her thumb to stimulate her erect little clit while two fingers slipped into her pussy.

  He could hear how wet she was and it made the
skin on the back of his neck tighten.

  Panting as she watched him, Brie pushed herself to climax, and he enjoyed seeing the way it rolled over her.

  Her voice begged, “Please let me have it.” Her eyes glazed. “Come on me, mark me, let me feel it.”

  Rolling his head on his shoulders, Elijah stroked himself faster and harder. The first stream splattered over her ribcage and nipple. The second covered her hand and belly.

  Then she sat up and took him deep into her mouth, swallowing everything he had left.

  Breath sawing in and out of his lungs, he watched as she took him as deep as she could.

  When he would have pulled back, she wrapped her arms around his ass and took him a little further. Even as her eyes watered, she swallowed around the head.

  Slowing sliding her mouth from him, she laid back on the pillows. She licked his release from her hand while her other massaged it into her nipple and skin.

  “I love the taste of you, Elijah.”

  As his breathing returned to normal, he took in the image she made sprawled, satisfied, and covered in his come. A single thought made him smile.

  Harper had no clue what he was missing.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Harper Delkin fucked the mouth of the woman his fill-in security team escorted into the apartment and watched her fake tits bounce with the force of his thrusts.

  She still wore the slinky little dress and stilettos she’d arrived in. Her makeup and hair were less than pristine as he gagged her with his cock and gripped her head to take it.

  Within thirty seconds of entering his space, he sent his staff out and instructed her to get on her knees.

  She did so with a knowing smile.

  The diamond bracelet in his pocket ensured she’d take whatever he dished out and beg him to do it again if he wanted.

  “Pull your dress down,” he ordered. “I want to see your nipples on either side of my cock.”

  She obeyed without an instant of hesitation.

  The silicone meant her type never wore bras. He doubted she wore panties. He wanted to know. Taking his cock away, he reached down and pulled the flimsy material over her head.

  He watched her try to catch her breath. No panties. Part of him wanted to laugh. The rest of him ached.