Breaking Defenses

by JB Salsbury

  “What if you change your mind?” Her hands sift in my hair, holding me to her neck.

  “Never.”

  “Carey.” She’s using her no-nonsense tone.

  I pull away. “You’re scared. What we have is new. I understand. So how about this, you move your things over here. Keep paying rent on your place until you’re comfortable. I promise you, Rowan, I’m not going anywhere. And I should warn you, if you decide to walk away from me, I’d do whatever it takes to win you back. “

  Tears shine in her eyes. “Why are you so good to me?”

  I cup her cheek and kiss her lips. “You think this is good? You haven’t seen anything yet.” There is no better place for my mouth than pressed to Rowan, the only place they want to be.

  I hook the zipper at her back, dragging it down before I push the straps of her dress off her shoulders. I freeze when I see the present beneath. Black lace against pale skin, her breasts pushed high creating a tight valley for my tongue, my coc—

  “Carey?”

  My gaze snaps to hers and I blink. “Sorry, I uh…”

  A sexy as shit smile slowly pulls at her lips. “I take it you like your second Valentine's Day gift?” She arches her back, as if her tits don’t already have my full attention.

  I swallow the saliva that pools in my mouth. “Yeah.” My voice cracks. “Can I open the rest?”

  She lies back on her elbows and lifts her hips so I can shimmy the red fabric over her curvy hips, down her silky thighs to pool at her feet. She kicks the thing away as I stare boldly at my woman in a matching pair of lace panties.

  My fingers itch to touch, but more than that I want to feel the scrape of all that lace against my bare skin. I unbutton my shirt, and let it fall to the floor then unbutton my jeans and stand to slip out of them. Her gaze devours my chest and shoulders before they drop to my boxer briefs. I hook the elastic and pull them off. She licks her lips and scurries backward to take up the center of the king-sized bed. I crawl over her, lowering myself so that I rub against her as I bring my lips to hers.

  “Tell me again that you’re mine,” I whisper into our kiss.

  I can’t help but think about all the years this brilliant woman beneath me was right under my nose and I never thought to make a move. I blame my age, my immaturity. I assumed I’d end up with some gorgeous model-type who had more beauty than brains, I never imagined I’d end up with someone as smart and beautiful as Rowan. Someone who challenges me intellectually and calls me out on my shit is hot as hell.

  “Remind me that I am.” Her nails bite into my ass cheeks and she nips at my lower lip.

  I drop my forehead to hers, rolling my hips forward I groan at the bite of lace against my bare shaft. “If I didn’t know better I’d say you’re trying to get me riled, Rowan Campbell.”

  Her eyes light with wicked promise. “I’m only saying I might need the constant reminder lest I forget.”

  “Lest?” I chuckle as I bury my face into her neck to find the spot her hair will hide. “We can’t have that.” I pull her tender flesh between my teeth, latch on, and suck hard.

  A whimper falls from her lips, her nails dig deep into my shoulders. I continue to rub myself against her, bringing pleasure while sucking hard enough to cause pain. Wetness soaks through lace and I close my eyes at the beauty of it. My woman likes me to mark her in secret places. The animal inside of me would love to leave my mark in places everyone she comes into contact with will see. And I find those feelings growing more and more as the weeks pass. Because as often as I tell Ro I’m in love with her, she has yet to say those same words to me.

  Satisfied I’ve left my mark, I release her skin and gaze down at my work. “Perfect.” I roll my hips again in long, firm strokes. “Is that enough of a reminder?”

  With her foot to the mattress, she pushes and I let her roll me to my back where she straddles my hips. She reaches up into her hair and pulls at the elastic band, releasing waves of silky locks to fall around her shoulders.

  I run my hands up her thighs and toy with the thin straps at her hips, tracing my fingers around to feel the string that disappears between the round globes of her ass. “This is fucking hot. I could play with you all night.”

  “Only if we take a break for chocolate cake.” She leans forward and I cup her breasts, kneading them in my hands while she kisses me senseless.

  “As beautiful as you look in this.” I slip my fingers under the straps of her bra and slide them off her shoulders. “I want what’s underneath.”

  She kisses me again and I unhook her bra, freeing her breasts from their cage. I lick around her nipples, sucking them into my mouth to feel them tighten on my tongue. Her hips rock faster against me. My release coils at the base of my spine. Too soon. I use my hands on her hips to still her movement.

  She wiggles and the sensation coaxes a groan from my throat. “I want to move.”

  “Then put me inside you.” I tug her panties to the side and she grips me in her hand, guiding me into her burning heat, she slowly lowers herself around me.

  At the first of the year Rowan and I went to the clinic and got tested and got Rowan on the pill. A few weeks later we made love for the first time with nothing between us. I had no clue how fucking great sex could be when you have it with someone you love, trust, and without a single barrier between you. We’ve been fucking like monkey’s ever since and I swear making love to Ro just gets better every time.

  Our tongues lash together, my hands free to roam and play with her tits, her ass, or tangle in her hair. With her hips she alternates between slow, drawn out waves, circling, and deep thrusts that leave me breathless and panting into her mouth. When she finds the perfect angle she throws her head back sending a curtain of wavy hair to cascade down her spine. I sit up, grip hold of it, fist hard, and pull down. The long column of her throat flows into her smooth chest, full bouncing tits, and down the flat planes of her belly to where we’re connected. I watch as she takes me in and out of her body, the delicate lace triangle pushed aside to reveal the sweet prize underneath. The lean muscles of her thighs grip my hips and look pale against my naturally darker skin. My abs flex with every upward thrust, and our bodies move together creating art better than any masterpiece.

  The visual is too much. I tried to hold off as long as I could, but watching my dick get swallowed up by Rowan’s delicate body has me teetering on the edge.

  “I’m close,” I manage to say through clenched teeth.

  She slams down on me hard. “Don’t stop.”

  “Fuck.” I shift my weight, pick her up and press her back to the bed. With one hand planted, and the other on her breast, I pick up my pace. With a tilt of my hips I manage to find the sweetest combination that has her moaning my name.

  “Kiss me,” she says frantically.

  I know what that means.

  The second my lips meet hers she shatters in my arms. Her muscles tense and I swallow her cries of ecstasy as her orgasm rocks through her. I hiss as she clamps down around me in a pulsing grip that shoves me over the edge with blinding speed.

  I bury my face in her neck and growl like the animal she brings out in me. “You’re fucking mine, you hear me?”

  “Yes,” she says breathlessly. “I’m yours.”

  Fresh off an orgasm, I know she’s sensitive, but I can’t stop moving inside her. Rowan Campbell is my addiction.

  Her hands slide through my hair and she kisses me slowly, calming me until I’m spent and collapse in her arms. I nuzzle her neck, kiss the mark I left on her earlier, and tell her for the millionth time how much I fucking love her.

  “I love you too.”

  I freeze and tilt my head, afraid to ask for clarification for fear I misheard.

  “I do. I love you.”

  I pull back to get her eyes and find them shining up at me along with a radiant smile. “You love me.”

  She nods.

  I feel a strange sensation in my eyes. A dry burning that has me blinking r
apidly. My heart pounds to the beat of the million butterflies in my gut.

  “I’m sorry it took me so long to say it.”

  I roll to her side, grab her hand and press it to my chest. “You feel that? You’re the only person who has ever made my heart race with three little words.”

  “We’re actually doing this, aren’t we?” She tilts her head up to get my eyes. “Boyfriend, girlfriend, telling each other we love each other. This is real.”

  “Fuck yeah it’s real. Most real thing I’ve ever felt.” I place a kiss on her head. “And I’m proud as shit to be your man.”

  She laughs and hugs me close.

  My stomach lets out a fierce growl.

  She peeks up at me, her eyebrows lifted high. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “What? It’s been like…” I check the clock on my desk. “Forty-five minutes since we ate.”

  “You ate enough food to feed five people!”

  “I worked it off by working you over.”

  She sighs and pushes to get off the bed. “You really do have a bottomless stomach.” She finds my shirt, slips it on, and buttons it up.

  I put my hands behind my head enjoying the view.

  “Come on,” she says, throwing me my boxer briefs. “Get up so I can feed you.”

  I stare at the creamy cleavage on display at the v of my shirt and lick my lips.

  She shakes her head with a sly grin. “Chocolate cake first.”

  “Deal.” I pop out of bed, slip on my underwear, and take Rowan’s hand. “Let’s go.”

  We head downstairs and turn the corner into the kitchen to find all four of my roommates with plates full of Rowan’s pot roast. Four sets of eyes come my way, but they’re not looking at me. Every single one of them is checking out Ro. Half with their eyes on her legs, half with their eyes on her chest.

  “Oh good, you guys found the leftovers,” she says happily and practically skips to the fridge while five sets of eyes follow her there. Damn, even her perky little ass is obvious behind my shirt that hits above her knee. “I made enough chocolate cake for everyone. I hope you guys aren’t full yet.” She turns out of the refrigerator with a big plate that has a dome on it. She sets it down and lifts the dome, the sweet scent of chocolate permeating the air.

  Every single one of these assholes is still staring dumbly at Rowan. “You motherfuckers,” I say and I slide between her and the guys, closing the very top button of my shirt at her throat.

  One of them coughs behind me with a muttered, “Lucky prick.”

  Another one grumbles, “No shit.”

  Let them eat their hearts out.

  “Did you make all that food for them, babe?”

  Her smile is proud and confident. “I did. They’re growing boys.”

  “Yeah, well they’re looking at you and they’re probably growing in places that’ll get their arms broken if we don’t get out of here soon. So let me cut some cake and we’ll finish it upstairs”

  Her eyes fire. “Sounds messy.”

  I take two handfuls of her ass and squeeze. “Oh, it will be.”

  One of the guys behind me groans. “Fuck, I’m horny.”

  That was Spider.

  “We better hurry,” Rowan says.

  I grab two plates, lob off two enormous slices of cake, and race back to my room where I eat mine off my girlfriends body before I eat her on her new desk.

  That night as I lie in bed with my woman asleep in my arms I think about how most people consider love to be a gentle, fragile emotion. Songs and poetry paint love to be what we search for our entire lives and risk to lose easily.

  I don’t see it that way.

  For me, love is ruthless. It doesn’t consider my plans or ideals. Love stalks its prey. It’s a shotgun to the chest, a battering ram that brakes all my defenses, and leaves me breathless for more.

  Also by JB Salsbury

  The Fighting Series

  Fighting for Flight

  Fighting to Forgive

  Fighting to Forget

  Fighting the Fall

  A Father’s Fight

  Fighting for Forever

  Fighting Fate

  Fighting for Honor

  The Final Fight

  Uncaged: A Fighting for Flight Short

  Jack & Sadie

  The Mercy Series

  Ghostgirl

  Saint

  Standalone Novels

  Split

  Wrecked

  Love, Hate, & Rock-n-Roll Series

  Playing by Heart

  Skipped a Beat

  A Note from the Author

  Thank you for reading.

  Breaking Defenses is a novella I whipped together for the holidays as a gift to my readers and fans of the Fighting series. If this is your first JB Salsbury book, and you’re interested in reading about some of the side characters you encountered in this story, I encourage you to start at the beginning.

  Fighting for Flight is Jonah and Raven’s story, Carey’s parents.

  If you loved reading the scenes with Carey’s sister Sadie and her husband Jack, check out Jack & Sadie. Their story is a stand alone novel.

  In the future I plan to write Kaipo, Levi, Loren, and Spider’s stories as well. I fell in love when them as I was writing them and would enjoy giving them their own HEAs as well as check in on Carey and Rowan.

  If you enjoyed this book I would love for you to review it on your preferred book distribution site, Goodreads, or Bookbub.

  All my love,

  xo JB

  About the Author

  JB Salsbury is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband, two sassy daughters, and her boxer dogs.

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  Her love of good storytelling led her to earn a degree in Media Communications. With her journalistic background, writing has always been at the forefront, and her love of romance propelled her career as an author.

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  She spends the majority of her day behind the computer where a world of battling alphas, budding romance, and impossible obstacles claws away at her subconscious and begs to be released to the page.

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  For more information on

  her books, or just to say hello, visit JB on her website, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

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  http://www.jbsalsbury.com/