Flame Thrower by Alice Wade

tell me why. Who did this to you? Who gave you those lashes?” he argued and leaned closer, inches from her succulent lips. He used his seduction as a lure to get her to submit. He failed. He watched as she bit her lower lip between her teeth and then looked away in despair.
    “I don’t know who did this to me.”
    Seeing he caused her this sorrow, Ryan collected her into his arms and held her tightly to his chest. He nearly crushed her under his weight but didn’t, carefully cradling her instead. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to push you.”
    She fell apart in that embrace and wept gut-wrenching sobs that tore at his heart while he cradled her in his arms. Their intimate time together would come at another moment. For now, he was content to shelter her in his arms and try to make her healing journey a little less painful. In that moment, Ryan knew the answer to the question Wallace wanted him to explore. Without a doubt, Ryan knew he loved her and wouldn’t give her up for anyone.
    He was so distracted by his own thoughts that he missed where Tillian’s hand was traveling. Ryan nearly jumped off the bed when her tiny hand found his throbbing erection and slowly, very tentatively began rubbing its length. He growled in her ear as he trembled at her touch. “Tillian, don’t.”
    “Love me, Ryan. Show me you don’t think I’m tainted,” she mumbled through her sobs. “I need to feel I’m not ruined.”
    Ryan released another agonizing sound, kissing her sweetly. He poured all his feeling into that contact while she continued to caress him. The sensation tumbled Ryan into a state that he knew there was no turning back from unless he put a stop to this. He was going to do something very stupid and soon. “Tillian, please, I need–” His words were cut off when Tillian began to unbutton his breeches.
    Enough of this!
Ryan flew off the bed and prowled the room, trying to gather his composure. He dragged his hands through his hair and then clasped them behind his neck while he tried to calm his racing heart. She drove him beyond all boundaries and he was on the cusp of falling into the chasm of her desire. He either walked away now and explained it to her in the morning, or he returned to that bed and ravaged her until dawn. He knew what his body wanted to do, but was it right?
    It was her voice that shattered his thoughts. “Am I so repulsive?” she whispered, trying to hide the hurt layered there, but failed.
    That brought him back to the bed where he kneeled on the planked floor to capture her face in his hands. “You must stop, Tillian. I need you and can barely control my desire. Please, no more touching and no more talk of being tainted. You must realize just how badly you are tempting me.” His voice strained as badly as his breeches did, but his touch was gentle on her face.
    “I’m burning with need myself as a result of those damn drugs, but that’s not all it. I need you, too. I’m offering myself tonight, so are you rejecting me?”
    He saw the fear flash in her stunning eyes and it was like an arrow straight through his heart. She felt ruined and he wasn’t helping.
    “No, not rejecting you. Never that. Delaying is a better word. Sweet Princess, you have been through a horrific ordeal and I’ll not do this tonight. I can’t do that to you. What is it you need of me that does not involve me ravaging your body until dawn? Whatever that is, I’ll give it. ”
    Tillian let out one tortured sob and looked away; her need to be set free overwhelmed her at the moment since he’d set off her inner fire with his kisses. She needed him to finish what he started and she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.
    “Tillian?” Ryan’s concern grew. While he watched, she slid back into her dangerous state of mind. It wasn’t where he wanted her mind to go and he panicked.
    “I need you to ease this pain; set me free,” she finally choked out in an emotional rush.
    Damn
. It was