Free Warriors of Ryon: Bayden by S.K. Yule

me?” she asked while folding her arms across her chest.
    He took a step closer. “I can give you pleasure. I can even give you kindness and respect, but I can’t give you forever.”
    She rolled her eyes. “Does every man on the face of the planet—planets—think that every unattached woman wants forever?”
    He scrunched his brows. “Ones like you do.”
    “Like me? Hmm.” She tapped her chin. Did he just compliment me? Not wanting to get off subject, she let it go. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean by that, but for now, I’ll leave it.” She stuck her pointer finger in the air and started ticking off facts. “First of all, I have no grand design on you. I’m attracted to you, but we haven’t known one another for long. Second, I won’t deny that I enjoy spending time with you, but that doesn’t mean I’m longing for you to sweep me off my feet and ask me to marry you. Third, as far as you not being able to give me what I need? I’m not even sure what I need.”
    “Ellie, I—”
    “No! Since that damn meteor wiped out my home, I’ve had no childish fantasies about a knight in shining armor riding in on a white horse to rescue me. Any dreams I once had of meeting a man and falling in love died along with everything else I loved. I have no preconceived notion about what type of man I need. Honestly? I don’t need a man at all. But if I was to meet one that I was interested in for more than friendship, I can only say that I’d wish for the basics—love loyalty, respect, and companionship.”
    She studied him, taking in the sincerity of his face.
    Then it hit her. He 100 percent believed what he said. He hadn’t been making excuses or telling her lies to brush her off. He truly thought he wasn’t good enough for her. How could he possibly think that?
    She hadn’t tucked away to memory any grand list of needs or wants where men were concerned. She wanted Bayden, even if it didn’t work out between them. If getting to know him, even falling in love with him, came with the risk that things wouldn’t work out between them, she didn’t care. She’d rather take that chance than go the rest of her life wondering what if.
    I guess it’s up to me now . She rose to her toes and wound her arms around his neck. He pulled back, but she tightened her hold, refusing to let him go.
    “Ellie.” He growled.
    “Growl all you want, Bayden. It only excites me more.”
    He sucked in a sharp breath.
    She attacked his mouth with a fervor she didn’t know she possessed. Life had been too precarious as of late to waste time on trivialities.
    She trailed her tongue over his full lips and nipped at the bottom one. After a few seconds, he finally let out a low, tortured groan and returned the kiss. She reveled in the feel of him, the clean scent of him. He wrapped his arms around her and tumbled her to the couch. His weight felt delicious on her, and she spread her legs wide to cradle his hips between them. When his hardness pressed against her, a small ping of alarm shot through her body. It’d been a long time since she’d made love to a man, and he was bigger than anyone she’d been with.
    His tongue danced with hers, and he pushed his hand under her shirt and cupped her breast. He found her nipple unhindered by a bra and rolled the hardening peak between his fingers. She moaned and strained to get closer to him. Her body started to catch fire, the flame stoked as he rocked against her. The thrusting of his tongue in her mouth matched the thrusting of his hips against the part of her that yearned for him most.
    “I ache with wanting you, Ellie.” His breaths came hot and hard against her ear.
    He was wild, but his rough hands certainly didn’t hurt her. In fact, she felt small, conquered, but also empowered that she was able to give this huge man pleasure.
    “Then take me.” He ripped her shirt down the middle, and she squeaked, barely able to stop from covering her bared breasts with her