His Reverie (Reverie #1)(56)

“Yeah?” I say because my brain has gone blank, what with the way she’s looking at me like she wants to gobble me up.

She nods and bites her lower lip as she tilts her head. “I’m glad you’re here with me, Nick. I’ve missed you.” That she’s brave enough to admit that fuels me. And reminds me that lately she’s the bold one.

And I like it.

We turn toward each other at the same time and I pull her to me, her arms wrapped tight around my neck as she presses her face against my shoulder. “I don’t like being away from you,” she murmurs. “I was so scared you were mad at me. That you didn’t want to see me again.”

Sighing, I hold her close and smooth my hand over her head, playing with her braid. “I was never mad at you. It’s just…I hate the differences between us. That’s all.”

“There’s nothing wrong with differences, right?”

“We come from different worlds.” I pause and swallow hard. “I’m not worthy of you.”

She pulls away from me slightly so our gazes meet. Emotion swirls in the blue depths as she glares. “Don’t you dare ever say that again,” she says firmly, sounding angry. “I hate it when you compare us like that.”

“It can’t be helped.” I sound as helpless as I feel. “It’s a cold hard fact you need to face.”

“No. I refuse to.” She shakes her head and releases her grip on me, only to shove at my shoulders, the back of my knees hitting the edge of the mattress before I fall back on my butt onto the bed. “Tonight, we’re going to concentrate on nothing else but each other.”

I lay sprawled on the mattress, fascinated when she remains standing at the foot of the bed, right in between my legs. I prop myself up on my elbows so I can see her better and I eat her up with my gaze, how her curves are just a shadow hiding under the billowing fabric of her nighty, those long, sexy legs of hers calling to me. Making me want to grab her and beg her to wrap them around me.

I’m about to encourage her to join me when I hear her whisper my name and I lift my head, my gaze meeting hers. All the oxygen escapes my lungs as she slowly lowers those flimsy little straps off her shoulders, letting them fall to the crook of her elbows before she shrugs completely out of them. The nightgown falls to the ground in a whisper of fabric, revealing her to my gaze.

“Fuck,” I whisper hoarsely. I can’t look away. Reverie is standing before me in a pair of white panties and that’s it. Like she’s some sort of gift, a sacrificial offering just for me.

Only for me.

She’s trembling. I can see it. “I want you,” she says, her voice shaking. “So much.”

“Baby…” I let my voice trail off, overwhelmed by the conflicting emotions swirling within me, and what she wants me to do. I want to do it too. So bad it’s killing me not to reach out and grab her right now. Push her onto the mattress, pin her beneath me and f**k her until we’re both screaming each other’s names.

But I can’t do that. We’ve fooled around, but she’s still a virgin. I gotta take it slow and make it right. She deserves more than a casual screw. She’s worth more than that.

Way more.

“I know we shouldn’t be together like this, locked away in my room. I know it’s a sin, what I want to do with you.” She licks her lips, leaving them damp, and I bite back the groan that wants to escape. “But how can something that feels so good between two people who care for each other be so wrong?”

I have no answer. I’m sure she hears all the time about sin and going against the word of God. She’s conflicted and I can sort of understand why. Again her feelings compared to mine reveal just how differently we were raised.

Reverie presses her lips together and briefly closes her eyes, as if searching for strength. She wraps her arms around her front, covering her chest and I wonder if she’s embarrassed. Maybe even regretting what she’s just done. “I’m falling in love with you, Nicholas,” she admits softly. “I know it’s probably happening much too soon but I can’t help the way I feel.”

Ah, damn. Her confession is exactly what I wasn’t looking for. Loving her will only end up hurting us both. I know it. She probably knows it too though she’d never admit it.

“Say something,” she whispers after a few minutes of silence. She sounds scared.

“I want you too,” I immediately answer, sitting up so I can reach for her. My words are a copout but I can’t say I love her. Not yet. I feel too raw, too vulnerable yet I’m not the one standing practically naked declaring my feelings for someone like Reverie is.

Christ, I’m such an ass**le.

She drops her arms as I grasp her hips and pull her to me, pressing my face against her soft belly. I kiss her there, just above her navel, and her body trembles beneath my lips. I can smell her, feel her, and all I want to do is make her mine.

All mine.

She thrusts her fingers into my hair, holding me to her almost desperately. As if she’s afraid I might run away. “You touch me and I want to die. You don’t touch me and I want to die. My feelings for you confuse me so much. It…scares me. You scare me in the best way possible.”

“You scare me too,” I admit. “You walked into my life and turned it completely upside down.”