Virtuous(58)

“Tell me to stop, at any point. Just say stop, and it’s game off.”

“Okay.”

He looks at me for a long, intense moment, his eyes burning with desire and affection and so many other things I can’t begin to process. And then he takes possession of my mouth. There is no other word for it than possession. Complete and utter possession. As his tongue strokes against mine, the fire ignites the way it did before, and I’m carried away in a sea of heat and desire.

He fists a handful of my hair to keep me anchored in place, but he doesn’t touch me anywhere else yet. This is all about lips and tongues and teeth and raw, desperate need. His leg sneaks between mine as his hand moves down my back to pull me in closer to him, so close my sex is pressed tight against his muscular leg.

I squirm to get even closer, to gain relief from the ache between my legs. Every part of me wants every part of him, which is a startling discovery for someone who has avoided any contact with men for the last eight years. But all he does is kiss me and kiss me and kiss me until my lips are tingling and my lungs are about to burst.

When I can no longer deny the need for air, I break the kiss and suck in greedy deep breaths as he turns his attention to my neck. The plane hits a bump that knocks us out of the sensual haze we’ve slipped into. He raises his head to meet my gaze and smiles at me. I love that smile. It’s so sexy and potent. I could look at it all day and never get tired of seeing it.

“How’re you doing?” His gaze is so tender, so totally focused on me.

“Great. You?”

“Never been better.”

I snort out a rather unladylike laugh. “Sure you haven’t.”

“Nat.”

“Hmm?”

“Look at me.”

I do as he asks, and what I see there… God. All of that for me.

“I’ve never been better than I am in this moment with you.”

Though it’s against my better judgment and my inner cynic is crying out to be heard, I believe him. Whether that will prove to be a mistake remains to be seen. “Do you think we could…”

“What, sweetheart? What do you want to do?”

“I’m feeling kind of warm in this sweater.” I wore a black sweater with a skirt to school that day, hoping I’d look sophisticated enough to take this trip of a lifetime after school.

His gaze shifts to my chest. I can almost tell he’s trying to gauge whether I have anything on under it. I don’t, except for a bra, of course. “Do you want me to do something about the cabin temperature?”

I shake my head.

“Natalie… I want to do the right thing here. If we start taking clothes off, it’s going to get even warmer in here.”

I can hear the torture and inner turmoil he’s struggling with in his tone. It’s much more rigid than normal, as are the muscles that are pressed against me. He’s waiting for some sign from me about what’s going to happen. Reaching for the hem of my sweater, I pull it up and over my head. I’m left in only the black bra I wore under it.

“God, you’re beautiful, and that was about the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Once again my first thought is that can’t possibly be true, but I keep it to myself this time. I want to believe him so badly. I want to believe in him. I dip my hand under his sweater and encounter the warm skin underneath. “Take yours off, too.”

After a slight hesitation, he complies.

I love the way his chest hair feels against my skin. My eyes close as I take a moment to enjoy the simple pleasure that comes from being close to him this way. It fills a void inside me I didn’t know existed until him.

“Could I ask you something?” he says after a long period of silence.

“Of course you can.” Whether I’ll answer is another matter.

“Has there been anyone since that happened?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“I feel like the luckiest bastard in the world that you’ve chosen to be with me this way. But I’m also so scared of doing something to upset you. I can’t bear to see you cry again. That killed me.”

“I’m sorry about that—”

“No,” he says, kissing me softly, “don’t apologize, baby. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re beautiful and perfect in every way. I feel like you’ve given me a priceless gift by letting me in, and I want to be so careful with you. But then you kiss me, and I forget all about being careful.”