“Depends.If I say yes, will you keep stripping in order to cool off?”
“I was planning on doing that anyway.”Sure enough, his trousers followed his shirt.
“Set it how you like.I can always snuggle up to you if I get too cold.”
“True.”As if the last few minutes of conversation had never happened.He sank onto the pristine white bed in his navy boxer briefs.
“Spook.You never answered me.Is this going anywhere?”
Settled upon the pillows, back against the headboard, he looked at her.“Did anybody ever mention how pushy you are?I told you; one step at a time, one day at a time.I like you Allegra Hutton.You make me want things no one else has made me want in a very long time, but if you push too hard…”
He’d end it.It wasn’t necessary for him to say it aloud.She needed to curb her ambitions, remember this wasn’t a race, and what she wanted wasn’t dependant on how quickly it was achieved.
“Stop sulking, and come here and kiss me.”
“I’m not sulking.”She was feeling stupid.“And do you even really want me to?”
“Allegra, I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.I’m not Xane, or Ash, or even Paul.I don’t do random hook-ups.I’m here because there’s something between us I’m willing to explore.I get that you’re a step on from that, but that doesn’t mean we won’t end up in the same place eventually.Now, come on.Vest and panties.”He patted the mattress.“Let’s enjoy this moment together, and stop thinking about where it might lead.”
When she hesitated, Spook held out his hand to her.“I really want to hold you.Are you going to deny me that?I thought you wanted me.”
She did, and she was only hurting herself by not accepting the affection freely offered.
He had told her it would take him time to open up to this…them, but as usual, she was in a rush, desperate to push ahead, stride forward and show the world what she’d accomplished.But Spook was a person, not a mountain.The goal wasn’t to come first, or to plant a flag.She wasn’t winning a contract.Relationships were about longevity, not how fast you could hit the sack.
When Alle climbed onto the bed, Spook pulled her on top of him and kissed her in a slow, intimate way.She expected him to roll her onto her side after a moment and to settle her against his shoulder so that he could hold her and stretch her resilience out to breaking point again.Every moment with him seemed to consist of that same forwards and backwards dance.However, that wasn’t how it played out at all.
Where she anticipated angst, he was instead playful and relaxed, fingers tweaking her clothing and then dancing away.His lips brushed her skin, tongue flicking against sensitive zones in a way that left her buzzing, and fighting back in the same tantalizing fashion.Holding him like this felt so easy, devoid of the usual undercurrent of tension.Perhaps that was the point he was making.They needed to learn how to be together in a relaxed way.Certainly, it was a joy to hold him, kiss him, touch him all over, without constantly anticipating him having a panic attack.
Only when she nipped the delicate bit of skin beneath his navel did the mood shift.
“Ouch.Bad girl.What are you, a vampire?”He flipped her onto her stomach across his lap and gave her a light smack across the backside.Nothing really meaningful.It wasn’t painful, or even particularly firm.Nevertheless, a squeak of pleasure left her mouth and her heart rate instantly trebled.She kicked playfully.“Again.”
But, Spook froze, hand against the back of her knickers where he’d just struck like he could lift the imprint of his hand back off her skin.
“I deserve—” she began.
“Sh..sh-shhh!”he quietened her, palm still frozen.
“I did consort—”
“Sh!”
“Spook?”
“Quiet now.”He rubbed a two fingered circle over her cheek, then peeled down her underwear so that they sat stretched across the very top of her thighs.Prone across him, Alle could feel the tightening of his muscles in his abs and the thickening of his arousal.His mouth was open, his breathing shallow.
Unable to help herself, Alle arched her back, so that her rear was pushed up towards him.
A soft groan split the air.Over her shoulder, she watched Spook’s clever fingers weave a dance into the air above her skin, like he was playing with her aura, or reading it though some mystical means she wasn’t privy to.He was wearing rings, and even though he wasn’t touching her, the sensation of the metal, skin-warmed and smooth, she felt as keenly as his caresses.
Breathless, Alle waited.Would he crack?Would he do this?It would bring them both pleasure, he knew that, so that couldn’t be the thing holding him back.Fifty heartbeats later, his palm settled against her skin, bringing with it the promise of heat and wakening tingles in the secret places of her body.
What war was he was waging in his head?Asking, she feared, would break the spell.She hardly dared breathe, let alone speak, or even risk looking back over her shoulder at him.Instead, she kept her focus fixed on the herringbone pattern of the duvet cover.Her nerves were taut, stretched almost to breaking point when his palm finally connected with her flesh.The anticipation had been drawn out for so long, that the thwack caught her by surprise, jolting a fiery exclamation from her.
“You know that’s not the correct response,” he admonished.
“Thank you,” she bleated.
