“Yeah?”
“We don’t have to do this,” I say. “If you?—”
“Do you want me, Rowan?” she asks, her eyes exuding a confidence and sensuality that I have never seen on her before. It’s as terrifying as it is stunning.
“Yes,” I rasp
“Then are you going to take me inside?” Natalia asks quietly, almost shy. Like she’s worried I might say no.
“Are you sure?”
Instead of replying with words, Natalia opens the door and slips out of the car. As she walks toward my front door, my eyes drink in the soft curves of her body. The flare of her hips, the narrow dip of her waist, the thickness of her thighs, her slender arms, the sway of her curls.
Fuck, I’m already hard. My hand wraps around the steering wheel as she reaches the front door and turns, leaning back against it.
My eyes nearly roll back when I see her there—her hands behind her back, her teeth in her lip, her big, round hazel eyes, the top swells of her breasts from her corset. Natalia bats her lashes in question and I release the wheel, my hand aching as I slip out of my car.
“I thought you were going to change your mind,” she purrs, her head tilting further back with each step I take.
“I would never change my mind about you,” I rasp, finally towering over her, close enough to hear her breath.
“Then kiss me,” she dares with her siren eyes.
My hand comes around her jaw and her back presses against the door as my lips crash into hers, our tongues at war, and the only thing I can think is:
Finally.
CHAPTER 9
Natalia
Imake the mistake of letting him press me into the front door, my back thudding against the thick wood as his hand curls around my nape.
Rowan is going to destroy me if I let him, so I have to beat him to it.
My hands explore his torso, the firmness beneath his shirt and the ridges I feel beneath my fingertips, telling me what is waiting underneath.
“If you don’t want this, tell me now,” he pants. “Because I won’t be able to stop once I take you inside, Natalia.”
“Take me inside, Rowan,” I whisper.
“Natalia…”
“What?” I groan, rolling my eyes and bringing his lips back to mine, already obsessed with the soft feel of his lips molding to mine.Made for my lips.The idea of that is enough to send me spiraling.
I thought he would reject me when I asked to take a picture together. Truthfully, I don’t know what made me ask in the firstplace. Maybe it was the pink wine I shared with the girls that emboldened me, but when he questioned me, I didn’t have an answer, so I shut down.
I’ve been rejecting him for years, so it’s not fair of me to be so hurt over something that felt vaguely close to rejection.
But after tonight,thisis all it will be between us. It has to be.
“Are you sure?” I love that he asks.
“Stop that,” I grit. “I’m a grown woman. I’m saying yes. If I say no then it’s no, but I’m saying yes.Take me inside and finish what you started.”
I know I’ve struck a nerve when his mouth slams over mine, teeth clashing before his tongue delves into my mouth, tangling with my own. The door opens behind me, but his arm around my waist and I don’t fall back. He bends, his hands coming to the backs of my thighs as he lifts me off the ground, my legs wrapping around his broad body.
I tug at his hair, undo and discard the stupid orange handkerchief around his throat, and lick my way down his now-exposed neck as he kicks the door closed.
