“What is it?”
“What? What do you mean?” I stammer. Can he tell I’d been having a sex dream about him? With him? That I asked him to claim me and take my virginity?
“You’re flushed.” His eyes dip from mine to my face, and my hands touch my face. It’s hot to the touch. I’m not surprised. The dream I was having was hot. But I can’t tell him that. I try to shrug it off or try to, at least, while playing it cool.
“I’m just tired.”
“If you don’t feel well—" he starts, pulling me into his arms instead of pushing me away.
“If I weren’t well, you really shouldn’t hug me,” I note, and his lips, god, up close like this, I love the shape of his lips.
His top one is a little thinner than the bottom one. Barly peeking through the full but neatly trimmed beard. Looking at his mouth reminds me of that kiss last night and makes me ache for more. Just like the all-too-real dream I just woke up from.
“Germs,” I blurt out, and his fight to hold back his grin is lost. I swear I never understood the term of basking in someone’s beauty, but right there and then, I get it. “If I were sick, you should be worried about germs and not getting all close, because, you know… you wouldn’t want to get those, umm, germs.”
“You’re really freaking cute when you’re nervous, you know?”
“I’m not nervous,” I whisper.
“What were you dreaming about?” he asks. His eyes dip to my lips, and I swear my mouth goes bone dry.
“Nada. I mean nothing. I wasn’t dreaming at all. I was just, umm… totally knocked out,” I lie, and I know he knows it too. That only makes me blush further.
“You sure you’re up for hanging? If not, I can order takeout and?—"
“I’m sure. You’re dressed so nice and you planned out a date. Please. Just wait for me,” I plead, loving the way his eyes soften the way they do when he looks at me.
“I’d wait forever for you, baby.”Baby.That little term of endearment is sweet, and the more I hear it from his mouth, the more I like it. He kisses my forehead. His lips linger, and my breath hitches. I look up at him. His eyes meet mine head on.
“Stella,” he warns, and I shiver. My skin rises with goose bumps.
“Eli…”
“What is it, baby?” he asks as his head starts to drop slowly to be in front of mine.
“Eli, can, umm…” How do women do this? Just ask for what they want, or better yet, take it? Why am I the one who is clueless at twenty-five?
“What is it, baby?”
“Can you kiss me?” I ask quickly. The hand he has on my waist digs in. But I don’t feel self-conscious about him feeling my softness or love handles. If anything, I feel sexy. Needed. Wanted.
His breathing is labored, and he grunts as his lips drop to mine and they touch for a quick moment before he pulls away. I look at him. Confused and unsteady. Maybe it’s a combination of waking up abruptly after that dream and seeing the man in front of me, but a thought washes over me.
Why can’t I take what I want for once?Something in me, my control, breaks. Without a second thought, I move into him, my hands on his shoulders, and pull him toward me. He moves and gives me exactly what I want. Something deep inside me, under my skin and in my heart, knows he always will.
His hand cups the back of my head, and we kiss. This time, it’s not sweet and tender, nor gentle. It’s rough and passionate. Hungry. Teeth scrape, hands paw at one another. I have no idea how, but I find myself undoing the buttons of his shirt, and when I get to the third to last one, his hand covers my wrist. Our eyes lock, and I still completely. His dark eyes smolder with an intense focus as his chest heaves shallowly.
“I want this more than you know,” he says, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “But I won’t be rushed. Not the first time especially, not only because it’s your first time but ours together.”
“Eli,” I whisper a plea. I feel like my entire body is on fire and almost shaking with this need. A need I know he’ll take care of.
His hand directs mine lower, moving down the rock-hard planes of his chest, down to his abs that flex and contract at my touch. He doesn’t stop until my hand isthere. Right over a very hard bulge that seems like a snake coiled up and waiting to be freed. I swallow hard. Because I might be a total and utter newbie at all of this, but even I know he is a lot bigger than your average Joe.
“You feel that?” he asks darkly. “Feel how you get me on edge, Stella?”
“El—"
“This is all for you. You did this. I haven’t felt like this about a woman. Ever. Not once in my life. Only you.”
