He stops me in mid sentence by grasping my hand he’sholding in one of his and lifting the other to put his finger on my lips. For a moment, his eyes hold mine captive and I see several emotions move through them before they drop to my lips. “Say it again.”
Lifting my hand from his chest, I softly wrap my fingers around his wrist and pull his hand down. His finger slides off my lips and I softly say it again. “Brana.”
His eyes watch my lips before he looks back up and my heart pitter patters in my chest. The icy blue pools of his eyes lock on mine like he can see right into my soul and, for the first time in my life, I feel sparks. The finger that was just on my lips slides along my jaw, his thumb grazes the edge of my bottom lip.
“Lepa?” The deep timbre of his voice is soft and moves over me like a caress.
“Yeah.” I whisper.
“I want to kiss you, can I kiss you?”
My stomach flips and I swear my heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest. “Yes.” It’s a whisper, but my breaths are coming so fast that I don’t think I could talk normally if I tried.
He doesn’t hesitate, his lips are on mine, warm and soft. He releases my hand and his arm snakes around my waist, pressing me to his hard front, his large hand flat on my back. His tongue slowly glides across my lips, and I open to let him in.
I’m surrounded by the smell of leather and soap. I feel my nipples pebble and I wonder if he can feel that through our t-shirts, I should be embarrassed, but I’m not. It feels good to be pressed against him.
His other hand moves to my nape, his thumb softly moving across the skin under my ear, making goose pimples pop up all over. Flickers of the dream I just had an hour ago play in my head and little sparks explode throughout mycenter.
Is this what other women talk about? My body feels like it’s waking up for the first time. Is this what I’ve been missing out on? Holy hell, I’ve got sparks for the first time in my life.
My palms inch up his chest, the muscles hard under my touch, and I feel the planes and dips of each one as I slide my hands over his shoulders to the back of his neck.
He doesn’t just kiss me, his lips are claiming mine, slowly and thoroughly. His tongue dances a slow dance with mine that wakes up every nerve ending in my body. I’ve never felt this kind of attraction before, this kind of response to another person. I want all of him and I want him to want all of me.
That one thought crashes through my euphoria and sends my next thoughts into a spiral. He’s known so many experienced women. Women that didn’t require him holding their hand at every turn. Why would he want me for anything more than…
My heart clenches and I pull away, breaking the kiss, and my hands squeeze the muscle at the base of his neck. His arm tightens around my waist as his gaze roams my face, taking in each line before he looks into my eyes. He lets go of my neck and his thumb slides along the line between my eyebrows.
“If you want me to let you go, I will, but I would rather ease whatever put this worry in your beautiful eyes.”
The ache of each beat of my heart makes my eyes sting. “I can’t…” I stutter and take a deep breath to try again. “I don’t know how…” I take another deep, frustrated breath.
He shakes his head once and softly grips my jaw, his grip soft but dominant. “Slowly, lepa.” Take a breath. “You’re in charge here, take your time.”
The thought rushes out on a breath, and I hate myself for feeling so inferior. “I don’t have the experience you are used to with other women.”
For half a second, he freezes, and his eyebrows pinchbefore his eyes move over my face. The hand gripping my jaw slides down until his long fingers are wrapped around my neck, his thumb is setting on the space between my collarbones. “I did not know you were coming. I cannot change my past, but I will never want to change even one thing about you. Everything about you is beautiful to me, inside and out.”
“Došao si bez upozorenja. Imao si moje srce pre nego što sam i pomislio rec ne.” [You came without warning. You had my heart before I could even think the word no]
My heart melts. “What did you just say?”
His lips brush mine again, it’s soft and swift, and then his gaze moves over my face. “I said not to worry. I will show you how much you mean to me.”
He pulls me into a hug, his powerful arms squeeze my torso, and I bury my nose in his neck, inhaling his scent. We stand there like that for several moments before he pulls back and cups my face in his hands, kissing my forehead.
Another deep breath slides across my skin, his nose is only inches from mine. “Go to bed, lepa, get some rest and I will see you in the morning.”
Taking a step away from him, the cool breeze whisks away the shared warmth between us, and I immediately miss his heat. His gaze holds mine as I take another step back and then I turn to go back to my room.
So, I can toss and turn the rest of the night.
CHAPTER TWELVE
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO
Bela Palanka, Serbia
