“Of this?” He pulled back and frowned. “Akiss?”
It might sound absurd when he said it like that, but they couldn’t all be wrong, could they? Mama and Isaiah, Hamish and the other folks?
And was this really just akiss? That hardly seemed possible.
She couldn’t think straight with the smell of him so close. Like nothing she’d experienced, it was heady and intriguing, and all she could think wasThis is what a real man smells like.
“What happens, over there, if you do something sinful?”
“You’re punished.”
“By who? God or the man who leads the Church?”
Weren’t they one and the same? “Guess I’m not sure anymore.”
“We shouldn’t do this, then,” he said, running the back of his hand over her cheek and behind her ear, where his fingers sifted through her hair. She couldn’t help but lean into his touch. “I don’t want to hurt you, Abby.” He sounded tortured. Was this the punishment—this strange, frenzied fluttering, this agony of need? “I’ve never…I’ve never been with someone like you.”
“Someone like me?”
“Innocente.” The word, his accent, the strain of his voice—all of it built and built until she could barely breathe. Her lungs were so full, she’d die if something didn’t ease the pressure.
Tell me it’s wrong, she prayed.Show me a sign.
“Just ’cause I haven’t done things doesn’t mean I haven’t thought of them,” she admitted.
With a growl, he dipped his head and kissed her, and Abby didn’t stand a chance against that kiss. No, it was so much more than a kiss, drawing at parts of her body that shouldn’t be connected to her lips. And not just her lips, but her tongue and teeth, her nose, her face, all of it prey to that mouth and those callused hands. It came together in a mixed-up cloud of confusing sensation she’d never even fathomed. She’d never been so aware of herself before, of her own skin and the sensations, explicit, right, and lush.
I’m going to die, Abby thought.This is going to kill me.
She’d had no idea before. None. She’d seen people kiss when she’d worked in the market—had watched surreptitiously, entranced, as a couple in the alley went way beyond just mouths into certain sin—and she’d wondered what pushed them to act like that. Lord, now sheknew.
He muttered something against her cheek before biting her jaw gently—not enough to mark, although suddenly, shewantedhim to with something close to compulsion.
Never had she pictured this…this overwhelming wave of need. Goodness, the things she needed right now.
To be touched. Her skin ached with it. This body that had never had eyes upon it. She wanted him to eat her up with his gaze.
He stepped away instead, backing into the bar, looking agonized.
“I can’t,” he gasped.
“Why not?”
“I’ll hurt you. I’m no good at…” His eyes closed as he searched for the word, the color high on his cheeks, making those freckles disappear. Her hand suddenly tentative, she reached out and brushed back the lock of hair that had fallen over his forehead.
“Restraint?” she whispered.
He met her gaze. “Exactly. I want to—” Biting his lip, he turned away, but she cupped his jaw and turned him back to look at her.
“What?” she asked, desire like lightning in her veins.
“Abby…” His voice was a dire warning.
“Please tell me.”
“I want to do things to you, Abby.”
“Like what?” she asked urgently. “Tell me.”
