My heart pounded against my chest as his mouth moved down, down, torturously slowly, until he met the collar of my shirt. He paused and I tugged him up by his hair until his mouth was back on mine.
Enoch’s hand moved slowly from where it had been kneading my ass, up my waist until his fingers danced along the underside of my sports bra.
He hesitated, likely unsure if I wanted him to go further. I didn’t want to stop, I wanted more.
“Out of battery.”
I jolted away from Enoch’s lips, my head smacking into the hard wall as my eyes flew open. The lack of music left us in a startling silence, the sound of our heavy breathing filling the space.
Enoch groaned, his forehead dropped against my collarbone as he tried to catch his own breath. He removed his hand from my ribcage, and then from my hair. Enoch supported the backs of my thighs as he lowered me to the ground.
“Any chance you want to move this upstairs?”
My eyes dropped from his slightly flushed face to the gold cross hanging around his neck.
My fingers drummed against my thigh as I considered his offer.
Do I want to keep going? Yes. Should I? Hell no.
Going upstairs only opened the door for things that I wasn’t capable of.
“Let’s just finish the workout, yeah?” he asked.
My gaze met his, and I pinched my lips together, guilt making my stomach hurt. He obviously wanted to go backupstairs, if the bulge in his shorts was any indication. I was being selfish. What if I never got the courage to let him see me naked? What if I never wanted to cross the line I’d drawn, and sex was off limits indefinitely?
Maybe not the end-all be-all of a relationship, but sex was still important. And he wasn’t going to want to stay a virgin forever. I flinched as his hand moved up to cup my cheek. I relaxed against his touch, leaning my head into his palm.
“Hey.” I lifted my eyes to his brown ones filled with concern. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Fine.”
His mouth thinned into a tight line as he studied my face. “Was that too much?”
I shook my head, and his thumb stroked my cheek.
“Then, what?”
“Nothing,” I shrugged, chewing my lip. “You’re not upset?”
His head cocked to the side. “No. Gosh. Not at all.”
I stared, wishing I could read his mind, determine what exactly he was thinking, what he was feeling.
“I promise,” he said, staring intently. “I am not upset. I told you, I’ll follow your lead. You want to stop, we stop.”
I closed my eyes, teeth grinding as I tried to fight off the swarm of insecurity and doubt that had me itching for my favorite escape.
“Come on,” he coaxed. His lips landed on mine for a brief kiss. “You haven’t tortured me yet with your core exercises you have planned.”
I chuckled half-heartedly and opened my eyes.
“Okay. But you never did your pull-ups.”
“Ah, yes,” he said with a teasing smile. “Just didn’t want you to get jealous when you saw how many I could do.”
I rolled my eyes as he stepped backward, leaving me room to remove myself from the wall.
“Shitbird.”
