“Ivy, sweetheart, where do you want to do this? The couch? Your bed?” He crouched a little to look into those gorgeous blues, and gauge where she might be at.
Was she second-guessing? Did she need an out? Was she still full steam ahead?
She grabbed him by his shirt collar and marched him toward her bedroom.
Full steam ahead it was.
In the bedroom, Sean moved to close the door, but she stopped him. “I need it open.”
Sean nodded—her game, her rules—then set the candles on the top of her dresser. Using the lighter he’d snagged from the cabinet, he lit the flames. When he was done, he savored the moment of taking her in by candlelight.
“You’re so beautiful.” He wasn’t sure he’d ever told her before, but he was telling her now, because the way the light flickered off her skin and made her eyes shine like they were made of crystal, it was the God’s honest truth.
Her beauty was otherworldly.
She likely wasn’t used to being complimented because even in the candlelight he saw the blush creep up her neck, but she’d have to get used to it, because he had a whole lot more where that came from. As part of this, he wanted her to learn how to accept his affection, not cringe from it. She deserved to be romanced in this relationship.
Friendship.
Arrangement.
Whatever the fuck it was.
Sean buried the annoying ambiguity of their situation under the depths of his soul. He’d deal with the inevitability of his heartbreak later. Tonight, nothing was going to ruin this moment.
He wanted, noneeded, this to be special for both of them.
When Ivy did nothing more than stand there, lips parted, breathing unevenly, he stepped toward her. He wanted to touch her so badly his fingers twitched with it, but he held the line.
“So, what do you feel like doing?” He wasn’t completely surprised by the hoarse sound of his voice, but he resisted the urge to clear it. “What do you want, Ivy?”
She glanced up at him, eyes wide and luminous, like she was looking at something brand new and amazing, and was a little awestruck. It filled him with a primal male satisfaction and pride. That look was all for him.
In the room, there was no sound, only the candlelight flickering, and their mutual desire heating the space around them. And Sean was more turned on than he’d ever been. He was pretty sure if they stood there long enough, staring at each other like this, he’d come right where he stood, fully clothed, from her eye-fucking alone.
“Tell me. Whatever you want.”
Eventually, Ivy inhaled deeply and opened the snap of her jeans, then fumbled with the zipper.
“I want to take my clothes off.” Her hands were trembling but determined as she pushed her jeans down her legs, revealing more creamy skin. “And I want you to do the same.”
Her shirt came off next, and then she was standing in front of him in a black bra and panty set before he even had a chance to inhale his next breath.
Okay, so he totally had not expected this boldness from her. With Ivy, things had always been intuitive. Most times, he had an innate sense of what she needed, what she was going to say, how she was feeling. But lately, she surprised him by doing the exact opposite of what he anticipated. Like right now.
“Your turn. I want to see your body, a-and I want to touch it.” Words were coming out of her mouth he’d only ever dreamed of, and, like a sub to his dominant, he did as he was told and pulled his shirt over his head in one swoop, then dropped his pants with the flick of a wrist.
They stood before each other in their underwear, and when her gaze dropped to his crotch, he had to close his eyes to regain some control.
“I want to see you,” she murmured shakily, her voice impossibly quiet. A whisper over candlelight. A plea.
Sean opened his eyes. She was standing there nearly naked, short hair brushing her shoulders, bangs mussed, blue eyes twinkling in candlelight. Innocent and vulnerable, yet hungry.
And he was hungry for the same thing, so he held her gaze steady and slowly dropped his boxer briefs and stepped out of them.
The way Ivy’s eyes widened, her mouth forming a perfect little ‘o,’ would have made any ego grow, his notwithstanding. Sean took pride in his body, had built a career out of it. His body was his best advertisement for the gym, so he made it a practice to stay in peak physical condition. Did the fact that Ivy was clearly appreciating his efforts go straight to his head? Hell yes, it did.
“What now?” he asked gruffly.
