Her mouth curves. “I won’t.”
Circling the table, I open the cooler and pull out the sampler plate of food I made. Apple slices, toasted walnuts, some of the grilled, honeyed chicken I cooked, and a few cubes of white sharp cheddar. Nothing decadent like chocolate-dipped strawberries or any other dessert-like food that would make her uncomfortable.
I set the plate down where I can easily reach it.
“How are you doing so far?”
She licks her lips, then presses them together. “It’s a little weird, honestly, but also kind of fun. It’s like not being able to see anything has heightened my other senses. The sounds in the garden and the fountain. The way the breeze feels on my face.”
“How does this feel? Describe it to me.” I trace a fingertip down the curve of her neck and back up again.
Her lips part, and her breathing shallows. “I can feel the callus on your finger. It has a rougher texture to it. It feels good.”
Stepping closer, I lean into her ear and lightly blow. “How about this?”
She shivers and tilts her head until our cheeks touch. She replies huskily, “It tickles a little but not in a bad way. It’s more sensual, like a caress. I’ve got goose bumps.”
My cock thickens as I listen to her describe everything.
Peeling off the plastic wrap from the plate of food, I select one of the apple slices and bring it to her nose. She doesn’t recoil away from the food or tell me to stop like I expected her to, which makes me stupidly happy.
“What about this? Can you tell what this is?”
She delicately sniffs. “Apple. I can smell its sweetness, but I’m not sure what variety it is. Gala or Pink Lady, maybe?”
I paint her mouth with the apple, then press it gently between her lips. She bites it in half and hums as she chews. “I was wrong. It’s Honeycrisp.”
Impressed that she guessed correctly, I ask, “How can you tell?”
Clumsily, she reaches up and grabs my wrist, bringing the rest of the apple held between my fingers to her mouth and eating it.
“It’s my favorite.”
When I go to grab another apple slice, Douglass grips my wrist tighter and brings my hand back to her mouth. I stand motionless, shocked at her uncharacteristic forwardness, but also hard as hell because of it. I watch with mounting lust at how her tongue licks the juices of the apple from my fingers. The way she’s sucking on my fingertips is the most erotic sensation I’ve ever felt and has my dick demanding in on the action.
“Jordan?”
My voice comes out strangled because it’s taking everything in me to hold myself back. “Yeah, baby?”
Douglass obliterates any self-control I have left when she says, “I’d like that kiss now.”
Chapter 36
I don’t think about what I just said. I don’t think about what I just did. There’ll be time enough to regret both later. But not now. The only thing Icanthink about is the urgency of my desperation for Jordan to kiss me. And holy hell, does he kiss me. This is nothing like the way he kissed me five years ago.
No, this kiss is animalistic and raw. Passion and fire. Possession and pure perfection.
His hand grips the side of my neck, tilting my head to angle it better so he can deepen the kiss. My lips part on a moan as his tongue dips in to taste me. Still blindfolded, everything I feel amplifies. The softness of his lips. The woody scent of the cologne he’s wearing. The prickliness of his short stubble. The sounds we both make when my hands find his chest and dig into the solid muscle underneath his shirt.
My lungs begin to burn with the need for oxygen, and I’m forced to break our kiss.
“Take this off.” I reach up to remove the tie covering my eyes, but Jordan stops me.
“Not yet. I want you to feel every goddamn thing I give you. I’m about to ruin you, Douglass. Tell me to stop right fucking now if you don’t want this.”
I’ve never heard Jordan talk like that. His growled pronouncement makes me shiver with both fear and want. But I don’t tell him to stop. I want him to ruin me. God, yes, please, ruin me.
I made a conscious choice earlier when I took the hand he offered. I crossed that demarcation of no return, dismantling the wall around my heart and letting the bricks of my past fall to the ground. There’s no going back for me.
