His light kisses chart a path down to the hollow of my throat. The bristles of his beard scrape against my skin, causing a shiver of awareness to skate down my spine.
His hand drifts lower as he presses me into him. I let out a small whimper as his rock-hard length presses against my stomach. He places one final soft kiss against my lips and pulls away enough to gaze into my eyes.
“I want you, Callie. Exactly as you are,” he murmurs. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re underestimating yourself. I think a part of you is exactly who you pretended to be. The anonymity gave you an outlet to explore a side of yourself you’re too afraid to let others see.”
“It’s… complicated.”
He takes both of my hands in his and threads our fingers together. “It’s ok. We can take it slow.”
“You’ve known this whole time? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“You already had so much on your plate, I didn’t want to add to it if you weren’t ready.”
I band my arms around his waist and rest my head on his chest. “I’m glad it’s you. Do you still…”
“No. Not since the last time we talked.”
I let out a quiet sigh of relief. I know he’s not mine, but the idea of sharing him still affects me.
I should tell him right now—confess I’m a virgin so he can move on to someone else. The miserable thought is almost too much to bear. I might fall to pieces if Jaxon doesn’t want me. I never wanted a man to have that kind of power over me. Notthen, and certainly not now that I’ve already picked myself back up once.
“Are you jealous, Callie baby?”
“Pfft. No.”
He quirks an inquisitive brow. “Then why are you blushing?”
“It’s... hot in here. With the fire and everything, y’know?”
“Mmm. Is that so?”
“Yep.”
He leans in to kiss me again, but I press a hand to his lips, stopping his descent. I have to do this now. I’m already so far in this; it would be a mistake to carry on with this secret looming over us. “There’s something you should know.”
He leans back against the counter, but the distance does nothing to ease the rising tension. “I’m listening.”
I twist my hands in my shirt and shift uncomfortably from foot to foot. “I’m a virgin.”
“Ok.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “And?”
With his forearms exposed for the first time, the position momentarily distracts me. I want to trace each line of black ink until I reach the ones I already know he has hidden beneath his shirt.
When I’m done ogling his tattoos, he smirks. “My eyes are up here.”
I clear my throat and try to remember what he asked me. “You’re clearly more experienced, which makes us, at best, incompatible.”
“Do you really think that bothers me?” He pushes away from the counter and prowls closer. “It turns me the fuck on to know nobody else has had you. I can teach you so many things about pleasure. Things you never even imagined.”
In a moment of bravery, I close the distance and draw a line down his chest with my pointer finger.I roll my lips together to stifle a smile. “I said I was a virgin. I didn’t say I lacked imagination.”
He palms my hips and walks us backward out of the room, not stopping until my knees hit the side of the sofa. “If you want me to stop, tell me right now. If you don’t, I’m going to do unspeakable things to you, Callie Cooper. Things I’ve been dreaming about for years.”
My tongue sneaks out to wet my lips, and I shake my head once. “Don’t you dare fucking stop.”
Jaxon’s mouth descends on mine in a frenzied kiss as he lays me back on the sofa. He drapes half of his body over mine and hikes one of my legs around his back, gripping my flesh. “This ass was made for sin,” he whispers between kisses. “I fucking love your body. How goddamn soft you are.”
In that commanding tone that he’s used countless times to unravel me, he says, “Tell me what you want.”
