I barely know him,some distant part of me observes.
I know,I think back.It doesn't matter.
My hands slide into his hair and I meet him stroke for stroke, refusing to be passive. He lets me, welcomes it even, his grip shifting to accommodate my movement rather than override it. We find a rhythm together, natural and intentional, and it builds with the same methodical inevitability as everything he does.
He shifts, finding the angle that makes my breath fracture, and I press into him, chasing it.
"Look at me," he says, voice low. His eyes are steady on mine, dark and intent. “Stay with me.”
I gaze into his eyes until the pleasure crests and crashes through me, forcing me to close mine, his name on my lips as I tip over the edge. His follows immediately after, his grip tightening as he finishes with a low sound pressed against my shoulder, his whole body pulling me close as he shudders his release.
He stays with me, weight braced carefully so he doesn't crush me. His breath slows. Mine does too.
When he finally rolls to his side, he pulls me with him, my back to his chest, his arm heavy across my waist, and the weight of it feels like a promise. Like he’s telling me with his body that I’mhisand he’ll treat me right.
We lie in silence for a while.
"That was," I start, then stop.
"Yeah," he agrees.
I turn in his arms to face him. His hair is mussed. His expression is softer than I've seen it, the careful composure he carries like armor set aside. Just for me. Just for now.
"I don't do this," I say. "Sleep with people I barely know."
"I know."
"How do you know?"
"Because I know you," he says simply.
That shouldn't make sense, but it does.
"I don't regret it," I say.
"Good." He traces a slow line down my spine, and I feel it everywhere. "Because I plan to do it again."
Heat flickers low in my belly. "Now?"
His mouth curves. "Soon. First, I want to know something."
"What?"
"When did you decide?"
"Decide what?"
"That this was going to happen."
I think about it. "When you held my hand at dinner. But I dreamed about it that very first night after I met you."
He pulls me closer. "I dreamed about you, too."
I kiss him. Slow. Thorough.
When I pull back, he's grinning. "Ready for Round 2, beautiful?"
Chapter Six
