“I’m not a man who getsjealous, Vanessa,” Drew muttered. His tone sent chills down my spine. “I’m not worried about any potential competition.” He smiled again as he lowered his hand, as if the idea truly amused him.
“Okay,” I replied, surprised at his confidence. “So what was your weird look about?”
He chuckled to himself before setting the empty glass on the shelf. Drew shoved his hands in his pockets as he approached, a signal that things weren’t about to get sexy even though I was desperate for them to.
“You may not be used to it, but I think the idea of a man trying toearnyour affections excites you,” Drew spoke with a low clarity, and his dark eyes bounced between the two of mine. “I’m simply wondering if I have it within me to play this game without needing to satiate my own, overwhelming, need.”
I scoffed and turned away, trying to shake off the way his words made something flutter in my chest. “You don’t want to just get to the fun stuff?”
“Oh, I have every intention to havefunwith you, Vanessa.” From the way his gaze trailed over my body again, focusing on my legs, I believed his sensual threat. “But I also find myself wondering what drives you. I want to learn what ignites your passion. What do you enjoy?” He tucked his lips between his teeth for a brief moment as he scanned my body head to toe, making every muscle in me melt, before he continued, “I have a feeling that once my curiosity is satisfied, it will make learning how you like to be touched, and where you are most sensitive, that much more thrilling.”
I studied him, unfolding my arms and resting my hands on the edge of my desk. He let me, completely at ease under my attempted scrutiny, as he stood tall and assured. As if his words didn’t just send a fire throughout every vein in my body.
“…You’re right,” I finally admitted, attempting to control my breathing. “I’m not used to taking things slow.” I gnawed on the inside of my cheek. “Though, I’m intrigued that you want to.” Drew’s chest puffed as he inhaled deeply. His eyes lifted to the ceiling as he blew the air out of his lungs in thought.
“Perhaps, I’m a romantic.”
I snorted. “You’d be the first man I’ve met that is.”
Minus Fergus, if my suspicion about the nereid was correct.
He chuckled at that before removing his hands from his pockets and resting his large palms on either side of me. Hands flat on the table, letting him both tower over me and engage in direct eye contact.
“I’m honored to be the first romantic you’ve met.” Drew’s eyes softened a little as he studied me, and I found myself eyeing the almost invisible line of his contacts. “Are we in agreement?”
I pressed my lips together. The way he spoke was soformal, I just wasn’t used to it.
“Almost.” I nodded once, trying to ignore the delicious masculine scent that was enveloping me with his proximity. “I have some questions.” I needed to turn the tables, to not end the conversation like some simpering woman.
Drew nodded, looking way too serious about this conversation.
“Number one.” I lifted a finger between us, the tip brushed against his chest. “How flirty can I be with you?”
He grinned at that. “Flirty?”
“If we aren’t getting to the fun stuff, what are we doing?” I asked, trailing my finger up his chest. The divot between his firm pecks made heat scorch my cheeks. “How much touch is too much?” The next breath Drew released was a little shakier, and I got a thrill from being able to make a man like him weak kneed.
“That’s acceptable,” Drew whispered.
I grinned wider, trailing my finger across his collar bones, dipping my finger under the hem of his shirt briefly. “And this?”
All he did was nod.
His eyes were getting hooded, and all I had done was rest my fingertip on him.
“…This?” I asked, feeling a little bolder. I rested both of my hands on his wide shoulders, slowly dragging my palms closer to his neck. Touching his skin was electrifying; it sent a sensationdown my limbs that I wasn’t used to feeling. A specific type of awareness that made the hairs on my arms rise with my pebbled skin. I wanted to rub all over him, feel every part of him on every part of me. It was significantly harder to keep my cool.
“Acceptable,” Drew barely whispered the word. I bit my lip, loving when his eyes lowered to the movement and stayed there. Wrapping one hand around the back of his neck, I gently pulled him closer to me. He allowed me to, closer, closer, until my lips ghosted over the skin at the base of his throat.
A low moan escaped his mouth, and I smiled against him. I wasn’t kissing him, just teasing him with my lips as I gently trailed up his neck, along the sharp line of his jaw. Right when my lips started to travel toward his, he shifted away just enough to avoid a real kiss.
“That’s the boundary, then,” I whispered to him.
He looked ragged. The calm, cool, collected Drew was gone. Simple, gentle touches from me made him look undone. His eyes were hooded, and his eye color was too dark for me to see if his pupils were wide in the dim light of my office, but I assumed they were.
Even though he leaned away to avoid a kiss, he lifted his hands to rest them on the tops of my thighs. Engaging in contact in a different, less intimate way.
“Are—” He stopped to clear his throat, and I threw him a wide smile as he did. “Are these terms acceptable to you?”
