“Take me.”
Michael froze a moment before lifting his head.“Are you sure?”
“Do you want me to change my mind?”Was he just teasing her and planning on walking away himself?
“No, but I want you absolutely certain.I don’t want you regretting this later and blaming me, saying I seduced you.”
She didn’t think she could muster up the emotion of regret.If anything, this would be a sweet memory she could always fall back on.“I’m certain.”
Michael lifted her in his arms as if she weighed no more than a bag of feathers and carried her down the hall to his bedroom.Instead of setting her on the bed, he stood her at the foot of it.
“I’m going to strip you slowly of every article of clothing you are wearing.”
“Are you planning to commentary everything?”If so, that was going to be a mood killer.
“No, but I wanted to give you an idea of what was to come.”
“Like I said, I’m not a virgin.I know the mechanics.Now put that magical tongue of yours to better uses.”
“With your honeyed words, how could I refuse such an offer?”
Okay, so maybe she could have phrased that a little differently.She was a little nervous, and the words came out without thought.“Sorry.Please strip me.”
“I do love you begging,” he mused as he came closer.His hands glided up to cup her face and pulled her into another drugging kiss.She thought she would be prepared for its potency this time, but it was still as effective as the first.
Andrea started to melt under his touch like snow in the spring.Michael must have felt it.His hands coasted down her collarbone to her back and unsnapped her bra with ease.She dropped her arms to shake the material free.
“Am I allowed to reciprocate?”
Michael paused and looked startled by her question.“You want to strip me?”
Andrea hadn’t been able to get the image of watching him unpack in just shorts out of her head.She had secretly salivated at his form, his scars not deterring his physique.His scars looked painful, but they didn’t slow him down at all.
“I do.”
Michael held his arms out.“I’m yours.”
I’m yours.No man had ever told her that before.Andrea’s gaze raked over him, not knowing where to start.Should she just go straight for his pants like a ravenous woman, or take her time like he had on her?
Michael stood stock still as Andrea approached him.She gripped the hem of his shirt and ripped it over his head, tossing it to the side to reveal his Michelangelo form.Her eyes travelled over his body, taking in his defined pectorals, a light dusting of blond hair on his chest.His erect nipples, washboard abs, and that sexy definition above his hip bones as well as the happy trail disappearing into his shorts.
She had purposely avoided looking at his scars covering the side of his body.Even parts of his arm had scarring.The pain they must have caused had to be excruciating.
“I know they aren’t the prettiest to look at.”His voice was hollow and sounded far away.His gaze was held steady over her head as if he didn’t want to see the disgust in her eyes.
Andrea looked her fill over his scars, not wanting to avoid them any longer.They were a part of him.And while he said they didn’t bother him, she knew that couldn’t be true.
“Do they still hurt?”
His hypnotic gaze fell onto hers.“No, I get stiff joints, but the scars themselves don’t hurt.”
“May I?”she asked, holding her hand above the scar on his shoulder.
“Knock yourself out,” he replied casually, but she could see Michael’s Adam’s apple bob as if he looked uncomfortable.Once again, he was putting up that shield to protect himself.She had no intention of hurting him though.
Andrea’s eyes fell back on the scars as she touched him.She started at his shoulder.It seemed the least intimate.The skin was raised and rough.Burn marks.He had said it was from an IED.She’d heard of them.Bombs filled with shrapnel.That explained why it looked like some of the muscle in his arm appeared as if it were missing, and other parts looked like the skin had been folded over it to seal it.
The pain he must have gone through.Not only receiving the burns, but the healing afterward.She had never seen him appear to let it affect him when carrying anything.She wondered how much mobility it had.Now didn’t seem the time to ask questions.Maybe later.
