I should’ve known Bella would give it back just as good as she got it. One second she was on her feet, and the next she wasclinging to me, grinding down against the ridge of my cock like she needed the friction to breathe.
Every moan she fed me made my cock throb. The pleasure bordered on pain.
“You’re so fucking responsive,” I growled against her skin, sucking lightly at a spot just beneath her ear. “Keep going, baby. Be a good girl and move on me.”
She did, rocking harder. Her broken cries shot straight to my groin.
I was so fucking lost in her, in the way she gave herself over completely. No holding back, no fear. Just pure, desperate need.
And god, I wanted to give her everything.
“Oh god,” she moaned between kisses. “Bennett, wait, I need to tell you something.”
“You can tell me anything.” I forced myself to slow, tothink, even though every instinct in my body was screaming to keep going.
We were already seconds away from me fucking her right through her front door. That would’ve been a hell of a thing for Pink to see.
Bella pulled back just enough to meet my eyes. Her cheeks were flushed, lips swollen from my mouth. Her body was still pressed tight to mine, like she hadn’t quite decided whether to retreat or dive deeper.
The heat was still there, but underneath it, something wavered.
Nerves.
“I want to keep going, but I . . .”
Her voice caught, the words tangling like they were heavier than she expected. She swallowed hard, fingers tightening briefly in my jacket like she needed something to hold onto.
That was when it hit me.
Not just the hesitation, but thewayshe hesitated. The carefulness. The vulnerability she wasn’t trying to play off or hidebehind bravado. The way her breath wasn’t just shaky with want, but with fear of being misunderstood.
Holy shit.
My chest tightened.
“You haven’t done this before,” I said quietly.
She nodded once. “I didn’t want you to assume anything,” she whispered. “Or think I was leading you on, but yes, I’m . . . a virgin.”
Everything slammed to a halt.
I saw it all at once. The bravery it took for her to say it, the risk she’d taken just by trusting me with the truth. Not naïveté. Not innocence in some fragile, breakable sense. Just honesty. The scary kind that left you exposed.
Virgin.
The word landed heavy in my chest. Not as a turnoff, not even fucking close, but as a line I hadn’t known we were racing toward.
“Is, um, that okay?”
I eased back, lowering her to her feet and forcing space between us before my hands betrayed me. “Of course it is,” I murmured, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead. “But I think it’s time we call it a night.”
She looked at me like she was bracing for some mixture of judgment or rejection. And Christ, that alone told me I had to leave.
Not because I didn’t want her, but because I wanted her therightway.
Her fingers curled into my shirt again. “Wait, you don’t have to go,” she protested softly. “I still want—”
“I know, and that’s exactly why we’re going to bed.” Her eyes lit up again. “Separately,” I quickly added.
