‘They didn’t know who I was. I couldn’t talk. Wouldn’t. Looking back, my dad had broken into the cottage and occupied it. I don’t even know if I was ever registered at birth.’
‘You don’t hate me for it?’
‘For watching my father rot? No. You were just a kid.’
She moves over to the bed, sitting next to me, and leans her head against my shoulder. ‘Thank you.’
I shift to lie back, pulling her with me. God, the sea of pillows is fucking comfy. Maybe I need to get more than the one thin pillow on my bed. Kat moves easily with me, letting me guide her onto the bed.Trusting me.
Then she twists to get comfortable, her back against my chest and her ass pressed hard into my crotch.
Fucking hell.
She reaches back and grabs my gloved hand, pulling my arm around and settling it over her waist. I freeze in place, barely daring to breathe in case she realises what she’s doing and tells me to bugger off.
My gloved fingers rest against the curve of her hip, and I stare at the ceiling and try to calm my racing mind. I haven’t done this with anyone else, and I’m worried that my inexperience will force her right back into Darren’s arms.
‘I’m worried,’ I blurt out against her ear.
‘Of what?’ There’s no judgment in her voice.
‘Of disappointing you. It’s not that I haven’t, you know, but it was never a choice. It was always something donetome.’ It hurts to admit that out loud. ‘I don’t know what I’m doing when it’s supposed to be good.’
She turns her face to look up into my mask.
‘I don’t need that from you. That doesn’t need to be what this is.’
It’s sweet of her to say, but not what I want. I’m desperate to make her fall apart under my touch.I need it.
‘I want that with you. When I saw that guy’s mouth on you, and the way you reacted…’ My fingers tighten on her hip. ‘I wanted to tear him apart. And then I wanted…’
‘Tell me,’ she demands when I pause.
‘I want to be the one making you tip your head back like that.’ My voice deepens with need. ‘To be the one you moan for. I want to make you whimper and beg. That’s probably insane.’
She shifts against me.
‘If it’s insane, then I am too. I want to make you whimper and beg just as much. I’m yours, if you want me.’
Every fibre of my being tenses. ‘Kat, Ineedyou.’
I trace my fingers over the hem of the t-shirt, brushing the tender skin of her thighs. When her breath catches, I let out a soft groan. She makes no move to stop me, so I continue, trying to learn her body from the way she reacts to my touch.
Her fingers find the ivy on my wrist as my hoodie rises up, and before I can say anything, she tugs off my glove. Following it as it curls up over the back of my hand, winding over my knuckles.
‘Ivy,’ she whispers.
I look at the ceiling. ‘Your house had all that ivy on the western wall. I saw it once before your nanny drove me off with a shovel. I thought I could call on you.’
Her fingers go still on my wrist.
‘It covers the worst of my scars, and ivy means lasting bonds. It seemed fitting.’
Kat lifts my hand and presses her lips to the inside of my wrist, right on one of the ivy leaves.
‘You tattooed yourself with something from my house?’
‘I needed a reminder of you. It was that or the bloody frogs.’
