“I want another one,” I heard myself say, not even considering I should be embarrassed by the request.
Another growl rumbled in Knox’s chest when he shifted, his eyes locking with mine as he leaned in to kiss me.
I didn’t hold back this time. That transcendental moment had altered me in ways I hadn’t expected. It was like having a switch flipped on, a light now shining on every possibility, and I wanted them all.
“Let me taste you,” Knox rumbled against my mouth.
I wasn’t exactly sure what he was requesting, but by all means, if he was going to make that happen again, I was all for it.
I nodded my head, holding his gaze, waiting to see what it was he would do to me.
~~~~
Knox
I had not expected things to getthis far. Not yet.
Not that I minded one fucking bit that this woman was craving another orgasm so soon after the last one. I wanted to give her a dozen more before the sun came up, but I couldn’t. I shouldn’t have given her any at all.
Not. Fucking. Yet.
“Knox?”
I propped my head up on my hand and stared down at Emily. “Hmm?”
“What are you waiting for?”
Again I opted for the truth. “If we keep doing this, I’m going to end up fucking you.” I searched her face, lowered my voice. “You’re not ready for that yet.”
“Why?”
She was sincerely confused, I could see it on her face. Emily was naive enough she didn’t understand where this could possibly lead us. I mean, hell, we didn’t have a condom, which meant if I fucked her, there was a real possibility she could get pregnant, and she was certainly not ready forthat. And she certainly didn’t understand that there was a man in my life, one I wanted to be part of hers, too.
It was in that moment that I truly hated Kitty for how she’d kept Emily so sealed off from the real world, kept her from learning such simple things as intimacy and social niceties.
Just the thought of my mother and the real reason I was here right now was the equivalent of an ice bath.
Instantly, I sat up, dropping my feet to the patio and thrusting my hand through my hair. The chill in the air helped to cool my blood, but I knew it wouldn’t be enough. I had to remove myself from the situation or I was going to do something we would both regret.
“I’m sorry, Emily,” I managed as I pushed to my feet.
I dared one look down at her and I could’ve sworn something cracked in my chest. In the blink of an eye, she’d gone from looking like a sex goddess to that same sad fifteen-year-old I’d glimpsed on the balcony so long ago. Her expression had shuttered, her wary gaze holding a hint of fear.
“Did I do something wrong?” she whispered, her arm banding over her breasts to conceal her nakedness.
I grabbed the towel I’d brought out, tossed it in her direction, and stared at her, knowing I had to say something but hating what it was going to be.
“No,” I said truthfully. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
She clutched the towel tight to her chest, concealing her nakedness. “Then why are you leaving?”
“Because…” I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. “Because you’re far too young to know how to please a man like me.”
The last thing I saw before I walked away was her expression of both shock and rejection.
I forced myself not to care.
On my way back to the room I was staying in, I paused outside Emily’s door. For a brief moment, I considered waiting for her to return so I could tell her the truth. It would’ve been in her best interest to ease her into what was coming tomorrow rather than to shred her heart the way that I had. It was the least she deserved after all she’d been through in her young life.
