I pulled her tighter—closer—and rubbed my thumb across her nipple again. I felt a shudder go through her. I knew that reaction. It was one of a woman who hadn’t been touched in a very long time.
I slowly raised my hand until I stroked under her chin. Her lips parted on a gasp, and I could tell she thought I would kiss her. I wanted to, but I had to know something first.
“How long has it been?”
Her eyes widened, and I had another thought. A deliciously sweet one.
“Are you a virgin?”
“No,” she answered, though I couldn’t hear the word. I read it off her cherry lips. I also saw the way her head dipped and her gaze slid away.
“Awful?”
“Yeah.”
“Asshole.”
Her gaze jumped back up to mine. “No. We just didn’t know what we were doing. It was his first time, too.”
I snorted. “Still makes him an asshole in my book. If you’re going to dance with a woman, it’s important to at least get some instruction first. Figure out what you’re doing.”
Her brows arched. “Um, that’s not something the typical college guy can do.”
College, huh? So it wasn’t in high school. Which put her at the top of the Really Good Girl list. And that was yet another reason to be a gentleman. Even though I was incredibly attracted to her, she deserved someone who wasn’t a “different girl every night” guy.
I started to release her, but then she surprised me. She stretched up on her toes and angled her head for a kiss. I knew that was a possibility, but I’d only given it a 3 percent possibility. So color me surprised.
“You know I’m trying to get rejected, right?”
“Baby, if you think I’ll say no, you don’t know anything about me. Or about guys.”
She smiled, a slow, sexy grin as she rolled around my hip until we were pressed chest to chest. “Are you so sure about that? What if I want whips and chains?”
I shrugged. Been there, done that. Would she be shocked if she knew?
“Ropes? Gags?” she teased. “I could tie you up and have my way with you.”
Had she never read any of the darker stories about me? Sure they were mostly hidden now, buried the moment I started doing well in the minors. But things like that live forever on the internet. I quickly calculated the odds in my head. There was a 92 percent chance she hadn’t even thought to look.
I stroked her creamy skin. “I want nothing more than to take you to bed, Ellie. The places I would lick you could keep me occupied for hours.”
She laughed. “Hours? Please. I’m a nurse, remember. No guy—”
I pressed my finger to her lips. “Do not doubt me on this, little girl. It’s clear you’ve never been with a master.”
Her laugh bubbled out of her like cotton candy. Sweet, light, and so tempting, I thrust against her. I didn’t mean to. Hell, I was trying to be a gentleman, but she was right there. And when she felt the hot part of me on her belly, she gasped, and her face flushed with heat.
Would she touch me? God, I wanted to know like I wanted my next breath. So I tempted her.
“I want it, Ellie. In the worst way. But I’m not going to make a move because I promised to be a gentleman.”
She chuckled. “Gentlemen do all sorts of naughty things. And I believe you said something about naughty before we even began this evening.”
I had. And she had no idea what I could do to her. But I was starting to like this game. So I lifted my hands off her and leaned back just enough that she had to support her own weight or fall. She did, though there was a question in her eyes.
And then I just stood there, my body taut and ready. Would she touch me? Right here on the street? We were tucked next to an alley and there weren’t a lot of people around, but we were definitely in public.
And I silently dared her.
