Page 83 of The Sweetest Return

Her hand came down so fast I laughed.

“You are pleased with yourself.”

“Very.”

“You’re irritating.”

“And you still naked in my bed.”

That got me the look.

I loved that look.

I stood, pulled my shirt over my head, and her eyes moved over me in a way that made everything male in me get stupid for a second. I was used to being looked at. Admired. Wanted. But Imani looked at me like my body was connected to my heart, like wanting one meant she had to be careful with the other.

That did something to me I wasn’t grown enough to name.

I finished undressing slowly, mostly because she was watching and I liked the way her nerves kept mixing with hunger. When I pushed my boxers down, her eyes dropped, and her mouth parted.

Then she looked away.

I smiled. “You can look.”

“I did.”

“Look again.”

“Dre.”

“What? It’s yours tonight.”

Her eyes came back to mine.

I meant it more than I probably should have.

I rolled the condom on, then moved over her. All that mouth she had disappeared. Her eyes went to mine, and I kissed her before she could talk herself into being scared.

“Hey.”

“I’m okay.”

“I’m going slow.”

“I know.”

“You need me to stop, you tell me.”

“I will.”

I guided myself against her and pressed in slow.

Her body tightened the second I started to enter.

I stopped with my teeth together and one hand braced beside her head, because wet or not, she was tight enough to make my whole back tense.

“Breathe for me.”

She did.