Page 24
“Take off your clothes. Slowly.”
Her fingers shake as she reaches for the hem of her shirt. She pulls it over her head, revealing a simple cotton bra, and I watch her face flush darker as I stare at her. She's beautiful, petite, and soft in all the places I'm hard. Her skin is pale and unmarked except for the flush spreading across her chest.
“The bra.”
She reaches behind her, unhooks it, and lets it fall. Her breasts are small, perfect, her nipples peaking in the cool air of the apartment. I don't touch her yet. I just look, letting her feel my gaze like a physical caress.
“Keep going.”
Her thumbs hook into the waistband of her leggings. She pushes them down, together with her underwear, and steps out of the pooled fabric. She's completely naked now, standing in my living room, and the trust in her eyes makes something ache in my chest.
I step closer, close enough that she can feel my heat, my breath against her neck. I trace one finger down her spine, from the nape of her neck to the cleft of her ass, and she shivers.
“Have you ever been tied up, Cora?”
A sharp inhale. “No.”
“Do you want to be?”
She turns her head, trying to see me. “I think so.”
I step around to face her. “That’s not something we’re doing because you think I want it.”
Her eyes meet mine. “I’m curious.”
Something dark and possessive stirs inside me at the admission, but I keep it on a tight leash. She’s trusting me with her first time. That comes before everything I might eventually want to show her.
I tilt her chin up with one finger. “Then another time, I’ll show you.”
Her lips part. “Not tonight?”
“Not for your first time.”
A flicker of disappointment crosses her face, and damn if that doesn’t test my control.
“When we do it, I’ll use something soft. A tie. Silk rope. Something that won’t hurt your wrists.” My thumb brushes her lower lip. “And you’ll tell me what feels good and what doesn’t.”
She swallows. “Okay.”
“Tonight, I want your hands free.”
Her cheeks flush.
I lean closer, my beard brushing her jaw. “You’re still mine tonight, princess. I don’t need restraints for that.”
“Yes.”
“Good girl.”
I step back, letting her feel the absence of my body heat, and strip off my own clothes. Her eyes track the ink covering my arms and chest before lingering on the pale scar along my ribs, a souvenir from a mission overseas that went sideways years ago.
When I push down my boxer briefs, her gaze drops to my cock, already hard and straining toward her, and her lips part.
“Don't look so worried, princess.” I step closer and cup her cheek. “I'm going to take care of you.”
She makes a small sound, nervous and aroused all at once, and I close the distance between us again. My hands find her hips, lifting her easily, and I carry her to the bedroom. Her legs wrap around my waist, and her arms circle my neck.
I lay her on my bed, the dark sheets a stark contrast to her pale skin. She looks like an offering, spread out and trusting, and the possessiveness that rises in me is so fierce it almost chokes me.
