Page 69 of A Taste Of Darkness

Milo’s hand slid down my body, if only by an inch, and I couldn’t help but feel like I needed him closer. So close, it probably wasn’t even possible.

“Milo,” I spoke quietly. My cheeks heated, and when his head cocked like he knew what I was about to say next, I regretted saying his name.

“Yes, cuore mio?”

Taking a deep breath, I used my last rational thought to hype myself up. “Can you touch me, please?”

35

JUST A TASTE

Milo Marucci

Sterlie squeezed her thighs around my body, and when I didn’t move at her request, she reached for my hand.

Her eyes stayed on mine, moving slowly as if she was waiting for me to stop her.

I couldn’t. Even if I had wanted to stop her, my vocal cords decided to take a break for now.

“Please, Milo,” she said, desperation in her voice. “If you find me the least bit attractive?—”

My head shook like I was waking up from some sort of dream, but I was still right here. Nothing changed except that I found my voice again.

“Don’t say that.” I ripped my hand away from hers, grasped her face instead, and slightly squeezed her cheeks together. “Don’t make it sound like it’s a compromise or that you’re settling for just anyone who thinks you’re hot, Sterlie.”

“Please, I need this. I need you.” She pushed her chest out to appear taller, then wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her lips on my jaw, leaving kisses behind. “If you don’t want to, that’s fine, but at least say no, then.”

She really had no idea what she was doing to me. How could someone like Sterlie be so oblivious to the effects she had on guys? The effect she had on me.

Stupid Anthony. I was going to fuck that guy up as soon as I got the chance to. But for now, I was going to work on making Sterlie understand how fucking beautiful she was.

If I had the chance, I would’ve put a ring on her finger the second she turned eighteen. I would’ve loved her every single day of her life and given her the world. I would’ve moved mountains just to see a smile on her beautiful face.

My hesitation wasn’t about her. It was about my fear of what would happen to me the moment I let her get even closer.

Kissing was crossing a line I promised myself I’d never even edge. If I had sex with her, I was signing my death certificate because I knew no matter the reason, if she were to leave me again, there’d be no reason for my existence.

Now, I could live to admire her. I could cheer her on from the sidelines and that was enough for me.

Once I had her, there was no turning back. Either I could make her happy and live by her side until I was dying of old age, or I failed and didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as she did.

Yet I allowed my hands to lay on her thighs, inching underneath her dress until the tips of my fingers grazed the elastic of her underwear.

I looked out for every ever-so-minor sign of discomfort on her face, listened to changes in her breathing, and paid attention to her body language. Was she backing away at my touch, or leaning in?

She could always claim to want it, but sometimes body language said more than words.

When her reactions didn’t change, I hooked my fingers into the elastic of her underwear. “Are you sure you want this?”

Sterlie nodded. She leaned back, or as much as the half-wall allowed it. Her hands pressed flat on the surface, fingertips grazing the edge of the other side of the firing line.

It wasn’t a lot of space she had, but she was lucky that this place had half-walls and not just pieces of glass, wood planks, or a simple drawn line on the floor as a shooting line.

“I need you to say it.” I might’ve been more nervous than she was.

Her eyes wandered over to the glass door, then back to me. “I do. I really do want this, Milo. If I don’t have an orgasm in the next five minutes, I will die. Though, it’d be nice if your security wasn’t able to watch us.”

I didn’t have to check the doors to be sure that they couldn’t see us. They had their orders, and that wasn’t watching us, it was to protect us. “They’re busy watching the doors,” I said. “Don’t ever think I’d allow another man out there to see a single part of you that you wouldn’t want them to see.”

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