Page 78 of Rebel Romeo

“I felt that, too,” I admitted. It felt painfully good to finally say it aloud. To stop fighting the intense chemistry we had after all these weeks of longing for her.

Her eyes darted to my mouth, wide with shock. The silence stretched from one breath to five breaths to a dozen shivering inhales before I finally asked, “What do we do now?”

She held my stare, steadfast, and confidently stated, “Now you kiss me.”

The heart-cracking vulnerability in her voice shook me, twisting my heart and deepening my affection for her. Despite the boldness in her voice, a blush of pink deepened on her cheeks.

How did she do that? How did she put her heart on the line so freely, so often? She’d made it known to me almost right away that even though she was a virgin who’d never been kissed, she was interested in me. No matter how hard I tried to push her away, she never pulled back.

And I was so fucking tired of pushing.

A growl vibrated from behind my ribs. In one swift movement, I took the glass from her hands and set it aside. Then, I cupped her jaw, drawing her mouth nearer and nearer to mine.

Her gasp was frail and vanished like a hot fog of breath on a cold night with the press of my mouth to hers. I cried out her name with our lips still fused like they were, the low, keening sound desperate as it spiraled through me, heating my core.

Pushing to my knees, I crawled overtop of her, laying her back against my couch with my hips pressed between her spread legs.

Christ almighty. With a part of her lips, her tongue glided into my mouth, slipping across mine. Hunger darted through me like a shooting star through the pitch-black night.

She was my shooting star.

My guiding light.

I propped myself onto my elbows over her, careful not to push too far or too fast as we continued kissing. Her hands buried into my hair and began a slow rake down my back until she finally landed at my butt, squeezing hard.

I grunted as she tugged my pelvis down, flush against her spread legs. With a gasp, I pulled back, catching my breath, and lifting away from her.

“Katherine, you don’t have to do that?—”

Her lips covered mine, swallowing my objections.

“Please,” she whispered, her mouth moving against mine. “Show me what to do. I’ve waited so long.”

In a bold move that felt out of character for Kate, she reached down and cupped my cock through my pants with a firm grip.

“Oh, fuck,” I gasped as she stroked me, stars blinding my vision. Her hands, her lips, her tongue, fuck, she felt so good.

So good and so bad and so wrong and—I pushed up and away from her. Forcing myself to separate from her was maybe the hardest thing I’d ever fucking done. I deserved a goddamn Nobel Peace Prize for that shit.

Her thighs snapped together. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

I gently threaded our hands together, so that she knew it wasn’t that I wanted to stop entirely. “Nothing. Believe me. Not a fucking thing is wrong. We just can’t… not like this.”

“Not like what?” she asked, wide-eyed and innocent. “Oh, God. Did I do it wrong?” Her panicked eyes flicked down to my dick.

I pressed my lips into a line to stop myself from laughing. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It was so fucking right.”

“Then why’d you stop?”

“Because your first time isn’t going to be on my couch.”

“Your bedroom is right down the hal?—”

“It’s not going to be in my bedroom after what’s not even an official first date. You deserve better than this.”

“But—”

“No buts.” I couldn’t do that to her. I was pretty sure I couldn’t stay away from her like I’d originally planned, but also if I was going to do this—really try with her—I had to make sure I wasn’t going to fuck up and hurt her. Her first time couldn’t be with me if there was any chance of me fucking this up. “We need to take this slow if we’re going to do it, Katherine.”

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