Page 68 of His Mansion

“What I need?” Another gentle pass of Nathan’s hand over her sensitive skin caused a shiver that consumed her entire body. “You think I need…Nathan?”

Derrick soothed her, hands and lips petting her softly. “You tell me.”

Sunlight wavered around them, the tall trees swaying in the breeze making the shadows dance around the clearing. It was the most peaceful of settings, and she closed her eyes and soaked in the serenity around her to force out the fears rocking her world.

Sexually aroused, emotionally anxious—and stunned by what she grew more certain was love shining in Derrick’s eyes.

Melanie twisted until she sat sideways in his lap, both legs dangling to the side. She glanced behind them where Nathan squatted. There was no mistaking the heated interest in his expression as his gaze roamed over her body.

Derrick thought she needed Nathan. Did she? Her first response to him touching her scars had been worlds apart from her reaction earlier in the gym, and on the bouldering wall. Instead of a rush of desire, she’d felt dread.

Why? Why the change?

Because he’d made actual contact.That’s when she’d been rejected before.

She touched Derrick’s face. “You want me to let him touch my scars. To prove that they don’t mean anything.”

“To prove your attractiveness is far more than skin-deep.”

Even as fast as her heart fluttered, there was a twist of irony in the setup. “This seems a radical form of therapy.”

Derrick bumped his nose against her cheek, breathing from the vee of her neck. The warm puff of his breath slid down her skin like a delicious secret. He spoke for her ears alone. “Doing is much better proof than discussing for hours. I’ll be right here, and you can say stop whenever you want. Kiss him if you want, touch him, allow him to touch you.” He pulled back, staring possessively at her lips. His tone dropped, thick with lust. “And when you’ve had enough, I’m making love to you until you lose all doubts about how desirable you are.”

She squeezed her legs together at the instant response his promise created in her body.

“Do you understand?”

Melanie nodded slowly. It was preposterous. Fantastic. Slightly mad.

Derrick paused. “If this is what you want, it’s up to you to take it.”

Brilliant. There would be no chance down the road she could claim this was something she’d felt pressured into. If she wanted, she could act. Make it her decision to step forward to prove herself attractive to more than just one man.

A rush of self-reproach hit. Whywasn’tbeing attractive to Derrick enough? He’d been so consistent and caring, and she still hadn’t been able to move beyond her limitations. Melanie lifted her lips to his and accepted his kiss. Hard for a moment, both of them affirming their connection, needing proof of it. Derrick eased back, a questioning expression on his face as he waited for her decision.

Having Derrick in her life was the start of healing, but she still felt caged. And it was past time to fix this problem.

This offer—to try and break the final chains that wrapped her in bondage—it was as if a lifeline was being stretched to her. Even though her limbs trembled, she turned to face Nathan, because she damn well needed this for her soul.

“Monkey?” Nathan’s knuckles were white where he’d dug his fingers into his thighs as he waited a few feet away. The grass lay crumpled under his knees, a smear of dirt along the edge of his shorts. Patient, and oh-so masculine. No longer the young man she’d lusted after before she even knew what lust was.

She shook her head, casting aside all her childish connections. “I’m not a monkey anymore. I grew up.” And the grown-up woman had needs the teenage fantasy couldn’t answer.

But the man before her could.

Nathan’s response was a skin-tingling, body-melting smile. “I noticed.”

She shuffled forward on Derrick’s lap, the firm base of his thighs giving her a chair-like base to rest upon that allowed her feet to touch the ground. With one hand she reached for Nathan, and he moved to accept it.

His fingers were less callused than Derrick’s. Not soft, but not the hands of a climber. With her wrist captured, Nathan rotated his hand, delicately holding her palm upward in the circle of his fingers.

“Derrick is right. You can say stop at anytime. I find you very attractive, Melanie Dixon, and I can’t wait to prove it. In detail.”

She couldn’t tear her gaze away. He seemed fascinated with the tendons in her wrist, tracing them with the fingertips of his other hand, inching his way up the sensitive skin of her arm until he made contact with the inside of her elbow. Traveling in conjunction with his touch was a freaky sensation somewhere between being tickled and being held at the edge of a rocking orgasm.

Was it possible to climax without a single sexual touch?

“I want to kiss you, Mel.”

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