Page 27 of Unwrapping His Naughty Secret

I keep pressing my case. “Cara, I don’t deserve you as my Christmas present, but I won’t deny that I want you anyway. I want to unwrap every inch of you and give you more kisses to make up for the fact that I disappeared. And as for my daughter… Don’t you think I should teach Hannah that love is worth waiting for?”

Cara’s eyes widen. “What are you?—”

“I told you it was illogical.” I circle my thumb on the inside of her wrist, feeling her delicate pulse flutter against my touch. “But the reason I backed off after our first kiss is that I knew I was already a goner. I knew if I kissed you a second time, I’d want forever, and that wasn’t fair to put on you at such a young age.”

She stares at me as she brings her free hand to her lips. Remembering how insanely good that kiss was, I hope.

“That was something special. Something worth holding on to. Kisses are neverlike that, Cara. You have to take my word for that, because I’m not letting you kiss a bunch of creepy toads to find out for yourself.”

She giggles despite her shock.

I lift her other hand and press it to my chest, right over my heart. “This isn’t the setting I pictured for this conversation. I swear. I planned to come and find you at the library at your next tutoring session. Ask for help with an apology letter, but I’d already have it written.”

She turns a little, enough to take in my bed in the shadows of the room. “This is a lot more private than the library.”

“You can go back to your room if you want,” I say hoarsely. “But I’ll come find you at the library, then. And it’ll get awkward there, too.”

“Awkward is sort of our thing, apparently?” She frowns. I take her face in my hand and soothe her furrowed brow. She bites her lower lip again, her gaze locked on my face, and I ease it out from between her teeth with my thumb.

“I don’t think awkward is that bad,” I murmur before I kiss that wounded flesh. So gently. “If we can survive Christmas with the whole Dane clan, that’s a pretty good start to forever, don’t you think?”

She gasps against my mouth.

I take that as a yes, and turn her around so we’re facing the full-length mirror where most days, I just check to make sure I’m basically presentable for the world.

Tonight, for the first time ever, I’m not alone in this reflection.

“Do we look awkward together?”

A gorgeous smile blooms across her face. “No.”

I press my lips to her temple, heart pounding. “Do I look too old for you?”

Slowly, she shakes her head. “No.”

“Do I look like a man who wants to give you the entire world at your feet?”

She laughs.

“I’m serious.”

She studies our reflections.

I’m taller than her, and wider, too. Butshe’s no little slip of a thing. She’s a solid stack of curves. My cock thickens as my hands graze down her bare arms, my fingers itching to touch more of her.

Her shoulders roll back and her head tilts to the side. She’s really thinking about this, really watching us as I caress her arms. I drop my hands to her hips, touching, squeezing…

Her breathing changes.

Still watching.

I sweep my touch to her belly, filling my hands with her silky shirt and the soft flesh beneath it. Up, up, up, until my hands are just beneath her breasts, both of them, my fingers aching to curve over her tits.

“Hunter,” she whispers. “I don’t understand.”

I’m not surprised by her uncertainty. I, on the other hand, have the context of a lifetime without her, so I have more bone-deep confidence in this rightness.

“Oh, sweet girl.” I press my face into her hair. “Don’t you? Can’t you feel what you do to Daddy?”

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