Page 53 of Devoted Enough

He pulled his head back slightly, met my gaze, and asked, “May I kiss you, Haven?”

My eyes closed as a rush of air left my lungs. When I opened them, Nate’s intense silver eyes pierced mine, and I said the only thing that I could get out. “Yes. Now. Please.”

He smiled, and it was nearly my undoing. The moment his soft lips touched mine, I melted into him. My arms wrapped around his neck, and when his tongue sought entrance into my mouth, I gladly opened to him, letting out a soft moan when our tongues intertwined. The kiss was intense yet gentle. The way Nate wrapped his arms around me, drawing my body up against his, nearly had me exploding with a fierce desire that almost left me breathless.

“Haven,” Nate whispered against my lips. “Please tell me if you want this.”

My eyes fluttered open, and it took me a hot second to get my wits about me. “I’ve wanted you, Nate, for as long as I can remember. You’re the one who has been pushing away.”

He grinned. “Leave it to you to remind me of that.”

I shrugged but my smile faded. “You aren’t bothered by my…past?”

With a shake of his head, he bent down and kissed me again. “I promise you, sweetheart, I want to help you forget that time of your life and do nothing for the rest of my life but make you happy.”

I couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face. When we both just stood there as if neither of us had any idea what to do, we laughed.

Nate laced his fingers in mine and squeezed lightly. “Haven, I know this is personal, but the last time we talked you were only sixteen and still a virgin.”

I felt my cheeks heat as I said, “I’ve never been with anyone. I mean, I’ve dated, but my experience with men is rather limited. I always found it hard to trust anyone and honestly, I always dreamed you would be my first.”

A pained expression moved over Nate’s face, and he cupped my face within his hands again. “I don’t deserve you, Haven.”

Chewing on my lower lip, I nodded. “I disagree with you.”

Nate placed his forehead to mine and I whispered his name. “Nate.”

Before I knew what was happening, I was in his arms, and he walked us to my bedroom. He stopped when he stepped into the room and then laughed.

“Holy shit, Haven. Do you have enough dog stuff in here?”

Looking around the room, I laughed. I had boxes from Amazon filled with dog treats. Dog toys were stacked in one corner, and a few dog beds were piled up in the other corner.

“I don’t have anywhere to keep this stuff. At least not until the dog park is done. I plan on having a storage building onsite as well.”

He slowly put me down and walked up to one of the boxes of treats and food. Looking at me, he asked, “What’s with all the dog food?”

I made my way over to him and stopped in front of the bags of food that were piled high. “I have a few clients who have run into tough times. They can’t pay for the doggy daycare bus anymore, and money is also tight with food. I collected donations from my other clients, and I was able to buy them this food. I just have to take it to them. I was going to just pile it all into my back seat and deliver it tomorrow.”

I could feel his gaze on me. “How did this all get up here?”

Turning to look at him, I said, “I carried them up.”

His mouth fell open. “Haven, there are ten forty-pound bags. You carried these up by yourself?”

“Well, yes. It took me forever, but I got them all up.”

Nate slowly shook his head as he looked back at the bags of food. Turning to face me, he took my hands and lifted one to his mouth, kissing the inside of my wrist tenderly. With the other hand, he kissed my palm.

“I’ve never met a woman like you before, Haven. Your heart is so pure.”

I let out a nervous laugh. “I don’t know about that. If you had any idea about what was going through my mind right now, you wouldn’t think I was so pure. Not one pure thought is racing through my veins at the moment.”

A bark of laughter escaped, and he pulled me to him. “Tell me what is going on in your pretty little head.”

I could feel my entire body heat. “I want you to do what you said earlier. Explore my body with your hands and…”

My voice trailed off.

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