Page 120 of Infernal

I wasn’t sure if he was asking me to stay for the next five minutes, or for the night, or for my whole damn life, and in that moment, I didn’t much care. The only thing that registered was my need for him. My irrevocable, undeniable aching need to be consumed by this man. To be wholly and completely devoured by him.

And that was a very, very bad thing.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said softly, not trusting myself enough to be alone with him like this.

“Why not?” he asked, looking down at me with enough heat to set the ocean on fire. “Are you worried I’m going to do something to you?”

I swallowed noisily. “Definesomething.”

“Hurt you?” he asked as he brought his fingers up to the lapels of my jean jacket and then tugged me forward.

I stumbled towards him and then shook my head. “I know you won’t hurt me.”

“Compel you?” he asked as he began to peel my jacket away from my shoulders, sliding the wet fabric down my arms and then letting it drop to the ground behind me.

“Uh-uh,” I said, my voice breathy from how thin the air had suddenly become.

His eyes flicked up to mine. “Make love to you?”

My heart slammed into my chest as I tried to wrangle out an answer. My head was spinning so quickly I thought I might pass out from the sudden fever breaking out over my skin. “No…I mean, not unless I wanted you to.”

His eyes coasted down the length of my body as his fingers picked up the hem of my wet shirt and slowly began lifting it, peeling it away from my skin at an excruciatingly slow pace. “Are you worried you’d want me to?”

My breath stuttered, heading towards the panting side.

“Mm-hmm,” I murmured as I lifted my arms up above my head and let him slide my shirt all the way off my body.

“And that’s wrong?” he asked, his lust-filled eyes were everywhere, moving from my eyes to my mouth and then all the way down to the hills under my silky white bra, before making their way back up again.

Strangely, the urge to cover up never came. Instead, I felt empowered by the way he looked at me.

“It’s not wrong, it’s just that…” I’d meant to tell him that I was still a virgin, that I’d never done this before, but that wasn’t what came out. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“I know,” he said hoarsely, slipping his arm around my waist as he flattened his hand on the small of my back and drew me in closer. “But stay anyway.”

At his words, I felt my body shudder, but it was the delicious kind, and that only made me more nervous to stay.

“We don’t have to do that, angel,” he said, his honeyed voice scraping against my nerve endings. “We can do other things. Or nothing.”

“Nothing?” I looked up at him with disbelief—with disappointment.

“If that’s what you want.” He grinned lazily and pulled his hands away from my body, folding them behind his back. “I won’t touch you until you tell me to.”

Even though he drew his hands away, his face was still so close to mine that it was impossible not to breathe him in. So, I did. I breathed in a lungful of his intoxicating aroma, his sweet smell of milk-chocolate and malt, and I unraveled.

“Okay,” I said, my eyes transfixed by the way his lips closed around his words. I could feel my body pooling with heat, with need, begging me to taste him all over again. To feel those lips closing around me.

“Okaywhat?” he asked deliberately, his voice husky and low.

I looked up and met his eyes, my skin prickling with heat. “Okay—touch me,” I murmured.

A deep rumble sounded at the back of his throat. “Where?”

“Everywhere.”

He growled again. “Pick a spot, angel.”

“My lips,” I said speedily, needing for him to kiss me.

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