Page 102 of Modern Romance March 2025 (5-8)

He leans forward and captures my face between his hands.

“Yes, it’s a part of you. But look at what you’ve done. You,” he says with an emphasis that makes my eyes grow hot. “You started up a new business, you’re living on your own, scuba diving,” he adds with a slight shake of his head and a small smile, “learning how to navigate a new city, a new language. Your life is far richer than mine has ever been.”

I grab on to his wrist. “The reason I share all of that with you, Rafe, is because you can still make a choice. You don’t have to let the guilt over what happened with Gavriil keep you in this prison you’ve created for yourself.”

He starts to pull away. “Tessa, I’m happy that you have found so much joy. But not everyone does in this life.”

He leans down and kisses my forehead in such a way that I know he’s preparing to send me back to my room. I inhale, then slide my hands up his chest and around his neck with a boldness I fake every step of the way.

His eyes darken almost instantly. “Tessa.”

My name is a warning. One I ignore as I lean up and kiss him. For a moment, he doesn’t respond. But when I tease his lips with the tip of my tongue, he groans and hauls me against him, plundering my mouth with lips, teeth, tongue. He devours me, leaves me speechless.

“Tessa.”

My body ignites as he growls my name, the sound reverberating through my lips. Every cell attuned to his every breath, the beat of his heart, the rise and fall of his chest.

I pull back just a fraction, still close enough I can feel his breath feathering across my lips.

“I’ve waited long enough.” My hands slide up into his hair. “Make love to me, Rafe.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Rafe

HER WORDS UNLEASHthe stranglehold I’ve been keeping on my desire. I slide my hands up her legs, the cool silk sending my pulse skyrocketing as I pull her hips against mine. I fist my fingers in her hair, tilt her head back and kiss her. She returns the kiss with that deep, trusting passion that shocks my foundation and sends me perilously close to the edge I’ve kept myself away from for years.

I break the kiss long enough to whisk her top over her head. The sight of her breasts, bare again to my gaze, sets me on fire. I cradle the full weight of one in my hand before lowering my head and capturing a dusky peak between my lips. The first suck has her arching against me as she cries out my name. The second makes her press her hips against mine, a move that has me groaning at the exquisite torture of her pressing against my hard length.

I make love to one breast, then the other, feeding off her sighs, her moans, her increasingly frantic movements.

“Rafe.” I feel her hands tugging at my shirt. “I want this off.”

I chuckle against her skin and sit up. “Demanding.”

Pink washes over her cheeks, but thank God she doesn’t stop. She pulls the shirt over my head and leans forward, pressing her heated skin against me. The intimacy of the contact, her arms winding around my back and holding me close, shocks me. I’ve never sat with anyone like this, bodies pressed together, simply savoring the contact between us. I can feel her heart thudding against my chest, smell that delicious floral scent of her shampoo.

I wrap my arms around her and bury my face in her hair. Inhale.

“Tessa… I need you to be sure.”

There’s no going back from what we’re about to do. The thought of her being with anyone else is enough to drive me insane.

But I have to give her one last chance before we pass the point of no return.

She leans back, her eyes luminous and warm. A distant warning bell clangs. I can see something more in the caramel depths. Emotions Tessa shouldn’t be feeling. Emotions I shouldn’t be responding to.

“I want this, Rafe.” She leans up and presses the softest of kisses to my lips. “I want you.”

I banish my concerns as I reach up to cradle her face and kiss her deeply.

“I need you to tell me if anything hurts. Not just with this being your first time, but anything else.”

Her lips curve into a grateful smile. “I talked to my doctor.”

I arch a brow. “About losing your virginity?”

“Yes,” she says with an adorable lift to her chin. “I wanted to do it right.”

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