Page 77 of Unspoken Promises

My hands wander down his six-pack, but his belt is too tight to get my fingers past that perfect V leading right down to a bulge that is surely going to drive me wild when I see it. I try to undo his buckle, but it’s damn hard with him still dry fucking my throbbing core…

I don’t even know what I’m doing any more. My mind reels with need.

I try to push down my shorts to give him better access, grabbing the sides of my panties at the same time, with all intention of opening myself to him, when all of a sudden, all panting, all groaning, and both our heaving chests stop.

The roar of the motor driving us toward having sex comes to a screeching halt.

His head falls to the armrest, and he closes his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Can he hear the desperation in my voice?

He slides his hand out from down my shorts and places it on my hip instead.

“Did I do something wrong?”

His jaw tics. “Never.”

Then why doesn’t he want to…?

“Come here.”

He urges me into his embrace, and I settle into the crook of his arm. He nestles me in tightly, and I lay my hand on his balmy chest where his heart pounds against my palm.

He holds me, caressing the length of my arm affectionately, and worry overcomes me. Was I too presumptuous and forward? I swear that kiss… and everything that was happening went both ways…

“I…” His voice is husky. “It shouldn’t happen like this.”

Lust hasn’t drained from me, and speaking into his delicious-smelling neck while our skin is pressed together doesn’t do much to change that.

“Just because I’ve never done this before doesn’t mean I’m emotionally attached to my…” I knew this detail might change the way he sees me. “I’m not a twenty-five-year-old virgin by choice.”

Not that I can now imagine me losing it to anyone but Enzo.

A harsh, frustrated sigh escapes.

Here I thought the feelings were mutual. I know I’m not experienced in love or lust but I really felt it. His dark hair is mussed from my fingers raking through it, and it almosthurts how beautiful I find him and that I sense he’s pushing me away.

My words are a strangled whimper. “You don’t want me?”

There’s an appreciation in his gaze I never knew I needed. “You’reeverythingthat I want.”

His words send a shiver through me. My fingers roam back down through the dip between his pecs.

I make circles on his stomach. “I definitely want this. I know I’m inexperienced but I know what I want.”

For the first time, maybe ever, the kind of laugh that leaves him is full of humor. “I’m not worried about you.” His growl tells me his fingers still haven’t dried. “I felt how much you want this.”

I’d feel embarrassed, except what he’s saying offers me more than I even wanted from his hand down my pants. It’s something I feel, too, but was too scared to let myself want. Sex, even losing my virginity, would be easy to move past at this point. Enzo breaking my heart would be another.

He tips my chin up so he can gaze into my eyes.

“You deserve to know how a gentleman treats a lady before he takes her to the bedroom.”

24

I don’t letAva leave my house that evening and I don’t plan on letting her leave ever again. Not until I know everything. And by everything I mean that the people who kept her like a goddamn prisoner are brought to their knees. And who texted her? I want to believe her story about Pen and heights, but it doesn’t sit right.

She took off like a bat out of hell. I know irrational fears like heights can do that. but it’s still hard to believe. I’m not taking my eyes off her until law enforcement is involved. Until we officially erase any trace of her old identity and this father of hers can never find her. We have excellent security here; I’ve always kept the perimeter manned but I don’twant her holed up in a brand-new prison. I have to get this done fast, and my US marshal contacts will come in handy; they can get me through to a sympathetic judge who will grant an order to keep her birth certificate change sealed.

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