Page 85 of Unspoken Promises

“Your turn.” My voice wobbles slightly, but I’m proud I even got those words out because the anticipation of us touching has me in a stranglehold. I’m being bold, but he must be able to see my heartbeat right through my chest.

His slow, methodical movements take to the buttons of his shirt, but his gaze is firmly fixed on me. He’s not hurried to undress, all the while staring at me like he’s imaging a thousand different ways to unravel me. One button at a time. He sets his shirt down, carefully exposing his boxer arms and washboard abs. He loosens his belt buckle with one hand, like he could tie me up in ropes just as easily. His zipper slides down in slow motion. The longer he takes, the more nervous I become. The more thirsty I am for him.

Maybe that’s the point.

His gaze lingers on my body, drinking me in.

“How long are you going to take, boss?”

The corner of his lip quirks upward. A wicked smile dances on his lips. “You want to know what the best part is about what I’m going to do to you?”

I gulp. We really are going to have sex.

“What’s that?” I squeak.

“The crave.”

Holy shit. Am I in over my head. Is this what people mean by having a practice date? Enzo has probably been with loads of women. Will I be able to please this man?

He pushes his pants and boxers to the ground, and a massive erection stands at attention.

For me.

“Get in the water.”

27

I didn’t intendfor any of this to happen. I wanted her to feel cared about. Supported. Safe. Free to bring her whole self to me. When she came on to me last night on the couch, I wondered if there was heightened emotion involved in her move. It seemed rash. Impassioned.

This?

The way she slipped out of her dress was deliberate and calculated and exactly what I didn’t know I wanted. She is fucking stunning. Every inch of her skin is perfect. It means something that she’s willing to stand there in front of me, stripped bare to nothing but what God has given her,no armor, no pretense.

An offering.

And I’d be a foolish man not to take it.

So I strip down just as she did and then struggle to push many words through my tight throat.

“Get in the water.”

She walks to the shallow end and steps one foot down, then the other, a catlike stare transfixed on me.

I follow her into the pool. The warmth of it envelops my skin. My dick submerges into the heat, and it begs for me to seek out her slick insides instead. But I’m not easily deterred from my agenda, though I must admit, my manners are very quickly fading.

She steps toward me. I take a small step back.

“It’s going to be hard to teach you how to swim if you’re touching me.”

She submerges most of her body but her tits sit on top of the surface, floating there, teasing me. Her hair waves around her like fire even water can’t snuff. “We can skip the lesson for today.”

She tries to float toward me, but I step back again.

Her features are playful and coy. “We can come back another time.”

Ava’s fierce pursuit of happiness is what makes her so magnetic. She’s been through hell and brought fire back in her bones. I need that in my life. My reaction to bad things happening is to build a fortress. Hers is to build wings. And my God is she beautiful, stalking me, not making a secret of her desire. She’s shameless in the best possible way.

But my concern right now is that she thinks I set this whole thing up just to get her naked. I didn’t. When I thought through the date scenarios for tonight, I wanted to choose something she’d never had a chance to experience before. And since I wasn’t too keen on taking her off site, notuntil I know more, I figured learning to swim was just the gesture. I want her to feel free, empowered… the dress was all part of that fierceness I wanted to bring out in her.

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