Page 25 of Verses Of Us

“No, I guess it doesn’t.” The truth surprised her. She was young, but not ignorant enough to misunderstand the world Ciarán lived in or how women came and went within it. “I guess I find it hard to believe. Forgetting that you’re you, you’re still a twenty-two-year-old guy.”

“And?”

“And isn’t that what you want? Sex?”

“Yes, it is, but…” He shook his head as if fighting with his own words.

Was he lying? Did he actually want and expect more? “Is it because I’m a virgin? Because you shouldn’t let that stop you.”

His eyes widened, the white around his blue irises striking. Like a metronome, his finger had kept a constant motion against her knuckles, but then it halted.

“Does that bother you?” she asked.

He licked his lips, a deepVforming where his brows met. “Quite the opposite, actually.”

He scratched his beard, then tugged on an earlobe. She couldn’t be sure, but the way he kept touching his face made him seem… nervous.

“So, why do you look like you’re about to lose your shit?”

He chuckled. “I’m not about to… lose my shit.” His nostrils flared with his deep breath and he swallowed hard. “Lex… you should be careful what you say around me.”

“Why? What did I say? That I’m a virgin?”

He shut his eyes and shook his head. “That I shouldn’t let it stop me.”

“And you shouldn’t.” Her voice dropped. “I’m a big girl. If I want to do something, then I want to.”

“Fuck…” he hissed, running a hand down his face. “You keep talkin’ that way and I might not be able to resist.”

His thick brogue had returned, just like when he’d been under her mother’s intimidating interrogation. She smiled at the notion that she was the one intimidating him this time. She turned, her knee bumping into his, and pushed their joined hands onto his lap. He took a sharp breath, holding her gaze, his own guarded.

“Didn’t you say I was in control? I love how you’re acting as if you’ll take over and force me into something.” She brushed a hand over his cheek and into his hair. “Trust me, Ciarán. I don’t want you to resist anything.”

Their gazes remained locked as the muffled sound of traffic outside the open window flooded the room. But between them was only silence bursting with unrelenting needs.

Her decision became clear. “I want this.”

As if tasting something bitter, his face twisted. “You want…this?”

Hearing his words, his misunderstanding of her meaning, she swept his hand softly against her lips before kissing it. After taking a steadying breath, she leaned in. Unsure if it was actual need or self-imposed pressure motivating her actions, she trailed his jawline with her mouth, whispering against his slightly stubbly cheek.

“I wantyou, Ciarán.”

Like a statue, he didn’t budge, his hands glued to his lap.

“Do you want to stop me?” she asked.

She took his silence as permission. Lifting her leg over his lap, her skirt shimmied up as she straddled him. He hurriedly shifted his fists, bringing them to her waist.

Wedged in the seam of the suede cushions, her knees sank into the sofa like quick sand, locking his hips between her thighs. She kissed his forehead, then planted a kiss on each one of his closed eyelids before moving down to his mouth, where he welcomed her with a surrendering sigh. His lips were warm and soft and hesitant. And though she’d been waiting for this kiss for so long, her body needed time to catch up and respond.

But respond it did.

UNEXPECTED

Alexis

Herhandsmoveddownhis arms then up his chest, where she pressed against him, enjoying the solid wall of muscle. A moan resonated against his mouth. Alexis couldn’t wait any longer and slid her tongue over the seam of his lips, losing herself in their embrace the moment their tongues collided.

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