Page 52 of Volatile

Her heart started to pound out of her chest. Mmm...what did he have in mind? Her next thought: Again? Already? Could she handle that? All the blood that was meant to go to her stomach to digest her food was being redirected other places.

He chuckled. “Come here, Ivy.” He patted his thigh. “Please.”

She slid off her chair and went over, lowering onto his lap. She wanted to be there; she really did or she wouldn’t have come back, but she never knew what to expect from him. Nerve-wracking, yes, but was that good or bad? He swallowed her up in his arms, cradling her, and she rested her head against his rock of a chest.

“Will you stay with me tonight?”

She picked up her head. He’d been serious about that? Staying the night was scary with a flashing neon S.

“I meant everything I said earlier.” He brushed a finger over her lips, and it tingled. “You’re the only one I’m thinking about whether you’re with me or not. When I say I want you, it’s because I want you and no one else.” He pulled straight a long curl, letting it bounce back. “Besides, how could it even be possible to think of another when I have all this gorgeous hair within my grasp? There’s no one else like you, Ivy.”

She closed her eyes, loving the way he played with her hair. Part of her desperately wanted to believe him. The other part couldn’t care less, as long as he kept making her feel all the things she craved to feel.

“Stay all night,” he repeated. “Until morning. I just want to lie with you in my arms. No sex. No orgasms.”

“What?” That popped her eyes to attention. Was she relieved or disappointed?

“Would that be too difficult for you?” He touched his mouth to hers, so lightly he’d barely made contact. Did that drive her insane? Hell, yeah. It didn’t matter if his touch was hard or soft, he had that effect on her.

She ignored her frantic pulse and collected her thoughts. “I cannot figure you out. How can you go from that to this?”

“By ‘that’ you mean...?”

Jesus, he was going to make her spell it out? “You practically attacked me before, and now you’re treating me like some china doll?”

“There’s more than one way to ravish your beautiful body.” He stroked her cheek, two fingers that felt like matchsticks. She was growing uncomfortably hot. “But is this your way of making a request? I know you like it rough.”

“What? No. It kinda freaked me out.” Because I liked it so much.

His lips curved like he didn’t believe a word of it. “But I also know that’s not all you like. It’s okay to have it all, Ivy. And with me, you’ll get it all. That’s the kind of man I am. No matter what the experience, you can trust that I’ll always honor every single part of you.”

Okay, how the hell was she supposed to respond to any of this? Her mind was doing laps in a warped pool. How could someone be both fierce and tender and make her feel so good while doing it? And most importantly, why did she feel like Jonathan was the perfect man for her?

It was a tad disturbing. Maybe she should’ve been lying on his couch instead of his bed.

“Will you stay with me, Ivy?”

“Okay.” The word just tumbled out.

With one quick motion, he was standing, and she was off the ground. “Um....” He was carrying her? The last time anyone had done that was her toddler days. “I have to tell Lily first.”

“Of course.”

He moved as easily with her as when he’d held that plate of spaghetti. She stopped worrying that he’d drop her and started worrying about her sister.

“It’s just that with me not home all night... I get a little concerned that she’s going to do something that she’ll end up regretting.”

“She’ll be fine, Ivy.”

“She might decide it’s okay to call up that guy and....” She didn’t want to think beyond that. What if he tried to suck her back in again and this time he seriously hurt her? If Ivy weren’t around to—

He held her tighter, resting his lips on her forehead. “It’ll be okay. Trust me. I’ve gotten to know Lily quite well, and she has a good head on her shoulders. You need to believe she’ll make the right decisions. If I thought she was in any danger, I’d take you back home myself.”

Ivy nodded, not paying much attention to her surroundings when he brought her into his bedroom and set her on the bed. She was thinking about what to tell her sister, what reason she could possibly give for staying out all night. If Lily found out she was sleeping with her therapist, there’d be no way to predict her reaction. At the rate her sister was going, she’d probably accuse her of using sex to affect the outcome of the case, if that were even possible.

Jonathan left to retrieve her purse. She lay back, running her hands over the black comforter. It suited him. She scanned her eyes around the room. It was very simple and masculine, and that matched him as well. Dark accents and sturdy furniture. There was no hint of a woman in this room, besides the one currently on his bed, and that gave her a thrill.

He returned, handing her the purse. She dug inside for her phone, and by the time she pulled it out, half his clothes were off.

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