Page 124 of Deliverance

She doesn’t flinch or shimmy away, and to me, that’s a good sign. A sign of trust. “Fine…considering.”

Something changed yesterday. I can’t shape it into words yet, but it’s almost tangible so that I can feel it, touch it, taste it.

“Our flight is in a couple of hours,” I explain, my pulse roaring in my ears. “Do you want to go downstairs for breakfast or order room service?”

She stares at me long and hard, her fingers tiptoeing across my pec, teasing like she doesn’t understand what she’s doing. “I don’t feel like being around people right now.”

“Okay. We’ll just order in then.” I tangle my hand in her hair, carefully cradling her head.

Our faces are so close, almost touching, and then I realize—goddamnit!—I’m fucking hard. It wouldn’t be anything to be ashamed of with any other woman, but with her, it feels…disrespectful after last night.

One wrong move and she’ll know exactly what she’d be getting and how much I want her.

“Zander,” Drew breathes out my name, her jaw working nervously.

“Hmm?”

“I’ve never told anyone what I told you last night.” She’s holding my gaze while she speaks. “I haven’t been able to.”

I forget myself for the briefest moment and, in the heat of it, draw her closer and then my secret is out. “Shit, sorry—” I jerk away when her hips brush against my not-so-subtle hard-on. “I didn’t mean to—”

Drew sinks her teeth into her lower lip but doesn’t say anything. Her chestnut brown eyes continue to stare. They study me with such precision, it burns.

I grab a handful of the blanket and shove it between us, feeling like a prepubescent teenager. “Sometimes, I can’t control it.” My words come out as pathetic slurs.

Several excruciating seconds tick by. Finally, Drew reaches for my face and rests her palm on my cheek, causing my blood to boil over in my veins.

“That’s not helping, trust me.” I attempt to diffuse the situation with a joke.

“I know.” She bobs her head, the soft pillow dipping beneath the movement, then she scoots over to me to eliminate the little space still left between us, our bodies becoming one. “That’s not my intention anyway.”

Instantly, my mouth goes dry. I shut my eyes, my self-control slipping away from me like sand through fingers. “This may not be a good idea, baby.” My voice comes out as a hard gasp.

The blankets and sheets rustle around us as Drew wiggles against me. She runs her fingers down to my lips and over the stubble covering my chin, exploring.

And as much as I hate this torture, as much as the animal in me wants to tackle her and get it over with, I let her take charge. I let her lips ghost over mine and I let her hands touch my body. And a fraction of me finds pleasure in what she’s doing. Taking it slow.

In a way, I’ve missed the drowsy process of the prelude. The chase. The foreplay.

“Do you really want this?” she whispers into my mouth. “With me?”

Fuck. Like there’s even a question. “Of course I do.” There’s a knot in my gut and my body is one raw fucking wound right now because ofhow muchI crave this with her, but I’m too scared to touch her the wrong way. I’m too scared to do something she won’t like.

For a second, her weight next to me disappears and when I snap my eyes open, she’s on her knees, hovering over me, and from this angle I can see the swell of her breasts and the hard planes of her stomach. She has the form of an athlete.

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me right now?” My voice is ragged and broken.

Without a word, she pulls the blanket aside, lifts one leg, and brings it over me, then lowers herself to straddle my hips.

I go still. All that’s left of me is my hammering heart.

And obviously, there’s also the small issue of my throbbing cock.

Drew rests both palms on my abs and slides them up to my chest and I’m fucking shaking. I’m shaking from how badly I want to rip that nightgown to shreds and bury myself into her so deep, I’d never find my way back.

But instead, I draw a long, shuddered breath and just stare up at the outline of her seductive silhouette on top of me. My hands move to her thighs, beneath the fabric, higher and higher. Until my fingers reach the elastic of her panties. That’s where I pause.

My emotions are all too wild and too tangled right now and I don’t want to fuck it all up in mere seconds.

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