Page 17 of Unrequited
I swallow the lump in my throat.
I want him. I want this, so damn bad.
“Come here,” he murmurs. My heart beats impossibly faster, my body instinctively responding to his command.
What would it be like if I werefullyunder his command? My insides whir with excitement and nerves.
He pulls me a little closer. Not roughly. Gently, like I’m something precious he doesn’t want to break.
He smells like wind and danger and salt. Like something primal. And under that? Warmth. Comfort. Need.
“I’ve never been kissed,” I whisper. My voice trembles. I wish it didn’t.
He stiffens slightly and then tips my chin up to meet his gaze, rough fingers under the thin, vulnerable skin. “Never?”
I shake my head. “I told you I’ve been sheltered, remember?”
“Aye, lass,” he says quietly. His voice drops, rough with feeling. “My fucking god. I can’t believe I have the privilege of being your first. Come here.”
My heart squeezes. Thumps. Warmth spreads across my chest and dips lower.
I love the way he talks. The way every word feels like a promise.
And I know, before his lips even touch mine, that this is going to be beautiful. Memorable.
Everything I’ve ever wanted.
“I said come here,” he says again, even softer.
I step toward him, incapable of anything but obeying him.
“When a man kisses a woman he cares for,” he murmurs, “he needs to make her feel safe.”
His hand brushes the hair out of my eyes.
“It’s not just about taking, you know. That’s the mistake men make. They take and they take, but this?” His fingers trail down the side of my face. “This is about giving too.”
I swallow and nod. I don’t trust my voice.
Just kiss me already.
“You’re so beautiful,” he says. “So fucking beautiful.” He shakes his head. “Got a flat here outside of Moscow, you know. So I could show every week.”
He did?
He blows out a breath and holds my gaze. My nerves and fears meld together. A man can’t seduce a woman for six months, right? If he were trying to take advantage of me, trying to somehow use me, wouldn’t he have already played his hand?
“Zoya. When I close my eyes, you’re the first thing I see. When I open them, there y’are again.”
I swallow hard. “Okay,” I say, breathless.
He chuckles softly. I love that sound. My cheeks heat.
He’s Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome in the flesh. And all mine, if only for a moment.
“I’ll tell you what to do,” he says. “Close your eyes, if you want to.”
I look at him, wanting to remember every second. I want to burn the image into my mind.
