Page 51 of Tender Heart
She pulls the sheet up and it settles around her, sending her vanilla and spice around me. I lie awake until her breathing quiets, and only then do I dare to look at her. She’s stunning in the moonlight. Hair framing her face on the pillow, her elegant lines draw me in like a moth to a flame. The curve of her lips, the fine architecture of her cheek bones and arched eyebrows. The soft flesh of her neck that looks like a forbidden fruit. The dip at her collarbone, the round, plump swell and peaks of her breasts...
Something soft pushes back into me, pressing against my cock, and it hardens instantly. I wake to a blurry brown mess in my vision.
Dark hair.
I gently brush it from my face. Evie is on her side, her back to me, her ass pushed into my groin. She’s hunting for warmth, if the goosebumps on her skin are anything to go by. I extricate myself from her and pad to the window and pull it down. Plucking a throw from the chair by the door, I lay it over her and slide back into bed.
“So cold,” she murmurs, pulling the blanket up to her neck. I wriggle back to the sliver of mattress I was on when I woke. This time I wrap my arm around her and tug her into my warmth before letting my palm rest on the bed. She only wants warmth.
“Thank you,” she utters before settling again.
But I’m wide awake.
The ache in my cock is beyond comprehension with her ass pressed against me. My hands tremble with the need to touch her, to tug, grab at any fucking thing I can take.
Inhaling deep, I attempt to douse the fire that’s currently blazing its way through my body. It only serves to stoke it higher when I breathe in her vanilla and spice. I groan into her hair, sinking my face into it.
Christ above, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
Holding Evie without touching her.
Hands down, the hardest.
A little moan slips through her lips, and I almost choke on my last breath.
I slide a hand down to her hip. The tiny shorts barely cover her, but the goosebumps have retreated. That’s one thing, at least. She moves, her back arching a little as she mutters, “Too hot.”
I peel the blanket off her shoulder. Her skin is flushed now. I can’t tell if it’s the warmth of the blankets or the proximity that’s flipped her body temp so quickly. I brush her hair from her neck, hoping it’ll help. Her fine hand wraps around mine.
“Evie?”
“Please.” She drags my hand back to her hip.
I take a rough grip and squeeze. Her back arches further.
“E—” Gravel has lined my throat. “Eve . . .”
Just when I think she must be still dreaming or half asleep, her arm reaches back. Her palm cups my jaw, fingertips trembling as they brush over my beard and ghost over my lips.
Fuck me.
“You sure?” I bury my face in her hair and breathe her in.
“Yes,” she moans, canting her ass.
“Look at me.” The words are sharper than I intend.
But she turns to face me and her hands land on my chest. “I-it’s been a long time. And I can’t stop thinking about your hands on me. Like last time.”
Last time.
The time I caved in to what I wanted. The memory of the decision I made to put space back between us burns.
“It’s not a good idea. I’m not?—”
Her finger presses over my lips.
“I’m not asking for anything more. Just this.”
