Page 249 of Shadowblood Souls
His hand rises to stroke carefully over my hair. I can feel the tight control he’s maintaining over the simple movement, over his entire body where it touches mine.
“Okay, Wildcat?” he murmurs.
“Yeah,” I say, but even with that one word, my voice comes out a bit ragged.
Jacob twists a little so he can peer down at my face, managing not to dislodge my hand or my knee. I’m not sure if that’s for the best or a precursor to my impending doom.
“What?” His tone firms with a protective edge that only fans the flames nibbling away at my own control.
I swallow hard, my cheeks flushing. Am I really going to say this?
I should peel myself off himnowand jump in the coldest of cold showers.
But somehow I’m still not moving.
Jacob lifts his other hand to brush his thumb over my cheek. He’s definitely taking my instructions to prove himself with gentleness to heart.
When I lift my gaze, the worry shimmering in his eyes nearly cracks me apart. “If something’s wrong?—”
It suddenly feels ten times more selfishnotto tell him what’s actually on my mind.
Which doesn’t make it any easier to spit the truth out. I lower my gaze back to the muscled planes of his chest that show through his button-up shirt and fumble with the words.
“No, I just— I think I want— It doesn’t seem right to ask?—”
Jacob waits out my babbling patiently, his fingers stilling against my face. When I halt completely, he studies me.
“Ask for what, Riva? You can ask me foranything. Hell knows I fucking owe you.”
My mouth opens and closes again. My flush spreads down my cheeks. “I—Do you think we could?—”
I squeeze my eyes shut and force my thoughts into something vaguely resembling coherency. “Could we… enjoy ourselves a little, without it being anything permanent?”
Jacob goes even more rigid, but a fresh whiff of desire tickles my nose at the same moment.
“Without leaving a mark, you mean,” he says, his voice lowering in a way that sends my temperature spiking. “Nothing binding us. Just to get off.”
“Yeah,” I mumble, and then feel I need to make one thing clear. I meet his gaze again even though my face is flaming. “For now.”
I’m not making any promises, but I don’t want him to think I expect it to be never. That nothing he’s done has meant anything.
A small smile that brings a flutter into my chest crosses Jacob’s lips. “I told you last night that I’m yours, didn’t I?Whatever you want with me, I’m right here. Take as much as you need.”
A tight, hungry sound works from my throat, and then I’m rolling right onto him, straddling him like I did last night.
I splay my hands against his sculpted chest and wet my lips. Leaning over for a kiss feels too risky.
If I’m not going to lose myself in the moment and end up careening past boundaries I’d rather not, I need to keep a little distance.
Jacob trails tentative fingers down my neck, but his eyes have gone stormy with his own desire. “What can I do for you, Wildcat?”
The ache between my legs seems to be pulsing all through my body now. “I—touch me. Make me feelgood.”
A groan he can’t quite suppress seeps from his lips.
He drops his hand further to trace the side of my breast through my tank top. I press into the contact, shifting my hips at the same time—and my pussy, covered only by the thin panties, grazes the rock-hard bulge behind the fly of his slacks.
Both of our breaths hitch in unison. As the pleasure of the friction spirals from my core, Jacob cups my breast completely.
