Page 11 of King of Rhythm
I understand his reasons for wanting to wait. I do. I truly do.
But I can’t.
“Fuck waiting.”
The words are barely out of my mouth when I surge up in the chair, seize the front of his blue Henley, and haul him closer. He meets me more than halfway, his mouth crashing into mine as his hands anchor into my loose hair, angling my face how he wants it.
I moan at the sharp tug on my hair and the way his mouth dominates me. His thick tongue sweeps in between my lips to swirl and dance with mine as his pelvis pushes against me. The hard jut of his dick leaves no doubt that he wants this as much as I do.
Splaying my hands against his chest, I feel the firm press of his muscles and the pounding of his heart under my palms. I want more.
I work at getting my hands from between us and pull at his shirt, finally getting my fingers under the hem and working my way up his heated skin.
His breath hisses out sharply and he wrenches his mouth away. For one long, confusing moment, I’m afraid I did something wrong. Then his hands join mine and he tears his shirt off.
His pupils are blown wide with desire, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he sucks in deep gasps of air, and I’ve never been so turned on in my life. Greedily, I run my gaze over his chest, noting the whorls of inky dark chest hair that stretch between his pecs and swirl around tight, erect brown nipples. Even more tempting is the furry line of hair marching down his navel to disappear into his worn jeans. I reach out for the straining bulge between his thighs when his hand clamps around my wrist.
My eyes jerk up to his strained face.
“Avery, I need you to make absolutely certain this is what you want.” He blows a sharp breath out through his nose and something like pain flitters across his face, pulling his brows lower and deepening the lines around his eyes. “I also have to let you know that in my twenties I was with a lot of women.”
What the?!
Why is he telling me this? I don’t want to hear about other women!
“Please listen to me,” he implores.
I tug at the hand he’s holding captive and regret shines clearly in his dark eyes as he releases me.
“I wanted us to talk about this before things got too serious.” He lets out a shaky laugh devoid of humor, his mouth pinching down in misery. “Things got serious fast, and I can’t sleep with you without you knowing about this and able to make your own decisions.”
Crossing my arms, I shuffle a few steps away from him. “Do you have an STD or something?”
“No, nothing like that,” he says shaking his head. "And this was a long time ago. I haven’t been with anyone in over two years.”
“Okay,” I say cautiously.
“Things like this freak people out and I don’t want you to regret this.” He shoves his hand through his hair, and I bite down on my lip, wanting my fingers combing through his short waves. “I’m also afraid of how this might change your opinion of me.”
I shouldn’t ask. I know I shouldn’t ask. Body count isn’t important. I’ve heard enough guys nastily saying a girl belongs to the streets if she’s had several sexual partners, though apparently men sleeping around is okay. And Bryce is older than me and absolutely gorgeous. I know he’s not a virgin and I’m fine with that. Yet I still hear the words coming out of my mouth. “How many?”
He licks his lips, his shoulders rounding as if under a tremendous weight. “I never kept count, but I was in a band.”
Dizzying visions of orgies and hundreds of groupies fill my head. At the center of it, I see Bryce and other women’s hands all over the chest I was just admiring. Women that are a million times prettier than me. Women that are everything I’m not.
Why is he here with me when he could…
My thoughts are rapidly spiraling out of control when Bryce’s warm hands capture mine and squeeze. “Avery, I’m sorry. I should have found a better way to tell you.”
“Or you could have just not have slept with a bazillion women.”
For a moment I’m sure I just thought that really loudly, but by the stunned look on Bryce’s face I didn’t just think it. I expecthim to be angry or maybe even hurt. Nothing prepares me for his loud laughter or the way he hugs me to him.
His bare muscular arms curl around me as he presses me into his naked chest. My nose nuzzles into his pelt of chest hair and his amazing scent is drawn deeply into my sinuses. This feels downright heavenly, and I melt into his embrace.
“You have a lot of confidence in my abilities.” His warm breath teases at my ear as he talks, and I can’t suppress the shiver that goes through me or the way my nipples bead up into hard little points and strain against my bra. “I’m not that guy anymore. I haven’t been for a long time. That’s a lifestyle that I turned my back on thirteen years ago.”
He pulls away to look at me and I notice the tiny crinkles in the skin around his eyes. Dark eyes that are earnest and full of hope. When we began chatting, we shared our ages and him being older didn’t bother me. Honestly, I never gave it much thought, and it never factored into my growing attraction to him.
