Page 42 of Let Me Love You
“What made you change your mind?” He leaned forward and brushed a few loose strands of hair behind her ears.
“The sweet things you’ve been doing for the last several weeks. Tonight. You.” She tucked her leg underneath her bottom. “What you said to me on the patio at Mahuffer’s hit me like a ton of bricks. I never saw this coming. Honestly. And I kept telling myself this couldn’t happen. But when you told me that you loved me, that you wanted to give me the life I’d dreamed of since I was a little girl, you sounded serious and I couldn’t help but hope it was true.”
“I’ve crushed on you forever.” He chuckled. “Seriously. If I told you how long I’ve been lusting after you, you’d think I’m crazy. But at some point, I fell in love with you. I don’t know if it was last summer, spending all that time together working on your yard, jogging the neighborhood with you when I was home from school, or just sitting around your pool talking. I got to know so much more about you. What makes you laugh. Your passions. Your dreams. And I could talk to you. You listen. I don’t know when my heart became involved, I just know it did. But you were married. Now, you’re not. And I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”
She smiled, a big, sappy smile, showing her happiness. This was the only look he ever wanted to see on her face. Well, that and a sated look after he rocked her world.
She grasped the back of his neck and pulled him toward her, meshing their lips. Her hunger seared him. He gripped her hips and yanked her closer, their chests colliding. They growled. She fisted his shirt, tugging and pulling as if she couldn’t get close enough. He understood the feeling. Even being inside her wouldn’t be close enough.
She licked his bottom lip and nipped. He grunted. If he hadn’t already been harder than stone, that move would have done it.
He may have won this battle, getting her to give them a chance, but he hadn’t won the war. Not yet. This relationship would be tenuous. She lacked trust in men. Feared a broken a heart. He needed to prove to her that this relationship meant more to him than sex. He didn’t want her to give in because she also missed their physical connection, only to see a look of regret on her face in the morning. He couldn’t ride this rollercoaster any longer. He wanted it all.
She swung her leg over his hips without breaking their kiss. Her toned thighs gripped him in a vise, and she rocked along the ridge of his erection, the thin material of her yoga pants no barrier to her warmth. Ren moaned against her mouth. He dug his fingers into the flesh of her thighs, trying to stop her movement, or in the very least, slow her. His cock ached already, begging to sink inside her. His commitment to no-sex would have him walking around for the next couple weeks with balls bluer than Papa Smurf.
She traced her tongue along a vein in his neck, which thrummed with his rapid heartbeat.
Stars. He couldn’t decipher if the twinkling in his peripheral were actual stars he could see through the large picture window or just his mind reacting to the pleasure she elicited. Dropping his head back against the couch, he huffed out a breath. After weeks of no physical contact, he’d either come in his pants or he’d flip her on her back and fuck her senseless. Either scenario would be a blemish on his plan. But a man could only take so much.
Stacey Williams would be the death of him. A blissful end, of that he was sure, but death nonetheless.
With an immense amount of effort, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back. Her lips were swollen from their kissing and a hunger twinkled in her eyes. A hunger he knew was also evident in his own.
“What’s wrong?” Her voice rasped with lust.
“Nothing’s wrong.” He smiled, not wanting her to think he had second thoughts. Her ego was fragile, but he needed to stay firm.
“Okay. Good.” She leaned forward and brushed her lips over his, swiping her tongue over his bottom lip. She tasted tangy, like a citrusy white wine, but a hint of cinnamon lingered. Divine. “I need you inside me.” Her words floated from her mouth to his as she dipped her tongue into him.
She pitched forward, her pelvis making direct contact with his cock and sending a jolt up his spine. A growl bubbled up from his chest and his eyes rolled back in his head. He’d dreamt of this woman wanting him the way she did right now, not being able to keep her hands off him, kissing him into next week. This was exactly what he’d wanted, but he wanted more and she did, too. The only way to ensure they both got what they wanted was to stick to his promise.
With great reluctance and even greater effort, he broke their kiss again.
“We’re not doing this.”
The shock on her face panged in his chest. The words came out gruffer than he’d intended, but he walked a fine line. He sat on the precipice of sanity, his body vibrating with desire.
Though fully aware of the promise he made to himself, Stacey knew nothing of it. He didn’t want to give her any reason to think he rejected her. She’d had enough of that.
“Why not?” Her bottom lip turned down into a pout. It was almost too much. Almost made him say “fuck it” and give her exactly what she wanted, what he wanted.
“We’re going to do this right. No sex.” The words sounded absurd out loud.
“How is ‘no sex’ right?” She shifted her hips forward and ground into him again.
Fuck!A devilish glint sparkled in her eyes. She knew exactly the affect she had on him and planned to use it to her advantage. When she pulled her plump bottom lip between her teeth and rolled into him again, he ground his teeth together to bite off the growl that would only encourage her.
“I want to go out with you. On dates. To dinner. The movies. The theatre. The beach.” He seized her hips and pushed her down his legs, making her contact with his dick more difficult. “I want to hold the door for you, buy you flowers, hold your hand, do things in public like a real couple.”
She leaned forward, resting her forearms on his shoulders. “We can date and make love.” She licked down the side of his neck. His fingers dug into her thighs hard.
“Are you trying to kill me, baby?”
“No. I’m trying to make you feel good.” She slid her hand down his chest and over his abs until she reached his throbbing cock. She cupped him through his shorts and squeezed gently. His breath lodged and he swore he could see his brain, that’s how far back his eyes rolled from the pleasure. “Your body is telling me you want this.”
The irony of his words from their first encounter being thrown back at him wasn’t lost on him. She smirked and squeezed him again.
“I never said I didn’t want this,” he said, and hissed. “I want it more than almost anything. Almost. But not more than I want a future with you.” He released a frustrated breath. “I never thought this would be easy, but fuck, I didn’t think it would be this hard either.” He grasped her wrist and tugged her hand from his crotch. “I need you to understand I want more than your body. More than sex. I don’t ever want you to think I’m here just to fuck you. We’re going to date for a while. Do things like other couples.”
