Page 97 of Home Field Advantage
When I moan into his mouth, he pulls back. I’m breathless and dazed. My lips feel swollen in the best way, and I feel as undone as he looks.
He looks at my face up and down in silence before moving my head to the side, tugging my cardigan to the side, and peppering kisses down the pulse of my neck. My body relaxes in a way it’s never relaxed before. I quite literallymeltwhere I stand, but he holds me in place, taking his time exploring my skin.
I want this, I think on repeat.
I reach up, running my fingers through the light scruff of his jaw, and he lifts his head again to face me.
“I’m here because I can’t stop fucking thinking about you—about this,” he says breathlessly, thumb grazing the pulse his lips were just on. “Since I kissed you, your taste has lingered on my tongue. It’s all I can think about at night, alone, in bed.”
I suck in a sharp breath, my nerves on high alert because even though I’m inexperienced, I know what he means with each word out of his mouth.
His fingertips trail the same pulse his thumb was stroking; no doubt, he can feel how fast it’s beating. Then he trails them along my collarbone, forcing my eyes to flutter closed as he continues down the side of my breasts and my stomach.
“Can I touch you, Poppy?”
“You don’t want this,” I breathe out, my inner mind fighting with the desire I’m feeling. “Trust me.”
He pulls his hand away from the hem of my leggings, back up to my face as if he still needs his hands on me in some way, shape, or form.
He doesn’t say anything, he just kisses me again. Softer this time—tentative and careful. Like I’m a glass doll that he’s afraid he’s going to break. I guess, metaphorically, I am. I know Dallas has the power to break me, but there’s also no denying that I want him to.
I can already hear the voice in my head telling me his response,Seriously? You’re still a virgin at twenty-five?
There’s that lingering fear that he’s never going to look at me the same again.
But I’m tired of hiding it.
“I’m an inexperienced virgin, Dallas,” I admit. “When I tell you that you don’t want this, that’s what I mean.”
I want to curl into a ball at my own admission, knowing something as huge as that has the power to make him walk away. He could be the one to step away any second now and walk right out the door. I fight to stay where I stand, though, not letting him know that saying that out loud makes me feel weak.
But it also makes me feel strong and powerful.
This is a truth I’ve carried with me quietly for years, and now I’m telling Dallas. Not because I owe him, or anyone, an explanation, but because I respect myself.
“Oh, but I do,” he finally says, shocking me to my core.Taking another step into me to close whatever space I put between us, he presses his body into mine, and our bodies fuse like glue. “I told you I wanted to take care of you, and that’s what I intend to do. I don’t care that you’re inexperienced, and it’s not something you should be ashamed of. I won’t push you into it either.Never.”
I release the breath I’ve been holding since I said the words out loud.
His hips jerk forward, and the feel of him hard against my stomach forces a moan out of me. Virgin be damned, because Idowant him to touch me.
“Ask me again, Dallas,” I practically pant out.
He grins, and his fingers trail the same path they did moments ago. “Can I touch you, Poppy?”
“Please.”
“Mmm. You ask so nicely.”
In the slowest speed imaginable, he reaches for the opening of my cardigan to expose my tank top underneath. The cold air seeps through the light fabric, and I feel my nipples harden from just his eyes on me. His hands move to cup my breasts, and it’s an out-of-body experience having him touch me this way. My breath catches in my throat as he gently massages them before grazing his fingers over my nipples, tweaking the hard peaks through the fabric.
A growl rumbles through his chest as his lips find my neck again. He doesn’t stop playing with my nipples, and I swear, the build-up of sensations between my legs is too strong.
It’s too much.
“I’m going to learn every inch of your body,” he says softly against my skin, one hand leaving my breast to trail down my stomach until he reaches the waistband of my leggings. He runs a finger along the inner part before bringing his hand down between my legs. “I’m going to learn what turns you on, and what makes you moan in pleasure. And then I’m going to do it over and over again.”
My breathing comes hard and fast. My hips instinctively buck forward at his touch. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I find myself chasing the feeling he’s ready and willing to give me. It feels so good—euphoric, almost.
