Page 57 of Kissing Games
He raised his head and stared at her. The intensity in his eyes made her heart stop and her body tremble.
‘Valentina.’ He raised his hand up, bringing his forefinger and thumb towards each other until they were almost touching. ‘I amthisclose to coming.’ He shook his head. ‘You are so fucking sexy, I’m literally about to come in my pants.’
Her cheeks burned as nervous laugh bubbled out. ‘Well, isn’t that what teenagers are meant to do?’
‘You’re the one being a teenager. I’m meant to be experienced enough to make it good for you.’
Her tummy clenched around his words, setting off a time bomb of worry, ticking down the seconds till she disappointed him. Charlie was experienced. That was an undisputed fact. And she’d never got sex quite right. She heard Bryce’s voice echoing from her memories,No, not like that. How could she please Charlie when she’d failed the only two men she’d ever been with? What if all the passion in his eyes disappeared when she took off her clothes? She chewed her bottom lip.
He didn’t notice as he was reaching for the thermometer to take her temperature. ‘Thirty-five point eight.’ He threw the thermometer away and she heard it hit the floor. ‘Fuck it. We’re getting naked.’
Her heart sped up. The worry bomb went off, sending splinters of anxious shrapnel shooting out. She put her hands on his chest. ‘W-wait,’ she stammered.
He stopped, stilled.
‘Can you please turn off the lights?’
He looked askance at her, as if she’d suggested they dress up as clowns. ‘Why?’
Her eyes darted away from his. ‘I… I would feel more comfortable.’
He knelt and pulled her legs either side of his, stroking up and down her thighs. ‘You don’t want to see me?’
‘No! No, it’s not that,’ she said hurriedly.
She felt wretched and ashamed. He slowly pulled off his T-shirt and dropped it to the floor. She stared at him.Holy mother of god.She’d never seen such raw and powerful perfection. His face was symmetrical, beautiful, yet utterly masculine. A jaw you could strike a match off and lips that were made for sin. And as for his body… Valentina’s mouth watered. He was the lovechild of a supermodel and Satan. Shredded and sculpted, every muscle perfectly outlined. But it was the body of a real man. The hair in the centre of his chest and leading down from his naval told her he was virile, not vain. Tattoos and scars told of stories she was yet to learn.
He stroked again up her inner thighs. ‘Then what is it?’ he asked. ‘Because I’m fucking desperate to see you. To kiss you, lick you, taste you.’
She clasped her hands over her face. If she wasn’t up to temperature before, she was now.
He gently pulled them away and kneaded his thumbs into her palms. ‘What is it, Valentina?’
Her anxiety was boiling up, the pressure rising until she couldn’t bear it any longer. ‘How many people have you had sex with?’ she blurted.
He looked shocked, then embarrassed. His eyes shifted away and her heart sank. How could she ever please a man who had been everywhere and slept with everyone?
He looked back at her, squeezing her hands. ‘Is this relevant to us, here, now?’
She nodded.
‘Do you want me to include one-night stands when I was so drunk, I might as well have been shagging a piece of furniture?’
She nodded again. She could see his cheeks reddening.
‘Is this important to you?’
Oh god, no wonder Rory joked he had syphilis. Could Charlie even remember how many women he’d been with? She nodded, bracing herself for his answer.
‘Five.’
‘Five hundred?’ she whispered, her throat tightening.
He shook his head.
‘Five thousand?’ she squeaked, her eyes welling up.
He shook his head again.
