Page 51 of Impossible
“I wasn’t ignoring you,” he said a bit wearily. “There have been plenty of days during your stay that I haven’t seen you.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a perturbed stare. “I misspoke. You wereavoidingme. Which is what you were doing on the days we didn’t see each other. Don’t bother denying it.”
“You’re really angry with me.” He sounded surprised. “I didn’t think you got angry.”
She unfolded her arms with a weighty exhalation. “I’m not angry. I was disappointed. I thought I might not see you again.”
“And that upset you?”
Was he being purposely obtuse?
He lifted his hands. “I thought you wanted distance. You said you were tempted yesterday, and I—”
“Oh, be quiet.” She grabbed the front of his dressing gown and stepped toward him. Then she stood on her toes and kissed him.
He kissed her back, but tentatively. She pulled back and looked into his eyes.
His brow furrowed. “I’m confused.”
“I wanted to keep you at arm’s length because I’m leaving.”And because I shouldn’t take you to my bed.“I’ve since realized it’s precisely because I’m leaving that I don’t want you to stay away.”
“Ah. I think I understand. Should I stay, then?”
“Do you know how to prevent a baby?”
“Ah, yes. To try, anyway.”
“If you’ll do that, then yes, stay.”
He wanted to be clear. “Not just to sleep?”
She shook her head.
He wrapped his hand around the end of her braid, which hung down her back. “You’re certain?”
She nodded, and he tugged the ribbon from her hair before pulling the braid loose. He lowered his head and kissed her, but there was no hesitation this time. There was heat and desire, his tongue licking into her as she clutched at his shoulders.
Her body sang with want. This was what she’d craved, what she’d been longing for without entirely realizing or at least acknowledging it. She connected to something within him, something that made her feel valued and appreciated.
Or was she only romanticizing things because that was what she wanted to feel?
Stop thinking.
She twined her arms around his neck, and he lifted her in his arms. She went to curl her legs around his waist, but had to pull up her night rail first. Linking her feet behind him, she held him tightly, her sex pressed against his, though his dressing gown separated them.
He groaned, and it was a much different sound from his irritated grunts and growls. This was low and hungry, and it made her want to provoke him to do it over and over again.
One of his hands moved down to her backside, cradling her against him. Sparks of desire shot through her. She dug her fingers into his neck, deepening their kiss to a frenzied exploration. She wanted to know all of him.Now.
He walked with her to the bed, at least she assumed that was where they were going. She honestly couldn’t pay attention. He might have walked her across the house, and she wouldn’t have realized. It was all she could do to hold on to him as her body quivered with need.
Then he set her on the bed and tore his mouth from hers so he could whip her night rail over her head. His gaze dipped to her chest, and he cupped her breast with one hand. “I don’t think I can go slow.”
She arched into him, eager for his touch. “Then don’t. You can go slow later.” Lifting her hands to his chest, she unfastened his dressing gown and pushed it from his shoulders.
He was entirely nude beneath it, the light from the embers of the fire casting shadows over his taut flesh. He was too thin, but still muscular and, of course, covered in those scars she’d seen the other night.
Ada wanted to kiss and caress each one, as if she could make him whole again. Could anything make him whole again?
