Page 48 of Needing You

And frankly, I’d waited forthisall day.

What I hadn’t anticipated was this stillness between us. I’d imagined us exploding into passion and ravaging each other. But somehow, in the quiet of the room after the flurry of people and activity all day, this also made sense.

I crossed to her but stopped short of touching her slim, firm arms in favor of taking a seat on the bed. Confusion furrowed her brow as her eyes tracked my every movement. I tossed my tux jacket on the chair behind her, then sat with my palms facing up on my quads. The fact that my raging hard-on was as obvious as the Washington Monument couldn’t have escaped her.

She huffed out a breath as her eyes took me in. “What are you doing?”

A slow smile slid over my lips. “Come here.”

She stepped between my knees, and I slipped my hands under the skirt of her dress to trace small circles on the bare skin of her legs. Her lashes fluttered at the contact. The pads of my fingers tracked in spirals, slow and teasing, and even though I was far from touching her in all the places I wanted to, this simple point of contact settled me. Clarified everything.

This was what I wanted—to touch her. However she wanted. Wherever.

I wanted what she wanted.

Her mouth dropped open, and she licked her lips. “Why—don’t you want to—”

“I want everything, Kate. But I need you to tell me what to do.”

Her chest rose and fell, her breasts straining the silky fabric of her dress.Fuck, I wanted to see her tits, taste them, tasteher.I had to believe we’d get there, if the flush rising up her neck and into her cheeks was anything to go by.

“I— I don’t know…”

That flicker of doubt had me shaking my head. “No, no, sweetheart. I think you do. And I want what you want.”

Heat lit her eyes, and she bit that bottom lip again. “You don’t want to… take the lead here? Like you used to?”

My smile flashed, and my fingers trailed up and down the outside of her thighs a little more boldly. I wanted the curve of her ass in my hand. I wanted my fingers sliding over her panties, to slip inside and feel if she was wet for me, like I was hard as a fucking rock for her.

But I held all those impulses at bay, knowing this mattered. Her understanding how I felt mattered. “Is that what you want? Me to take control? Because if you do, I will. But that night on the couch, I got the distinct impression that you might like to be in charge. That you know what you want, and you want to tell me what you want, and have me at your mercy.”

Her gaze darkened. “I told you I haven’t done this with anyone else.”

“But I bet you’ve got a great fucking imagination, right?”

She huffed again, and a little smile peeked out, but she didn’t speak. It was like talking about it was too much even though her chest rose and fell more dramatically, like that very talking turned her on.

I pulled my hands out from underneath her dress and grasped her hands, pinning her with my eyes to make sure she believed me. No more worrying that I might not like whatever she wanted. No more concern that I secretly wanted to drive this train. I was happily, gleefully along for the fucking ride.

I spoke with as much earnestness and clarity as I could. “You don’t have to worry with me, Kate. Take whatever you want because there’s nothing I won’t give.”

23

KATE

His words sent shockwaves throughout my body. Even though he was basically begging me to take command of this situation, bringing his hands up to rest on my breasts felt like obeying as much as leading. I squeezed the backs of his hands and moved them in a circular motion, letting my head fall back with a sigh as I felt my nipples grow hard beneath his palms.

Every other time we’d touched, whether in the distant past or since we’d met again as adults, fire erupted the second we made contact. But tonight felt different. From the moment we stepped into this room, there was a new kind of charge between us. It was exploratory and patient, like we knew exactly how easy it would be for him to hike up my dress and take me against the wall without foreplay or using the bed or even taking off a single article of clothing.

But that frenzied passion wasn’t all we could be, no matter how good it was. And now I was determined to discover what that fire would feel like if it were a slow, tantalizing burn. Something that would torture both of us until we were ready to break. Since he’d given me the power to lead the pacing, I planned to do just that.

I bit my lip as I lowered my head to look at him again. His dark, bewildered gaze was focused on my chest, at my hands guiding his hands. It would almost be silly if this wasn’t so seriously hot.

Imagine.Me—the woman who’d only known his touch or my own, moving his extremely capable hands over my breasts as if he didn’t know exactly how to rub them or squeeze them or knead them like a professional. It was insane. But it felt too good to stop now.

The thin fabric of my dress wasn’t a barrier I wanted to keep forever, but an idea occurred to me then, and I removed his hands from my body and lowered them to his lap. He made a murmur of protest, but I quirked a brow, and the sound died on his lips.

Okay, then. He really wants this.

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