Page 14 of September's Kiss (Loving the Curvy Girl)

“I did,” I assured him. “It was a beautiful wedding.”

We were both obviously stalling. Now that we were here, and basically alone, I wasn’t ready to say goodnight to him. I’d been so angry, but he’d been right all along. I was scared. Scared of falling for someone so quickly. But that horse was out of the barn on that one. I loved him.

When Joshua held me on the dance floor, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I could stay in his arms forever and never grow tired of it. We hadn’t talked any more about his blatant caveman mistakes, but I’d forgiven him. And he obviously knew it.

“So,” he said softly, dropping my foot and grabbing the other to repeat the massage on the sole of the that one. “I may have done another asshole, alpha thing tonight.”

“Oh?” I asked, sighing happily as his fingers dug into the arch of my foot. “What’s that?”

“I got a room at the hotel.” His fingers paused and he waited for me to open my eyes and look at him. “For us.”

Oh.

Ohhhh.

I bit my lip and held his gaze, not sure how I was supposed to respond to that. I wasn’t angry. In fact, my body was suddenly very interested in the notion. But I was suddenly scared to death.

“We don’t have to go up,” he said quickly. “I can take you home and drop you at your door like a perfect gentleman if you want.”

“No,” I said slowly, smiling softly. “I’m pretty tired. And it’s quite convenient to know that there’s a bed so close by.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I’m considerate like that.”

“I know.” I pulled my foot free of his hand and hooked my fingers through the straps on the shoes. “Why don’t we go check it out?”

Joshua led me toward the elevators in the lobby and we rode upstairs in nervous silence. Well, I was nervous. He looked just as stoic and confident as he always did. When the doors slid open, he bent down and picked me up, carrying me down the hall as if I weighed nothing, and not setting me down again until he had to open the door.

We entered the dimly lit room together, and I turned to look up at him. He was so handsome. And large. Once again fear fluttered in my stomach at the thought that all of him was probably pretty big.

“Are you okay?” he asked, running a finger over my cheek. “I’m not looking to pressure you into anything. If you’re tired we really can just go to sleep.”

“I’m a virgin,” I blurted out.

“Okay.” He shrugged. “So am I. Does that matter?”

“What?” I stared at him incredulously.

“I’m a virgin, too,” he clarified. “I spent my youth getting shot at and trying to survive. When I came back, I dove into work. There’s never been a woman on earth that held any interest for me. Not until you. That’s kind of how I knew you were the one.”

“See!” I said, throwing my hands up in frustration. “Do that!”

“What?” He looked at me, confusion plain on his face.

“That’s the shit you need to say to me. Don’t tell me I need to be protected. Tell me I’m the only woman in the world you’ve ever wanted.”

He smiled, then stepped forward, pulled me into his arms and kissed me hard and fast. I melted against him, going up on tiptoes to wrap my arms around his neck.

He picked me up again and carried me to the bed, laying me on the mattress and climbing over me, never once breaking the kiss. His hands roamed up my body, over my breasts then tangled in my hair. I moaned into his mouth, shifting my legs so that his hips rested between my thighs.

I inhaled sharply as his erection pressed against my core. My eyes flew open and he pulled back to look down at me, concern on his face.

“Are you alright?” he asked, brushing a strand of hair away from my face.

“I’m terrified,” I admitted.

“I’d never hurt you,” he promised.

“Not on purpose,” I agreed. “But…”

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