“No,” I answered.

“Is your heart beating as fast as mine?”

“Yes.”

His chest rose and fell rapidly, and for a few long seconds, we just stood there, taking each other in. Then he inched a little closer, watching me carefully. My breath thinned as I angled my face up to meet his. There was something powerful at work between us. This connection that sizzled without touch; that grabbed at my being and tethered me to his. It made me cloudy and aroused. It also made me scared.

So unbelievably scared.

“It’s okay,” he assured me, reading me like a book. “Just feel, Leah.”

My heart opened wide, and I glimpsed at his lips, at his throat, at his broad shoulders and wide chest. Then I looked back up at him, and I let the magic continue its work. I inched to him, feeling my chest brush against his.

“I’m feeling,” I whispered to him.

He dipped his face down, until his nose barely touched mine. He held my gaze captive, and his hand went up, lightly brushing away the hair that had been stuck to my cheek. His touch felt hot and sweet. It made me shiver and inch even closer to him. I was lost in his allure.

“Carter,” I stuttered out, feeling his breaths against my mouth.

He lips tentatively touched mine. It was brief and light. He pulled away and eyed me again, gauging my reaction as if expecting me to push him away. I didn’t, though. My need for him had me trembling. My legs felt unusually heavy, and the painful need between my legs had me cloudier than ever.

“Carter,” I repeated.

“Yeah?” he whispered back.

“I’m scared of this.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t know what’s going to happen after.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he told me, adamantly. “I’m not, Leah.”

I swallowed hard, staring at his lips with this aching hunger to feel them again. I wasn’t sure I believed him. At the moment, I was just feeling, like he told me to.

He kept still, waiting for me to give him the green light. Finally, I moved into him, kissing him lightly. His hand curled around my neck, taking my mouth harder against his. His lips were soft and wet and so deliriously good. I gripped his shirt to me, parting my lips so I could taste him.

His tongue clashed against mine, and it was like adding kerosene to an already burning fire. My desire roared within me. My hand snaked further up his chest and around his neck, grasping the hair at the nape. I felt his front press harder against me, wrenching me to him. His arm wrapped around my waist, and he pushed me back slowly, never leaving my mouth, never allowing enough room to breathe. I could feel his need for me through his jeans. His cock was hardening, and I couldn’t stop my hands from brushing over the rigid denim. He groaned, his vise-like grip tightening.

I felt the bed at the back of my legs. Felt his arm tighten around me as he laid me carefully down, his entire frame following. He slid me up the mattress, his hand roaming very slowly down my body. Down my neck. Over my breast. Along my ribs. Grasping my hips. All the while, he kissed me passionately, biting my lower lip softly, groaning when he spread my legs apart and settled between them.

Every inch of me was alert. My breasts ached and my back arched up, moving beneath him, trying to feel every part of his long body. His mouth trailed down my throat. He grasped the hem of my shirt and dragged it up my body. He pulled it off of me and unclipped my bra. My skin was cold to the touch, and I writhed the second his tongue flickered against my nipple. His hand trailed down my stomach and into the waistband of my shorts, very slowly rubbing against my sensitive flesh.

“Jesus, Carter,” I moaned, bucking my hips against him.

He looked down at me, watching me closely as I continued to squirm in need.

“Do you want this?” he demanded in a low voice.

I nodded. “Yes.” Of course I wanted this. I didn’t care about anything in that moment but having him against me.

I grabbed at his shirt and tried peeling it off of him. It was difficult, the fucking thing was practically glued to him. I cursed and he laughed, pulling away to tear it off for me. Then he was back over me, and my hands needily roamed his hard chest. My eyes gulped him in, salivating at how fucking gorgeous he looked.

This man was a work of art. Every line of muscle, every curve of his skin, every fucking feature right down to the damn hair curling around his nipple was a goddamn masterpiece.

“Don’t stop kissing me,” I told him. “Don’t stop touching me.”

He obeyed, kissing me languidly, using his masterfully skilled hands to remove every article of clothing between us. I took him all in, every sweet inch of his skin, right down to the happy trail leading to his V. His stiff cock rested against his stomach, harder than I’d ever seen before, thick and long.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to stare at him naked for long. He kissed down my body, his large hands pinning me down from the hips. Was he always this strong? I breathed out nervously, unprepared entirely for the tongue assault he was near to committing.

“Carter,” I breathed out. “Don’t. I haven’t… It’s been…”

I felt his breaths against my belly as he looked up at me. “You really want me to stop? Again?”

“No, don’t stop… I want the sex, but you going down on me after today. You know, it’s been a long day and –”

“Shut up, Leah,” he cut in, a wicked smirk forming on his face. “Let me fuck you with my mouth for a little while, okay? I haven’t tasted you in a fucking century and I think I’m entitled to a few strokes.”

Well then, that was the first way to tell my stubborn ass to shut the hell up.

I tried to squirm beneath his hold, but I was powerless. He spread my legs wide, uncaring of anything. I stared down at him as he laid soft kisses along my inner thighs. Just the sight of him alone nearly tripped me over the edge.

“Relax,” he whispered to me. “Lean back and relax.”

His soothing words helped enormously. I stopped struggling beneath him and lay limp on the mattress, staring up at the ceiling as continued to torture me. I trembled at the hot breaths he was sending along my skin. He didn’t tease me for long, and when I felt his hot tongue brush against my clit, my body jolted in shock. A burning pleasure ripped through me, and I gasped. He lightly licked me again, a small little glide of his tongue along my centre.