Page 61 of Vipers & Roses

“Are you speaking generally, or is that a confession?” he asks carefully.

“I’m speaking generally,” I lie. But my experience is not so different from other women. This conversation stirs restlessness within me, and a sense of being suffocated weighs heavily on my chest. “Anyway, I better go,” I utter quickly so he doesn’t have a chance to change my mind.

“Stay a little longer, Rae, so that I can cook you a good breakfast,” he sweeps the blanket off his body, revealing tight black boxers with a prominent bulge that I quickly turn my back on. “Bacon and eggs?”

“No,” I place the glass of water on the kitchen counter and walk briskly back into his bedroom, shutting the door behind me. Once inside, safe and sound, I take a deep breath to squash the rising desire, making my body ultra-sensitive to touch. Stripping off my T-shirt and panties, I hunt around in my bag for my bra, a fresh pair of panties, deodorant, and the shorts and T-shirt I wore yesterday.

I can’t hear footsteps, so he’s not coming after me. Since there is no lock on the door, I’m relying on his respect for me to keep that boundary between him and me up. I don’t bother tying up my hair and leave his bedroom, stepping out into the living room to find that he’s fully dressed in black jeans and a T-shirt.

“You don’t have to leave so quickly,” he says, “but I won’t stop you if you need to go.”

His words cut deep, and I’m unsure why. I freeze at the door that leads outside. “Why?” drops from my lips. “Why won’t you stop me?”

He graces me with a frowny smile. “Cormac is right. You sure are hard to read sometimes.”

“Forget I said anything,” I hiss, annoyed, not of what he said but my fear of everything man-related. “Thank you for the pizz-”

“Rae,” he exhales, combing that messy raven hair with his fingers. “Rae, I want nothing more than to stop you from going, take you in my arms and fuck you into next week. That’s what I want. But that is not what you seem to want. Although I think you want that, you’re too stubborn or afraid to admit it. So, I’m letting you go. Okay, I’m letting you go. But for the record, I don’t want to.”

My mouth gapes at his words, and my body is so damn hungry to be touched by him right now that it takes enormous strength to turn away and walk out the door.

As I run down the wooden steps to the ground under the rising sun, painting the sky pink and orange, an inner voice screams ‘coward,’ and my feet stop dead.

Gazing up at where I was only moments ago, I thought of the charming thief with his disheveled hair and dimpled smile, and a question came to my lips: “What if...”

***

“What do you want?” he asks softly, unsurprised that I returned to his door only moments later. Leaning against the doorframe to block my way into his apartment. “Tell me what you want, Rae.”

I lick my bottom lip as my heart hammers against my chest, and an instinctive flight reaction to this moment is urging me to run. “I’m done with running.”

He steps aside so I can enter his lair once more and shuts the door behind him. “You tell me when you want to stop, okay?” he says seriously, convincing me he stands by his word.

I nod in reply as he takes my bag from my shoulder and places it on the table. His shirt is pulled off again to reveal that beautiful smooth chest, and as he comes to me, I force my feet to stay.

“I don’t like to when men hold me down,” I confess to him.

“Okay, I promise I won’t hold you down,” he says slowly, standing over me, so close but not touching.

“I don’t like to when men lie on top of me,” I tell him. “It feels wrong, too smothering, like I’m being choked.”

His black eyebrows shoot up this time, and he falters a little. “Then I won’t lie on top of you,” he promises.

“That doesn’t leave many options, does it,” I say, sounding inexperienced.

He smiles as those chocolate eyes dance. “That leaves plenty of options.”

His hands seize my T-shirt and pull it up over my head, revealing my black sports bra, and those eyes run all over my breasts. He cups my cheek and presses his lips against mine as his other hand moves down to the small of my back. The urge to touch him as he seduces me overrides my usual self-control, and I run my hands down his satiny chest and stomach, stopping at the dome of his jeans.

“Do what feels right, Rae,” he whispers into my mouth.

Under his dancing gaze, I unbutton his jeans and slide the zip down, glancing up at Blake first before I fit my hand into the front of his jeans. He lets out a grunt as I take his hard penis in my hand and rub along the distended rod.

The more I rub, the wetter I get, and a moan escapes my lips, which prompts his pupils to dilate in desire and rapture. “I want you inside me,” I sigh, anguished at what this means. It might hurt. It might hurt really bad, but he promised to stop when I say.

He bows his head a little, “Are you sure?”

I nod. “Yes.”

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