Page 49 of Ardently Yours

She steps back, slips out of her navy blazer, and drapes it over the arm of the sofa.

“We can talk. You can tell me about your drive.” I’ll force myself to be patient for her.

Her lips curve, and she touches my jaw. “You shook your head when you said that.”

White teeth clamp down on the corner of her lip as she pops open the top three buttons on her collared shirt.

My gaze trails down to her newly revealed cleavage and back up to her beautiful eyes. Hands hovering without direction, she stalls and drops them to her sides. Then she watches me and waits.

She’s owning this moment with deliberate and enthusiastic consent. She also wants me to tell her what to do. One doesn’t cancel out the other.

The fact that I know her well enough to understand her unspoken demand only adds fuel to the fire of love and lust and tenderness inside me.

When she passes control to me, she forgets about needing tobegood and lets herselffeelgood.

I cup the side of her head and trace the curve of her eyebrow with my thumb. “I’m going to give you instructions.” Like we do on the phone. “Is that what you want?”

“Yes.”

“Are you still on the pill?” She started taking them over a year ago to help with menstrual cramps, but she hasn’t mentioned them recently.

“Yes.”

“I’ve been tested, and I’m healthy. I’m taking you raw unless you tell me otherwise,” I warn.

Breaths shallow, she says, “Yes.”

“You have the power here. All you ever have to say to me is ‘No’ or ‘Stop’. If your mouth is occupied, then tap my thigh.”

Her eyes widen and her blush deepens.

“I don’t care if I’m already balls deep in your pussy or seconds away from coming down your throat, there’s no such thing as too late to change your mind.” I use deliberately blunt language. It gets my point across with no room for misinterpretation.

“I trust you,” she says, and there goes my heart, squeezing in my chest so hard I feel it behind my eyes.

Reaching behind me, I turn the lock on the door. “Walk to my desk, then undo the rest of the buttons on your blouse.”

She takes two steps toward the center of the room, her hair in its complicated-looking twist gleaming gold in the lamplight. Hesitating, she looks over her shoulder at me. “Are you coming?”

My lips curve. “Let me admire the view first. I’ve played out this fantasy in my head hundreds of times. I don’t want to rush.” It’s more complicated than that. I’ve been waiting for her, living off pieces of her, for years. Instinct wants me to push her against the door and fuck her fast and hard.

But it’s her first time in years, and her past is complicated. We’re going slowly this time and having fun with it, even if it kills me. The game we’re about to play will be familiar to her, if only because we’ve walked through it on the phone so many times.

She walks to the desk, then turns to face me. Hands shaking, she pops more buttons open but leaves the bottom two closed. Then she looks back at me. To see what I’ll do?

Nothing at all, sweet Charlotte.“I’m guiding our play, honey. Not dictating it.”

“I know. I don’t . . . love this part of my body after pregnancy. Maybe I should leave the shirt on. You might find it a turnoff.”

It takes me a moment to process what she’s saying. The very idea doesn’t compute. I walk to stand before her and place my palm on her lower abdomen. “Stay covered or don’t. You choose, but not because of me. The evidence that you grew a child inside you is beautiful. Believe me, the last thing I’ll feel is turned off.”

Her eyes glitter, and she takes a series of fast breaths. When I remove my hand, she finishes unbuttoning her shirt, then watches me warily.

Her cleavage is a luscious shadow, the white lace of her bra a pretty frame, and below it, the dip then swell of her abdomen is decorated with a silvery web of scars.

“Charlotte.” I shake my head and trace my thumb over the soft skin. “You’re perfect.” I press my lips there before straightening and guiding her where I want her next to my chair. “Sit on the edge of my desk, hands propped on either side of your hips.”

She complies, and I kiss her slowly, taking my time and pulling the pins from her hair until it tumbles down her back. “You are so damned beautiful.”

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