Page 57 of Ronan

“Well, thanks, because I was planning on it,” he deadpans, and I groan.

“Withme, Ronan! You’re really going to force me to say it, aren’t you? I was asking if you wanted to take a showerwithme.”

His eyes have grown comically large as he blinks at me. “Oh.”

“Fuck,” I groan, my cheeks burning hot as they redden. “Yeah. Oh.”

His temper fades as his shoulders loosen, eyes guarded but curious as he watches me. “Why didn’t you just say that?”

“Because I’ve never done this and don’t know how. Because I’m…” I trail off, clenching my fists as my neck and ears join the flush that burns over my skin. He waits patiently, not letting me get away with anything but honesty this time. “Becauseimavirgin.”

“What?” he asks, because as muffled as the words came out, it sounded like a sneeze.

“Ronan,” I groan, stretching his name as I take a tentative step towards him, dropping my hand on his forearm, but he doesn’t budge. “I’m sorry I’m so awful. I want to be better… youknowI want to be better. Todaywas a great day, and now I’ve made you mad… again. Please, just talk to me. Please?”

He relents, uncrossing his arms and folding them around me, and I tuck my face into his chest. The lavender and pine of our soap mixes with the scent of leather, heightened by his sweat into a smell that’s uniquely him. “I’vebeentrying to talk, Cameron.”

“I know,” I whisper, voice unsteady. “It’s just that… I’ve never done any of this.”

“Any of what?”

“Any of anything,” I say, like that makes it less confusing. “I wasn’t attracted to anyone in my small community growing up, and on the road, especially after Mason, I never trusted someone enough to get close, so it just… never happened.”

“What never hap… oh.Oh.”

“Stop saying that! I’m already embarrassed, and my seduction technique was asking you to conserve water, so I’m obviously terrible at this.” A quiet laugh huffs into my hair as he hugs me against him.

“You’ve never done… anything?”

“No,” I whisper, wanting the ground to swallow me where I stand.

“Cam, look at me.”

“No, thanks, I’m busy right now wallowing in my mortification. Try again later.”

“Mo’sziv…my heart… please, let me see you.”

His eyes are soft as I risk a glance up, his hands traveling up and down my back. “That’s what it means?”

“Yes. From the first time I saw you, my heart has been running the show. It always wanted you… it still wants you.” His lips brush mine in an unspoken promise. In that moment, I realize I’ve shared the most secret part of me, and he is standing right here.

He isn’t leaving.

Isn’t looking at me like I’m a freak.

Heat floods my cheeks as embarrassment washes over me, but before I can avert my gaze, he catches my face. “Do not evenconsiderturning away, not after you just told me that every piece of you has been saved for me.”

“You don’t think it’s weird?”

He lets out a low rumble, almost a purr, as his hands slip under my shirt. “Weird? That I get to touch every part of you, when no one else has touched what’s mine? That I have the chance to watch you fall apart as you experience everything for the first time? Learn your sounds, your taste, and memorize and map each inch of your body, knowing it belongs to me? No, weird is not the word I’d use to describe any of this.”

“Then what…oh.” He tugs me closer, the swell of his cock pushing into my hip. “So, my pickup line worked?”

“Your pickup line asking me to conserve water?” He dots kisses along my jaw until he reaches my grinning lips. “It could use work,” he says, which makes me laugh.

“Like, a little work, or…”

“Just scrap the whole thing and start over.” I shriek as he picks me up, my hands scrambling to hold on to his neck as he marches out of the kitchen. When we get through the bedroom and inside the bathroom, he closes the door, leaning me against it as he kisses me.

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