Page 36 of Fast Currents
He chuckled, the sound low and long, ruffling my feathers further as it stroked along every nerve.
“Honey, we’re quite the pair. Are you ready for me to take you home?”
I bit my lip. In the last ten minutes, I’d laid my soul bare. Sharing my past. My insecurities. Clay had accepted everything I dished out, smoothing over my blunt admissions with sweetness and his horny sense of humor. Nothing I did fazed him. He was an absolute menace. A menace to my tender heart.
I dangled on the edge of the precipice. Standing so close to the abyss made me dizzy, but something about the sincerity in his gaze made me want to take the leap.
Swallowing to ease my dry throat, I held his gaze. “I’m ready for my reward.”
“You sure about that?” he asked.
“I’m sure.”
“Is this a ploy to get me naked?”
“Absolutely.” I added a grin. “But I’m willing to play too.” With a shaky breath, I pushed off the couch, extending my hand.
He led me toward his bedroom, clicking on the bedside lamp. It cast the room in a gentle glow, softening the sharp edges of the dresser and headboard.
A kiss would have broken the tension, but instead we stood a foot apart. Still. Maybe both afraid to make the first move. I gathered my courage, turning to present him with my back.
“Help a girl out?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” he murmured, his body drifting to shelter mine, giving me his body heat. He slid big palms over my hips, dropping a kiss on the back of my neck.
I shivered, even that faint caress enough to make me tighten inside. He fumbled with the zipper at my nape, drawing it down tooth by tooth, until I bit my bottom lip to avoid rushing him. For each inch he exposed, he paused, dropping a soft kiss on my spine. Each brush of his lips sent a fresh flutter of sensation crowding my nerve endings with signals. Heat. Affection. The burn for more.
My dress clung to my shoulders, even as it gaped in the back, exposing the top of my underwear. Clay ran a finger along the waistband to my hip, gripping me tightly. I whimpered, loving the hint of strength in him. The possessiveness.
“Do you know what I thought when I saw you in this dress tonight?” he whispered.
I shook my head. His lips traveled up my spine, nuzzling my neck.
“I thought you looked like a vampire hunter. Fierce and beautiful, ready to slay the day and turn me to dust beneath your hands.”
He bit gently at my nape, the edge of his teeth sending a spike of heat pulsing, gooseflesh pebbling my skin. I whimpered, arching back to wrap my hands around his head, tilting my neck to allow better access. Letting desire distract me from what he was seeing: the dappled edges of my birthmark, stark against otherwise creamy skin.
I held my breath, braced for hesitation. A pause. A flicker of confusion, of pity, or worst – disgust. It had happened before.
Instead, he licked and nibbled, peeling my dress down over my shoulders and letting it pool at my feet, until I stood in my bra and underwear.
Exposed. At his mercy.
His hands roamed down my sides, over my hips, tracing up over my belly and cupping my breasts like they were something precious. Still no pause. No falter. Just worship.
Something in my chest cracked wide open.
I’d spent years hiding. Covering. And here he was, touching me like I was art. As if my birthmark was just another creative flourish on the canvas of me.
His scruff scraped at my neck, anchoring me in sensation even as my thoughts threatened to scatter.
I wanted more.Neededmore. Not just the friction, but the proof. The certainty that he saw all of me and still demanded more.
I turned in his arms, pressing my breasts against his chest, painfully aware of my erect nipples poking at the fabric of my bra. “You have too many clothes on.”
“Help yourself,” he said, eyes gleaming.
I focused on slipping the buttons of his shirt free, aware that his hungry gaze traveled over my breasts to my birthmark and down to my thighs. I let him look, holding my breath as I worked his shirt from his shoulders, stripping it away from his strong forearms and dropping it to the floor.
