Page 35 of Dirty Money
When his lips pressed against her ear, she felt the warmth as he whispered, “Can you feel it, Aulora?”
Her heart was beating in a way it never had before. It felt different. Not rushed. Not heated so much there was no room to think. It was different than anything she’d felt before. “I feel more than I have with anyone else.”
“Me too. And I want this to be special. So, you’ll understand when I don’t take you, entirely this first time?” His words stopped her and she pulled him to look at her.
“West, why are you so set on waiting to do this?” she asked him as she really had no clue.
The way his hand moved over her cheek as he looked deeply into her eyes made her feel good, and dare she think it, loved?
“I want you to know you’re special. I want you and I both to know that there’s real love between us when we fully give ourselves to the other one. I want you to be certain, Aulora. If we are intimate, I won’t let you run away from me again. That space I’ve been affording you will not exist any longer.”
His words should frighten her, she knew they should. That bit of dominating nature she’d witnessed between him and the other man at the museum moved through her memory. The man who hovered over her was sweet, endearing, and honest. But he could also be dominating. Could she accept that?
“Perhaps we should get to know more about each other.”
He smiled and pulled her up. They sat alongside each other, facing each other as their hands still moved over the other’s body. Arms, legs, stomachs. “Ask me anything you want to.”
She dipped her head, shyly. “I saw you talking to a man earlier this evening.”
The look of surprise on his face was quickly followed by a frown. “You saw me and didn’t say hello?”
She nodded. “Anyway, like I said, I saw you talking to a man. I overheard some of what you said to him. You were mean to him, West. Is dominance a thing you’re known for?”
“Mean? To Him? Oh, peach if you only knew. That man is a petulance to society. He was given a job to do. One, I’m not at liberty to discuss. With people like him, you have to be dominating or they will run all over you. It’s kind of an act. One I won’t be doing with you.” His finger trailed lightly over her lips. “Never with you. I see you as my equal. In all ways.”
She breathed out a sigh of relief but wondered if she should believe him. Her father had been dominating. He took care of her and her mother. He took such complete care of them it was a struggle when he left them so abruptly.
“I don’t want you to take care of me.”
“Then I won’t.”
“You already kind of do.”
“Perhaps you’re confusing taking care of with caring for you.”
Was she confusing the two? Was she being foolish? Was she going to really be able to give herself so completely to the man who sat, facing her, stroking her with deft fingers that told her they alone could bring intense pleasure to her the likes of which she’d never known?
But sex with him would mean she was giving up her independence, in a way. If she ran away from him again, he wouldn’t exactly let her go.
“Are there circumstances you’d accept if I found it necessary to end this thing between us?” she asked then thought about it and added, “After we have sex.”
He looked at her and seemed to be calculating his words. Finally, he said, “I’m sure there would be. I’m not saying I can get away with anything. I am saying you’ll need to talk and let me talk before you go jumping to conclusions and hauling ass like you’ve been doing.”
“And if the reason is viable, then you will let me end things without a huge deal being made? You won’t come to where I’m working to fight with me over the decision?”
With a shake of his head, he said, “No. I wouldn’t need to. You see, you’d have to talk to me first. Explain what it is that upset you. Then you’d give me a chance to explain things to you. Tell you my side of things. Get it?”
“You want me to totally invest myself in you,” she said as she weighed his words.
“Yes.” He cupped her chin in his hands. “I’ll do the same for you, peach.”
“Like a marriage of sorts,” she mused as she looked off to one side.
He smiled as he leaned in and kissed her, softly and sweetly.
“Of sorts.”
She didn’t know what to say. That was similar to the arrangement her parents had had. And she wanted nothing like what they had. But she ventured further.
