I curl my arm around her body, pressed soft and naked against me, her head resting on my shoulder. She’s thrown her thigh over mine and she’s tracing patterns on my chest. It’s only been a few minutes since I was inside her, but my interest—and my cock—are both rising fast.
Taking her hand in mine, I lift it to my lips and kiss her palm. “If you keep that up, you’re going to get fucked again.”
Vanessa turns her face up to me with a kittenish smile. “Promise?”
“Once, and you’re already a glutton?” I tease.
“When it’s that good, yes.”
“It was damn good.” I sigh. “But why didn’t you tell me it was your first time? I would have been a lot gentler.”
“I meant to…and then you distracted me.”
“So it’s my fault?” I raise a brow at her.
“At least a little. C’mon. You touched me, and my brain went to Jell-O.”
“What did you expect? You flashed me.”
She winces. “I didn’t mean to. I was so embarrassed.”
“Why? You looked beyond sexy. Besides, you couldn’t have been too embarrassed since you kissed me first.”
“Well, we were just standing there, staring at each other. I decided to do something about it.”
I grin. “If you hadn’t, I was going to—once I managed to stop ogling you. I liked whatever that was you were wearing.”
She pressed a hand to her face with a grimace. “A cami. I didn’t realize it was so thin. I might as well have been naked.”
“Exactly.” Vanessa laughs at my response, and I love the sound of her happiness. Unfortunately, we have to get serious. Soon…but not yet. “And speaking of first kiss, ours wasn’t today.”
Horror spreads across her face. “You don’t remember.”
“But I do. I never forgot…little girl.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh, my gosh. That’s what you called me after I kissed you that night. I just remembered. You thought I was a stupid kid, didn’t you? Ugh, I’m embarrassed all over again.”
“Did I kiss you like I thought you were a kid?”
“No,” she says breathlessly, like she remembers me seizing her delicate nape in my hand, surging into her mouth hungrily, and not letting her up for air until she was flushed and dazed.
“Not at all,” I confirm. “After you walked up to me in your sparkly pink prom dress and laid a wet one on me, I thought about doing a lot of other things to you…all of which I would have gone to jail for.”
“Really? You thought that? I was sure you were completely annoyed with me.”
“I was annoyed for you. Ridge is the one who got trashed and spent all evening hitting on your friend. He was being an asshole and he deserved everything you dished out. I’ll be honest. Not much has changed. Ransom, Rand, and I pile on him all the time, hoping he’ll freaking learn. But he’s still crazy.”
“Well, I didn’t appreciate his behavior, but going on a blind date to the prom was a bad idea. Kissing you in front of him was worse.”
“No. Ridge needed some payback, and if kissing me was the way to accomplish that…”
Vanessa bit her lip. “Actually, that isn’t why I kissed you.”
“It’s not?”
She shakes her head, then climbs on top of me to straddle my hips and lay her lips softly over mine. “You did something to me the first time I saw you. You opened the car door and…I pretty much forgot Ridge existed. I’ve always wondered if he flirted with Anna to get back at me. And when you opened the door after we got back, I just couldn’t stop myself.
I kiss Vanessa again. “I couldn’t help it, either. I wanted you even then. I still do.”
“But you never asked me out or…”
“How old were you that night? Seventeen?”
“Almost.” But not quite.
“I was twenty-three. And I knew if I put my hands on you, I’d stop caring about your age. Besides, I was only home for a couple of weeks, then I shipped back out. It wouldn’t have been right or fair to start something you weren’t ready for and then leave for months on end.”
She bit her lip. “I get it. But I’m not a teenager anymore. We’ve been working together for seven months. I thought you just didn’t remember me.”
I wondered when she’d get around to this. I’ll tell her that her father sent me to watch over her soon, but I won’t have her thinking I’m this close to her for any reason other than the fact I’m dying to be. “And I didn’t think you remembered me. But since we’ve cleared that up, I’m impatient to give you everything you want.”
As I kiss my way up her neck before taking her lips again, a rosy flush of arousal stains her cheeks. “You already are.”
“No. Everything.” I lean in and press my lips to her ear. “I know what you read. I know what you crave.”