He winked. “I confess, you’re my first.”
“Oh, I—”
“Catherine?”
Catherine’s breathing increased. “Yes?”
He nodded toward her hot chocolate. “Are you finished with your drink?”
She looked down at the half-empty mug. If she said yes, they’d be moving their little party into the bedroom. Did she want that? Part of her screamed “hell, yes,” but another part told her to do the right thing and leave. Getting involved with a man who didn’t even trust her couldn’t end well, could it?
Suddenly Dean released her and stood. When he came around the table and crouched in front of her, she had the desperate urge to wrap her arms around him and drift into the passion she witnessed in his warm brown eyes. But the good, Christian girl her mother had raised would never be so bold.
Large, strong hands wrapped around her thighs and squeezed. “I know you’re bothered by the trust thing. I wish like hell I could let it go, I do. But it’s there and I can’t shake it.”
“But you still want me,” she stated. She needed to lay it all on the line.
“I want you so badly right now I’m about to self-combust here,” he admitted in a rough voice. “Tonight, forget about the rest.”
He moved one hand beneath her dress. The roughness of his palm scraped against her skin and set butterflies flitting through her stomach. He slid higher, until he was a bare few inches away from her pussy, and Catherine lost the ability to think clearly.
As if knowing how much he affected her, Dean gently ordered, “Just feel, sweetheart. Let yourself go.”
“Dean.” His name came out as a moan. Catherine hardly recognized her own voice.
“Mmm, fuck, yeah, I love the way you say my name,” he whispered, his hand inching ever closer. When he came into contact with her panties, he stilled. “You’re wet for me, huh?”
She slapped a hand over her eyes. “Yes,” Catherine admitted as she tried to gra
pple for control.
Dean’s hand cupped her mound. She pried her eyes open to see the dark desire etched into his handsome features. His nostrils flared, and a muscle in his jaw twitched. “I’m dying to see these pretty panties, Catherine.”
Catherine shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m not . . . not the type to play like this with a man. I’ve never been the adventurous sort.”
Dean slowly moved his hand up and down her pussy, caressing her through the silk. “And I’ve never fondled a woman in my kitchen before, but now I can see the appeal.”
As Catherine sat in the hard wooden kitchen chair, Dean’s hand covering her pussy and teasing her beyond reason, she said the first thing that popped into her head. “I want to be adventurous, Dean. With you. Tonight.”
“Hell, yeah,” he growled as he pulled his hand away and stood. Before she could take another breath, he had her cradled against his chest. “I’m going to need plenty of room for what I have in mind, sweetheart.”
A bout of insecurity hit from out of nowhere as Catherine imagined getting naked in front of Dean. He was so fit, without an ounce of fat on him. She, on the other hand, had more than enough fluff for the two of them. She buried her head in his chest and groaned.
Dean stopped. “Look at me, Catherine,” he ordered, his tone almost angry. For whatever reason Catherine couldn’t disobey him. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered, when their gazes connected. “Sweet and shy and sexy, and I can’t wait to get this dress off you so I can touch this hot body.”
“I’m the epitome of imperfection,” she admitted in a last-ditch effort to get him to see her for who she really was: the average gal with a little extra to love and not the gorgeous creature he’d described.
“My cock disagrees with you.” He touched his lips to hers in a brief caress, leaving her body craving so much more. “Let’s listen to him, shall we?”
Despite the heat of the moment, Catherine found herself grinning. “So far he’s had some pretty great ideas.”
He chuckled. “Exactly.”
They didn’t say another word as Dean stepped through the doorway to his bedroom. When he flipped on the table lamp, Catherine knew she was about to get her hands on paradise. The notion sent her libido into a spin.
11
“Wow, this room is . . . big.” Two of Catherine’s bedrooms would fit in Dean’s room, with space left over. It surprised her to see that it was all done in jewel tones too. “I sort of feel like I’ve stepped into a sheikh’s palace.”