I don't remember taking off my own clothes or lying down beside her. I was too focused on Scarlett. I ran my hand down her arm, from her cuffed wrist to her shoulder. "This okay?"
She nodded, raising her mouth to mine. I brushed a kiss across her lips, easing back when she would have deepened the kiss.
"In a minute," I murmured against her ear. Sitting up enough to meet her eyes, I threaded my fingers through her hair, brushing it back from her face. "First, we need to get something straight."
"What?" she asked, a little breathless. The sound went straight to my cock.
"This isn't just sex. I know things are complicated and I know this is crazy, but this is more than sex."
Her eyes closed in a slow blink, and when they opened, they were wet, drenched in sadness. "It can't be. You know it can't."
"I don't, and neither do you." I ran the side of my nose along her jaw, nuzzling her before I kissed the shell of her ear. "I don't know what's going to happen. I don't know why you're here. And I'm getting that neither do you."
"Tenn, I—"
I dropped a finger over her lips. "All I do know is that this isn't just fucking. I can't come inside you and then walk away like it was nothing. I don't want to. I want you."
"I want you, too."
"Just to fuck? Is that all you want?"
"I—" Scarlett stopped, her eyes on mine, and the confusion I saw there stabbed straight to my heart.
All my confidence was bullshit. Maybe I was way off base. Maybe she just wanted to get laid. I fought the urge to brace myself, to shut down.
I waited, searching her face, hoping she wasn't about to destroy me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
SCARLETT
Just to fuck? Is that all you want?
It would have been easier if I could have said, ‘Yes. Sure, all I want is some great sex, no strings.’ I could have said that, but I would have been lying. I wanted the sex, absolutely. And the strings? Why did I want strings? I didn't want a relationship, especially an impossibly complicated one. I didn't need another responsibility—
But that was all bullshit. Complete and total crap. I wanted all sorts of strings tying me to Tenn. Because I wanted him. Not just his cock or the phenomenal orgasms he kept giving me. I wanted him. And I wasn't going to lie to either of us.
"I—" I lost my courage and swallowed hard. "I can't make you any promises, Tenn. Not now. I don't know if I ever can. But I wish I could. I want to."
Tenn dipped his head to run his lips along my jaw. "Good enough. I can be patient."
Yes, he could, and he set about showing me exactly how patient he could be. He kissed me, his mouth gentle, lips softly persuasive, one hand teasing my breasts until I chased his mouth with my own, desperate for more.
He refused to give it to me. Moving so gradually it felt like a dream, he abandoned my mouth, leaving a trail of kisses across my breasts and down my torso, his lips moving from one spot to another. "I love your freckles," he murmured. "I think we should spend all day naked so I can kiss every single one."
I was all for that. He reached my hips and crossed just beneath my belly button. I was drenched with heat, my body ready for him. I tilted my hips, moaning for his touch. He sat up, smoothing his hands up my legs, lifting one and hooking it over the low back of the chaise, baring me to him.
In the afternoon sun, every inch of me was exposed. I have no idea why I wasn't embarrassed, but I wasn't. This was Tenn. And me. When it came to our bodies, I had nothing to hide. He traced a finger around my opening, slowing as he passed over my clit. I squirmed. "Tenn, please. Don't make me wait."
He didn't answer except to shake his head, his eyes fixed on my pussy. I bumped his hand with my hips, impatient. Demanding. Another shake of his head and his deep blue eyes met mine, filled with desire and an amused conviction. "Nope. I'm in charge now and you're not going to rush me. We've had it fast and hard. Now I want you slow."
"I like fast and hard," I insisted, my body on fire.
"Me too," he agreed, his eyes leaving mine to study my pussy. I squirmed again. What was he waiting for? "But I also like slow. I want to be thorough. For instance—" One finger traced the darkened line that ran from my belly button to my mound. "How many times do you think I can make you come before I can't stand it anymore and have to fuck you?"