He had to let go of her. To do otherwise would have been against every tenet he believed in.
She put a few inches between them, leaning back in the porch swing, knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around them. She set her chin on her knees and stared at the ground.
Do not fuck this up, Jay. He scooted closer, set an arm along the back of the seat, carefully not touching her, and turned his body toward hers. “You said yourself I’m a gentleman, and you’re right.”
She jerked her gaze toward him. “Wait, you said you and your friends live together as a family. Are you gay? Is that why you aren’t interested in kissing me?”
He swallowed, forcing himself not to react to her question, especially not the smirk that wanted to cross his face. “I’m not gay, Layla. Like I said, my friends and I do share women. In fact, we don’t have sex with each other. Just the women we share. But it’s been a while, and we’re incredibly careful to make sure we get consent.”
“How much consent do you need?” she asked before jerking her gaze away.
Damn, but he was botching this royally. She twisted him into knots. He’d give anything to devour those fucking sexy lips until she panted with need, but was he taking advantage of her?
Right now all he was doing was making her feel self-conscious and undesirable which was the opposite of what he ever wanted her to feel. A kiss would not ruin her life in any way. Might land him in hot water with the rest of the guys, but only out of jealousy. Layla would not be in some way tainted for God’s sake.
He eased his hand from along the back of the swing to her neck while he reached across with his other hand and cupped her face, tilting it his direction. “Come here.” He tried to sound gentle, but she also needed to know that he didn’t ordinarily let a woman lead in the bedroom.
Consent was a must. Gobs of it. But once a woman was in his arms, he took charge. If his dominance didn’t rock her world, then they would never click.
Any woman who entered his family unit was gifted to the best of all worlds. Jay tended to be gentle but demanding. Gatlin was a bit more reserved and usually let a woman take him however they pleased. Ledger was the most dominant out of the four of them. He wasn’t just bossy; he also added some aspects of BDSM. And Nile, the youngest, was also the most careful. He talked a lot during sex, making sure his woman enjoyed every second by questioning her mindset repeatedly.
Layla let her legs drop to the seat. “Don’t you dare kiss me out of pity, Jay. That would be humiliating.”
He stared into her eyes, making sure she was listening. “I would never kiss a woman out of pity. Let me be clear. You took my breath away the moment I set eyes on you coming out of the woods earlier this morning. You have an extremely attractive combination of strength and innocence. Your head is held high because you have confidence. The fact that you have been living in seclusion your entire life tells me I need to be more careful with your feelings and emotions than I would another woman.”
She blinked at him but didn’t look away.
“I’ve never been as attracted to another woman as I am to you. My heart is racing at the thought of you gifting me with a kiss. My usually confident self is screaming at me not to fuck this up because it feels important. So, don’t think for one moment that I’m not interested.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
He glanced at her lips and then back at her eyes as he lowered his mouth to hers. The moment he made the connection with her full, soft lips, his heart seized. He tipped his head to one side as he forced himself to take this slow, gently closing the distance.
He slid his hand down her back as she arched into him before slipping his tongue along the seam of her lips.
She whimpered as her mouth opened, and damn but she was so fucking sweet. Her hands came to his biceps, holding on to him, gripping him as if she might slide to the ground if she didn’t.
He slid closer to her until there was only a scant inch between their chests. When her mouth opened farther, giving him permission to enter, he let his tongue slip inside to dance with hers, tasting every inch of her mouth and loving it.
Fuck but he was so lost to her and she didn’t even understand what that meant.
She was panting when he reluctantly released her lips. He kept a grip on the back of her neck, holding her gaze. Her lips remained parted, swollen and sexy. Her cheeks were flushed. “Oh,” she finally uttered, making him smile.
“Yeah. That was intense.”
“I didn’t know.”
He smiled. “To be honest, I didn’t either.”
Her brow furrowed.
He sighed and smoothed his hand down her arm to clasp her fingers, bringing them to his lips so he could kiss her knuckles. “That was the best first kiss ever. Now we have a problem,” he pointed out.
“Why?” she looked confused.
“Because I’m going to want to do that again, and I’m going to spend the rest of the day praying I get the chance.”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
“Because I’m a package deal, Layla. Not only do I need you to be open to letting three other men kiss you, but they have to find you as attractive as I do. And most importantly, you have to find them attractive.”
“Oh.” She swallowed. “Right.” She shivered in his arms. “I’m going to need to wrap my head around that.”
“Yeah.” He eased her closer until she set her head against his chest again. Threading his hand in her hair, he stroked her head. “When did you last sleep?”
“I have no idea.”
He shifted his weight a bit to make her more comfortable. “Why don’t you rest. You’ll need to travel in the night again, so it’s important that you get some sleep now while you can.” He glanced at the door to the cabin, beyond grateful he’d had all this time with her while her sister slept obliviously down below.
He’d love to spend the entire day getting to know her better, asking her thousands of questions, sharing his own life experiences, but there would be time for that later. Right now she needed rest—and he needed to think. Figure out what he would say to his partners when they arrived. Pray to God they would be as smitten with Layla as Jay was. And vice versa. Especially the vice versa. The poor woman had only marginally grasped the idea of living in a plural relationship. Was she ready to jump right into the fire?