My throat tightens at the look of relaxed pleasure on her face, like a kitten being stroked. I’d pet her forever to feel her calm under my touch like this.
When her hair’s finally dry, I turn off the hair dryer and brush her hair over the front of her shoulders, staring at her in the mirror with her hair falling across the front of her breasts, my hands on her tan shoulders.
I notice how tiny she is compared to me, and that fills me with a sense of power. A surge of protectiveness flows through me too.
Her eyes are open again, and she’s watching me in the mirror.
“Were you born in the summer?” I ask her.
She pauses a moment, digesting my question before she determines it’s safe to answer. “No, in the winter.”
I chuckle. “Why Summer then? I would have thought you’d have been born in the season to be named after it.”
She shrugs, a delicate movement that only draws my gaze to the exposed skin of her shoulder. I remember the softness of it beneath my lips, the sweet taste of her skin. Goddamn, this girl has me ready to explode at just the touch of her shoulder and hair. What is it about her that captivates me so?
“Mom’s favorite season is summer. She hates winter. I think she named me after what she longed for at the time.”
After what she longed for. Summer…doesn’t everyone long for summer when the sun is bright and the sky is clear?
I don’t say anything else. I can’t. Instead, I bend to slip my hands beneath her knees and lift her into my arms.
She’s as light as a feather.
She opens her mouth like she might protest, but I silence her with a kiss.
I move my mouth cautiously over hers as I walk with her over to the bed. I feel her melting in my arms, and my arms tighten around her in response.
God, I fucking want her.
But she’s a virgin, and I’m not going to take her like an animal. Even though I think I could get her to give in to me tonight, and god knows how much I want to sheath myself in her heat, I’ll wait. Her first time will be special. I vow that.
I lay her in the bed, remove my sweatpants, and climb in next to her.
Her eyes widen when she sees me remove my pants, and her lips part. “Dane,” she begins, worry in her voice.
“Sshh,” I hush her. “I just want to hold you tonight. Nothing more.”
That’s a damn lie. I want to do so much more, but I won’t.
She closes her mouth and gives an almost imperceptible nod of acceptance.
I roll her onto her side facing away from me and pull her up against me, her back to my front.
I’m sure she can feel my cock hard against her sweet ass, but I’m not letting her go for anything. I ignore the steel rod between my legs and enjoy the feel of her wrapped in my arms.
I tilt my head down and breathe in the tropical scent of her hair, nuzzling my nose against her neck.
She’s stiff in my arms until I begin to softly stroke her skin from shoulder to fingertips.
“Relax, baby,” I breathe against her neck, petting her.
Again, like a little kitten, she calms beneath my touch until I feel her relax against me.
I move my hands up to rub her head, massaging gently.
She moans and practically purrs, eliciting a chuckle from deep within me.
She’s so damn cute my heart could break.
I don’t know what the fuck she’s doing to me, but I find that I don’t really care.
When she falls asleep in my arms, something raw takes root inside me. She belongs to me now, and I’m never letting her go.