“I won’t,” Megan promised, and she meant it.
* * *
Tione didn’t seeMegan after her family swept her away, but he was happy for her. She’d been through a lot and it was important that she be around people who cared for her. Unfortunately, he hadn’t gone this long without seeing her for a while, and it felt wrong. For more than half a day, she’d been shut away with her family, the sound of their chatter coming through the walls. He was starved for the sight of her, but he doubted she’d tell anyone what was happening between them—hell, he wasn’t even sure what it was himself—so he’d stayed away.
He was lying in bed, reading by the light of his lamp, Pixie tucked into his side, when something crunched outside. His muscles tensed. A few seconds later, a knock came at the door. He padded across the wooden floor and opened it. Megan stood on the other side, her hair damp over her shoulders, smelling of shampoo and woman.
She smiled up at him. “Hi. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, I was reading.” He stepped aside to let her in, and she brushed past him. Closing the door, he turned, only to find her right in front of him, her face level with his chest.
“I wanted to see you.” Her hands landed on his hips, and she shuffled closer until only an inch separated them. His jaw clenched. If she tilted her face up, and he lowered his head, they’d be kissing. He ached to do exactly that, but reined it in. The last thing she needed was for him to crush her to his body and kiss the hell out of her the way he wanted to.
He cleared his throat, and studied her face. The delicate nose, the amber eyes, the upturned mouth he ached to taste. “How is your family?”
He’d hoped the question would remind him that her family probably wouldn’t approve of him. They were lawyers and business owners and executives. They wore suits and expensive watches. Even though Tione had enough money in the bank to buy and sell them all, he was still a tattooed cook who lived in a two-room cabin and wouldn’t know a dessert fork from a steak fork. Alas, despite all of this, he still yearned to kiss her.
“They’re good.” She demolished the distance between them, her soft, perfect body rubbing against his. Resting her cheek on his chest, she wrapped her arms around his waist and relaxed into him. The affectionate gesture touched his heart, which swelled with happiness. He hugged her back.
“I’m sorry for all the craziness,” she said. “It’s so good to see them, though.”
“I’m glad they came through for you,” he murmured into her hair, wondering if it was her shampoo that smelled fruity, or her body lotion. He’d become familiar with her scents, and this was a new one. Perhaps her sister, the pint-sized brunette, had brought products from home. “It’s important for you to be surrounded by people you love and trust.”
She snuggled closer, burrowing into him, and he felt like he might overflow with warmth and tenderness. Her breasts flattened against him, her hips rocked, and the mood of the embrace subtly changed. His dick started to stiffen. She felt so good, and his body wanted to bury itself in her, regardless of how inappropriate that might be. He tried to shift back, to hide his condition, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.
“I’m in a good place right now, and that’s thanks in large part to you.” His shirt muffled her voice. She tilted her face up to meet his gaze, and he could have drowned in those gorgeous golden irises of hers. “Whatever happens between us, I trust you, and it means so much for me to be able to trust a man.”
He went rigid as one thought struck him with absolute certainty: he didn’t deserve her trust. God, he wanted it—wantedher—but he didn’t deserve her. He wasn’t worthy of the gift she was giving him. There were things she didn’t know, and if she did, she’d revise her opinion of him pretty damn quickly. He opened his mouth, determined to speak the truth, but the admiration in her eyes stopped him. He liked the way she looked at him. If he was honest, would she still gaze at him so openly?
It didn’t matter. Not really. He knew her truth, and he owed her his in return.
“Megan,” he began. “There’s—”
She stretched onto her toes and kissed him. All thought of spilling his guts exited stage left. Her lips were gentle on his. Hesitant. And then they weren’t. The pressure increased, and he wasn’t sure which one of them initiated it, but the kiss deepened. Her lips parted, and a sigh escaped as he slipped his tongue inside and tasted her the way he’d been craving. He was careful not to be rough. Instead, he explored her mouth with painstaking slowness.
Gathering her close, he got the sense that no matter how tightly he held onto her, or how well he kissed her, he could never get enough. One of his hands cupped her chin and the other caressed a line down the center of her back. In return, her hands clutched at his shoulders, and she leaned into him, giving him her full weight.
On and on the kiss went, growing deeper, more desperate as their tongues tangled and breath came in puffs. All the sweet kisses they’d exchanged over the past few days had nothing on this. He wanted more, more,more.
23
There wasa good chance that her emotions were unbalanced from everything that had happened lately, but Megan felt like she was a dinghy being tossed by a violent sea and the only thing anchoring her in the storm was Tione. She couldn’t give words to the belief, but she wanted to let him know how she was feeling in whatever way she could. She wanted to embrace that elusive spark of attraction she’d never thought she’d experience again.
She reveled in the slide of his lips on hers, and the glide of their tongues over each other. He kissed her like kissing was the end game, not a precursor to anything else. Charles had rarely kissed her. He’d been an in-and-out kind of guy. She’d bet her last meal that Tione would linger over a woman as he made love to her, and savor every last moment.
God, she wanted that. Her body was a whirl of hormones and pent-up lust. Every brush of his torso along the length of hers set her nerves alight, and she wanted nothing more than to strip him off and have her wicked way with him, but she didn’t. However turned on she might be, it was too soon. Nevertheless, she ached for him to fill her, and that made her so goddamn happy.
Trailing her hands down his sides and around, she rested them on his tight butt. His hips rolled forward, sending a jolt of heat sizzling from her core outward. She moaned.
He raised his mouth from hers. “Fuck, you’re so damn sweet.” She tried to kiss him, but he backed out of reach. “It’s too early for us to go all the way. You know that, right?”
Drawing her lip between her teeth, she nodded.
“Good.” He said it more to himself than to her. “I want to give you pleasure. To remind you how good a man’s touch can be when it’s done right. Is that okay with you?”
Being the subject of his intense concentration unsettled her, but at the same time, she gloried in it.
“Yes.” She wet her lips. “More than okay.”