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“I hate it, too,” I agree. “Dumbest decision I ever made, but I don’t usually make dumb decisions. I promise.”
“But if we’re being completely honest…” She exhales. “IfI’mbeing honest, I don’t know how I would have handled a gorgeous, wildly successful finance guy with perfect hair and a stupidly hot body approaching me at the club that night. It might have felt too scary. Thrilling, but…scary.”
My lips quirk. “I don’t have a stupidly hot body.”
“You have a stupidly hot everything,” she says. “And you were right before, about what I was looking for that night. I wasn’t looking for perfect or real. I was looking for a situation I could control, for a way to have an experience I’d been dying to have in a safe, STD-tested environment, where I wouldn’t get hurt.” She blinks faster as she adds, “I was so afraid of getting hurt.”
“I’m so sorry I hurt you,” I say, smoothing her hair from her face. “But if you give me another chance, I promise I’ll never do it again.”
“You can’t promise that,” she says. “When people get really close, sometimes, they hurt each other. It’s part of being in love. You can’t have the beautiful part without the scary part. Even my parents fight sometimes, and they’re the happiest couple I know. But Dad still forgot their anniversary one year, and Mom still spent two hours crying in the laundry room.”
“I’ll never forget our anniversary,” I say. “Every Christmas Eve from here on out, all I’ll be able to think about is you. Even if you never want to see me again.”
She sways closer, making my bones go wobbly with hope. “Do you really think I want that?”
“I hope not. Ipraynot, and I’m not a praying man.”
“Well, that’s going to be a problem,” she murmurs as she shifts fully into my arms, the feel of her breasts soft against my chest wrenching a soft sound of relief from my throat. “My parents are very Catholic, and if we end up going all the way, they’re going to want to see us married in a church.”
“I’ll go to confession at St. Joseph’s tomorrow,” I say, without missing a beat. “Confess my sins and promise I’ll be in a pew every Sunday from here on out.”
“We don’t have to go every Sunday, just enough to prove we’re serious. Just in case.” A soft, wonder-filled smile blooms across her face. “You’re seriously considering marriage? After less than a week?”
“When you know, you know, Maya Swallows,” I say, throwing caution to the wind. “I almost bought you a ring instead of that necklace, but I figured you’d think I was crazy.”
“Idothink you’re crazy,” she says, her fingers teasing into my hair. “But I’m crazy, too, so…”
“Can I take you upstairs, beautiful?” I whisper as her lips move closer to mine. “And show you how sorry I am?”
Pudge meows loudly from beside our feet, making us shift apart with a laugh. “Pudge would like another snack, first, Ithink,” she says, smiling down at the cat before casting a heated glance my way. “But then…you’re mine.”
I’m already hers, a fact I intend to prove tonight and every night, as long as I’m lucky enough to have this perfect woman in my arms.
chapter 22
ANTHONY
Pudge is still devouringhis catnip chew, purring with pleasure on his favorite chair, when Maya takes my hand.
There’s an urgency in her grip, her fingers tight around mine as we lock eyes, that sets my every nerve on fire. Neither of us speaks as we head for the stairs, the silence between us heavy with anticipation, making my pulse race.
I wasn’t sure I’d have this chance again—the chance to touch her, to love her, to make her come apart in my arms—and I don’t intend to take a second of tonight for granted.
But that doesn’t mean I’ll be able to take the first time slow. I want her too much. I need to be naked and inside her ten minutes ago, proving nothing is going to come between us again.
We reach the door and push through, slamming it behind us, and then her mouth is on mine and our hands are everywhere.
“Need you so much,” she says, her breath hitching as I jerk her dress up, gripping her gorgeous ass through her silk stockings.
“More than anything,” I agree. “God, you feel so good, baby,” I say as she presses closer, deepening the kiss.
Her lips are hungry, urgent, moving against mine with a boldness that sets my blood on fire. My girl knows what shewants, and she’s no longer the slightest bit shy about asking for it,demandingit, even.
And I fucking love it.
I kiss her back just as fiercely, my hands sliding up to her waist, fingers digging into her curves as I tug her flush against me.
She lets out a soft cry as her stomach comes into contact with where I’m hard for her. The sound is half-gasp, half-groan of need and pours fresh kerosene on the fire burning between us. I push her back against the wall beside the door, pinning her there as I devour her. I stake my claim with my hand loosely around her throat as I fuck her mouth with my tongue, promising I’m never going to betray her trust again with every stroke.