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“I’m scared,” I confess.
“The woman who undressed to tease me is scared?”
I swallow, throat suddenly dry.
“The woman who brought up another man’s cock to rile me up is?—”
“Terrified,” I finish for him. Before, he easily could have been a million miles away from me, but this is different. The way he holds me is captivating. His arms, his eyes, and something else entirely intangible that threads like creeping vines between us. A claiming.
He’s a prison I’d gladly lock myself within.
The longer I stare into Micah’s gaze, the threat of his undertow intensifies. Right now, my body wants to wash away in it forever, but my brain fires warning signals.
“Do you like lace?”
“This?” he asks, fingering the edge of my bra cup.
I nod, my stomach pulling tight. Feeling bold, I say, “Are you going to waste the fact that I put lace on for you?”
Instead of answering my question, he says, “You should buy more. I like it.”
“What’s your favorite color?”
“Not my favorite, but you’d look irresistible in red.”
“It wouldn’t signal trying too hard?”
“You don’t have to try at all.”
“Mmm, maybe not with someone else,” I tease. “But you’re Micah Freeman.”
A rumble sounds from his chest. “You’re playing with fire, Miss Gorman.”
He leans back, feathering his fingertips up and down my chest. The feel is intoxicating, stoking higher flames within the confines of my body.
“I know what you’re doing,” he whispers in my ear. “You want to make this next step my decision, but when it comes to us, nothing is my decision. It’s yours. Own it if you want it.”
Internally, I screamyes, but my brain is still hung up on what happens in the aftermath. He’s said he wants more, but if I’m only a conquest to Micah, he’ll be the quickest out. He has no ties to me. He has everything he could ever want in this world. I’m a fleeting desire in his long list of wants. Like this hot tub. Or his car.
He’d call these reasons to exit now “lies,” but I call them reality.
None of these thoughts extinguish the need filling me though. I moan, the sound a tight whine in my chest.
If only I thought sex with Micah could just be sex, not the all-encompassing experience he’s proven to be.
“No one will love you like I love you,” he promises. “No one will fuck you like I fuck you. No one will treat you likeItreat you.”
Tension skirts over my skin, followed closely by a longing I’ve never felt before. His vows are fuel to my already wild flames.
He laces his fingers through mine. “I want the Raeann Gorman who takes ownership of her decisions and understands exactly what she’s getting into.”
“I’m—.”
“I know.”
He lifts his hand to my chin and makes me look at him. “Tonight’s not the night. Is it?”
Disappointment rings through me, and I blurt out, “Touch me.”