Page 90 of An Inevitable Marriage

He watched me with a scary intensity as he closed the distance between us. His hand came up. Thumb and forefinger gripping my chin, he tilted my head back even more. “Tell me what you want.”

Oh, that soft, sensual voice. That damn accent.

My bottom lip disappeared between my teeth. “What I want…” I paused, took a breath, then dove headfirst over the scariest cliff. “Iwantto finish what we started… I want to feel good. To make you feel good. But…” Another deep breath. “I’m not ready to sleep with you. Not yet.”

Baby steps. I knew there’d come a time when I was ready to give him everything. That time wasn’t tonight, though.

He didn’t make a face. The desire in his eyes didn’t dull. If anything, it burned brighter. Inside my head, I was back in my room, reliving the intoxicating way his mouth had moved over mine. I could practically feel the slow sweep of his tongue and the rough slide of his hands.

Knowing exactly where my mind had gone—because somehow this man always knew—Liam lowered his head and gave me the kiss I’d just fantasized about. He took his time, tasting and savoring.

Every slant of his mouth stole my breath. While the leisurely lick of his tongue teased new, unfamiliar sounds from the back of my throat.

It was torture. It was bliss.

I couldn’t get enough.

And when he walked us to his California King, I went willingly. Eagerly. Because, goodness, I was more than ready for him to do something about the need swirling through my body.

But instead of throwing me down on the mattress and doing unspeakable things to me, Liam tore his mouth from mine.

My lips parted with a fiery protest poised on the tip of my tongue. Before I could voice it, he slid his thumb over my mouth. Holding my gaze, he dragged it along my jaw, down my throat, and gently teased his fingertips over my collarbone.

Goosebumps, they were everywhere. Even more popped up when his palm scraped down my arm. He reached my hand, tangling our fingers briefly before he took the hem of my shirt between his fingers.

“Have I told you how much I fucking love this?”

Ignoring the wild thumping inside my chest, I turned my attention to where he was rubbing the material between his thumb and forefinger. Back and forth, he felt the fabric without lifting my shirt even an inch.

“You like my shirt?”

His stare intensified. “You were wearing it your first night here…when you assaulted me with yourtoy.”

“Ah.” My cheeks heated immediately. “Here I was hoping you’d forgotten about that.”

“Forget? Never.” His face inched closer. “My mind has been running rampant thinking about you and that purple toy. The things you do, the noises you make. Fuck.” Closing his eyes, he let out a slow breath through his nose.

Two seconds ticked by then his lids parted, and those blue irises held me captive again. “One day, when you’re ready, I hope you’ll let me watch.”

This time when my heart sped up, it had nothing to do with nerves and everything to do with the scenario he’d just painted. I thought of that first night when he’d joked about video cameras, and I could so vividly envision him watching me.

I’d been turned on beyond belief then, and it wasn’t very different now. Imagining that serious gaze glued on me while I gave myself pleasure had my entire body humming with unfiltered desire.

My belly went weightless. White-hot need pooled between my legs.

“Fuck.”

His long, drawn-out curse had my attention quickly shifting back to him. Only his eyes didn’t meet mine. He stared at my chest. I glanced down and knew why, too. No words were needed for this man to understand how freaking turned on I was. Not a single one when my chest was so dang awesome at show-and-tell.

Liam licked a slow path along his bottom lip before he sucked his tongue between his teeth. Need tugged low in my belly, and I swear, if he kept staring at me like that—his beautiful face filled with wonderment and lust—I was going to come undone without him even laying a finger on me.

A ragged breath blew over my lips. Liam’s eyes immediately lifted to meet mine. “I want to touch you, Snow.”

There was a desperation in his voice I hadn’t heard before. The fiery need burning through my blood quickly turned into a raging inferno.

“Touch me.”

At my whispered words, his gaze darkened deliciously. But behind all that unfiltered desire, there was a question, too. One that made my knees weak and had my heart doing backflips.