Page 37 of Ceremony of Lust

“It means I at least want to be your friend. I want to be able to confide in you, to trust you with my secrets, to be able to joke with you.”

“Done.”

“I want you to respect me.”

“Done.”

“I want to feel safe and protected,” she says quietly.

“From me? Or from others?” I reach up and press my lips against her neck as my hands slip underneath her.

“Do I need to be protected from my own husband?”

I pull away and bare my teeth. “Little girl, little girl, let me in.”

21

Yael

Little girl,little girl, let me in.

His voice is a seductive purr gliding over my body.

My head falls back almost automatically, and Zev strikes, kissing and nipping the column of my throat. The moan that escapes my lips is a reflex. His hands grip me firmly as he pulls me closer to him.

“I’ll go slow,” he whispers in my ear. “But I need you, Yael. I need my wife.”

My answer gets stuck in the back of my throat as he continues to trail kisses along my jaw and down my neck.

“I want to feel you, Yael, wrapped around me.”

The way he keeps saying my name—so softly, so seductively—makes me sigh.

“I won’t hurt you,” he promises with another kiss.

“Yes.” I’m falling into his web. The more he touches and kisses me, the more I want what he is offering.

“Yael,” he says firmly. My closed eyes pop open, and I catch him backing away, taking his hands with him. “Is this what you want?”

My heartbeat is rapid, and my breath is heavy, but my head is completely clear. “Yes,” I say with a definitive nod.

“There is only one rule. If you want me to stop, just tell me, and I will. Got it?”

“Yes,” I say with another nod.

He stands and reaches a hand toward me. When I slip mine into his, he pulls, lifting me to my feet. With his hands on my shoulders, he spins me.

“Buttons,” he purrs. “I like buttons down your back.”

His fingers tickle the hair along the back of my neck as he undoes the first button, and they continue to brush their way down as every button is unfastened. His lips are hot against the middle of my back, and his hands are warm as they slide the arms of my dress down until the bodice pools around my waist. I shove the rest of it down my thighs and then step out of it before turning to face him. Instantly, I feel mortified, knowing my bra and panties are nothing more than a matching baby blue cotton set. So much of me is still a girl, yet here I am, married and about to lose my virginity.

“Lie back on the bed.”

My body sinks into the soft mattress, but the first touch of his hands on my thighs makes it tense as he parts them. His fingers brush my calves as his mouth glides along my skin.

“Relax,” he commands softly.

“Oh,” I breathe out as his mouth covers me. He braces himself with his hands on my thighs as he buries his face in the center of my body. My fingers grapple with the duvet covering the bed, searching for something to grasp.