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Her eyes met mine, and I relished the light that danced in them as she spotted me. “Do you have any idea how good mint chocolate chip is?”
My lips parted open, shock radiating through me every time she said something like that. Every time I peeled back another layer of her past and realized just how sheltered she'd been.
“I asked Hans for some ice cream, and he gave it to me. Just like that.” She snapped her fingers on her free hand, then shoveled another scoop into her mouth.
I was still struggling to find my voice, struggling to remember how to fucking speak with the sight of her sitting on the counter wearing nothing but white silk PJs, her long legs bare and dangling over the counter.
She hadn't tried those on for me when we'd gone shopping last week, but I was thanking the fucking stars that I could see them on her now. She was divine. It didn't matter what type of outfit she wore, she was the most attractive woman in the entire world. I hadn't been able to deny it since the moment I met her, and now that she lived with me? I was in so much fucking trouble. It was one thing to admire her from afar, to fantasize about her at night, but having her so close, carrying my last name…that was something else entirely.
“Have you tried it with chocolate syrup?” I asked, heading over to the fridge and grabbing the bottle before walking over to her.
“Do you know how many men I’ve been paraded for?” she asked, the change in direction jolting me. “Everything I was allowed to eat was to enhance my exterior worth,” she continued. “Everything I put in my body was designed to make me more appealing to all the prospects my father dangled me in front of. So,” she said, her eyes dropping to the ice cream as she swirled her spoon but didn't take a bite. “You have no idea the things I haven't tried.”
I pressed my lips together, spanning the distance between us as I tried to find the right words to say. I'm sorry for the way you were treated wouldn't quite cut it in this situation, and I knew she wasn't looking for pity.
I turned the chocolate bottle upside down, drizzling a little bit into the pint in her hands, the action bringing us closer in proximity than I usually allowed.
I set the bottle down and looked into her eyes. Even as she sat on the counter, I was still a couple of inches taller than her.
“You can try anything you want in this house,” I said.
Her eyebrows raised, and she quickly took the bite that I drizzled syrup on, moaning slightly as it touched her tongue.
I did my best not to groan at the sound, but couldn't stop my body from reacting to it.
Fuck, all I wanted in that moment was to hear that sound while my cock was buried inside her.
I swallowed hard, watching her intently as she finished the bite and sat the pint beside her. She fisted my shirt, yanking me close. She crushed her lips against mine before quickly pulling back, caution and curiosity shaping her features.
“What was that?” I asked.
“You said I could try anything I want,” she said.
“I meant something you’d never had.”
“I’ve never had a kiss,” she admitted. “Not one that I consented to, anyway. Shit.” She cringed. “I should’ve asked you. I’m so sorry.”
Adrenaline surged through me at the confession, and even without knowing the circumstances, I wanted to crush whoever had dared to put their mouth on hers without asking first.
“You don’t have to ask,” I said. “Not with me. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Fuck, she’d never had a real kiss? Didn’t know what it felt like to be desired, to be wanted on a carnal level?
Could I give her that without breaking my word?
Yes. I was a grown man. I could kiss my wife without escalating the situation to fucking her.
“Thanks,” she said. “Even with all the things you say no to, you never call me out for the things I mess up.”
“You’re not messing anything up,” I assured her, then sighed. “But that wasn’t good enough for your first real kiss. Do you want me to show you what it should feel like?”
She visibly swallowed. “Yes.”
“Even if it’s just a kiss?” I asked, wanting to be clear. I knew what she wanted me to do to her, take from her, and I would never lead her on. “You know my terms, Serenity.”
“Yes,” she said again, despite looking like she wanted to argue about those terms. “I want to know what it feels like, even if it’s just this once. Please, Gareth.”
It was the way she said my name that broke me.
