Nerves twisted in my belly. He was talking about the other thing I’d said: that I’d done this before. I was caught. There was no way I could bluff my way through it.
“How did you know?” I asked.
“Because you look like you can’t decide if you want to bolt or jump my bones.”
I covered my face with my hands. “I knew it.”
“Knew what?”
“You’re cocky.”
“No way. I’m just trying to figure you out.”
He tapped the wall, three long taps, like he was trying to get me to stop hiding.
I dropped my hands, feeling nearly sick at how much I wanted him.
Maybe he saw it in my eyes, because he crossed the room then, in just a few short strides.
He stood in front of me now, within touching distance. “Which one do you want, Ellie? Tell me the truth.”
I folded my arms to hide my shaking hands. “I haven’t decided yet.”
Lies.I’d do anything right now. I wanted this man so much I’d drop to my knees if he told me to.
I hadn’t had sex in way too long.
Sam took a step closer, forcing me to tilt my face up to keep my eyes on his. He was nearly touching me now. My pulse ratcheted up dangerously high.
Sam’s eyes dropped from my eyes to my mouth.
His bottom lip sucked between his teeth.
Then his hands were sprawling across my generous hips, the heat of his touch shooting liquid heat through me.
“Do you want me to tell you what I’m thinking?” he asked. His fingers grazed tantalizingly close to my ass. It was all I could do not to lean into him, wrap a leg around his thigh, and start doing something absolutely unhinged.
“Yes.” I breathed.
He dropped his head so his mouth was near my ear. “I was thinking,” he husked, “that I’d very much like to fuck you.”
A rocket of tingles exploded across my skin. He’d just put it out there.
“And I’d hate to influence your decision, but I think I could make you feel very”—his teeth dropped down onto myearlobe, his tongue following in a hot stroke, making me full-body shiver before releasing me—“verygood.”
“Youarecocky,” I said, trying very hard to keep my voice steady.
“No. I just like you.” He fully sucked on my earlobe then. Pulled it right into his mouth, toyed at it with quick flicks of his tongue, which of course I felt in all the other places he knew I’d think of. “And,” he added, “I know what I want.”
This Sam was very different from the charming sweet guy from a moment ago. He was dangerous. The kind of man who could take over my brain. If I’d known he’d have this effect on me, I’d never have invited him up.
But it flipped a switch for me. Because it was then I realized that all these barriers: the opposing lifestyles, geography, and my personal knowledge of just what could happen when I got entangled with the wrong kind of person, all of it was the perfect, infallible safety net.
I could do this. I wanted to do this, and I would.
“Okay, so, what about what I want?” I asked.
He pulled back, inspecting me. I think he felt the change. His lips quirked.
