“Why are you stopping me?” She gasped her displeasure.
“Because I want to take my time. You reach in there and it will be hard and fast.”
“I like hard and fast. I’ll take it.” She made to reach in his jeans and was stopped a second time. She released a frustrated groan.
“I want to take my time,” he said as he kissed her shoulder, neck, and the top of her breasts. “I want to taste every inch of you then start all over again.”
Her stomach quivered. No, no, no. She could not go slow. Her heart couldn’t take the emotion.
For the third time she reached in his pants, and again he stopped her. “Why are you doing this to me?” She tipped her head back and blinked up at the ceiling.
He laughed, and she gritted her teeth.
“Look, if you need to go slow because you have erectile dysfunction or something and are embarrassed to admit it, we can try this another time.” She started to get off his lap, but he held her hips securely, moving her against him. He quirked an eyebrow. “Okay, so you’re hard as a rock. You don’t have to show off.”
“I have a lot to show you.” His voice was low and sexy.
“Then enough with the chitchat, big guy. Let’s do this.”
Nate abruptly stood, ripping a squeal from Jade. But he held on to her tightly, wrapping her legs around his waist as he carried her into the bedroom, kissing her passionately all the way.
Placing her on her feet, he took his damn time removing the rest of her clothing. But she made quick work of stripping him naked; it would be a crime to cover that body for a moment longer. He took her breath away every time she looked at him. Strong, toned, and that tattoo over his pec made him look badass.
She scrambled on the bed, and he followed her. He paused above her. She looked into his eyes, and for a moment she could see herself reflected in them. Her heart and soul shone back at her. Oh God, this was not good. She couldn’t fall. Not for Nate. The man was leaving.
But when Nate placed his mouth on her breast and sucked in a nipple, her back arched off the bed and all coherent thoughts flew from her mind. He followed through with his promise of taking things slow. After paying her girls an equal amount of attention his lips moved down to her stomach, along her inner thighs, and back up. Only to start all over again until Jade was a quivering mess, panting and desperate for him like she’d never been before.
Finally, when he entered her, she burst into a thousand pieces, and Nate was right along with her, reaching their peak together.
Just before she drifted off to sleepy oblivion, the thought of the days of them being together soon ending entered her mind, and her heart ached.
* * * *
Jade slowly came awake in the dark bedroom, the spot next to her in bed empty. Soft music floated in the air along with the smooth, sexy timbre of Nate’s voice.
Getting out of bed, she threw on Nate’s t-shirt and padded barefoot toward the beautiful sound. He wasn’t in the living room, so she made her way to the kitchen, checking carefully around the doorway in case Nate was online with someone. She didn’t want a repeat of the other night.
With his back to her, Nate sat on a kitchen stool with a guitar propped on his thigh. He was shirtless and wearing faded denim jeans, his hair tousled from her fingers. As he strummed the guitar, the muscles worked in his back. The sight stopped her heart.
She leaned her shoulder against the doorframe, enjoying the beautiful sounds coming from the man and his instrument. As she listened to the lyrics, a tingling sensation exploded across her body.
I close my eyes and picture you standing there.
Your touch is all I crave.
For you, I’d rip off my disguise and give up everything for a whisper of your love.
I’d give you the stars to make you smile.
Rattled by the words, she slowly backed out of the kitchen. Oh God, that song. So beautiful, so loving. But they were only words to him; he couldn’t mean them. He was a songwriter—they made this stuff up all the time. But hearing them was like an arrow to the heart, because it meant so much more to her.
She held her palms to her chest. The pounding behind her ribs beat stronger and stronger until she thought her heart would explode. This was really, really bad. The man who sang like an angel but looked like a rock god had made her fall in love with him. And he would leave her. Just like the curse predicted.
Chapter 22
Nate penciled the last line down on the sheet of paper on the table. After making love to Jade, he couldn’t fall asleep. Song lyrics kept swimming around his brain until he gave up on sleep and went into the kitchen to write them down. Never had his song writing flowed so freely. Inspiration poured onto the page.
Coming home to Brimland Point, away from the heaviness of his band, opened a new part of him. But if he were to be honest with himself, it wasn’t his hometown getting his creative juices flowing, it was the woman. Having Jade as his muse changed his song writing to something deeper, more emotional. And it kind of scared the crap out of him. He didn’t sing about love and commitment and happily ever after. But every song he wrote now had the same theme. And he liked it. Liked the way it made him feel.
