Page 110 of Lovestrung

“Scholarships weren’t enough to get me through vet school, Penelope. Luke offered me the job when I needed it the most, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t seem like I’d struck gold at the time.”

I pushed a strand of hair away from his forehead and ran my thumb over the frown.

“All right, then.”

“You have to believe me when I tell you I didn’t cheat. I hadn’t had sex with a woman in a year before you.”

I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my voice. “You hadn’t?”

“No. I meant it when I said it had been a long time for me that first night you came to dinner. Sure, it might look as if I kissed those other women in the photo shoots, but I didn’t. My blood didn’t burn when I felt their lips on mine. The touch of their hands didn’t set me on fire. When my dick got hard, it was because I thought of you. Only you.”

God, how his words set me on fire at this very moment and I cursed each second we were stuck inside the elevator. I needed him now.

But he kept talking. “The only woman whose lips and touch I’ve wanted for a fucking long time are yours, darlin’. And you’re the last woman who’ll ever get mine.”

“Shut up and kiss me,” I breathed.

His lips quirked in amusement as the elevator stopped at his floor, and when the doors slid open, he stepped away and out of my space, but he took my hands again. I loved that he couldn’t seem to stop touching me. I went willingly when he turned and tugged me gently behind him.

He had to let my hand go to pull out his keys when we finally got to his front door, and, my breath puffing from desire, I welcomed the heat that spread like a wildfire between my legs.

“Hurry,” I whispered and pushed my body against his back.

He hummed. “Impatient, are we?”

As he opened the door, I pushed him gently over the threshold.

“Oh, yes, indeed I am.”

He turned around and grabbed my hand, and with another tug, I was back where I belonged: inside his home. He shut and locked the door and then leaned against it, watching me as I untied the belt around my coat.

“Why aren’t you undressed already?” I grinned at him.

He pushed back from the door and walked towards me, keeping his gaze locked with mine. The unmistakable love that met me made me tremble from head to toe. When he stopped in front of me, he stilled my shaking fingers.

“Because I want to take my time with you this time, Penelope.”

I wet my lips. “So, that’s a no to ravishing?”

He inhaled deeply. “Oh, there’ll be plenty of it. Just not the kind you have in mind, I think.”

A thrill coursed through me at the blatant desire that shined from his gaze, and I let my arms fall listlessly to my sides.

“Show me, baby,” I breathed. “I’m all yours.”

28

The Sweet Life…For Real.

“I never thought I’d be so lucky,” Ethan murmured as he began to unbutton my coat, his gaze following his movements. “I thought I’d never be worthy of you.”

“Why not?” I whispered. “You deserve the world. You deserve everything, baby.”

He let out a trembling sigh. “My blood is tainted, darlin’. You know where I come from…who my father was.”

The mentioning of his father in such an intimate moment doused the fire coursing through my body.

“And your point is?”