Page 65 of Ravaged With You

“It wasn’t what he wanted. And …” I hesitate, hating the fact that I need to voice this sad truth. “And even though I did want it—that edge that trust—I didn’t want it with Mel. Not anymore. Maybe I never did.”

I don’t realize I’m crying until he reaches up and brushes away a tear.

I slide one hand up his chest over that magnificent tattoo, then press my palm over his heart. “But the thing is, Red, I’m absolutely positive that I want that with you.”

Chapter Twenty

I want it with you.

Her words filled him, giving him hope, but also dredging up fear.

“Why?” He had to know what she was thinking. Had to understand where she was coming from.

“Because it excites me. I want to get into your head. I want to be close to you. Don’t you get it Red? I love you.”

He said nothing, all he could do was look at her. All he could do was want her and wish that he was a big enough man to be able to trust that if he did what she was asking—if he took what he wanted—then she would still be there in the morning. Because she was the thing he wanted most of all.

“You’re scared,” she said, reading his mind as always. “You think I don’t mean it.”

He lifted his shoulder and let it fall. “Maybe a little.”

She rolled her eyes. “Then start slow.”

She rolled over, then straddled him. She put her hands on his shoulders, then drew them down to the buttons of his shirt and started to unbutton them one by one while he held his breath and wondered if his heart would ever remember to start beating again.

“We have a lifetime for you to show me just how rough you like it,” she said. “Because I’m not going anywhere. I didn’t fight for you seven years ago when you pushed me away, and we both missed out. I’m not missing out this time.”

“Jo.”

She pressed a finger to his lips. “Don’t you get it? This is what I want. To know I belong to you, that you need me.”

She climbed off of him, then sat up beside him, naked and completely unselfconscious. He was still mostly clothed, though his shirt was open and his cock was free from where he’d opened his fly to fuck her. He was still hard, and her words were doing a number on him. On his head and on his cock.

She reached for his hand. “I’ve been alone my whole life except for with you and Mel. And honestly, even though I loved Mel, it was never like this. Don’t you get it? We fit. We’re like a lock and a key. And you know it too,” she said. “Don’t you?”

He swallowed, but since he owed her the truth, he nodded.

“So don’t push me away, Red. Do the opposite. Pull me closer than you ever thought you could.”

He just watched her, trying to decide, knowing that the decision had already been made. He craved her too much. “I want to,” he admitted. “But losing you terrifies me.”

“You won’t,” she said softly. “But I get that you won’t believe me just because I say so. So we’ll do whatever you need. If that’s to go slow, then I’m okay with that. You want to be vanilla for years, I’m okay with that, too.”

His lips twitched.

“What?”

“Vanilla.”

“That’s what it’s called, right?”

“It is.”

“See?” she said, moving to straddle him again. “I’m already well-versed.”

He started to laugh, but she put a finger over his mouth. “Maybe we try one new thing a week. Or a month. Or a year if that makes you more sure. But if you’re afraid I’ll leave, that I can’t handle it, then you’re wrong. I will give you whatever you need.”

Again, he started to speak, and once again she silenced him.