Page 57

“Nothing,” she says softly. “I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

I stand. I’m still fully dressed, and my dick is straining against my slacks, but I’m in no hurry. I’ve waited this long.

“You can tell me to stop,” I say.

“I don’t want you to stop.” She takes my face in both hands and brings her mouth toward mine.

I stop her an inch away.

“You can tell me to stop at any time. I will always listen to you, Nina.”

She searches my face. Then she nods.

Then I kiss her.

Not like outside, rushed and desperate in the cold. Slowly. I take my time with her mouth, her lower lip, her upper lip, my tongue sliding against hers, until she sighs and leans her whole weight into me.

I pull her sweater over her head. Underneath, she’s wearing a plain cotton bra. I reach behind her, unhook it, and let it fall. Her nipples tighten in the cool air of the room.

I don’t touch them. Not yet.

I unbutton her jeans and ease them down her hips, and she steps out of them. She’s standing in my bedroom in nothing but a pair of simple cotton panties, and I’m still in my shirt, my cufflinks, all of it.

She reaches for my buttons, and I let her. She gets three undone, reaches my cuff, and stops. She turns my wrist over and looks at the cufflink. The Beaumont crest.

I unfasten them myself, one and then the other, and set them on the nightstand beside the ornament box.

She finishes my buttons and pushes the shirt off my shoulders. Her hands trace my chest, my stomach, and stop at my belt. I undo it, then my slacks, and let everything fall.

Her lips part when she sees me. I’m rock hard, and I watch her eyes widen as she takes all of me in.

“Oh my,” she whispers.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy that.

She reaches for me. I catch her hand before she gets there and bring it to my mouth instead, pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist. The one she hurt. It’s fully healed now. I kiss it anyway.

“Not yet,” I say.

“Pascal.”

“Tonight isn’t about you taking care of anyone. Let me.”

I hook my thumbs into her panties and kneel again as I slide them down her legs, kissing the top of her thigh on the way. She shivers.

When I stand, I lay her back on my bed. She reaches up to pull me down with her, and I let her for a moment. Then I reach for the nightstand and untie the red velvet ribbon from the ornament box.

She watches me, curious. “What are you doing?”

“Do you remember the day I brought you the tape when you wrapped our presents?”

Her cheeks go pinker. “Hard to forget.”

“You had ribbon all over your bed.” I run the velvet slowly through my fingers. “All I could think about was tying you to mine with it.”

“So that’s what you were thinking about.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking about.”