AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her hesitant voice fired his blood like a blowtorch to gasoline. “Tonight’s not the night for that. Let me love you.”
“No. You don’t understand. I need it. I need to feel that much, and you’re the only one who can take me there. Please,” she whispered, her eyes filling again.
Cory nodded, needing a second before he could speak. Her willingness to be vulnerable humbled him. Every time she trusted him with more of her, he craved the rest. He couldn’t ever get enough, and that scared him senseless.
He might not have gone through what she had with her mother, but he’d lost his own father too young not to bear some scars. Even though his stepfather’s presence had helped heal his family, there would always be an ache inside him for his birth father. A small, very real one.
For so long, he’d used work to plug all the holes that he didn’t know if he could do anything else. That was who he was. Except it wasn’t, when he was with her. She made him want more. So much more. He was good at taking care of people, at least materially. Perhaps he could figure out the rest if he tried.
If he fought hard enough.
He swept her up in his arms. “I need a table.”
…
Vicky frowned. That was not what she’d expected him to say. “What?” she asked as he carted her into the dining room—the dining room?—and flipped the light switch.
“Hard of hearing all of a sudden?” A smile played around his cocky mouth as he set her down.
She propped her hands on her hips. “Isn’t a bed good enough for you?”
“A bed is fine. I’ll just have more control in here.”
The word control singed all her nerve endings. “Oh, really. Want a safe word in case it gets too intense for you, CEO?”
Slowly, he licked the inside of his lower lip. “You know about safe words?”
“Sure.” She shrugged, hoping she wouldn’t flush and ruin her casual routine. She’d heard of them before Cory had revealed some of his bedroom proclivities, but she’d done more research the last couple of weeks. If she was anything, she was a good student.
“For me, submissive only applies in the bedroom, and only when the mood’s right. I have no need for a submissive beyond those walls.” His lips twisted. “And if I did, you wouldn’t be my first choice.”
Though she suspected he was just teasing her, his words hit her where she was most susceptible. Suddenly she was more interested in her candy-pink-tipped toes than in meeting his gaze. “Do I need a safe word tonight?” she asked quietly.
“Do I?”
She grinned. Just a few minutes ago, she’d been in tears. Already the gloom was lifting. “Yes. Absolutely. I don’t want to hurt you.”
He didn’t grin back. His sober expression caused a tingle in her belly that matched the pulse between her thighs. “My word will be orgasm. Yours?”
His delivery was so smooth she barely noted his choice. Then she rolled her eyes. “Nice pick. I’ll choose…” She settled on a word that would never be a joke to her. “Love.” She expected him to argue with her word, but he didn’t.
He came up to her and cupped her face in his hands. “I know you’ve had a difficult day. Doing this tonight might not be the wisest move. It could bring up things you’d rather leave buried.”
She wanted to ask him what he meant, but she merely met his stare. “I can handle it. I want this, Cory. Every bit of it.” She covered his hands with hers on her cheeks. “Every bit of you.”
His Adam’s apple jerked, a sure sign she’d overwhelmed him. “If you change your mind, tell me right away. I’ll stop. No matter what we’re doing or how far we’ve gone. I’ll stop, I promise.”
“I won’t ask you to stop.”
He looked away, jaw tight. “I have a few things I need before we get started.” He walked to the sideboard and grabbed three of her chunky white votive candles. He moved to the adjacent kitchen and started playing with the CD player beneath the counter. “Don’t you have anything besides hip-hop?”
“I just got a CD of Latin music for my workouts—” She didn’t bother finishing, because he’d already found the right CD and turned it up. The sounds of a Spanish guitar coupled with an insidious drumbeat filled the room, and she swallowed thickly. That sounded sexy all right.
He returned to the room and set the candles on the table, lining them up like little soldiers beside the bowl of ice he’d brought back with him, as well. Then he unknotted one of her dining chair cushions and set it at the head of the table before sliding a glance toward her. “Lighter?”
Don’t freak. It’s just Cory. Your longtime frie—frenemy. “Second drawer.”
After withdrawing the slim blue wand and setting it aside, he glanced around. He hadn’t turned on the room light, just the chandelier. It was a small one meant for mood lighting, so it left the corners of the room in shadow. As apparently he wanted. “Oil?”
