A Billionaire's Redemption - By Cindy Dees Page 0,48
of the deepest, most mysterious forest. “I’m sorry. I just worry about you. I want everything in your life to be safe and wonderful and perfect.”
A frown knit her brows. “But why? I’m nothing to you.”
He leaned forward slowly, his gaze never leaving hers. His voice was a bare whisper of sound across her skin. “Because I’ve wanted to make love to you since you were a teenager.”
She inhaled in sharp surprise, but the gasp was cut off by his lips touching hers. His mouth was warm and resilient, featherlight against hers, a mere brush of sensation.
“Really?” she whispered.
“I thought I was a pervert for lusting after you, barely legal.” His lips brushed across hers again. “You were like a newborn colt, all long legs and the promise of elegance to come. The beauty you have now was all there, but just starting to unfold. It was mesmerizing.”
“But you always called me those stupid kid names.”
He laughed against her lips, a warm breath of whiskey into her mouth that tasted so good she went weak at the knees. “I did that to remind myself that you were way too young for me.”
“I wanted you, too,” she confessed softly.
“I know. That’s why I had to work so hard to stay away from you. I was the adult. It was my responsibility to do the right thing by you.”
She drew back slightly to stare up at him. He’d been looking out for her all those years ago? “I had no idea....”
“Of course not. I didn’t want you to know.”
She tilted her head forward, resting her forehead against his chin. “If only I’d known.”
“What would you have done? Defied your father? Run away from home to sleep with me? Ruined your reputation and your life for me? I couldn’t let you do that, Will. You were destined for bigger things than a kid from the wrong side of the tracks.”
“Do you really think I’m such a snob?”
He kissed her forehead, her temple, her cheekbone. “I think you’re a miracle.”
How could she not melt a little at that? Her arms went around his neck and she scooted forward until she was practically sitting in his lap. His hand plunged into her hair, drawing her up against him as he really kissed her then.
His lips were firm and confident, possessing her mouth completely. He surged up over her, drawing
her the rest of the way into his lap. His hand slid under her hair and started a long, slow journey down her bare back. Shivers radiated outward from his palm as it counted her vertebrae one by one.
He reached the small of her back, but his hand didn’t stop. Lower, and lower still, his fingers moved, easing inside the seam of her dress. She moaned a little as his finger hooked in the edge of the skimpy thong the sales lady had sworn was the only lingerie she could wear under this gown. A single finger slipped into the upper cleft of her buttocks, and she all but came undone then and there.
Her entire body went languid and warm, flowing against him like sun-drenched honey. She kissed the side of his neck, groaning as his finger retreated and then advanced once more.
“Are you okay?” he asked carefully.
“Mmm-hmm,” she murmured against his collarbone.
“Need more time?”
She blinked her eyes open, struggling to focus on his face through the haze of lust enveloping her. He looked...worried. Cautious. Crap. She didn’t want cautious.
“Gabe, there is something I do need.”
His hands retreated from her body instantly. “Anything.”
“I need you to forget for a while what’s happened to me in my recent past. If you treat me like I’m psychologically damaged and am going to break if you take the slightest misstep, how am I going to put that out of my mind?”
He started to open his mouth, but she talked quickly to get out what she had to say before she lost her courage. “I need you to make love to me like I’m a real woman. Like you want me. I need you not to hold back. Ravish me. Take everything you want from me. Show me what it means to be your woman.”
He looked positively thunderstruck. “Are you sure?” he choked out.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” She’d also never been more scared. This was it. She was going for everything she’d ever imagined getting from him. Reaching for her dream. Please, please, let him not freak out and run screaming from me.