know that’s kind of crazy for a woman who is twenty-eight years old, but yeah, I don’t know a single thing about real passion.”
Fuck! I wanted to teach her every damn thing she wanted to know, and then some, but I kept reminding myself that now wasn’t the time. It was a miracle that she could even feel desire after what she’d been through.
We were going to take all this shit slow. Very slow.
I nearly groaned when she wiggled her ass a little. My dick was as hard as a rock, and every time she moved…
“What do you want from me, Taylor?” I asked, my voice hoarse with desire.
She wrapped her arms around my neck slowly, her green-eyed gaze locked with mine as she said earnestly, “Everything and nothing. I don’t care about your money, Hudson, although if you’d care to let me have your body, you won’t hear me complaining. I don’t need you take care of me, anymore. I just want…you. I think you’re the only one who can show me everything I’ve been missing all these years.”
My pulse was thundering as I looked into Taylor’s eyes, and saw the same intense hunger that had been kicking my ass for days. “I don’t want to rush this, Taylor. You need to get over the trauma of what happened to you in Lania. When I talked to you outside, I just wanted you to know how I felt, why I act the way I do sometimes, why I’m not always rational when it comes to you, and why I can’t be your goddamn friend.”
I reached out and threaded my hands through her hair, letting the silky strands flow between my fingers. It was impossible for me to be this close to her and not touch her.
“I’m going to be fine, Hudson. Trust me,” she murmured as she stroked her fingers over the nape of my neck. “I have an awesome counselor, and I’ve always known the difference between those assaults and the way I feel when I’m with you. It’s not like I didn’t know it would be different someday with somebody I really wanted. I guess I just didn’t know I’d start feeling that way when I least expected it.”
I searched her face. “I think you’re probably the most incredible woman I’ve ever known, Taylor Delaney. Life has given you nothing but shit, and you still somehow feel like it has some kind of value. How do you find the good when there’s been so much bad?”
“It wasn’t always bad,” she said with a small shake of her head. “Just the early stuff. Losing Mac was hard, but he made me strong enough to get through it.”
She smiled, and my whole goddamn world turned upside down.
At that exact moment, I completely understood why guys like Mason and Seth were willing to move mountains to make sure their women were happy.
Because I knew damn well I was never going to be content if Taylor wasn’t smiling in the future.
She should be getting every bit of joy possible after the whole damn world had let her down as a kid. Only one elderly man had actually seen Taylor’s pain, and tried to fix it, but he’d only been able to stay with her for a short period of time.
Well, fuck that! I wasn’t going anywhere until she was sick of my surly ass, and in the meantime, I’d make damn sure she got whatever she wanted.
“I’m about to ask for one of those favors you so generously offered, sweetheart,” I warned her.
Still smiling, she stared into my eyes and said, “Name it.”
“Favor number one,” I said. “If you don’t feel it’s ethically or morally wrong, would you fucking kiss me before I lose my damn mind?”
Maybe I wasn’t about to maul her like a wild animal, but I needed that damn kiss like I needed to take my next breath right now.
However, I needed her to make that first move, so she had control.
Still smiling, she nodded. “I want to touch you, Hudson. Is that okay?”
Oh, fuck, yeah. “My body is all yours, baby,” I assured her.
I watched her face as she ran her palms across my shoulders and down my chest, exploring every bare inch of skin she could find. “You feel so good, Hudson. Your body is so beautiful,” she said in a suddenly sensual fuck-me voice before she finally leaned into me, and placed her lips on mine.