Come To Me (Dare With Me #3) - J.H. Croix Page 0,23

given me. Preferably much more. None of this felt dutiful, which was strangely fraught for me. If only because of the contrast to past experience. I felt comfortable in my skin with him in a way I’d never felt with a man.

I finally found enough strength to lift my head and open my eyes. I discovered I had one palm curled around his waist, pressing against the corded muscles of his spine. I’d orgasmed so hard I hadn’t even noticed part of my body was still clenching his.

His eyes opened, his gaze searching mine. He dipped his head, giving me a lingering kiss, just enough to rev the engine of my body all over again, sending pinwheels of sensation through me and those eddies stirring into another rush of pleasure.

When he drew away, my question slipped out. “What about you?”

“Not tonight, sugar,” he said in that low, gravelly voice.

All he had to do was speak and another shiver chased over the surface of my skin. It felt as if my libido was coming awake after hibernation, energized and starved for sustenance.

I surprised myself with another question. “How come?”

Diego was quiet, and for a second my vulnerability rose to the surface swiftly. I thought I saw a flicker of the same in his eyes. It disappeared quickly like the wing of a bird out of the corner of my eye.

“Because I don’t want to rush. Not with you.” He punctuated that with another lingering kiss.

Every touch felt like drops of honey rolling over my skin, warm and sweet.

“That okay?” he asked, searching my eyes when he lifted his head again.

I was nodding before I thought about it. Because it was okay. Maybe, just maybe, sex didn’t have to feel like a transaction. That was a novel thought for me.

He stepped away, helping me off the counter. I pulled my bra closed, and he buttoned my blouse. His knuckles kept brushing against my skin, sparks flying in the wake of every touch.

I felt liquid inside, with little pings of pleasure echoing through my system here and there.

“Today was really awesome,” I said as I looked up at him.

His lips curled in a slow smile, and my heart gave a sweet twist in my chest, yet another surprise.

“It was really awesome. You owe me dinner, you better not forget.”

“I won’t. When would you like to go?”

I silently cursed myself for speaking so quickly. I didn’t really know the rules of dating. Well, I sort of did. I was terrible at them. Either I wasn’t interested, or I didn’t do casual well, or I didn’t feel a thing, or apparently, I was too eager like this. I think this was against all of the rules. I was supposed to wait before I pushed to see him again, maybe even a prescribed amount of time. I was quite certain I could search online after he left and find any thousands of articles or online discussions about how long to wait and why it was best to wait and why it was important not to seem too eager, and so on and so forth.

As my mind spun its wheels, Diego pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped on the screen. “I’m scheduled for flights for the next seven days straight.” He cast me a regretful look.

My insecure heart cheered at that. He was disappointed. Maybe I hadn’t completely blown it by behaving like an enthusiastic puppy.

“How about you let me know then?” I suggested.

“I will. My sister is coming to visit soon too. I don’t know exactly when. I promise we’ll have dinner soon, but you don’t want to have it with her, not right away.” He rolled his eyes at that. “She’s nosy and might scare you off. I love her though.”

I bit my lip, almost laughing at the sweetness in the way he described his sister and the affectionate annoyance in his tone.

“Let’s say the next Saturday after my last flight. We always get two days off after we do seven days in a row. I’m guaranteed not to be flying that day.”

“What about your sister?”

“If she’s here, she’ll deal,” he returned with a shrug.

Chapter Twelve

Diego

A few days later

I drained my coffee and leaned back in my chair at the table in the resort’s kitchen. “Damn, that is some good coffee.”

Elias chuckled from where he sat across from me at the table. He’d shown up this morning to have a staff-only brunch with us with coffees for everyone from Cammi. She even