severe one,” she said. “I was diagnosed when I was seventeen years old.”
“I don’t know much about that condition,” Curt said slowly. “Are you…” He frowned. “I don’t know what to ask. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, chastising herself internally. Of course, she should have expected that he wouldn’t know much about endometriosis, and that she would have to explain. “It’s not something that makes me sick or really affects my health, generally. It just means… well, there are some things I can’t do.”
“Things like what?”
“I won’t be able to have children,” she said. “I’m sorry. I know it’s a strange thing to be talking about on a third date, but you have a right to know if you’re going to keep seeing me.”
“That doesn’t bother me,” Curt said.
“You don’t want children?”
“It’s not a dealbreaker,” he said softly. “Not with the right woman.”
Her heart beat faster, but at the same time, she felt it might be about to break. Children might not be a dealbreaker, but what about the thing she was going to have to tell him next?
“There’s more,” she said. “When I was diagnosed, my doctor told me… well, he told me that sex was likely to be painful for me. Prohibitively painful.”
“Is it?” Curt asked.
She shook her head. “I’ve never…”
His eyes widened. “Oh.”
She couldn’t look at him. “I guess I’ve been afraid to,” she said.
“Your first time can be scary enough, even without a complication like that,” Curt said quietly.
“I’ll understand if you don’t want us to see each other anymore,” Annalise said. “I know this is a lot to deal with, that it might be more than you signed up for.”
“No, hey.” Curt took her by the hands and pulled her close to him on the couch. “Of course I still want to see you. Did you think this was only about sex for me?”
“I thought it was partly about that,” she said. “You don’t need to prove anything to me. It would be understandable if that was a dealbreaker.”
“Shh,” he said. “Stop arguing. I want to be here.”
He kissed her.
The kiss was deeper, more passionate, than any they had shared before. Within moments, she felt her body responding, craving more.
Curt leaned her carefully back on the couch, lowering himself over her, covering her body with his. His hands were between them, working open the buttons that lined the front of her dress from neckline to hem.
Annalise could hardly believe it was happening. Even this was farther than she had gone with a guy in years, more than she had allowed anyone to do since her high school boyfriend.
He lowered the straps of her bra and pulled it down around her waist, freeing her breasts. He handled them gently, delicately, thumbs carefully tracing her nipples, and she felt her heart pound with desire as her body warmed to his touch.
We can have this. There is something we can have, even if it isn’t everything.
She reached down, fumbling with the button on his pants, and he lifted his hips to help her. A moment later he was kicking them off, and she had the exquisite pleasure of listening to him groan, feeling him throb in her hand as she stroked him.
“Is this okay?” he murmured. “We can stop.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to stop.”
He pulled back for a moment, just long enough to remove her panties, and then he lowered himself over her again. He lay between her legs, his forehead resting against hers, his hips nestled between her thighs. She could feel how hard he was, how badly he wanted her, and yet he lay still, throbbing against her. Waiting.
“You feel… amazing.” She felt dizzy with it.
Just lying like this with him, their bodies aligned… it was more than she had ever dared to dream of. It was something she had assumed she would never have.
He rocked his hips a little, giving them both a bit of friction. His breath was ragged.
“We could try.” Annalise was surprised to hear the words coming out of her mouth. She had been so intimidated by this for so long. She had always imagined, if the time ever did come, that the man would have to talk her into it.
But they were so close. She wanted him so badly.
“Are you sure?” Curt asked. He sounded positively agonized. “We really don’t have to, Annalise. There are a lot of things we can do together.”
But his hips twitched a little as he spoke, and Annalise felt as if lighting