She was the hottest thing I’d ever seen, and when she slowly reached behind her neck, I froze.
We were both breathing pretty hard by this point, and I couldn’t look away as she undid her halter top and slowly peeled it away.
Nothing but my ragged breaths filled the air.
She straddled me and moved her hips slightly and I groaned. “Jesus, Monroe.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off her, and when she bent forward to lie against me, to press her softness into me, I think I might have died a little.
My hands crept up her bare back and I held her there, fighting for some kind of control.
I banged my head back into the pillow and swore under my breath.
“Nate?” she whispered into my neck. “Don’t stop.”
I turned my head and grimaced, fighting for some kind of control because things were moving fast and she felt way too damn good in my arms.
“Nate? Don’t you want…me?”
I inhaled a deep breath and reached for her, cupping her jaw so that I could stare into her eyes. I didn’t say anything. My mind was searching for the right words, so for a long time, I held her. I held her until her breathing slowed, and eventually, so did mine.
“Tell me it’s not just me who feels this connection,” I finally said, needing to hear her say the words.
“No,” she whispered. “It’s not just you, Nate.”
“Have you felt like this before?”
She shook her head no but didn’t answer.
“This connection that we have, Monroe. It’s not like anything I’ve ever felt before.” I had to try to make her understand. “And we have to work to keep it strong. Things are going to be tough with you back in New York, but we can make it work.”
“Okay…”
“No, I need you to listen. There is no okay. There is no right or wrong here. I don’t want to do anything to make you regret me. To make you regret us.”
“I could never regret us. I want this, Nate. I want to know what it feels like to belong to someone. To belong to you. In every way possible.”
God, to hear her say those words.
I searched her face. I looked into her eyes until my own blurred and I couldn’t see shit.
“Are you sure that you want to…”
But her mouth was on mine and there were no more words. There was only the taste of her lips, the feel of her tongue, and her body against mine. Hands seeking and legs entwined.
I held her as long as I could before I thought I was going to explode, and when she finally moved onto her back and reached for me, I was done for. I wanted her and I wanted to be her first.
As corny as it sounded, I wanted to be her only guy.
But most of all, I wanted to hold this feeling that we had inside me forever. And there in the dark, with Monroe in my arms, I tried to do just that.
***
We fell asleep, and when I woke up with blankets tangled around my legs and a warm body cuddled against me, it was her eyes I saw staring up at me. Her eyes and her pink cheeks and that slow smile that got me in the chest every time.
“Hey,” I said roughly, kind of choked up as the memories of the night before chased through my mind.
“Hey,” she replied softly.