She stopped and looked over at him. “No? Why…?” She’d thought he would agree to her terms! Why was he backing out now?
He moved closer, his eyes heated, but with anger, not passion. “Because one of my greatest pleasures is kissing you, Naya. That’s not off the table. I won’t allow it. What else?” he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.
She had to be strong. She’d come up with all of these rules last night and knew that she had to make them non-negotiable. Her chin went up, her arms crossed and she glared right back at him. “No kissing. It’s too personal,” she stated firmly, mimicking his stance.
He laughed, an angry sound, and shook his head. “Honey, we’re going to kiss. And if you think that’s too personal, then your mind is going to be blown away by all of the other things I’m going to do to your body. I guarantee that kissing will not be considered personal after I’m finished with you the first time we make love.”
Naya’s mouth fell open with that statement but she wasn’t sure what to say. What could he…flashes of ideas passed through her mind. Him doing…things…touching her, his hands, his fingers, his lips….everywhere!
Maybe kissing wasn’t such a bad thing after all. She was pretty sure that the “other things” he would do to her were exactly what she wanted. But she didn’t want to delve too deeply into the details for fear of running away from him again.
Running away definitely hadn’t worked so far. She was going with Plan B. Rules! Yes, the rules would help her survive an affair with Luke. It was the only way she could survive. Rules. Those rules were…
What rules? She’d had so many this morning when she’d first worked this out in her mind. What were those rules again?!
She pulled her eyes away from him, looking at his condo and then something else occurred to her. “All the sex happens here.”
He smiled slightly, liking that idea already. He suspected that he had a bigger bed. Her house was cute, and suited her perfectly, but he didn’t think the bedrooms were big enough to hold a king sized bed. His did! “I’ll agree to that. But what happens if I’m over at your place and…things get out of hand?”
She shook her head, her red curls bobbing around her chin. “No. That can’t happen. All sex, anything that might ‘get out of hand’ has to happen here.” She couldn’t handle the memories if he made love to her in her bed. She loved her tiny little cottage. Already she had trouble moving around the kitchen and living room now that she’d seen him in that space. She couldn’t imagine the heartache she would have to endure when this was all over and she would need a place that wasn’t tainted by beautiful memories of being in his arms.
He watched her carefully, not sure why she was so adamant about this stipulation. But he could agree to that. “Fine. I make love to you here.”
“Sex,” she whispered. “We’ll have sex. We aren’t making love.”
He felt like she’d just kicked him in the gut with those words. After every kiss, every touch they’d ever shared, he’d felt it right into his soul. He suspected that she had as well, but was too afraid to admit it. Unfortunately, he wasn’t going to let her hide from that any longer. “I can’t agree to that.”
She stared up at him, not sure if she could handle Luke when he was making love. Sex? Yeah, she needed that. Making love? No. Absolutely not.
As he looked at her, he understood how hard this was for her, and he backed down. Not on the no kissing or no making love issue, but on his anger. She was trembling and all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and show her that everything was going to be okay. Instead, he focused on hearing all of her damn rules. Get them out of the way, he told himself, so that he could make love to her. “What else?”
She took a deep breath. “We aren’t dating.”
“You’ve already said that.”
She blinked and looked down at the floor, wary about her next requirement. “Yes, but that leads me to the next rule. If anyone asks, we’re merely acquaintances, don’t really know each other very well.”