‘I’m sorry,’ he mumbles into my neck, nuzzling deeply. ‘I’m sorry for making you worry.’
‘I’m sorry, too.’
‘For what?’ He starts to take the stairs, palming my bum and pulling it up so I wrap my legs around his waist.
‘For storming out on you. For not stopping you from leaving. Why didn’t you take Callum?’
‘Because I didn’t want him to hold me back.’
It’s just as I thought. I can’t even appreciate that I know him so well. ‘And now?’ I ask, pulling away from his neck when he reaches the top of the stairs. ‘What now?’ He didn’t find who he was looking for. I can’t bear the thought of him going AWOL on me again. The worry. The stress.
He carries me into his bedroom and lowers me to the bed, stroking back the hair from my face and looking down at me, a hint of a smile on his face. ‘Now, I love you.’
I hold my breath when his hand travels over my breast, down to the hem of my T-shirt. ‘I know you love me,’ I whisper, my spine bending into his touch.
‘I need to show you how much.’
‘I know how much.’
He shakes his head, telling me I’m wrong. ‘Trust me, Izzy. You have no idea.’ He pulls me up to a sitting position and lifts my T-shirt over my head. My nipples harden, ready and waiting for his devotion, as he unhooks my bra and pulls it down my arms. His head lowers, and he kisses each nipple in turn delicately, looking up at me with a small smile. I fall back on to my elbows, bliss replacing the lingering fear that’s swiftly been chased away by his return.
He licks delicately, and I sigh, my eyes tightly shut, my head falling limp on my neck. The rush of tingles invading me is too much to bear, and I start squirming on the bed, mumbling incoherent prayers to the ceiling.
‘She’s beginning to see,’ he whispers against my breast, kissing his way up the centre of my chest to my neck. He buries his face there, ravishing my flesh with a keen, greedy tongue.
‘Theo.’ I pant, dropping from my elbows to my back, forcing my hands to remain by my sides. He’s going to have to restrain me soon. I can’t be held accountable for my hands, which are twitching, desperate to go on a feeling frenzy.
He nips at my neck and breaks away, pulling my jeans and knickers down my legs as he goes. He stands to the side of the bed and reaches for his tie. It gets yanked loose, his expression straight but hungry.
‘Tie me up,’ I demand, beginning to panic. I’m desperate, so happy to have him back. It’s making my control slip.
He pouts, shaking his head. ‘Not today.’
My buzzing form stills as he strips down, exposing his body in slow, torturous phases. His chest first, then his arms as he lets his shirt tumble to the floor. Then his thighs, drawing his trousers slowly down. Then his boxers, freeing his cock, the head visibly dripping with need. ‘Please,’ I beg, turning my head and looking away.
His hand quickly seizes my jaw and turns my face back towards him. ‘I want your undivided attention; do you hear me?’
‘You need to tie me up,’ I insist, slamming my fists into the mattress beside me in a temper. It’s either that or grab him. I can’t do that. I know I can’t do that.
‘I do not need to tie you up.’ He collects my hand and smacks it into his chest, releasing a mild exhale. The force behind his words doesn’t make me feel any better. He was telling himself. Not me. ‘This is yours. You touch it, feel it, kiss it. You do what the fucking hell you want with it.’
My wide eyes drop to my flattened palm on the centre of his chest. ‘Theo, don’t be a hero,’ I say, wondering what on earth has gotten into him.
‘I’m no hero, Izzy. I’m a damaged man.’ He begins to move my hand around in slow, precise circles, his muscles tensing beneath my touch. ‘But you can fix me.’ He drops to his knees on the bed, holding my hand in place. ‘I need you, Izzy. Please.’ He lowers and claims my lips softly, the feel of his warm, wet mouth relaxing me, wiping my mind of all protests. I keep my hand where it is, but I don’t move it. Not even when he spreads his body all over me, sliding his hand up my arm and linking his fingers with mine, squeezing reassurance into me.
His body on top of me forces me to move my hand from his chest, but it goes straight to the bed, and Theo circles his groin, pushing his cock into my thigh. I jolt beneath him, the hardness against my soft flesh feeling so good. So right. But my free hands feel so wrong. I’m not used to it. I thought I’d be unable to contain myself, would be feeling every exposed piece of him, but now that I have the opportunity, I’m too frightened. I try hard to focus on Theo, his mouth on mine, his tongue exploring softly. His body against me, his heat mixing with mine, his hard muscles pushing into my soft curves. My need for it all is there, but it’s being distorted by caution and a fear that I don’t have when I’m restrained.