She ignored the threatening anger in his voice and focused on the content of his answer as she continued to beat the point home to him. “So you’d let me go if I thought it was the right thing for me?”
“Yeah. I just said that.” His words were as much an accusation as an agreement.
“Why?” she questioned softly.
“Why?” His eyebrows pulled down. “Because I want what’s best for you,” he spit out, giving her a brutal and accusing glare that was in direct opposition of the words he spoke. “I care about you. I want you to be happy.”
She nodded her head at his tortured clarification. It was really all she needed to hear. “I’m not going to hold anything against you. I want this, Raul.”
His hands moved and splayed over her butt as he hauled her closer. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
He tightened his grip with a steely, almost imperceptible nuance of threat. “Last chance.”
CHAPTER NINE
“Pass,” she murmured as her lips softly touched his.
Raul felt her soft lips against his and let her magic roll through him. Never in his life had he felt a need this intense. It had been like this for every godforsaken day since he’d met her. It beat deep from his soul and he knew in dark exasperation that it would never go away.
He reached between them and began undoing the buttons that went all the way down her dress. When the slight curves of her soft white breasts were revealed above the lace of her bra, he lowered his head and took her silky skin in his mouth and suckled her there.
She squirmed in his arms and lifted her hands between them, going to work on the buttons of his shirt, excitement boiling up within her. Her movements became frantic.
“Shh… slow, sweetheart.” He lifted his mouth from her breast and they worked on each other’s buttons, the silence of the night broken by the panting breaths they were taking.
They finished releasing the buttons together, and she began pushing his shirt off his shoulders. He complied with her silent request and shrugged his arms from the shirt, dropping it to the floor at her feet.
Her dress hung on either side of her body, the buttons parting it in two, her bra and matching lace panties peeking through.
He sucked in a breath and brushed the dress away from her waist and sank his fingers into her soft skin. “You’re not on birth control, are you?”
She stiffened in his arms. “No,” she whispered, and he could tell she was shocked by the question.
“I’m clean, baby, I promise. What are the chances you could get pregnant tonight?” His lips fell to her shoulder, his hands gripping her as he waited for her to answer.
“Can’t you use something?” she asked.
“I could use something. But I really, tru
ly do not want to take your virginity with a condom between us. I’ll do it if I have to. I just don’t want to have to.”
He lifted his lips from her shoulder as he watched her face scrunch in concentration. She spoke hesitantly, “I think it’ll be fine. But what if I’m wrong? What if—”
“I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you. We’d handle it together, okay? Are you close to ovulation or not?”
“No, I’m pretty sure I’m not, but you know what they say, shit happens.”
He let out an abbreviated snicker. “Yeah. I’m okay with taking the chance, but only if you are, too.”
She bit her lip and ran her tongue over the abraded flesh. Her eyes rested on his, studying him. Her body quivered and she began a subtle move back from him. “I don’t know, I—”
He interrupted her before she decided to back out all together. “It’s okay. I’ll use a condom.” One hand left her briefly while he dug around in the top drawer of his bedside table. He pulled out a small plastic square and laid it down within easy reach.
He turned his attention back to her immediately, pulling her into his torso and sinking his fingers into her hair. His mouth found hers and he kissed her deeply, entwining his tongue with hers and letting her sweet scent wash over him. He kissed her repeatedly, over and over and over again. She melted against him, and the sweet feel of her innocence exploded through him, hardening him.
The blood pooled in his groin and he felt himself surge against the zipper of his jeans. He shifted, trying to relieve the ache, as he gripped her tightly to him.