"Wouldn't be the first time, and I'm not going to let it happen again. Not tonight." He scooped her dress off the floor and thrust it toward her. "Now get dressed. And for God's sake, find some underwear."
Embarrassment burned her chilled skin but she was not the type to quit. She released the sleeping bag.
"Damnation, woman!" Her dress fluttered to the floor again as he grabbed the quilted blanket and folded it around her.
Which brought them chest to chest, his fists between them securing the sleeping bag. The heat of the backs of his hands branded the sides of her breasts. Immobilizing her.
Him as well.
Yasmine peered silently up into eyes muting from flecks in the deep blue to that total silvery gray of arousal. His chest expanded and she knew he was catching her scent. Emboldened, she sidled nearer, flush against him. The rigid heat of his erection pressed against her stomach even through the fabric between them.
She smiled, slow, sure.
"Shit." Drew cursed low.
Yasmine clasped her hands over his. "You really need to quit saying that every time we are together."
"Then maybe you need to quit driving me insane."
Any fears of being rejected melted to warm butter in her veins. "I do that?''
"You know damned well you do."
Yasmine wiggled against him, longed to toss aside the blanket to feel the undiluted sensation of his hands on her flesh. Her skin cried out for his touch, for contact. For so long she had gone without the most basic of physical affection from even family. Her half sisters from her father's side resented her because of her mother. Her sisters from her mother resented her because of her father.
She was lonely and aching and so very alone. She'd been denied freedom and choices for too long. This moment was hers. Theirs. "Is it so wrong for me to want to comfort you right now?"
To steal some comfort for herself?
"Do you make it a practice to dole out comfort this way to any man?"
His harsh words sliced her. But then she had brought this on herself with her behavior. Even if he had guessed at her limited experience, he might not know just how limited.
Intuition whispered through her. Was he trying to push her away? "Take me and you will have your answer as to whether I have 'comforted' anyone before."
"All right, Yasmine, you can cut the crap. I've had worse days than this. I can assure you I'll survive without your virgin sacrifice."
A smile welled inside her but she stifled it for fear of angering him more. Of course he knew how innocent she was. He had kissed her and would undoubtedly have recognized her inexperience. "Before you can roll out any more excuses..." She paused, snaking a hand loose to reach down to fish in her dress pocket, tugging free a small packet to press into his palm. "I brought protection."
He stared down at the condom nestled in his hand with more shock than when he had found her note in the same place. "Where the hell did you get this?"
"From my sister."
He choked on a cough. "You talked to your sister about us?"
She couldn't help but laugh as she slid back against him. "No, although now I wonder if I should have sought advice from her after all. Apparently the fact that I am standing na*ed in your arms and you are doing nothing must mean either I am not attractive to you or I am too inexperienced to do this right."
"You're doing damned fine." His eyes strayed down to the hint of cl**vage showing above the clasped material. His throat moved with a long swallow before he forced his eyes back up. "I just can't figure out why the hell you're doing this. How does a woman who's held out for twenty-three years make the decision to lose it with a guy she's known about a week?"
"Would you like to hear the whole list?"
"Yeah, I think I need to."
If he wanted to hear her list, then he wanted to be convinced. Yes.
"Number one, the opportunities were rare before." She counted down on her fingers. "Two, I am finally free to make my own decisions and three, I like you. Four, you are a sexy, fascinating man. And why am I so quick to decide? Well, women in my culture often end up married to men they've met only a few times after always being chaperoned prior. We've spent more time together than that, and this certainly is not about marriage. Which gives you five solid arguments right there."
All of which did not appear to be swaying him.