“We’re in the living room,” she whispered.
“I know,” he whispered back and snaked a hand under her sweater to feel the curve of her waist in an intense caress. “I’m becoming very fond of your living room. The fireplace is a nice touch.”
“I just...you know. The living room is for watching TV. The bed is for...lying down. In the dark.”
More blushing. Despite the rock-hard bulge in his pants and the near-breathless state of desire she’d thrown him into, he recognized a woman in the midst of uncertainty. But over what?
“I’m not a particular fan of darkness. I want to see you.”
“There’s uh...not much to see.” She wiggled a little until his hand fell from her waist, and then she yanked the hem of her sweater down over her exposed skin with a little too much force.
Sitting back on the carpet a bit to give her space, he reached out and took her hand gently. The last thing he wanted was for her to be uncomfortable. “What happened to opening yourself body and soul? Isn’t that what this is about?”
“Easier said than done.” She made a face. “Especially when I’m up against such stiff competition.”
Competition?
Then it dawned on him. The Stiletto Brigade. They’d not only spooked her, they’d given Elise a complex about her appearance. His heart flipped over painfully but when it faded, a strange sort of tenderness replaced it.
“Look at me.” When she complied, the earlier vulnerability was back tenfold. “There’s not a way to say this without sounding arrogant, but roll with it for a minute. Don’t you think I could be in the bed of any woman I chose?”
Her brows furrowed. “Yeah, but that wasn’t really in question.”
He gave her a minute but her anxiety didn’t fade. A smart woman was still susceptible to being deceived by her own self-consciousness, apparently. “Then wouldn’t it be safe to assume I’m with the woman I want? And that I think you’re beautiful beyond compare?”
Except he’d done almost nothing to convince her of that because their relationship had evolved in such an out-of-the-norm manner. He’d never sent her flowers, never bought her jewelry, and certainly never spent an evening flattering her over dinner.
But he didn’t want to do those things with her. He’d done them with other women. A lot. And it had never amounted to more than a shallow bit of nothingness designed to get a woman in bed.
Elise deserved better.
He slid a hand through her hair and smoothed it away from her face. “Instead of telling you how I feel about you, how about if I show you?”
Ten
The corners of Elise’s mouth lifted. “What does that look like?”
Obviously she’d recognized her own words as he repeated them back to her.
“It looks like something so stunning, I can hardly breathe.” Watching her intently, he fingered the hem of her sweater and lifted it slowly until her stomach was bared. Then he stopped. “Do you trust me with the rest?”
Surprise flitted through her expression. “I...I never thought about this being about trust.”
“Of course it is. We’re reaching out at the same time, but doing so requires a measure of faith. On both sides.”
She stilled, taking it all in, and in a flash, he got the distinct sense she had a lot less experience with men and sex in general than the majority of women he knew. She talked such a good game he’d missed it, but with all the discussion around competition and being embarrassed about the locale he’d chosen, not to mention how often he found her home alone on the weekends...it all fit.
Then she nodded and lifted her arms, silently offering him access to completely remove her top—and placing utter trust in him at the same time. It just about broke him. Sucking in oxygen, which did not settle his racing pulse, he took his time unveiling her, inch by creamy, gorgeous inch.
She wasn’t wearing a bra. And her breasts were perfect, topped by peaks that went rigid under his heated gaze. He muttered a curse as his hands involuntarily balled up, aching to stroke her from neck to belly button. Take it slow, Wakefield.
“You’re exquisite,” he ground out through a throat gone frozen, and tossed the sweater aside, unable to tear his attention from her half-naked form. Nonsense spilled from his mouth, murmured words of praise and awe. So maybe he’d tell her how much he liked her body in addition to showing her.