Breathe You In (Sweet Torment 1)

“Wow,” I breathed.

The thin cotton pants hugged his butt so perfectly, it made my mouth water. It’d be so easy to peel them down and off in two seconds flat. I could see the contours of his back muscles against the tight fabric of the shirt. He looked so casual. So sexy and…just…wow.

He turned and faced me. “See something you like?”

“Just admiring how your shirt fits you.” I could almost see his chiseled stomach muscles through the fabric, which was pulled taut across his chest.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” he said, and walked toward me.

His gaze swept me from head to toe, taking in everything, leaving me feeling exposed and hot. Needy. Ready. Was this how normal people in normal relationships felt? Did just the simple act of getting ready for bed feel like more? Like you were where you belonged?

“You look better in my clothes than I do,” he said, cupping my hips.

My hands fisted the material covering his chest as he leaned in and kissed me. I craved that touch. The tiny moment right before our lips met was packed with so much anticipation, it could last two lifetimes. Because I knew what would follow once our skin touched. Warmth. Connection.

I lifted to my tiptoes for more, but he stepped back. He didn’t look mad, just unsure. The last several weeks had been filled with ups and downs, emotional highs and lows. Every time we were together, he either pulled back or surged forward. There was no steady pace, only extremes. Maybe it was time to slow down a little. To enjoy each other a bit more.

I didn’t know what Roman hid or carried with him. Didn’t know his past, or why there was always a faint, dark cloud that seemed to hover over him. But I felt it in his movements, his actions. It was in the way he tried to control his world.

Tonight, I wanted it to be just us. Stripped of everything except each other. I wanted to know him, feel him. I just prayed he’d let me.

I said the only thing I could think of. “I’ve never seen you naked.”

He smirked. “That’s true, isn’t it?”

I nodded and went for a casual smile. “Hardly seems fair.” I stepped toward him. “I don’t pretend to know everything about you, but I do know that it’s hard for you to let go completely. To give up control and get lost in a moment.”

“I don’t care for surprises,” he said, his eyes going vacant for a moment.

His words were so raw, it was as if someone else were speaking. That voice came from a deep, dark place. I opened my mouth to ask about it, but he shook his head, as if dislodging something from his mind.

“And in the past, we’ve been a bit too preoccupied with other things to fully undress.”

“I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me to,” I whispered. “No surprises tonight. Just us.”

“Good.”

“I just…” I gently tugged on his shirt, “I like it when our skin touches.”

Something wild and black burned in his eyes and I thought, This must be what the rim of a volcano looks like. Hot, on the brink of smoldering out of control.

“So do I,” he said.

He gently ran a lock of my hair through his fingers. His brows sliced down as he watched it, almost entranced.

“It’s like touching sunshine,” he whispered.

My heart broke right down the middle. Roman looked…sad. He let my hair fall and traced my neck.

“You look like perfection.

Fresh. Innocent.”

I was scared to breathe, to move. He was talking, his words churning out what his mind was thinking. I wanted to gather every syllable and clutch them close, because there was an important truth to his words. To how he saw me, responded to me.

“The thought of anything, or anyone, damaging you, including myself—” he clenched his teeth around the last word.

“Shh.” I cupped his jaw. “I’m right here, in your arms, and all you make me feel is wanted.”