Page 86 of The Obsession
I hear him sigh behind me, a soft, frustrated exhale, and then his free hand settles on my hip, firm, warm, and grounding.
“Emily,” he murmurs, his breath ghosting over the back of my neck, sending goose bumps rippling down both my arms.
The gentleness of it, the quiet way he says my name, and his careful touch, only seem to twist the knife deeper. It feels like he’s holding me together and holding himself back all at once, and I don’t know which part hurts more.
My hand moves up to cover his as I lace our fingers together. I feel his breath coming in short, shallow spurts.
I don’t say anything, because I don’t want to give him a chance to reject me again, but I slowly drag our conjoined hands over the curve of my waist.
He doesn’t pull back. I’m pretty sure he’s not even breathing right now.
That tiny bit of permission, his stillness and silence, gives me the courage to keep going. I guide his hand higher, my heartbeat thudding in my ears.
I pause when I reach the underside of my breast. “Touch me, Dom,” I whisper, though it comes out more like a plea than I intended.
“Em …” he breathes my name rough and pained, as he leans forward and rests his forehead on my shoulder. “You have no idea how much the selfish part of me wants to do just that,” he says quietly as his voice scrapes against my skin. “But you deserve so much better than a man like me.”
The words land heavy—heavy enough to crack something inside me—but the way he says them, almost achingly, tells me it’s not rejection. It’s fear. It’s him fighting himself, not me.
“Please,” I find myself asking.
I drag our hands higher, and my breath hitches in my throat when his rough palm scrapes over my pebbled nipple.
“Dominic,” I moan, pushing my head back into his chest.
“Em,” he counters, burying his nose in what he calls my cupcake-scented hair—which is actually vanilla bean and caramel shampoo—and inhales deeply. “Fuck, you smell good enough to eat,mia tortina.”
I hear the aloe vera leaf he was holding hit the floor with a soft thud as that hand moves up to palm my other breast.
“Yes,” I cry out when he pinches my nipple between his forefinger and thumb, twisting it. This small taste of his affection has liquid heat flooding my underwear. “Touch meeverywhere, Dom,” I plead, guiding our conjoined hands down over my abdomen. When I reach my pelvic bone, I release my hold on his hand, hoping he keeps going on his own.
I could physically weep when his hand slips between my thighs and under the hemline of my nightie.
Chapter 27
Dominic
Ifeel like I’m suspended somewhere between heaven and hell. My head is screaming at me to stop before this goes any further, but my heart … damn, it’s all fucking in.
My hand glides over the outside of her underwear, and when she widens her stance slightly, I can already feel her wetness through the fabric. My cock is so hard it threatens to bust through the zipper of my jeans.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been intimate with a woman, too damn long, but Emily Ashford isn’t just any woman; she’s the holy grail. Utter fucking perfection.
She ignites the kind of fire you can’t ignore, the kind that burns through everything else until all that’s left is raw, uncontrolled desire.
“Em,” I groan as the tip of my finger slips underneath the elastic. She’s dripping fucking wet and completely bare.
I want to turn her around, lift her onto the countertop and bury my face between her sweet thighs, but I can’t do that. I shouldn’t even be doing this.
She arches her back and moans softly when my fingers slip between her folds, gliding back and forth through her slick heat. Fuck, I need this woman so badly; it’s going to bethe worst kind of torture to deny myself and walk away once I’m done.
“Dom,” she whispers, lifting an arm and hooking it around my neck.
“Emily,” I murmur back, lowering my head to the crook of her neck, letting my lips rest against her soft skin, wishing it were her mouth I was kissing instead.
“Yes,” she breathes when my finger alternates between circling her nub and moving down to slip the tip of one digit inside her. I do this over and over until her body begins to tremble.
She’s fucking soaked and so damn tight. My dick leaks with precum as it throbs with need. Need for her.
