Page 67 of No Sweeter Poison

“No!” I blurt in frustration. “It’s more…it’s more than that.”

His breathing turns shallow. His grip tightens to the point of pain but I don’t think he does it on purpose. I think he’s trying to center himself. Sort through what I’m telling him and then put those emotions in a box he can label and put away for later.

“Alex.”

I don’t wait for him to say or do anything. When I close the distance between us, it’s with a kiss I fear has rearranged every fiber of my being. He remains frozen, his entire body stiff as marble but that doesn’t stop me. I cradle his face in the palms of my hands and kiss him until he finally wraps his arms around me in return.

What I expect is a rough and rapid undressing. Torn fabric and loose buttons, shirts and undergarments discarded in the darkness. No such thing transpires.

He slides his hand behind my neck and tips my head backward, the kiss that follows so heartbreakingly gentle that even my bones ache from the contact. Our lips part and I meet his tongue stroke for stroke, a quiet moan escaping my chest before I can help it. As his hands wander down the length of my body I feel the way he lingers on his favorite places and skims everywhere else so that not a single inch of me goes ignored. Goosebumps pepper my skin and when he finally catches the hem of my nightgown between his fingertips, a tremor runs through me.

He pulls away and pauses for a brief moment, waiting for my permission. All it takes is a single nod and he pulls the garment over my head and leaves it in a puddle of silk on the edge of the bed.

“Where…?” My hands hover over his chest as I hesitate. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

He guides me to the buttons at the top of his shirt. “Start here.”

Before I even have the first button between my fingers, he presses kisses along the side of my jaw, scattering my thoughts to the wind. His hands are steady and strong as they touch me, one splayed across the small of my back, the other skimming along my ribcage before he cups my breast. Meanwhile, mine are trembling, barely able to undo the first few buttons without almost ripping them completely. Finally, the last button comes undone and he pulls away to shrug out of it.

Bruises color the length of his left side along his ribcage and on his lower right side, there’s a bandage covering another wound. I want to touch him everywhere but don’t know if I should.

“Stop,” he tells me.

I freeze and he leans over to turn off the lamp, plunging us into near total darkness.

“You’re overthinking it.”

“I’m not—”

“Touch me.”

I take a steadying breath and extend my hands. He wraps his fingers around my wrists and pulls me flush against him. His heart beats are strong but rapid, pulse humming beneath my touch. In the darkness, his mouth finds mine with a hunger that threatens to consume me from the inside out.

We move across the bed, and I land amongst the pillows and bedsheets. Alejandro never breaks the kiss as he settles between my thighs and I unbuckle his belt. His mouth travels down the length of my neck, over my collarbone, and between my breasts. He does all this while hooking his fingers under the waistband of my underwear and when I lift my hips, he removes them in one clean swoop.

A knot forms in the pit of my stomach, at odds with the heat gathering between my legs and coursing through my veins. I want him but I want him too much and the silence is unsettling.

Unlike the first time, this encounter is slow and quiet, far too close to an emotional coupling than a quick, lust-driven encounter. Alejandro must sense it too because he lifts his head and looks down at me. Our noses brush and I lift my lips to his, kissing each corner of his mouth. Neither of us speaks as he sits back and undresses fully. Despite the injury on his leg, he moves with all the fluidity and grace of a feline, his strong, broad figure stretching over mine in the darkness.

He kisses his way across my cheek and his lips graze my ear as he whispers, “Did you move anything in these drawers?”

I swallow the lump forming in my throat. “The nightstand? No?”

I haven’t had much use for them especially the one on the left side as I’m right-handed. He shuffles through the bottom drawer and a second later, I hear the tearing of a foil wrapper. His hand disappears between us as he rolls on a condom and I make a mental note to check all the secret nooks and crannies of this bedroom that I never paid attention to before. How did I not know that was there?

“Dahlia,” he grips my chin and turns my face away from the nightstand. “Focus.”

“I’m focusing.”

Are there any in the bathroom too?

His shoulders shake with silent laughter. “You’re not.”

I almost think to ask him if he has anymore random condom hideouts in this room and most importantly why but the moment he takes my breast into his mouth and sucks, my soul nearly leaves my body.

Where there lacked fervor before, he’s more than made up for it now. He dips his fingers inside me and pumps in and out until they’re soaked and then he glides them along the wet seam of my sex. I squirm beneath him and lift my hips in search of his but his mouth moves to my other breast and I can’t seem to think straight. Wrapping both legs around his waist, I draw him closer, until the tip of his erection teases at my entrance. Just before he pushes inside of me, I lock my fingers in his hair.

“Wait.” He lifts his head, brows furrowed in confusion. I say, “Wait.”