Page 78 of Heated (Burned, Inc.)
“Okay. If you want me, I’m yours. Feel free to use me for your pleasure; I’m here for it, for you. And the same for me. Because I intend to be inside you as often as possible, Zora. I’ve fantasized about you for so long that I don’t know if three months will be enough, but it’s going to have to be. Because at the end of our arrangement, we walk away. No strings, like we agreed. No entanglements, no expectations. And if at any time you want to end this, we do. And we go back to how we were.”
“Same for you too. If you want to end it.”
I smile at the thought. “Baby, that’s not going to happen.”
A shiver courses over her, and it reverberates through me.
“This is crazy.” She balls her fingers into the loops of my jeans, pressing her forehead to my bare chest. Rolling her forehead back and forth, she repeats, “This is so crazy.I’mcrazy.”
“Sex with me? I’m not sure if I should be offended or not.”
Her huff of warm breath to my skin isn’t a laugh or a sigh; it’s somewhere in between.
“Cyrus, I’m not ... this isn’t ...” She tips her head back, and the faint smile that curves her mouth isn’t humorous. “You just got out ofa relationship. And yes, this is just physical, but I don’t know if I’m cut out to be the rebound girl. I don’t—”
“Say it, Zora.”
Her throat works for several seconds, as if she’s battling the words, but eventually she blurts them out. “At the restaurant, I asked you about the Dear John letter, and you said it didn’t tear your heart out. But I remember the devastation on your face when I read it. Your face revealed how you felt—”
I step back from her, inserting space but cradling her neck, my thumbs on either side of her jaw.
“Look at me.” I need her to get this, and I harden my voice. Zora obeys, and I pause a moment, ensuring she’s meeting my gaze and really seeing me.Hearingme. “What you saw on my face wasn’t about Val. Not specifically. Since my parents died and I left my aunts’ homes for college, I’ve planned out my future. High school. College. Law school. The law firm I would join. And eventually when I would date and marry. I’ve stuck to those plans; they’ve guided me through rough and lean years, gave goals to work toward. That’s what you saw on my face, Zora. The devastation of deviating from my plans. The fear of failing, of insecurity and the unknown. The fear of failing and disappointing my parents. Not about losing Val.”
Her gaze roams my face, searching, and I hold still, letting her see the truth. After several long moments, that gaze softens into warm, melted chocolate.
“That’s why the partnership and the retreat is so important to you, isn’t it?” she murmurs. “It’s in your plan.”
“Yes.”
She nods.
Then her arms wrap around me, holding me close, and I shut my eyes, inhaling her scent, feeling her body. Savoring every curve, every dip. The lust is there—it’s never far. Yet here, in this moment, there’ssomething softer tempering it. For how long before the desire overtakes it? I don’t know.
But I stand here, holding her.
Wondering when that started to feel so natural.
And a little terrified that it is.
