“One. When we got here.”
“That was two hours ago,” he tells me. “I’ve had two.” He licks his lips. “Nothing about you, nothing about this—us—has come easily. This is way more than a hookup.”
My body heats as his eyes convey a level of honesty my heart understands. “In New Orleans,” I start, my body shivering as I recall his promise to take me then. “You put that thought into my head, and I haven’t been able to get it out. Every time we step into a club, it’s all I can think about.”
Tyler’s fingers run the length of my thighs and then back up, raising the hem of my dress higher on my thigh. His breaths are cool against my skin, which feels too hot as need courses through me. “We should slow down.” His fingers press into my flesh, the roughness of calluses scratching my skin tantalizingly, contradicting his words.
I shake my head. “If we stop, I’m pretty sure I’m going to explode.”
His fingers travel higher, skimming my butt before following the edges of my underwear over my hips and core, making me nearly gasp with anticipation, yet he doesn’t touch me at all where I want him—need him to.
I lean my head back, my breaths uneven as his fingers skim across my inner thigh again.
“God, you’re gorgeous,” he says before he breathes me in, another short growl before he cups my core, offering only the slightest relief before the pressure somehow increases further. He slides his fingers over me, applying more pressure with his middle finger as he strokes up my middle, making my hips buck and my breath to come out in a gust.
The reality of this situation has me tensing, feeling self-conscious as my inexperience echoes in my ears with the unwanted memory of Ricky’s taunting words.
Tyler senses my hesitation, his lips and touch pausing. I realize I’ve shifted, my head no longer against his collarbone. He kisses my bare shoulder sweetly, then turns me to face him. “What’s wrong?”
His eyes are liquid heat, desire edged in lust that has me contemplating just staying quiet and continuing. His fingers slide along my jaw, tipping my chin up. “Tell me.”
“I want this,” I preface the conversation. “I want you. But this is…” My words trail off, the word virgin seeming sterile and clinical as I struggle to form the word.
His brows furrow.
“My first time…” I tell him.
His eyes flare, and as I’d feared, the words seem to make him come to a full stop as he releases a deep breath. “We should go.”
“Are you serious?” I take a step back, anger hitting me like a wave, covering me with regret and resentment.
“This is a big decision,” he says. “I can’t…” He shakes his head. “I’m not going to take your virginity in a nightclub.”
“You’re wrong. The first time we met was downtown Seattle. You were late because you bought that homeless person bags of groceries, and you sat with Coop and me, and you were wearing a Beatles shirt that Cooper teased you about for being cliché, and you laughed. That was our first time meeting, and I’ve wanted you since. I’ve thought about this for two years, and I don’t care if my first time is in a club, I just want it to be with you.”
He tips his head back as he releases a train of curses before looking around at the space, his throat moving as he swallows, then his eyes fall back on me, that hungry need burning once again, making my skin feel ablaze. “What are you doing to me?” he mumbles. He takes my hand, leading me over to the railing that separates the club from our room with twenty feet of height. It hits the middle of my back, cold and hard against my skin. He kneels in front of me, his hands sliding my dress so it’s bunched around my waist, exposing my purple underwear. Holding my dress, fingers firm against my skin, he kisses my navel and then lower, trailing his mouth and tongue down to the edge of my underwear, making anticipation return with a vengeance. Then he places his nose against me, taking a deep breath. Embarrassment tickles my thoughts, but there’s something so damn erotic and sexy about the gesture that has me shamelessly spreading my legs a bit wider. He runs his nose over me, and I grasp the railing even tighter with one hand to keep myself upright, moving my other hand to his hair, tangling in the blonde locks, wanting to pull him closer to make him do it again and also away because this still seems dirty to have him eye level with my vagina. Tyler opens his eyes and looks up at me as he moves his hands to my pelvic bone, pulling me open with his thumbs. He places his mouth over me, holding my gaze as I feel the heat of his tongue through the thin barrier of my panties. He traces me with his nose again, and then takes another deep breath. “God, I want you,” he says. “You smell so good. I can’t wait to taste you.”
He slips his fingers into the waist of my underwear and pulls them down my legs, leaving my lower half completely exposed except for my heels as he shoves my underwear into his pocket before his gaze returns to mine. “If you need me to slow down, just let me know.”
I nod, trying to swallow as my grip on the rail tightens. A smile lifts the corner of his mouth, and then he moves his hands to separate my lower lips, the air dancing across my bare skin. He licks me, so soft it almost tickles. My belly clenches and desire warms my body. His tempo changes as his tongue
