He steps to me and interlaces his fingers with mine. “Come on.”
He leads me into the bathroom and locks the door behind us. Releasing my hand, he leans against the door. My arms wrap protectively around my body in an attempt to hold myself together. His face is more relaxed, but his eyes are still angry.
“Raven, I owe you an apology.”
I stumble back a step. An apology? I wasn’t expecting that. “No, Jonah you don’t owe me—”
“I slept with Candy.”
My body stills along with my words. I close my gaping mouth, surprised at his honesty. “Um, I know that.”
He shifts on his feet and rubs the back of his neck. “I slept with her.” He takes a deep breath. “Why is this so hard?” He mumbles to the floor before his eyes meet mine. “I slept with her a week ago.”
This, too, I already knew because of Candy’s less than ladylike admission. “Okay.”
Is that all I can say? Okay?
“I didn’t invite her here. I’m not interested in her.” His eyes study my face for a few silent seconds.
“Jonah, you don’t need to explain—”
“There’s something else.” He takes a step toward me.
I pull in a large breath through my nose and blow out my mouth. Can I handle his something else? I nod.
“I can’t stop thinking about you.”
Yes, I can handle that.
My cheeks hurt as I wrestle against an embarrassing grin. “Okay.”
He takes another step in my direction. “You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met.”
My breathing picks up, my heart pounds, and something begins to unfurl and flutter in my chest. “Okay.”
“I want to be with you.”
Is this really freaking happening?
“Okay.”
He closes the final few feet between us. His arms surround my waist and lock at my lower back, forcing my hands to his bare chest. The heat from his skin ignites a fire in my palms that shoots down my spine and awakens my senses. The gentle rise and fall of his breath, the rhythmic beat of his heart, all magnified. My bikini-clad breasts brush against his rib cage. The friction makes me shiver in his arms.
He slides his hands up my back, trailing his fingers across my skin. Goose bumps skate across my flesh. A bright smile lights his face at my response to his touch. His eyes become hooded. His hands rest against either side of my neck, rubbing my jaw with slow swipes of his thumbs. I watch in amazement as his eyes travel from my eyes to my lips before they drop to the side of my neck.
“I’ve wanted to do this since the first day I met you.”
Bending forward, he brings his lips just a breath away from mine. I lean in and close my eyes, expecting to feel the warmth of his mouth. He uses his hold to tip my chin down and kiss my forehead. I sigh and melt into the tenderness of his touch.
Gently, he runs his nose down my hairline to my ear. “Mmm, you smell so good.”
My fingers flex against his firm chest at the husky sound in his voice. A second chill races through my body. Heat floods my system. I welcome every new feeling, every fragile emotion that courses through me.
He makes a fist in my hair and tilts my head. The soft heat of his lips brushes against my earlobe then my neck, trailing kisses to my shoulder. He lingers there, licking and nipping with his teeth. The abrasive stubble of his chin against my collarbone electrifies my body. I press my aching breasts into him as my bones liquefy beneath his touch. His hard, strong body accepts my weight, and a moan tumbles from my throat.
I feel him smile against my skin. “You like that, baby?”
He called me baby! I’m thankful he can’t see my eyes as they stare at the ceiling, wide in shock.
The silky moisture from his open-mouth kisses at my neck have my eyelids falling shut. “Sweet, just like I knew you’d be.” His breath tickles my skin.
Something coils deep inside, a damn on the verge of collapsing. “Jonah . . .” My mind scrambles with how to communicate everything I want from him right now. His lips on mine, the weight of his body, his hands . . .
He places a final kiss against my neck and pulls his head up. My eyelids, suddenly heavy, fight to stay open. My body trembles with a raw need I’ve never felt before. And our lips haven’t even touched.
“I want to take you inside,” he whispers, through a dark, sexy smile.
“Okay.”
“Send Eve home. You’re staying with me tonight.”
His proposition douses the fire raging in my body.
“You want me to spend the night?” Panic creeps in.
His lips curve at the ends. “Yeah, you can borrow something to sleep in.”
I try to think of something logical, some reason why I can’t spend the night, but with his hands running up and down my back, it’s hard to concentrate. How can I say no? Jonah Slade asks for a sleepover, the answer is always yes. It’s in the female handbook. She says no, she gets her membership revoked, right? If not, she should.
“Okay.”