It was an effort not to drag her down to the floor, or hell, push her to her knees.
I straightened instead, pulling away from her, and she opened her eyes. They flitted from my face down to my bare chest. I dragged a hand through my hair and watched the way every movement of my body caught her attention.
She licked her lips, and I twitched so hard that her gaze caught the movement darting farther down. She sucked in a deep breath that made her breasts shift, which caught my gaze. Her nipples were hard under her tight white cotton shirt. Without even willing it, my hand moved to her, thumb tracing over one of the hard little nubs.
She sent me one long, sultry look, and lowered to her knees.
"Jesus," I said. I steepled my hands at the crown of my head, eyes glued to her as she shrugged off her shirt, unclasped her bra, and slid it smoothly off.
She rubbed her face against me like a cat, using her nose to play with me through the sweats. It was adorable and one of the most arousing things I'd ever witnessed.
My stomach clenched as she opened my sweatpants, dragging them down, freeing my heavy length to bob against her lush pink lips.
Jesus.
She'd just sucked my tip into her mouth when I snapped out of my trance.
I tried twice before I found my voice. "Wait. Stop."
Me turning down head from Scarlett.
That had to be a first.
But I needed something else just then, and the urge was so realized, so complete that I never even considered denying it. When I spoke, my voice was hoarse with all the words I couldn't find for a need so powerful it left me shaken. "I need to be inside of you."
She laid her cheek against me, rolling her eyes up to look at mine.
"Let's go to the bedroom," I said thickly.
She didn't agree or disagree, so I pulled her up, lifting her under the arms and propping her on her feet. I couldn't keep my hands to myself. I palmed her breasts and watched her jaw go slack.
Fuck. I let her go, taking a step away as I pushed my stiff length back into my pants. "Bedroom. I want you in the bedroom."
I turned, heading down the hallway, through the entryway, and up the double staircase. I headed for the east wing of the house, aware every step that a topless Scarlett followed.
"This place is bigger than I thought," she observed, her tone neutral.
"Do you like it?" I hoped so. I'd purchased it with her personal preferences in mind. Because it was for her.
"Sure."
At least it wasn't a no.
My mouth twisted wryly as I showed her our bedroom. The house was for her. The bedroom for me.
"Subtle," she said wryly. The ceiling over the bed and every wall that wasn't a window was mirrored.
What can I say? I like to watch.
"It's the first time we've had a house to ourselves. I might have gone a little overboard." Proving my own point, my eyes were on her in the mirror as I spoke.
She met my gaze, hers enigmatic. "You planned this all along."
I shrugged. It was too complicated to explain, the efforts I had gone to based on the most meager thread of hope. And I was not in the mood to talk.
We were of a like mind, apparently, because she started peeling off her jeans without another word.
I shoved out of my sweats, my eyes glued to her, raking over her, devouring every inch of skin she bared.
When she was bare, I was on her, pushing her to the bed, straddling her, pressing my chest to hers, our warm flesh rubbing together, creating more friction than I needed to ignite.
I cupped her face in both hands and kissed her, shifting on top of her, wedging myself between her legs. I pulled back to watch her face as I breached her, near mindless with need.
Abruptly and unexpectedly, she began to struggle, pushing me off her. I moved back with a jerk, too stunned to protest.
"Not like that," she said, flushing. She sat up, not looking me in the eye. "Not face to face. Not right now."
It stung, but I told myself it was fine. She had given me so much in such a short time. It was a miracle that she was even here.
Clearly, more time was needed for certain intimacies. But if I worked on her long enough, she wouldn't hold back. It was inevitable. Left to our own devices, we would give each other everything, because that was the order of the universe.
I truly believed that.
I brushed off the sting and accommodated her. I was too far gone to split hairs, my mind in a dark and primitive place that didn't particularly care about anything except getting balls deep inside of her and rutting like an animal.
She showed me just what she wanted by moving to a large chaise lounge that dominated the corner of the room closest to the shoe closet I hadn't yet shown her. She climbed onto the cream-colored piece of furniture, getting on hands and knees, positioned right on the edge.