Page 49 of Protecting Josie
“I have the stuff ready to work on your hair.”
It wasn’t what she’d expected him to say—and it was as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over her. Josie was suddenly embarrassed by her actions. He’d been telling her how impressed he was with the way she’d handled the situation she’d found herself in, and then she’d gone and thrown herself at him.
She shifted her body weight so she was leaning away from him, but he scowled, tightening his hold on the back of her neck.
“What? What did I say? You don’t want me to touch your hair? Okay, I’ll talk to Caroline, see if she knows someone who will come to the apartment. Or maybe Remi or Wren know someone. Maybe they can help.”
He sounded panicked. Josie shook her head.
“No? You don’t want them to help? You don’t want to do anything with your hair? Nowhat, Spirit?”
“I didn’t mean to maul you,” she blurted out.
Nate stared at her for a moment, then inhaled deeply as he closed his eyes. But he immediately opened them. “In case you missed it, Josie, I was just as into that as you were. Christ, I’ve thought about almost nothing but kissing youfrom the moment you sacrificed your water for me in that hellhole—and felt like shit as a result. You were hurting, traumatized, and all I wanted to do was feel your lips on mine.”
Josie was genuinely shocked. Not by what he said, but that he’d felt the same pull toward her as she had for him.
“With that said, I’m also not dumb enough to haul you to my bed right this second.”
She frowned.
“Not that I don’t want to, but I don’t want whatever this is between us to be a one-and-done kind of thing. I wasn’t lying when I said I want to get to know you. I want to know what makes you tick before taking you to bed. Because when I get you there, I’m going to want tokeepyou there. Hell, I already do. Sleeping next to you since leaving those cells has been…incredible. I just don’t want to rush us.” He then chuckled and shook his head. “As if I haven’t already done that. But seriously.”
Josie was embarrassed to discover that shewantedto be rushed. She wanted to know what it was like to be with this man. To have all his attention. To have his hands on her body. To have himinsideher body. Her nipples tightened at the thought, and her position over him made her pussy clench. She was straddling him. She could reach down and undo his pants and take him into her mouth. Show him how badly she wanted him.
“Fuck. You’re so beautiful,” Nate said reverently, his gaze running down her body.
Josie couldn’t help but squirm a little.
“We have time,” he told her. “Time to get to know eachother. Time to explore this attraction we have for each other.”
In response, Josie placed her hand on his chest and ran it all the way down to just above his waistband, then back up.
She could hardly believe she was acting this way. This wasn’t like her. She was the shy one. The one who always questioned whether she should or shouldn’t take a relationship to the next level. She second-guessed everything. But after her brush with death, she was going to go after what she wanted.Him.
Nate caught her hand with his and brought it up to his mouth, kissing her palm. “You’re going to be a handful, aren’t you?” he asked.
Josie gave him a huge smile.
“Right. You’re stubborn—but so am I,” he told her. “And right now, I want to get my hands on that hair of yours.” Then he picked her up and turned her on his lap before placing her on the floor in front of the couch.
He moved her so easily. In the past, Josie would’ve been offended if someone had done what he just had, but since it was Nate, she was more turned on by his strength than anything else. She couldn’t help but think about how he could move her around in bed, to any and every position he wanted to take her in.
Her libido had roared to life, and it made her feelreallyalive for the first time in weeks. But Josie took a deep breath. He was right. She didn’t want a one-night stand either. She wanted Nate, sexually, but she wanted him by her side as a partner, boyfriend, whatever, even more.
Maybe she was just feeling this way because of whathappened. Because he’d been her knight in shining armor. Because he’d saved her.
But she mentally shook her head. That wasn’t it. Yes, she was thankful he was there when she needed someone the most, but she was old enough to know what she was feeling was real. Not a result of some savior complex.
Then something else suddenly occurred to her.
She turned her head and blurted, “I’m thirty.”
Nate was holding a wide-toothed comb and the bottle of detangler, giving her a confused look. “Okay?”
“I had my birthday while I was in that cell.”
Understanding dawned. “Fuck.”
