Page 44 of Ruthless Sin
Her hand closes around my wrist, small and deliberate, stopping me.
Cristo.
My breath stops.
Her hand stays on my wrist. Then, slow, she pulls it forward. Back across her waist. She pulls it back across her waist and presses my hand flat against her stomach.
Then she lets go.
I exhale against the back of her neck. It comes out shaky and I let it.
“Okay,” I say. My voice is wrecked. “Okay. I can.Dio. Okay.”
I stay loose against her. My hips stay back from hers even though she has to feel what my body is doing. She hasn’t moved away from any of it. My hand on the mattress in front of her is shaking and I let it shake.
She shifts her hips back into mine. A quarter inch.
The sound I make stays behind my teeth. Barely.
“Cara.” My voice is strained. “You’re going to.” Breathe. “Tell me what you want. Because if you keep doing that I’m going to. Fuck. I’m going to lose it.”
She holds where she is.
She stays in my arm. The silence holds.
She knows exactly what she’s doing.
God help me, she knows exactly what she’s doing.
“Did you sleep?” My voice has gone quieter.
She pauses. Then I feel it against my spine, the smallest nod.
“Good,” I say. “That’s good,cara.” I let it sit. “I haven’t slept like that in years.”
“You moved in your sleep,” I say. “I was asleep too. I woke up and we were like this. Under the covers. I didn’t put you there. I swear to God.”
There’s a pause. Then the breath goes out of her, slow.
“Okay.” I let the breath out. “Okay.”
I shift my hips away from hers.
She closes the space.
Madonna.
“You’re.” Try again. My voice is not steady. “You’re making this really fucking hard,milaya.”
“Cazzo. I didn’t mean. That’s not what I.”
A sound comes out of her.
I go completely still.
It’s not quite a laugh. Something between a breath and a sound I haven’t heard from her before. My heart goes violent and useless against my ribs.
“Did you just.” I stop. “Cara. Did you just laugh?”
