Page 179 of Chasing Hope

we’re so reading another cowboy romance for book club

BELLA

I vote for a fantasynext!

LAYLA

okay yes so down!

No more teasing, no more dancing around each other. I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life. Have never felt this way during intimacy, have never had my core pulse, have never felt like tearing off someone’s clothes and devouring them.

Yet straddling Matteo, I feel it all.

I need him.

His eyes widen at my plea, his hands on my body tightening before he forces himself to let go. I can see him holding himself back and I hate it. The one time I genuinely want to sleep with someone and they’re treating me like I’m made of glass.

“Please,” I whisper. “I want this, Matteo. I want you. Don’t treat me differently because of my past.”

A pained expression overcomes his features. “I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want you to check out on me.”

I run my fingers back and forth through his hair. “I don’t think that will happen with you.”

“You don’t know that and I don’t want you to feel obligated to do this.”

“I feel anythingbutobligated. I’m practically begging you.”

His lip twitches.

“Don’t laugh at me.”

His eyes spark again with mischief. “I’m not laughing at you.”

“But you want to,” I point out.

Shrugging, he tries to control his smile but fails until I watch the wheels in his mind turn, his want and need for me spinning across his face.

“Okay,” he murmurs. “But we need to communicate, and I mean it, Evie. The second you feel yourself checking out we stop. This isn’t for me, this is for the both of us. I wantyou.”

My heart soars, absolutely soars. I’ve been trying to get him totrust me enough with my own body with intimacy for weeks, have been teasing and pushing his buttons endlessly.

My smile springs free as I roll my hips, loving the way his eyes flash, the way a muscle ticks in his jaw…the way he twitches underneath me.

“Yes, sir,” I tease.

Excitement rushes through my veins at seeing his control snap. His voice is such a dark drawl it sends a shiver down my spine. “Is there anything that helps you stay present?”

I’ve never stayed present during sex but I have a feeling I know what I need.

“Talking,” I say, my voice breathy.

His brow arches, a slow lopsided grin spreading. “You want me talking, Dove?” I nod because I’m afraid my voice will betray me again, but Matteo tsks. “Let me hear you say it,” he murmurs as he puts his hands back on my hips and picks up my pace.

A moan falls from my lips at the movement, the high I feel building surprising me. I’m completely, one hundred percent within my body and I’m feeling pleasure at his touch.

Is this why people love sex? Is this how it feels for everyone else?

“I want you to talk,” I breathe.