Page 91 of Be My Bride

Damn.

So am I.

This feels like my first freaking time.

Which is ridiculous.

I started young.

Piled up the body count.

Added way too many notches on my bed post.

Hell, there’s barely any bed post left to scratch on.

I can’t do this when we’re both in such a complicated headspace.

Easing up, I press my hand into the mattress and hover over Asia. In the dimness of the room, I see the whites of her eyes contrasting against her brown skin.

It almost makes me smile.

She wasn’t kidding when she admitted to being afraid.

I pick up on her mood.

And I don’t rush.

This isn’t about taking from her. I know she’s trying to make a point, but she’s still there. In her mind. In that space.

She needs to get out of it.

I want her with me.

Here.

In this moment.

I need her with me when I touch her.

Her eyes shift to me.

Awareness brushes between us, lighting us up like a match left in a dry bush. Intimacy makes our eye contact longer, heavier. It really does feel like we’re the only two people in the world.

I kiss Asia long and slow. Her body relaxes beneath mine and we both fall into the rhythm of the embrace, getting used to each other again.

I caress her jaw softly, keeping my hands on her face until I can sense that she’s no longer overthinking this.

My lips detach from hers.

I press a kiss to her jaw.

To her cheek.

Drag it lightly over to her chin.

Her body arches.

Asia presses her hips to mine, grinding herself against me.