She was about to protest when the flash of vulnerability in his eyes stopped her. Chance was trying to be noble again. He wasn’t very smooth about it—like with the vibrator remark—but he was trying.
What was she supposed to say?No, I wouldn’t like to be worshipped by a man with your talents?What he was suggesting was a good boundary to keep both of them safe.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “But can I kiss you?”
If he said no to that, she’d rethink this. It would feel too transactional, like she had hired him to be her stud.
“Oh God, yes.” That came out of him in a rush.
She fisted her hands into his shirt and pulled his mouth down to hers. Chance cupped her face as he kissed her, hungryand searching. His tongue slicked along hers, and their teeth clicked together, but his fingers were gentle on her jaw.
It was a kiss to get lost in, going deeper and deeper but never ending. The need low in her belly gathered into a swollen ache.
“What do you like?” Chance asked.
Cordy didn’t understand. “What?” He was doing so well, didn’t he already justknow?
“I’m not a mind reader.” He kissed along her jaw until he was breathing into her ear. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll give it to you.”
Oh.Her eyes went wide. She could see his superpower now, clear as day. It wasn’t that he instinctually knew how to please any woman—it was that he asked them, no,compelledthem, to tell him their fantasies in that voice that promised it would be safe and he would make those fantasies real.
She had to take a moment to think. To gather up what she might want tonight and set aside what they could try some other time.
“Gentle doesn’t work for me,” she said. Best to get the general stuff down. “Not that I want to be spanked or anything.” She wet her lips. “I, um, I like having my hair pulled.”
“Good, because I love pulling hair.” His fingers found the hem of her T-shirt. “Can I undress you?”
“Yes.”
“Keep going.” Chance slid her shirt up, his knuckles dragging across her skin.
“Well...” Cordy lay full on her back, trying to concentrate. What he was doing right now was amazing, and she wasn’t even naked.
“Hold up.” He pulled her upright. “You can’t lie on your back like that. Remember?”
Right. Because she was pregnant and lying on her back was one more forbidden thing, although she still didn’t understand why.
Chance helped her scoot up the bed until she was propped up by the headboard. Then he took off her clothes with quick skill.
Oh boy, now she was completely naked and on display. Cordy tucked her legs up and tried to figure out what to do with her arms. It was awkward, being nude in front of someone else in this position, and then there was her belly, big and round and very much there between them.
“Um.” She pushed her feet away from her, then pulled them back in. Normally she didn’t feel strange about her body—she was pretty damn confident, to be honest—but she was also really pregnant. It changed things.
“Hey.” Chance slid his hand to the back of her neck. The imprint of his fingers made her toes curl. “It’s just you and me. You are the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, no matter how you’re sitting. If you’re uncomfortable, we can try whatever position you want. I just can’t let you lay flat on your back.” He put his forehead to hers. “So tell me what you want.”
“I feel like I’m on display,” she admitted. “And not in a good way.”
“You like to have something to hide behind.”
Chance didn’t make it sound like something bad, but she stiffened anyway. Was that true? Did she hide behind things, like the bar at work or her independence in her personal life?
Cordy wet her lips. She probably did.
“You don’t have to hide with me,” Chance said. “But maybe we could try this, make you feel a little better.”
He grabbed the throw at the end of the bed and carefully draped it over her middle, not quite hiding her belly but not leaving her so exposed. She could set her arms over the blanket, which gave them something to do.
“Good?” he rumbled as he tucked the blanket around her.
