“Just two more minutes,” I rasped, keeping my hands on her hips.
She nodded in agreement, her shoulder-length hair wild.
Knowing the value of any number of minutes with this woman, I used the first to study her face, looking for hints of uncertainty or regret.
When I found none, I turned my head and rested my ear over her heart.
Elevated, but slowing.
She’d fixed her top when she stood up, and I stroked the front of it, my thumbs gliding over her still-pebbled nipples. When I reached the V of the neckline, I toyed with it as I looked up at her, tugging it in a silent question.
My breaths grew shallow again as she considered me, and then they stopped altogether when she threaded her fingers with mine and pulled her top down, baring herself to me.
With our height difference, her chest was right at my eyeline, andGodif her bare skin wasn’t as breathtaking as I’d imagined when I felt it. When I tasted it.
She released my hands and raked her fingers through my hair, making goosebumps race across my body. Biting back a groan, I grazed one nipple with my pointer finger, and then the other.
I wasn’t sure what it was about Ireland, but I had never felt this comfortable exploring a body before. But then again… I’d never wanted to map one so badly either. To know everything about it and the soul it housed.
“I don’t have words, Ireland,” I said quietly. I greedily traced every bit of her my hands could reach, and my eyes did the same.
Knowing my time was coming to a close, I cupped one of her tits in each of my hands, completely engulfing them.I took the right one into my mouth, sucking lightly at first and then a little harder, shivering at her quiet gasp. Then I moved to the other, doing the same.
With one more kiss over her racing heart, I took a deep breath against her skin and then fixed her shirt. She tugged lightly on the ends of my hair, something I was starting to crave, and I obeyed her command, tipping my chin up and resting it on her chest.
Her gaze was open, pensive, and serious as she traced my lips with her finger, all the way down the center of my chin. “You’re not single.”
My heart soared out of my chest, landing right at her feet.
She tucked my hair behind my ear, reminding me how badly I needed a haircut. But the affectionate look on her face as she did it had me thinking… maybe not.
A few seconds passed as we just looked at each other, our breaths slowly evening out.
“I’m a private person, Adair,” she said quietly. “More now than ever.”
I nodded, my chin brushing against her. “Tell me what you need.”
Her flushed cheeks darkened even further, and she sucked in a slow breath. “I need this to be slow,” she said, toying with my hair again. “Careful.”
I almost laughed because I was ready to declare my devotion to her right here. Right now. To expose how pathetic for her I already was.
But that fear in her eyes was real, so I tackled that idea to the ground.
“Careful,” I agreed. “We can be careful. I will be careful, I promise.”
Her keen, intense eyes watched me, weighing the sincerity of my words.
Then she let out a relieved breath, and her lips tipped up in a soft smile.
Another victory.
She slid her hand down my arm to my hand that rested on her hip, and she grabbed it, taking a step back. “Why don’t you go shower first?” she asked, pulling on my hand and helping me up. “We don’t need to traumatize Delly.”
I laughed, but it was still ragged after everything that’d happened. With soft, easy movements, she pushed my crutch under my arm.
Our eyes met, and I wondered if she was thinking the same thing I was.
How natural this was. How different it felt from the first time she’d done it.
