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He wipes down my collarbone, moving the rag down to get the top of my chest, and then hesitates. I see the moment he sucks in his breath. Then he wets the rag again and starts at my stomach where I tore off the bottom half of my shirt.
Once my stomach and lower back are clean, he grabs a fresh rag and starts at my hands, then moves up my arms to my shoulders until my shirt stops him. “It’ll be pointless to do all of this and not do it right,” I say before lifting what’s left of my shirt over my head.
William says nothing. He runs the wet rag over my ribs and I shudder beneath the chill. “You okay?”
“Water’s cold,” I say, my voice low.
He leans in and I drape my arms over his shoulders. I don’t know why I do it, other than it feels right. “I’ll keep you warm, Em.”
He moves the rag to my breasts, gently wiping across the exposed skin to the edge of my bra. His Adam’s apple bobs. “We seem to have reached another barrier.”
“What do you think we should do about that?” I whisper, my voice growing thick.
With his other hand, he reaches behind me and unhooks my bra in one swift motion, then lowers one strap down my arm. His mouth places a fervent kiss on my shoulder. Heat shoots through me. “Told you I’d warm you up,” he says before placing the cool, wet rag against my nipple.
Once he’s cleaned away the last of the dirt on my breasts, he moves the rag down my abdomen, ever so slowly. My core clenches. His mouth moves down to my breasts, his lips trailing a heated path along my skin. I arch into his mouth. “William,” I whisper.
“I’ll stop if you want me to.” He kisses each breast, and when I don’t answer, he kisses a trail up my body, then my throat, until he’s hovering over my lips. “Tell me stop, Em.” His voice sounds pained. When I still say nothing, he cups my jaw with his hand, tilting my head up. “Tell me you want this.”
“I…I want you, William. Please.”
His lips slam down on mine, his kiss so forceful, so hungry, that all thoughts escape my mind. All I can think about is him. How his large frame wraps around mine, how his strong arm bands around my back, lifting me up only to lay me down along the couch without breaking contact.
He pushes my legs apart with his knee and settles between my thighs, laying down on top of me and making love to my mouth.
My fingers curl against his back and slide down the hard muscles while his own fingers curl into my hair, tugging gently. I lift one knee and rub it along his side. He responds by pushing down against me, his hips adding a slight pressure that makes me crave more.
When he pulls away, I whimper. I’m not ready to be done. I want more. I crave more.
He smiles down at me with a drunken look on his face and runs a fingertip along my cheekbone. “You’re fucking gorgeous, you know that?”
“I don’t even have all my clothes off,” I breathe out.
He looks at me with that drunken look, in a way that no man before has ever looked at me before. There’s more than pure lust in his gaze. It’s animalistic. It’s hungry. It’s William. “You could wear four pairs of sweatpants and a fucking parka and you’d still be the most beautiful woman alive.”
I buck my hips against him and reach up to pull him back down, sealing my mouth over his. “I love your words, but I’m not ready to stop kissing you yet.”
His hand buries into my hair again. “I won’t stop kissing you until the moment you walk away.”
His words are like an ice bucket. I push my palms against his chest and he raises up, a confused look on his beautiful face. “Is something wrong?”
I sit up and pull my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs. “Em, I’m so sorry. I got carried away. I can fix this.”
Shaking my head, I let out a laugh. “That’s all I am? A quickie and then you’ll send me packing? I’m not opposed to it or anything. It’s not like we’ve got many options, but at least be honest with me.”
He looks absolutely bewildered. “No, not at all. I just mean that I know you have to go and when that time comes, we can’t follow, so I won’t hold you back. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t savor every moment I can get with you and then hope that you’ll come back.”
He reaches out and lifts my chin up to look at him. “You dancing into my life is the second best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“What’s the first?”
“Finding Griffin, but that’s only because he got to me before you did.”
“I don’t want to leave you guys. I really don’t.”
“Then don’t.”
“I don’t have a choice,” I whisper, the pain I feel bleeding out through my words. The worst of it is that I can’t even tell him why.
