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“You were saving it If you don’t subscribe to our region’s values, why else are you—were you—still a virgin at this age?”
“Gahat this age? Et tu, Brute?”
“Laylah!”
His warning groas the essence of deliciousness She grinned into his stern eyes “I do subscribe to soional values, but certainly not this one So I’ll refer you to my previous confession for the answer to this question and every other you have now or et it every time I say it? That I wanted you all my life, of course What other confession did Ied hi” A twitch alrin widened “As for finding e, it’s only because I wasn’t about to jump in bed with anyone else when all I wanted was you You could say I was pointlessly saving it for you So when fate provided both you and a bed, well—you have firsthand experience with how things progressed Terminally chivalrous, you did your level best to ward me off, to make me back down But I left you nowhere to run”
“I’ve beaten back ares in war zones—on front lines, in boardrooms and in the market The only reason I didn’t ‘ward you off’ was because I didn’t want to Because I wanted you so much, I didn’t even stop when I found out you were—yes, here it coain—an innocent”
Her heart tap-danced at theRashid hadn’t been able to resist, and his desire for her the one thing he hadn’t been able to conquer
Her grin grew teasing, even as her eyes filled with joy “Take heart By the ti But how can you compare me to arer, ainst riht I was never exposed to anything like you I didn’t know anything like you existed Youoverpower me”
She fell back on her heels, rocked to her core That confession was e It was historic
But the way he’d said it “You—you resent that?”
His focus sharpened on her “No” The force of his denial defused her rising anxiety “Butit’s so I have no experience with I could never abide accepting anything fro” His hand traveled up her ar it “The way you want ive me and how much I want it and you—it’s so unknown, I have no idea how to handle it”
“You’ve handled it all flawlessly so far” She threw herself at hith “But if you feel as shaken to your core as I do, are no longer sure if you’re co like I am, that’s all theas big as e” She raised her face to his “How about we take it one day at a time? And after a reasonable ti up ain?” She pinched his hard cheek “And if that comes to pass, I’d appreciate an offer, not a decree”
He arched an eyebrow adamantly “I won’t wait a month Not even a day, if it means I won’t have you in my bed in the interim”
“Bed? What bed?” She chuckled at the lion’s ruainst hioo “Down boy I wouldn’t dreaht, you just try to keep me off it And if it was as incredible for you as it was for me”
Those scruht not have been an innocent, but what I experienced with you was a first I ht gripped her heart so fiercely she feared it ht self-destructive if we didn’t indulge in this activity as frequently as humanly possible But there are many more areas where we need to see if we’re that coht proved we are, in all areas that ers That has to be e connected so s my tentacles deeply into you sure went sainst Feuided attenosed” His eyes lost that gravity, grew heated, hungered “No ain”
“That’s better news than anything I ever dared hope for So can’t you letfrown “What’s the rush?”
She caught a relenting gli to realizeinside “The rush is that your pohich your , you shredded ht already be pregnant”
The wish for that to be true was so intense, she couldn’t breathe
When she could draw air again she said, “That’s still not a reason to rush into le of her life not to juht We don’t know a lot about each other”
“We know enough All the i in, she tried again “Why not take the tis, too? I hear those are usually what make people turn each others’ lives into hell and end up breaking theer down the cleft in his chin “Maybe in a month’s time I’ll find you an incredible bore and you’ll find lad we didn’t rush into anything”
His ar her into his rock-hard body “Wanting like this would counteract any boredoht suffer” Before she could argue h I believe we don’t need it, you can have your h it And it’s not one day longer”