“What happened between me and Jamie was a mistake!” A surge of guilt crept into my throat after I blurted that one out. Was it really mistake? It felt so right, even I knew it was wrong. Damn! Why was I trying to justify sleeping with Jamie?
Nate traced the side of my jaw with the tip of his finger. “Mistake? Did Jamie force you?”
“No,” I said. Scandalized.
“Did he trick you?”
“No.”
“Was it consensual?”
“Why are you interrogating me? You sound just like Luke.”
“Don’t try to change the subject. Why do you think sleeping with Jamie was a mistake? You both consented, and you’re both adults. Or do you still love your husband?”
“No. And that’s ‘ex-husband.’ Soon to be.” My tone heated. I cringed afterward.
Nate smiled. “That makes you available. As a single man, I don’t see anything wrong with a guy like me courting a woman like you. Since you’re not Jamie’s girl and all.”
Really? His style of courting was French kissing and pinning a woman to a bed. Had the rules of dating changed since I got hitched to Sam?
He must have read my expression, and his smiled broadened. The smoldering heat in his eyes returned. “I want you no matter what it takes.”
His declaration touched me deeply. “You like me that much?”
Nate didn’t answer. He kept stroking my cheek with his thumb. Anguish, yearning, and lust painted his handsome face.
Something inside me wanted to soothe him.
“You left us when we needed you the most. I guess your absence left a hole in our hearts. I used to think it was selfish of you. Sam didn’t need you as much as we did. He didn’t love you as much as we did. After you were gone, we were obsessed with finding your replacement, but no one came close to you. It made us more obsessed with you.” Nate paused and traced the contours of my lips. “Imagine my surprise when you suddenly showed up on our doorstep. It’s fate, don’t you think? You belong to us.”
“Purely coincidental.”
“If you say so. One thing’s for sure, I’m not losing you again.” He lowered his head close to my face. “Give me a chance to prove myself,” he whispered. “I will love you, will always treasure you, and I’ll never take you for granted.”
Something inside me melted at his words. They were beautiful, and I was such a sucker for a romantic gesture. Years of abandonment had left me starved for affection.
“Nate,” I whispered.
He kissed me, and I immediately lost myself in pleasure. My chest felt constricted. A thousand emotions bubbled up in my chest and not a single feeling was able to escape my lips. I slowly found myself drifting in a state of arousal despite the conflicted circumstances.
No.
Yes.
No. I really shouldn’t.
But I couldn’t deny I wanted him too. Was I too greedy?
“Nate…”
“I love you, Simone. I really do. I’ve always loved you.”
And all hell broke loose…
I’d never noticed before, but Nate had this amazing scent that enveloped all my senses. A masculine fragrance that made every cell of my being yearn for him. Perhaps it was his arousal. Maybe it was his expensive cologne that permeated his pores. Or his pheromones. I was crazy for it. My heart raced. My pussy fluttered.
Nate made me shiver. A good kind of shiver. A shiver that came because pleasure sparked like a crackling, insanely dangerous live wire. He kissed and kissed me until I completely surrendered. All I could think of was how to soothe that throbbing ache, that maddening need that echoed from cell to cell, from neuron to neuron, veins, bones, flesh and blood.
“What have you done to me, Nate? I feel hot. I’m going crazy,” I whispered to myself.
Nate tugged my chin up to meet his gaze. “It’s just instinct. The chemicals between us reacted better than I thought they would. It tells us that we’re more than compatible. As partners. As mates.”
He undressed me. All the time, he was fully in control. He used my bra to bind one wrist on the headboard and my panties the other.
“Are you into kinky stuff?” I blurted out without thinking.
Nate only smiled. It was more a grin than a smile. “A little. I just don’t want you to run and change your mind while I’m getting naked.”