Not again, Mandy thought with mounting despair as her whole body thrummed with lust at the feel of him so close against her. A shot of lightning ripped down her spine and her nipples tingled. His dominant energy, his untamable warmth burned a hole right through her weak defenses. He was already so hard; she could feel him thick and long against her belly. He hadn’t been kidding when he said that he wanted her. She shivered, an answering pool of hot desire settling on the apex of her thighs. Her heartbeat accelerated and she closed her eyes tightly. If she looked at him now…
He cupped her chin in one hand and she could almost feel his searing gaze on her face, sense his breath fanning the small freckles dotted across her nose and cheeks.
“Why are you doing this?” she whispered, fighting to keep the panic out of her tone. If she struggled harder, she just might inflame him faster. Make him go further than he’d intended. She didn’t want to set him off – set them both off.
“Because I want you to think about this, Mandy. About you and me,” he murmured, brushing his right thumb over her lips while his other hand stayed propped on the side of her head. “Before you rush out that door, take a minute to consider how it could be. To at last…be able to give in, to be with me. Finally letting go completely. I can give you that. I can give you everything you need.”
He drew in a deep, harsh breath and buried his face in her thick hair. Mandy’s eyes squeezed even more tightly shut as she was mesmerized by the hypnotizing sound of his voice, his words. His hand fell to settle on her hip, kneading the soft, lush flesh there.
Ethan exhaled, his lips now ghosting close to her earlobe. “I want to know if he pleases you, that man of yours. If he makes you scream with desire,” Ethan groaned, his voice a dangerous rumble, his grip on her waist tightening. “Does he light your body on fire? Does he make you tremble with need? Tell me, Mandy. When he’s finished…does he step back and marvel at you, at the beauty of your body, flushed and hot with desire? Or does he take it all for granted?”
Mandy struggled to breath, her lips quivering, her pulse racing. She didn’t want to think about her and Marcus. Not here, not now.
“What do you want from me, Ethan?” she whimpered. She was aroused beyond belief. This room…his touch, his breath on her neck. The heat. She felt it sear her skin, the surge of desire transmitting from him to her and back again. It was like ESP of the most carnal kind. She could almost taste her need for him in the back of her throat, feel the stirring hunger in her secret folds, which pulsed in recognition of his utter desirability. She knew she was a fool for letting this continue. It was about to reach a critical level of responsiveness that just one touch from him could send her into a nuclear fission, splitting her into tiny implosive pieces.
“I just want a chance to be with you, Mandy. It’s all I really want. Just once, and you’ll understand just how much I desire you…how much I need you.”
His fingers were tangled in her hair, his eyes staring directly into her soul. She couldn’t help but acknowledge his desire for her. His self-assurance was staggering. It stunned and infuriated her at the same time. Made her nerve endings strum so fiercely she wanted to scream at her body to stop betraying her. She was not giving in to Ethan. She was going to walk out here with her composure intact. He would not, could not, sway her from her resolve.
Still, she couldn’t help but draw in one deep, heady breath, drinking in the scents and sensation of Ethan’s pounding need that enveloped her. Damn. To be wanted so much was a potent drug, almost addictive. She did not want to leave his heated presence. The knowledge that he truly wanted her, all of her, every last curve and imperfection, gave her such immense confidence and power yet slayed her at the same time. But she had to fight the oncoming rush of emotion before it consumed her within its madly swirling depths…
“Ethan, please,” she sighed heavily, heart pumping like a marathon runner as she finally forced herself to look directly into his emotion-filled eyes. “If you had me, you would realize that I am not what you need. Your world…I don’t fit in it, Ethan. You need someone wild, confident, and accepting of the crazy life you live. Someone very different from me…”
Ethan wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tight against him as he nuzzled her arched neck. “You want promises, Mandy? You want me to tell you this will last forever or I’ll be true to you? I could tell you anything you want to hear, or whatever I want you to believe. But that will mean nothing compared to what I can show you. You’ll never doubt how I feel about you once I’m inside you, taking you so hard you’ll feel the imprint of each thrust for days to come.”