Chapter 10

“Dan...”

I hush him, kissing him some more, sliding a hand up under his creased shirt to stroke his skin.

He sucks in a breath. “It’s…always good. Whatever we do. You know that?”

I smile, rather more enthusiastically now. “I know that. It’s going to be better, too, I promise you.”

He frowns again; I can see it out of the corner of my eye. “No, I don’t want promises. Don’t give them. Don’t put yourself under that pressure. Just be here, as you are now—that’s all.”

I slip down the bed, dragging the sheets away from his body as I go. I press my mouth to his torso, making kissing shapes against the line of his ribs, licking the sleepy sweat from his skin. “Before you give me any more of that kindly, tolerant stuff,” I mutter, my words muffled against his belly, “I’ll tell you that I want to do this. Very much.”

“Am I stopping you?” he replies. His voice is husky; it sounds like he wants to laugh. “You know how I feel. What I want. But you need to be ready...”