Chapter 3
The next second, his arm wrapped firmly around my waist, pulling me close.
He was so strong, he practically swept me off my feet, pulling me inside.
The front door slammed shut behind us.
Then the world tipped over.
My back hit the wall of the entryway, and the cold marble jolted through me. Before I could react, his mouth came down on mine.
This wasn't his usual careful, gentle kiss.
This kiss was a raid, hard and hungry, as if he meant to take me apart and swallow me whole.
I couldn't breathe. I braced both hands against his chest to push him off, and he caught my wrists in one hand and pinned them behind my back.
"Edward."
He pulled away from my lips, but didn't move back. His forehead pressed against mine, his breath hot and desperate.
"You think I don't touch you enough?"
His voice was so raw it didn't sound like his, as if something caged inside him for far too long was finally tearing loose.
I was stunned.
He looked at me, and his eyes were bloodshot.
"Then tonight, I'll show you just how much I want you."
Edward lifted me off my feet and carried me upstairs in long strides.
The staircase felt endless in the dim light, and all I could hear was his heart pounding against my ear like a drum, beat after beat, until my own heart lost its rhythm.
He kicked the bedroom door open, then slammed it shut behind us.
He set me down on the bed, and I sank into the soft comforter. Then his body came down over mine, hot enough to burn, nothing like the controlled, distant man I'd been living with.
"Edward." I said his name, and my voice shook.
He bent his head and kissed me.
This kiss was a shade gentler than the one downstairs, but it still refused to take no for an answer. His tongue pushed past my teeth and tangled with mine like he needed to taste every inch of me.
He kissed me until my head spun, and my fingers knotted in his shirt and found skin that burned to the touch.
His hand slid up from my waist, and even through the thin fabric, his heat came close to scorching me.
I whimpered.
He left my mouth and kissed his way down, over my jaw, down my throat, and along my collarbone.
He tugged the neckline of my nightgown open and bared a wide stretch of skin, and his lips moved over it, light and teasing, until I was shaking all over.
"Are you cold?" Edward paused, gazing down at her.
The red hadn't left his eyes, but his voice had gone hoarse and soft.
I shook my head.
Edward leaned in and claimed her lips again.
This time, he didn't hold back at all.
I had never known he could kiss for this long.
He went from my lips to my neck, from my neck to my collarbone, from my collarbone to lower, and every place his mouth touched caught fire until I couldn't think straight.
His hands roamed everywhere, too, and every place they passed broke out in shivers.
I heard myself making sounds I'd never made before, soft, needy little sounds like a kitten, and I wanted to bury my face in the pillow from the shame of it.
He caught my chin instead and made me look at him.
Edward asked, "Do you like it?"
His eyes were startlingly bright, and I could see myself in them, cheeks flushed, eyes wet at the corners, lips swollen from his mouth, looking like a woman who would let him do anything.
I looked away. I couldn't hold his gaze.
He laughed, low, and the sound went straight through my chest.
Edward teased, "Are you shy?"
I didn't answer.
He bent down and kissed my earlobe.
That was my weak spot, and one touch there turned half my body to water.
"What are you hiding from?" he said against my ear, his breath spilling over my skin. "There's nowhere to hide tonight."
As the words landed, his hand slid up under my nightgown and between my thighs.
I gasped and reached to stop him, and he caught my wrist without any effort at all.
I said, "Don't—"
He paused, his gaze searching my face.
In his eyes, I saw desire, hunger, and just a flicker of uncertainty.
"You don't want this?" he asked.
I opened my mouth, but couldn't get anything out.
Did I want this?
I did.