Star-crossed lovers. A debutante ball. A billion dollar fraud.
Manhattan royals turned bitter rivals.
All traces of the disquiet that had whispered through my nerves in the ballroom earlier vanished. Standing here, all I could see, all I could hear, all I needed—all I needed to know—was written in the curve of Jolie’s lips, in the swirling mix of anticipation and attraction gleaming from her deep blue eyes.
“And tonight . . . This is what you want?” I’d never been with a virgin before, and I was determined to make this moment as perfect as it could possibly be—even if that meant postponing it altogether.
“Yes.” Jolie’s answer was certain and straightforward. “More than anything.”
I placed my hands on her hips, my fingers sliding beneath the lace as I pulled her closer to me, the discarded dress still encircling her feet. “If you change your mind, at any time—”
I ignored her, the only time I would do so tonight. “If you change your mind, at any time, I’ll stop. Do you understand? At any time.”
She blinked up at me. “Are you trying to tell me something? Do you not want to do this?”
A surprised laugh ripped from my lungs. “I’ve wanted this, wanted you, since that damned Bachelor Brunch.”
I lifted Jolie up and laid her gently in the middle of the bed just a few feet away, setting a knee on either side of her thighs. Jolie’s warm breath feathered across my face as I took a visual journey of the woman who had become my whole world. Creamy skin glowing in the dim light, fluttering pulse in the hollow between her collarbone, pink nipples furled and pointing at my chest, tiny scrap of lace hiding the bit of blonde hair just above her thighs, long limbs quivering between my knees.
She was a goddess spread before me, and I was about to make her mine.