“You’re incredible, and the wildest part is that you don’t even see it. Or maybe you can’t,” I tell her and her breath catches. “It’s so amazing to watch you teach these classes. The passion you have for it radiates in everything you do, and it lights up this whole room. There’s a reason why all your classes are full.” Hannah laughs, but her cheeks are pink with pleasure. “But it’s more than that for me. So much more. Even the little things about you blow me away.”

“Like what?” she asks with a trace of disbelief.

“Like the way you sang in the car the other night on the way home from the bar. You didn’t give a damn who heard or who was watching, you were just in it and having the time of your life.”

“To be fair, I’d had a couple of drinks,” she counters, but a smile plays at the corners of her mouth.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you were enjoying yourself. And that I loved hearing your voice. So did the driver.”

“Oh, god. I forgot about the driver singing along. That’s so embarrassing.”

“What’s embarrassing about it? You loved that song, and it brought out the real you, the one that only slips out every now and then when you’re disarmed enough to let it. But it’s exactly that side of you that I love seeing, that I love learning more about when you let me. That’s why I’m so adamant about pursuing you.”

She stares at me, her lower lip trembling, and I think she’s going to cry until I bring my finger to it. I drag the tip of my finger across the soft, plump skin there until it stops moving.

“But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t also love the way you gave yourself over to pleasure so entirely with me, and how responsive you were to my touch. The way we seemed to just fit together perfectly.”

Her mouth opens slightly, her eyes locked with mine. She licks her lower lip, and I can feel her swaying toward me like she’s going to kiss me. I want to close the distance so badly, to let my lips say everything in a kiss that a million words never could, but I resist. Because as much as I want to press our lips together, I don’t want her to think that’s all I want from her, now or in the future.

“Do you get it now? I want so much more than sex with you,” I tell her, and she exhales sharply as she stares up at me, her pupils blown wide. “But I promise you this: the next time I fuck you—and I will—it’s going to be because you begged me to.”

24. Hannah

Chapter 24

Hannah