In a moment of strength I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to replicate again, I grab her ass and lift her off the ground. Her legs squeeze around my midsection, and she rolls her hips against me. The moan that falls her lips when my hardness meets her soft center is decadent. And it’s all for me.

I carry her like this to the bedroom, then with all the self-control I can muster, I lay her gently on the bed. The more primal part of me wants to toss her around and show her who she belongs to, but she asked for tenderness, so I’ll try.

Her dark hair splays out on the comforter, making her look like a mermaid or a siren or some other temptress, luring men to their watery deaths. Fitting, because I would gladly follow her under. I’m practically drowning in her as it is—those gorgeous blue eyes, her lips that are swollen from my kisses, her legs still wrapped around my waist, the velvety, black-tea scent of her—and I don’t want to come up for air.

I lean close for a kiss, but she stops me, taking the corners of my glasses between her fingers. “You want to take these off?”

I shake my head, swallowing hard. “I’ve spent five years without being able to see your body. I’m leaving them on.”

She drags her bottom lip through her teeth, suddenly shy. Her blue eyes skim over my face, then my shoulders. Her cheeks grow rosy, and I kiss them lightly. I can’t help myself.

“What is it, beautiful?” I run my thumb over her lips where her teeth just were.

Her eyelids flutter closed. “I’m nervous,” she whispers, as if saying it any louder will make it somehow more true. “Sometimes…” She trails of and swallows hard, still not looking at me. “I want this. I don’t even think I let myself admit how much I wanted it until now. But my meds…sometimes they make it hard to…you know.” A little, embarrassed laugh escapes her.

“Scarlett,” I say, my voice low and rumbling. “Look at me.”

She does, but her eyebrows pinch together with concern as she undoes the button on my pants. “I can just—”

Grabbing her chin with my thumb and forefinger, I draw her eyes back to mine. “Scarlett,” I repeat, more forceful this time. Those blue eyes settle on me, and now that I have her full attention, I say more gently, “Is it difficult for you every time?”

“Um…” Her gaze skates away from me again, but I grip her chin harder to remind her to keep it trained on me.

“When I said I wanted to see you, I didn’t just mean your body. I want to see your brain, too. All of it. The good, the bad, and the in-between. So, tell me, beautiful. Is there anything that works?”