Star-Crossed Letters (Falling for Famous #1)(49)

On fire, I exert all my will to wrench my hands to safer zones and ease off her. I’m dying to lick her until she screams and comes for me, to show her—graphically and often—just how good sex can be.

But she’s not someone I can fuck and leave. I care about her. She’s my best friend. And a damn virgin. She deserves more than I can give.

Panting, I close my eyes and breathe in and out, trying to remember a Shakespeare monologue my acting coach once made me memorize. When I’m in better control and my heartbeat has slowed, I roll over and tuck her onto my chest, thankful that the hotel’s couch is wide enough to accommodate us.

The bed would be more comfortable, but far, far more dangerous. And I’m not ready to have her leave. Not yet. Even if we can’t do more, we can still have this night together.

She makes a little huffing noise. “Why’d you stop?” Olivia asks, leaning up on me, her hair falling like a curtain on my chest.

I brush her hair back, reveling in the softness, then follow the line of her shoulder, up her neck, to the curve of her chin, over her full lips, where I rest. She closes her eyes and lets out a shuddering breath. I trace my thumb over her top lip, then her bottom. She reaches out and touches me with her tongue, and with that one gesture, I’m undone again.

“We have to stop. Sleep,” I urge in desperation.

“I can’t.” She laughs. “I’m too…”

“Horny,” I supply, grinning even through the frustration.

“Maybe.”

“Same. You make me out of my mind. You’re everything I want.” My words, soft and fierce, are wrenched from my chest. If there’s one thing I can give her, I hope it’s this understanding.

She smiles against my skin. “That’s flattering, yet hard to believe.”

I shift my hips until she moans, feeling my still massive hard-on against her thigh.

“Believe that,” I growl.

She’s quiet for a long time. “Chase?”

“Yeah?”

“If we’re both so…keyed up, why can’t we? I know I’m a virgin, but I told you, it’s not a big deal. It’s not like I’m guarding my virtue or took a vow of purity.”

“We already talked about this. Because I’m leaving. And you’re not a girl who someone fucks and leaves.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“You deserve your first time to be with a guy who can promise you more than one night.” I want to tear down the world at the thought of her being with someone else. But she deserves love and happiness, even if it can’t be me who gives it to her. “Never sell yourself short like that.”

“But you don’t do that. You have one-night stands, right?”

I frown, but I don’t answer.

“So, why isn’t it okay for me to have sex for just one night?” She narrows her eyes. Feisty Olivia is so damned hot.

“It’s not the same thing.”

“Double standard much?”

I don’t answer her, just kiss the top of her head again. Her hair smells like my shampoo, and I find I like that. She sighs. It’s a frustrated, discontented sound, like an annoyed cat.

The truth is, I’m dying to make her come, but my fear is that if I do, I won’t stop there. I’m too aroused to trust my restraint. So instead, I say, “This is enough. This is everything.”

“This is everything.” She cuddles closer, deeper. “But it’s not enough.”

“It will have to be.”

This time, she doesn’t argue.

After a few minutes, I break the silence. “Olivia, after tonight, when we say goodbye tomorrow, I can’t...” I halt, because what I have to say seems so wrong, but I need to be upfront. I’m hiding so much else. I can’t lead her on.

She puts a finger to my mouth. Her eyes are somber. “Shh. I know, Chase. You’ve already made it more than clear. I’m a big girl. I don’t expect you to call me. You’ve been honest. Brutally so,” she says with a small laugh. “Despite my inexperience, I know how these things work.”

The hell of it is, she is wrong, so damn wrong. She doesn’t have a clue how I feel. How hard it will be to give her up in the morning.

I close my eyes, memorizing her every contour, her every breath. “Good night.”

“G’night,” she breathes.

And it has been. Despite it all, I relax completely with her in my arms, her weight a soft anchor against me. I close my eyes and know a sleep that’s better, deeper, warmer, softer than I’ve ever had waits for me. Because it’s with her.

When I wake the next morning, it’s with Olivia in my arms and a deep comfort in my heart.

The wanting hasn’t left in the night.

Olivia shifts. The soft early light falls over her face and curves like a caress. She rubs her curvy ass against me, and I’m not able to keep from shifting back into her. She lets out a breathy moan, but when I look down, she’s still asleep with a blissful smile. I kiss the top of her head so as not to wake her.

I’d never been one for cuddling before.

On the rare occasions a woman stays in my bed all night, I’m up and out first thing, not wanting to give her false hope that anything will come of the night. I should do the same now.