Fire & Ice

Chapter Fifteen

"You know why. I'm protecting your virtue," I said, sighing. She must really have no clue about what she does to me.

"My virtue?"

I chuckled softly. Time to dish out the truth. "I guess I'm protecting mine too."

She pursed her lips for a second before she spoke. "You know, there are an awful lot of stories about you and all the girls you've deflowered floating around the school." She watched me carefully.

"And that's exactly what they are, stories," I replied, rubbing my face under her chin to catch a whiff of her sweet smelling perfume.

Unfortunately, it didn't distract her for long. "So, you're saying you've never been with a girl, like that, before?"

"That's what I'm saying." I hoped she wouldn't think me less manly because of it. Most of the guys I knew, who were my age, were sexually active. Some weren't, but Brad was the only one I knew who was choosing not to do it, yet. If the media was to be believed, it was practically unheard of for a guy my age to not be having sex.

"Doesn't it bother you that people think things about you that aren't true?"

I shrugged. "Why should I care? I know who I am. That's all that matters." I had my reasons for choosing to live as I did. I couldn't care less what other people thought about me.

"Well, I'm sure people are thinking the same thing about the two of us."

"Let them think it." Sitting a little higher, I stared at her. "Does it bother you?" I might not be bothered by the opinion of others, but I definitely didn't want her to suffer because of it.

"No." She paused for a moment, and I could sense her hesitation. "I wish it were true, sometimes."

Sighing, I closed my eyes, battling for control. If she removed the barriers between us, I was sure I'd fail. Opening my eyes, I stared, drinking in the sight of her.

"You've got to know I want you more than anything in this world, Portia. Emotionally, physically, magically, mentally, I want it all—to possess every inch of your being."

Reaching out, I ran my fingertips across her face, stroking down the side of it. Touching her was exactly the wrong thing to do, because it only served to finish igniting the process inside me. Desire washed through me, and I was lost. I didn't care anymore; my great resolve was gone. I simply needed to kiss her.

She dragged me closer, opening her mouth and I took complete advantage, dipping my tongue inside to meet hers. Wrapping her tightly against me, my hand drifted to grab her hair, pressing her even closer. Her emotions flooded through me, a lethal cocktail of love, lust, and desire that matched my own. We were dangerous—explosive—a nuclear reaction waiting to happen.

Our tangling together pushed the quilt out of the way, and I slid my body over her slight frame, groaning as she wrapped her legs around my waist. Her hand slid under my shirt, running up and down my back.

Trailing away from her mouth, I kissed her neck, pausing to nip her skin in various places as I moved lower. Reaching her collarbone, I ran my tongue along the sensitive spot I knew she had there, and she released a moan, her body arching against me.

Sucking in a tortured breath, I pulled away. "No," I said, apparently not too convincing because she dragged me back to her mouth.

Our lips and tongues met once more, and I knew it was now or never. If I didn't stop this, there would be no stopping. Pulling her hands away from me, I pinned them to the bed beside her head, trying to catch my breath. She bucked beneath me, and I thought I was going to come apart right then and there.