Prologue
Nerves flutter in my stomach.
His hands grip my hips, his eyes staring deeply into my own. My arms hesitantly wrap around his neck, uncertain. I’ve never felt this before, this nervousness, this uncertainty. His intense gaze sends a shiver down my spine.
My heart is racing. My body feels excited, but my brain is consumed by anxiety. I don’t know how to react to this sudden rush of different emotions. My eyes graze over every inch of his face. Chocolate brown eyes that seem black underneath the lights, pale skin with a tiny scar on the left cheek, pink plump lips and then his hair, his thick tousled black hair that splays across his forehead, falling into his eyes. Then my eyes travel downwards, to his arms, and his big veiny hands.
It feels strange. He feels strange. He is everything I physically want in a man, and that makes him strange. How can one person be so perfect for me?
Eliza will kill me if I don’t take this man home with me tonight.
I want to touch him more. I want to run my fingers down his chest. I want to bury my hands in his thick hair. I want to taste him on my tongue.
All these thoughts increase my anxiety. I’ve never had these kinds of thoughts before. Just who is this man to do this to me?
“Belle.” he breathes out, his voice thick and heavy.
He knows my name. How does he know my name? Did I tell it to him? I can barely remember anything as I gaze into his eyes.
His grip on me tightens, pulling me closer. My eyes flutter closed, and I lean my head against his shoulder.
“Belle.” he says again, louder this time.
The way he says my name, it sounds like he wants me.
I want him too.
