Page 64 of My Forbidden Boss

“I… can neither… confirm… nor deny… such an obvious, uh… rush to pass judgment. It’s… oh.”

He leaned in, sliding our noses to rest against each other, our cheeks brushing, and his lips hovering with only shadows between us. Again, he held his ground, making me pant with anticipation as the heat from my tummy to the insides of my thighs reached apocalyptic summits. I whimpered, the sound as sharp as hooks between us. They took hold as Hollis brought his hand to my neck, breathing heavily over my lips and smoothing his fingers up under my hair.

“Tisha…”

I was practically hyperventilating; I had trouble at first considering any response which did not explicitly exclude launching myself over him and spreading my legs on his lap.

His whispers circled around me. “Why? Why do you fight it so hard?”

I groaned, bouncing up and down as the question hit home.

His hand reached higher, smoothing over the back of my neck as his thick fingers searched their way through the strands, sending shivers over my scalp.

I reached up to his chest, my body ready to burst, needing to push him away.

Instead, I took hold, feeling the firmness of his chest and running my fingers into the folds of his lapels.

The touch moved him, and I could feel his body responding, twisting closer into the space around me as he turned to face me fully. Warmth radiated from him, blanketing my already hot body. The muscles under my pelvis deep inside screamed and ached, dying to be flexed, provoked, and tested.

I had to obey. There was nothing I wanted more.

My hips rolled, opening up my body as I spread my legs eagerly. My thigh slipped through the slit in the side of my dress. Hollis’ knee filled the opening as our bodies pulled closer. I could feel him pressing up against me, my legs tightening around his as I longingly squeezed tighter.

I moaned and, breathless, curved my back, and almost brought my lips to meet his.

But still, I paused, feeling caught hanging over the precipice of a cliff.

Hollis heard me but felt my hesitation.

“Do you… want me to stop?”

I groaned, “…Yes,” but my hands kept rolling over him, rubbing as if to draw his chest even closer. The call to pull myself away rang softly somewhere in the distance of my sanity. Still, I ignored it, procrastinating amid the power of Hollis’ arms around me. Again, I whimpered, my exasperation clearly evident. “…No. I don’t know…”

“Well, if you’re not sure…”

His hand slowly came to a stop, then pulled out from behind my head and rested gently on my shoulder. My eyes turned up, finding his already staring back at me softly.

Silence ensued, interrupted only by the battling thumping between our hearts and bated breaths between our lips. The suggestion hung hauntingly in the air around us.

Hollis’ hushed voice hummed with a rumbling motion through my knotted nerves. “Is this too fast?”

I sighed with what little breath I had left, the dilemma drowning my own thoughts, hitting me like a needless reminder. My head nodded but bobbed into a scared shake from side to side.

“I don’t know… maybe… probably.” I paused, suddenly overwhelmed by the predicament, wondering if I had already made a mistake by even giving a hint. My mouth opened to speak, but Hollis spoke first.

“Well, then I think we should probably stop now, right? Look, I like you, Tisha. I think that you’ve caught on to that by now…”

He smiled warmly, embracing the situation with a muted confidence and humble humor. I smiled, too, seeing him and sensing a calmness that flowed from him. He continued compassionately. “To be entirely honest with you, I think that we have both had a pretty amazing time together tonight. Right? I have, for sure. I’ve loved every minute of it.”

My heart caved as Hollis’ eyes slid from mine, his lips bypassing my own to brush softly against my cheek.

The kiss was sweet and solemn, stirring my emotions with dread and making me wonder if I had missed my chance, yet filling me with the hope that it was merely the first of millions more kisses to come.

Hollis’s face pulled back from mine, leaving my cheek warm and tingling. His hands held my arms, almost at my shoulders, as he showed me the way forward.

His smile returned, betrayed by only the slightest smidge of sadness. “I don’t want to risk ruining that. So…”

He looked down, both of us still reeling from the warmth in the space between us. His eyes again found mine. “I’m going to back up now, okay?”