His One Desire by Kate Grey Page A

him.
    “Nothing. Nothing. I—” he stopped suddenly. “I feel very,
uh, fond of you right now,” he finished, and Kali knew with a thrill of
certainty what he’d stopped himself from saying.
    “You didn’t answer my question,” she said, pressing a kiss
into his breastbone.
    He smoothed a hand into the dip of her waist and up the
curve of her hip. “I think you have a very specific need to be dominated by me
sexually…just like I have a very specific need to dominate you sexually. But
you’d never let me dominate you any other way and I would never try. You can
run circles around me intellectually, and emotionally…” he paused. “I guess I’d
say we’re equals. Not that that’s saying much.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well…I don’t think either one of us can lay claim to much
emotional maturity. Not when we’ve never let go of the past.” There was a note
of determination in his voice, and Kali felt her muscles tensing as she sensed
what was coming.
    This time, though, she wasn’t going to run.
    Luke pulled back so he could look her in the eyes.
    “Truth or dare?” he asked.
    “Truth.”

 

Chapter Seven
    As he looked down at Kali lying in the circle of his arms, a
surge of love and protectiveness went through him that had nothing to do with
the mind-blowing sex they’d just experienced.
    They belonged together. He’d never been so sure of anything
in his life. But before they looked to the future, they needed to put the past
behind them for good.
    “Why did you stand me up on prom night?”
    Kali took a deep breath. “I can’t believe it took us ten
years to have this conversation.”
    He brushed the back of his knuckles across her cheekbone.
“Better late than never. Was it your dad? Did he say you couldn’t go with me?”
    She nodded. “That was part of it. He said…” she paused, and
he could see her face tense with the memories. “It was after Lisa James accused
you of being the father of her baby. Do you remember that?”
    It wasn’t something he could ever forget. The situation with
Lisa had changed him, had made him think more seriously than he ever had before
about his relationships with girls, and the possible consequences—not just for
him, but for them.
    “Yeah, I remember.”
    “You told me you’d always used protection when you were with
her, and I believed you. And of course Lisa admitted later that you weren’t the
father. But that was after the prom. Before the truth came out, when everyone
still thought it was you, my dad said…” she paused again. “He said you were
trash, that all you were interested in was sex, that you’d screw me and dump me
just like you’d dumped Lisa.”
    It wasn’t a surprise, but it still stung. Not just because
of what Kali’s father had said, but because it reminded him of the way he’d
felt about himself then. His own father, Kali’s father, the way everyone had
been so quick to condemn him…it had all been a confirmation of how he felt
about himself, deep inside.
    Maybe that’s why he hadn’t fought harder for Kali back then.
Because on some level, he didn’t think he deserved her.
    “Did you believe him?”
    Kali shook her head. “I didn’t think you were trash, or that
all you wanted from me was sex. But…”
    “But what?”
    “I knew how many girls you’d been with. And you always broke
up with them, never the other way around. It was hard for me to imagine that I
could ever…I don’t know, hold your interest. And the sex part…” She hesitated.
“After you kissed me that day, I knew…I felt…that you wanted me. And that was
absolutely terrifying. I wanted you too, more than I’d ever wanted anything.
I’d always had a crush on you. But I was so inexperienced, so awkward and hopeless
about guy-girl stuff. At first I told myself it would be okay, that you would
show me what to do. But then…”
    “What?”
    She sighed. “It’s so humiliating to talk about things that
seemed important back in