Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

His eyes narrow in consideration.
“So, tonight, what if we do that other stuff? And maybe it will lead to sex, I don’t know. That’s
crazy, it definitely shouldn’t, but maybe it will. I’ll be open-minded. I’ll listen to my body. If it wants
something crazy… maybe just for this one night, I’ll do something crazy. But if I don’t, if I say no, you
have to respect that. You have to stop and let me leave. Those are my terms.”
“What is included in this ‘other stuff’ package?”
Somehow, the answer seems scarier than waking up in a strange bed. “All the normal parts of
physical intimacy. We’ll kiss. We’ll touch. We can explore each other’s bodies, but only within the
confines of consent. The moment I ask you to stop, you have to respect that or the whole thing is off.”
He doesn’t bother telling me that I can withdraw my consent at any time and he can ignore it all
he wants—I know that, but he doesn’t say it.
My confidence in this plan grows. If I don’t think about it too hard, it feels like a good plan. A
plan where everybody wins… or, at least, nobody loses more than they can afford to.
Of course, it hinges on him wanting to kiss me, wanting my tenderness, but now that I’ve given
him a little sample of it, I think he does.