I rose to my feet, stretching my stiff muscles, and approached Lorenzo with my blanket still wrapped around me.
His lips parted, and when he matched my gaze, I saw experience in the depths of his eyes. He looked as if he’d been carved from stone, with a strong nose and cheekbones that sculpted his face into perfection. Lorenzo had a low brow bone, and the closer I looked, the more I began to notice little details. Like a tiny birthmark by his temple that looked like a speck of dirt, and shadows of muscle along his ribcage that drew my attention to a few small scars. His skin was lightly bronzed, and his black hair had dark shades of brown blended with all the silkiness one could imagine. Because of my mixed descent, mine was more chocolate with a hint of cherry undertones. I wondered about the purity of his blood because his hair wasn’t as black as I’d seen on some who still lived in Shifter tribes. Whatever genes he had inherited created perfection.
“When you kissed me earlier, did you know that was the first time a man has ever kissed me on the mouth?”
His pupils dilated, and yet no witty remarks were cast back at me like tiny stones.
“Can I kiss you, Lorenzo?”
He seemed to have found his voice. “I like that you call me by my full name.” After a moment of staring at my lips, he answered, “Kiss me if you wish.”
I smirked and traced my finger along his mouth. “Your exalted opinion of yourself makes me smile, Thunder.”
With his permission, I leaned forward and clumsily delivered a kiss. I wasn’t sure, but I think I might have bitten his lip in the process. My cheeks flushed.
“Woman, that is hardly anything to blush about.” He widened his legs. “Step closer.”
I stepped forward until our faces were a breath away and nervously looked into his eyes. They glittered with interest as he watched me.
When I moved to kiss him again, his hands cradled my neck and stopped me.
“Your eyes are still open,” he said in a honeyed voice, his breath warming my skin. “You’re not kissing a puppy.”
I clutched my blanket tighter as he slipped his fingers behind the nape of my neck and stroked my skin. Lorenzo liked caressing my face, neck, and shoulders.
“Bring your lips closer until they’re touching mine.”
When I did, the heat was electric.
“Can you feel that?” he asked, moving his lips from one corner of my mouth to the other. “That’s the chemistry between man and woman. It doesn’t need to be forced. You shouldn’t overthink what to do with your mouth or tongue—give in to your instincts.”
His words buzzed against my lips and a riotous wave of desire bloomed between my legs.
He rubbed noses with me. “Do it again. No thinking.”
So I closed my eyes and felt the soft flesh of his lips against mine. The scorch of his breath slid across my cheek as I explored his mouth without kissing, just moving my lips until they found a spot that felt natural. I planted a lingering kiss on his upper lip, tilting my head to the right so our noses didn’t bump together.
The moment it happened, I felt it everywhere like a surge of hot adrenaline. I tasted his mouth as if there were small flecks of sugar to be savored, and he reciprocated in cautious movements until our mouths moved together in a harmonized dance.
Lorenzo pulled back and stroked my cheeks in a downward motion with his index fingers. “You’re a quick study. Now I want you to relax your mouth and part your lips some more. This is the part where it gets sexy.”
“Sexy?” I asked, bemused. So what we’d been doing wasn’t?
He kissed my chin and playfully rubbed his nose against mine. “Yes, sexy,” he growled. “Give in to me—don’t pull back. I’m going to slide my tongue against yours, and I just want you to let it happen.”
My heart picked up speed and I trembled like a leaf. Lorenzo leaned forward a little more assertively this time and I kissed him as before, only this time he parted his lips, opening his mouth wider. Then I gasped when his tongue brushed across my lip.
I was a grown woman being schooled on how to kiss a man, and I stumbled at it like a child learning to ride a bicycle.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” I said, breathless.
“Yes you do.” He drew in a soft breath and thought for a moment. “What do you do with your mouth when eating an ice cream cone? Not licking, but when you take a bite. Think about it, Ivy. You gently stroke the cream with your tongue.”
I smirked. “Maybe we don’t eat ice cream the same way.”
He lifted my chin and held his thumb in front of my mouth. “Show me how you would taste honey from my finger using your mouth and tongue at the same time.”