The drone pitched violently and she gasped in horror. “Help me!” She actually felt her legs wobble with anxiety, so she dropped to her knees.
Spence crouched down behind her, wrapping his arms around her, putting his hands over hers, expertly flicking at the controls to adjust the flight. She could feel his breath on the back of her neck and she suddenly found it difficult to think of anything else. She was so incredibly aware of him, and unbidden came a flashback of the last time he’d had his mouth on her neck. And where else that mouth had gone . . .
She wondered if they had time for a repeat.
“Later,” he promised, his mouth brushing her ear, sending her already raging hormones into overdrive. “Anything you want.”
She nearly dropped the remote but his big, sure hands were there to hold her steady. His chest was flush with her back, his arms surrounding her, his hands on hers as he guided her through the flight. She tried to concentrate, but her attention span was shot to hell. He smelled amazing—
“Focus,” he said.
She was focused. She was focused on how the fronts of his thighs were pressed against the backs of hers . . .
“Close out the world,” he said in her ear, pulling her to her feet. “Close out everything but this.”
She’d like to, but he’d lowered his head so that his whisker-rough jaw brushed against hers, playing havoc with her brain. Her breathing was still accelerated. But not Spence’s. Nope, he was breathing calm and even, making her want to change that—
“Colbie.”
“What?”
“Honey, you’re staring at me and you’re going to crash my very favorite drone.”
Dammit. She jerked her gaze off of him and felt his chest shake with silent laughter. Forcing her mind to clear, she turned her face to the sky and set her mind to determined concentration.
And the most amazing thing happened. Standing there braced against the light wind and cold air, with Spence at her back making her feel like she could do anything, she flew the drone. Up. Down. Sideways. In a loop . . .
It was the most exhilarating thing she could remember doing, well, other than Spence himself . . .
When they landed the drone together, they sat on what felt like the edge of the planet, looking down over the city, sharing a bottle of water from Spence’s backpack.
“Fun?” he asked.
“More than I could have imagined, but . . .” She laughed ruefully and slid him a sideways glance. “You do know this isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I asked you to get me out of that coffee shop.”
He took her hand and brought it to his mouth, taking a nibble out of her palm that had her sucking in a breath. “Maybe that’s coming next.”
“Maybe?” she asked breathlessly.
He squeezed her hand. “Do you always need to know the plan?”
“Always.”
“Okay, then,” he said agreeably, still looking out over their view. “My plan is to unblock you some more.”
Anticipation raced through her. “How exactly do you plan to do that?”
He met her gaze, his own so hot it stole her breath. Then he leaned in, his mouth at her ear as he told her his plan in slow, sexy, sensual, erotic detail, leaving her with a shiver that was nearly an orgasm.
“Does that work for you?” he asked.
All she could do was nod.
He flashed her a smile. “Good. Let’s go.”
She’d never moved so fast in her life, earning her a low, rough laugh from Spence, whom she raced to his truck.
Chapter 23
#HairyMonkeyButts
Spence walked Colbie to her apartment, telling himself that if she gave any sign of hesitation, he’d walk away. He’d go upstairs and bury himself in his office.
And not inside her body.
But as she dipped her head to her purse, rummaging for her key, their bodies brushed together and she stilled, closing her eyes for a beat, like she was trying to remember the feel of him for later.
He’d known the first time he’d ever laid eyes on her, drenched in the fountain, that he was going to have to hold back with her. That he couldn’t let her in. That she deserved so much more from him than he could give. Just as he’d known that if he ever managed to step away from her, it’d be nearly impossible, letting go of the only thing that had ever made him happy.
And if that wasn’t an epiphany all in itself.
Colbie managed to get ahold of her keys, letting out a moan as he slipped an arm around her from behind. When she got her door open, she stepped inside and grabbed his hand, dragging him in with her before kicking her door closed. Then she pushed him up against it, making him smile because she was mirroring the move he’d pulled on her the last time they’d been in this very spot.
And God, when she looked at him like that, he was a goner. She’d offered him her friendship. Her body.
And he’d taken both.
He wanted to keep them both. And he also wanted more, so much more. He wanted her damn heart, like she had his.
“About your plan,” she whispered against his lips. She was on tiptoe, her hands gliding up his shoulders and into his hair.
“What about it?” His hands were just as busy, burrowing beneath the sexy sweater that had been driving him crazy all morning.
“Were you all talk?” she murmured, “or are you going to back it up with some action?”
Going with show instead of tell, he hoisted her up into his arms and, with her wrapped around him, walked to her bed. “Better move, cat,” he said to the black cat sleeping on a pillow.
The cat sniffed in disdain but did indeed hop down. “Good kitty,” he said and tossed Colbie down on the mattress.
Before she’d so much as bounced, he had her jeans off and was on her, scooping her in close. It felt good, holding her like this. Folded together so intimately in the quiet haven of her apartment, where no one else existed.
“Meow.”
Except the cat. “Go prowling,” Spence told her. “We’re going to need some privacy.”
“True story,” Colbie said and then reared up to nibble on Spence’s neck.
He inhaled sharply and Colbie stilled. “Did that hurt?”
“Not you, the cat—”
Who’d climbed back onto the bed and was sitting on his ass, kneading it like she was making muffins.
“Claws,” he ground out, twisting to pick the cat up and set her back onto the floor.
Colbie laughed, her hands going to his ass to knead—without claws.
“Better?” she asked.
“Much.” He kissed her then and they rolled over the bed jockeying for position. He fell to his back, liking the way she looked straddling him, her hair pouring over the both of them like spun silk. He brushed a kiss to her jaw, her chin, fisting his hand in her hair to bring her mouth back to his.