I loop my arms around his neck and he moans into my mouth as I crawl closer. My leg gets stuck on the stick shift and he chuckles low and deep, the vibration humming against my lips.
He uses both hands in my hair to pull my mouth from his and I’m panting, pathetically, and hating the space between us. “What?”
“You’re eager.” He licks his bottom lip as if savoring the taste of my mouth from his. “I wasn’t expecting that.” His crooked smile makes my belly flip-flop.
I should probably be embarrassed, but he’s ignited something in me that refuses to take a backseat to anything else. “You started it.”
“I did.”
I push hard against his hold to get my lips back on his where I whisper, “Then finish it.”
He groans and his hips flex into me. “Not here.”
I kiss a trail down his jaw enjoying the bite of his stubble against my skin.
“Fuck, I’d kill anything that got between me and that mouth.” He lifts his chin, directing my attention to the middle of his throat. “You feel too good.” His fingers grip my head, pressing me lower. “Keep going.” I tug at the neck of his shirt. His pecs contract with every brush of my lips.
I dart my tongue out to lick along his collarbone and my eyes slide closed at the spicy, salty taste of his skin. I lick at him again, then pull the firm flesh into my mouth hoping it’ll leave a mark.
“Enough.” He pops the handle of his door and slides out so quickly I almost fall forward after him. His hand stops me from face planting and he practically lifts me from the truck and sets me on my feet. “Inside. Now.”
“You like ordering me around.”
“Fuck yeah I do.” He kicks the door closed behind me, then presses me back against it. He buries his face into my neck and nips at the sensitive skin. “And you like taking my orders.”
I blink up at the stars while he peppers my neck with kisses. There is something nice about trusting someone enough to know I can do what I’m told and he’ll take care of me. Then there are no lists, no overthinking, but rather a complete release of power. The idea is intoxicating. “Yes.”
“I can tell.” More kisses up my jaw. “On the boat, at the bar, and now . . . you relax when I take control.”
I do? “I do?”
“Mm-hmm.” He licks at my earlobe. “It’s fucking beautiful.”
I’m breathless in his arms.
“Your place or mine?”
“M-mine.”
He grabs my hand and just like that he’s tugging me down the paved pathway to Celia’s cottage.
ELEVEN
ADEN
Stumbling through the door to Celia’s place, I tell my body to calm the fuck down but my hands aren’t receiving the message. I don’t want to scare her away by pawing at her like a teenage boy. This isn’t a drunken fumble-fuck where we both race to the finish line. I want to go slow, make her feel cherished. It’s what a girl like Celia needs, and I can give her what she needs.
I want to erase the anguish I recognize in her eyes. That look is one I see in the mirror daily, and though she may not be happy about being my distraction, I’m fucking eager as shit to be hers.
She drops her keys on the coffee table and the sound serves as a big fat green light. I pounce.
She squeaks as I bury my hands in her hair and delve into a kiss that has my pulse pounding in my ears. Her mouth is warm and sweet and the whisper of perfume from her skin is a buffet for my senses.
Walking backward, I guide her through a maze of boxes and piles of things that need to be packed until we’re at the doorway to her bedroom. I can’t pull my lips from hers, so I pop open an eye and spot the bed. Pressing her back and down, she grips my biceps as I lower her to the mattress. I follow her down, making sure to hold up my weight to avoid crushing her.
“Where’s the light?” I whisper between breaths. “I want to see you.”
She motions to the bedside table and, reaching over her, I click on the lamp. It’s dim, but it’s enough that when I peer down at her she blushes. Actually fucking blushes. The last girl I was with who blushed was my high school girlfriend. I brush my thumb along her cheek. “What’s this for?”
She shakes her head and turns away, her skin growing brighter, and fuck if her modesty isn’t a damn aphrodisiac. “I’m not used to feeling like this.”
“Embarrassed?”
“No.” Her head turns back to me and she meets my eyes. “Out of control.”
I nip at her lips, needing to feel them. “When was the last time you felt out of control?”
Her breath hitches as I kiss down her chin to her neck. “Th-the boat. Fishing.”
I blink and pull back, studying her. “And the time before that?”
Another furious blush. “So long ago that I don’t remember.”
I can’t help the slow grin that spreads across my face because it feels fucking fantastic to be the only person who’s made her feel wild. “And I’m only getting started.”
Her muscles tense and I don’t miss the flash of panic in her eyes.
“We don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for. I’m content to kiss you all night if that’s what you want.” I push her hair off her face and kiss the tip of her nose. “When was the last time you had sex?”
Her nose crinkles up and she turns away from me only to have me gently maneuver her face back to mine. “Don’t get shy now, freckles.”
“I lived with my ex just days before I came to San Diego.”
I try to hold back my surprise, but that was not the answer I was expecting.
“We were having problems long before we broke up so sex wasn’t something—”
I press my thumb to her lips. “This isn’t couples therapy, I don’t need the details. Just a number.” I release her mouth but run the pad of my thumb along her thick lower lip and resist the urge to bite it as punishment for giving herself to some dickwad douchebag who didn’t appreciate what he had.
“A month.”
“What the fuck is wrong with that guy? Having you under his roof, sleeping in his bed, he doesn’t touch you for a month?”
“He wasn’t the type—”
I cover her lips with mine and finally sink my teeth into her plump lip. She whimpers and her nails bite into my skin. “No more talk of that idiot.”
“Okay.” She breathes out hard and her entire body turns to jelly beneath me.
“I want you, but we’ll take it at your pace.” I lean in and kiss her until she’s squirming beneath me. Her hands slide up my side, nails dragging along my ribs, and my hips jack forward of their own will.
I break the kiss just long enough to pull my shirt off over my head. Her gaze slides over my chest, down my abdomen, and widen at the bulge behind my pants. Hunger flares in her eyes and a slow smile curls my lips. Something tells me her pace will be faster than I thought.
We are a tangle of arms and legs, tongues and teeth, and before I’m even aware of what’s going on she’s slipping her tank top over her head. I follow her freckles down to her breasts where they disappear behind the black fabric of her strapless bra. I fist my hands to keep from helping her as she reaches behind her back and unhooks the bra before letting it fall to the bed.