Her other arm snaked around his neck and she used that leverage to guide his mouth to hers.
Their earlier kisses had been soft. Playful. This one wasn’t.
He’d offered himself to her and she was claiming him.
After the briefest moment of surprise, he kissed her back. His mouth was relentless over hers. She stopped knowing—stopped caring—where she ended and he began.
He pulled away, sucked in a deep breath and asked, “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” Her consent was breathless.
His hand gripped the bottom of her shirt and slid it slowly, so slowly, up her back. His knuckles skimmed over her bare skin. His touch was a brand and she arched into it, practically purring.
By some miracle of acrobatics, they managed to free her from her shirt without losing contact.
“Your turn,” she whispered, then nipped his neck.
Her fingers loosened their grip on his belt and dipped below his waistband, scrabbling to free his shirt.
After a little fumbling, she found his shirttail and tugged it from his pants. He growled against her mouth when her fingers slipped under the smooth material and met the bare skin of his back.
He was like a living flame, his body radiating heat. If she got too close, she might burn.
And god, did she want to burn!
Her hand slid up his back, enjoying the play of muscles, as they tasted and touched each other.
Pressed together as they were, she couldn’t manage the buttons on his shirt. She wanted skin to skin.
Wanted full body contact.
Breaking their kiss nearly killed her. She only lifted her lips enough to demand, “Off. Now.”
His laugh was a rumble against her body.
She helped—tried to help?—by shoving the material up the side. But that only freed a painfully small portion of his torso.
He flicked open the buttons, then performed a magical combination of shimmy and pull to remove it. He tossed the shirt over the back of the couch and pulled her close. “Better?”
“Yesss.” She sighed.
She reveled in his heat. In his touch.
Her breasts pressed against his chest, her nipples diamond-hard points. He felt so good, but it wasn’t enough.
As if he had read her mind, his hand skimmed up her side, leaving devastating shivers in its wake. When she thought her skin couldn’t get any more sensitive, her breath couldn’t come any faster, he slid his hand between their bodies and cupped her breast.
“Ohmygod.” Heat pooled between her legs and she shifted restlessly against him.
There were still too many clothes in the way. She wanted skin. Lots and lots of skin.
All the skin.
“Bed, please!” she gasped.
His smile nearly killed her. “Whatever you say.”
The words were barely out of her mouth before they were moving. He lifted her easily and Portia hooked her ankles together, getting a good grip on his waist. One of his hands palmed her ass, pressing her center closer against him. The friction as he carried her toward the bedroom was delicious.
