“It’s not over yet,” he promised her.
She felt an anticipatory tingle in her lady parts. His hands came to her hips as she navigated the narrow stairs. Her life had changed in so many wild and wonderful ways thanks to Nick. One of those wild and wonderful ways was an adventurous sex life, which she was looking forward to resuming tonight without any interruptions.
When they reached the third floor, Nick put her back to their bedroom door and kissed her long and soft.
“Wow,” she whispered breathlessly when he pulled back. “Where did you learn to kiss like that, Santiago?”
“Alistair gave me a few tips,” he joked.
Riley laughed against his mouth and let her fingers trail down his chest.
“Wait,” he said, catching her hands.
“For what?”
He pointed toward the window. “Follow me.”
Nick opened the window and stepped out onto the fire escape. “Coming?” He held out his hand to her.
Old Riley would have asked at least half a dozen questions—What the hell are we doing on a fire escape? Or when is the last time that thing was inspected? At the very least, have you lost your damn mind? We have a huge bed that we’ve yet to break in with the horizontal mambo.—but New Riley was open to some reasonable adventures.
She kicked off her sandals and climbed out with him.
“Up you go.” He pointed to the metal ladder.
They were already on the third floor. The only “up” was the roof.
“Seriously?”
“Come on, Thorn. Don’t tell me you’re scared of heights.”
“This better be good,” she warned him, taking the rungs one at a time. “Oh. Wow. Okay. This is good.”
“Of course it is. Minus the whole well-meaning stalking, I’m killing this boyfriend thing,” he announced, climbing up behind her.
There was a knee-high spiky iron railing that ran the perimeter of the roof and looked like it was made to impale pigeons. Beyond it, in the center of the flat roof, Riley spotted a nest of blankets and pillows. There was an ice bucket with a couple of beers, and a dozen LED candles flickered to life with a flourish of the remote. A can of bug spray was at the ready next to the blanket.
“Rooftop romance. Not bad, Santiago. Not bad at all.”
He turned her in his arms and walked her backwards until her bare feet hit blanket. “Best part? No one else in this house can climb up here themselves.”
“That is the best part,” she whispered, looping her arms around his neck. “Are you sure it’s safe?” The roof felt a little mushy under her foot.
“Lily swears up and down she had the roof replaced three years ago. Should be solid,” he promised.
Those eyes of his were casting a hormonal spell on her, making her much more interested in getting naked than worrying about structural integrity.
She decided to go with it. He’d made a hell of an effort, and she’d never regretted getting naked with Nick before. What could go wrong?
Her lips found his in the dim flicker of faux candlelight while his hands moved enthusiastically over waist and hips, fingers sliding under the hem of her shirt so he could relieve her of it.
“You’re a hell of a girl, Thorn,” he murmured against her mouth as crickets chirped, frogs croaked, and old people snored beneath them.
“You’re not so bad yourself, Santiago.”
They made quick work of shorts, pants, and Nick’s shoes. When his body covered hers on the quilt, Riley held him against her.
“God, you feel so good under me,” he groaned. “I spend half my day thinking about how it’s going to feel to get you there.”
