When his mouth closed around me again, there was a low sound from his chest — not quite a growl, but something that said, ‘mine.’ He pulled back only far enough to breathe against me, lips dragging heat across my skin as he spoke.
“You drive me insane, you know that?” His breath fanned over the peak, making me shiver. “Every damn time I’ve seen you in a sweater, or bent over the counter, or—” His mouth sealed over me again before he finished, tongue curling in a way that made my hips twitch.
I tangled my fingers in his hair, not pulling, just holding him there — and he seemed to like that, because his hum against me turned deeper, lazier, like he could stay here for hours.
Sometimes he kissed me with open-mouthed heat, wet and decadent. Sometimes it was feather-light, a brush of lips over skin that left me aching for more. Once, he pulled back just to look at me, pupils blown wide, chest rising and falling like he’d run a mile.
“Perfect,” he muttered. “You’re just… perfect.”
He went back to me like he couldn’t help himself, alternating between long, slow pulls that made my breath catch and gentle grazes of teeth that made my whole body jolt. His hands never stopped moving — one cupping, one smoothing up and down my ribs, sometimes slipping beneath me to arch me closer to his mouth.
The room felt too small for the heat building between us. Every soft gasp I let out made him linger longer, press harder, suck just a little deeper until I thought I might break apart right there.
And still… he didn’t move lower. Didn’t eventry. Like this was the only thing he’d ever wanted, and he wasn’t about to leave it behind.
“Ansel…” My voice cracked on his name. I wasn’t even sure what I was asking for — more, faster, lower — justsomething.
He hummed against me like he’d been expecting it, but didn’t give me what I wanted. His mouth stayed right where it was, tongue circling lazy patterns that made me want to scream into the quiet little bedroom.
“Please,” I whispered, and it came out more desperate than I’d meant. My thighs pressed together instinctively, but his hands caught my hips, stilling me like he had all the control in the world.
“What is it you’re asking for, sweetheart?” His voice was rough, and maddeningly calm. “Because I’m not sure I’m ready to stop here yet.”
“Ansel—” I bit my lip hard, trying to keep the volume down. “I need…”
His mouth closed over my nipple again, sucking just hard enough to cut off my sentence. His thumbs rubbed slow, grounding circles into my hips while his tongue teased the peak until my head tipped back and my eyes screwed shut.
“Need what?” he murmured when he came up for air, brushing his nose against my skin. “You’ve gotta tell me, Junie.”
“I need you,” I said, barely breathing it. “All of you.”
That did something to him — I felt it in the way his hands tightened, in the sudden press of his forehead against my chest like he was collecting himself.
When he looked up, his pupils were wide, his jaw tense. “You sure?”
My nod was shaky, but my hands in his hair pulled him closer like I might combust if he didn’t movenow.
“June…” He said my name like it was the only thing tethering him. His hands slid up my sides again, over ribs, over the swell of mybreasts, until his thumbs brushed just under them — not quite touching where I wanted him most.
“You have to understand,” he murmured, leaning in so close his breath tickled my ear. “If I start, I’m not going to be able to stop atjust this.”
“I don’t want you to stop,” I whispered, the words tumbling out too fast.
But instead of taking me at my word, he eased back just far enough to look at me — really look at me. Like he was reading my face for the faintest flinch or shadow of doubt. His palm came up to cradle my cheek, thumb stroking along my jaw as though I might vanish if he touched too hard.
“This isn’t like before,” he said softly, his voice rough around the edges. “Once we cross it… there’s no taking it back.”
My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it filled the entire room. “I know.”
“And you’re sure,” he pressed, even quieter now.
“Yes,” I breathed. “I’m sure. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”
He closed his eyes for a moment as the words hit him somewhere deep. When he opened them again, they were darker, hungrier — but still laced with that unbearable tenderness.
“Then you’re going to have to be patient for me,” he said, his mouth curving in a faint, wicked smile. “Because I’m going to make this last.”
And then, instead of giving me exactly what I wanted, his mouth dipped back to my chest, kissing his way along the swell of my breast with a reverence that made my thighs ache.
