Well, I didn’t see that coming. I cocked my head back and crossed my arms. “I’ll just see myself out, then.”
“No, no, wait, wait, wait, that’s not what I mean.” He gripped my hips tighter. “It’s so hot. But it’s notjusthot.”
His thumb toyed with the fabric sprawling across my hip, peach chiffon. Colton’s jaw popped forward and he drew a breath that flared his nostrils, like he was nervous to say it.
“It means something with you.”
This was quintessential Colton: vulnerable to a fault. “Because you loved me?”
He shook his head. “Because we loved each other.”
His eyes met mine and held, one, two, three seconds.
Four, five, six eternities.
My dress dipped between my breasts in the front, larger than they were when Colton last knew me, but still small. He leaned forward, closing his eyes as he pressed a soft kiss to my breastbone.
I was caught off guard, speechless from his tenderness. So, I stole his words from shortly before. “I liked that.”
He smirked. “Good.”
What was I supposed to do then? Straddle his lap? Push him back on the bed? Lower my dress strap and let him suck to his heart’s content?
Colton’s hands were planted on my hips, his thumbs stroking my hip bones in the front. I couldn’t stop running my fingers through his hair, the familiar texture grounding me. His fingers sank deeper into my hips with each pass of his thumbs. His face drew closer until he turned his head to press an ear against my chest.
A full breath in and a full breath out, together. This was what I wanted. Letting our bodies apologize. Lungs, breath, hearts.
With a gentle finger, I tipped his chin up and bent to kiss him. I lifted my skirt so I could straddle him, which he met with an eager moan into my mouth.
From there, we were a tangle of slow, sensual hands: in my hair, on grinding hips, pushing his jacket from his shoulders, clawing up my thigh. His cuff links were discarded, but fell in the gap between the bed and the bench at the end of it. The clank of metal on wood made me pull away from him.
“Fuck ‘em,” Colt rushed out. I giggled against his lips, a sound that he met with sweet, smiling kisses. “I love this, Vi.”
Lovethis. Not loveyou. But it sure felt like the latter.
He spread tender kisses down my throat, lightly sucking the divot above my collarbone. His finger slipped under my dress strap. His playful eyes met mine as he toyed with the thin cord of fabric. “Can I see more of you?”
“Yeah.” I traced my fingers over the top button of his shirt. “As long as I can see you.”
He sobered, and our shared gaze turned more reverent.
We hadn’t been together like this in years. Almost a whole decade. And yet, his skin still held that familiar scent. My fingers parted his buttons, revealing inch by inch of him until he pulled his shirt tails out of his pants. I spread my hands across his chest to free him from his shirt.
My eyes drank in the changes. He was more muscular than the last time we were like this, broader. Tanner, though I suppose it was spring the last time I saw him undressed.
“You’re blushing,” he breathed.
I smirked at him. “You look good.”
He flexed his pecs and laughed. It was a thing he did when he was self-conscious: making a joke about all the hard work he did to have that body.
“You don’t have to do that,” I said. “You’re beautiful.”
He shook his head. “Not near as gorgeous as you.”
With drowsy eyes and a kiss brushed to my chest, he lowered the strap. Unfortunately, with the excellent tailoringjob on the dress, that did very little to undress me. “Hang on.” I reached back to undo the clasp at the top of the zipper.
Colt’s hand landed over mine. “Let me.” His eyes sparkled. “Stand up for me and turn around.”
