“Both,” I breathed, even as my body betrayed me by leaning into his touch. “Neither. I don’t know.”
His thumb continued its torturous path along my lip, and I had to bite back a whimper. “You’re overthinking this, Freckles.”
“Don’t call me that,” I said weakly, but there was no fight left in it.
“Why? You like it when I call you that.” His voice was like honey and whiskey, smooth and burning. “I can see it in your eyes every time I say it.”
He was right, and we both knew it. Just like he was right about everything else. There were the stolen glances, the way I blushed whenever he got too close, and the fact that I’d been fighting this attraction since the moment I laid eyes on him.
“Diego,” I whispered, his name falling from my lips like a prayer.
“That’s the first time you’ve said my name like that,” he murmured, leaning closer until his forehead almost touched mine. “Like you actually want me here.”
I closed my eyes, trying to block out the sight of him. He was naked and perfect and so close I could count every droplet of water on his chest. But it was useless. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel him surrounding me, his presence overwhelming every one of my senses.
“Tell me to stop,” he said softly. “Tell me you don’t want this, and I’ll grab that towel and pretend this never happened. But if you can’t...” His grip on my chin tightened slightly. “If you can’t say it, then stop fighting me and let me kiss you.”
My eyes flew open to meet his, and what I saw there nearly undid me completely. Want, yes, but also something softer. Something that looked almost like tenderness.
“I...” The words stuck in my throat like concrete. Because the truth was, I couldn’t tell him to stop. Couldn’t lie and say I didn’t want this when my entire body was screaming for his touch.
A slow smile spread across his face as he leaned closer, his breath against my lips. “Can I kiss you, Hayden?”
The word left my mouth before I could stop it, a whisper of hope that I didn’t think I still possessed.
“Yes.”
Chapter 14
Hayden
And then his mouth was on mine, his lips warm and soft and demanding all at once. I couldn’t stop the moan that escaped me as his hand slid from my chin to the back of my neck, fingers threading through my hair to hold me steady.
I’d been kissed before by plenty of men, butneverlike this. Never like I was drowning, and his lips were the only source of air. Never like I was something precious and fragile and desperately wanted all at once. Never like Imatteredfor something more than this moment.
His other hand moved from my hip to the small of my back, pulling me flush against his wet, naked body. I gasped against his mouth as I felt the hard length of him pressing against my jeans.
“Diego,” I breathed when he finally pulled back just enough to let me catch my breath. My hands had somehow found their way to his chest, fingers tangling in the dark hair there.
“Say it again,” he murmured, his lips trailing along my jaw to my ear. “Say my name again, Freckles.”
“Diego,” I repeated, shivering as his teeth grazed my earlobe. “Fuck…Diego.”
He chuckled low in his throat, the sound vibrating through me like electricity. “That’s more like it.”
His hands were everywhere now, sliding under my shirt to trace patterns on my skin, tugging at my belt loops to pull me impossibly closer. I was painfully hard in my jeans, my hips moving of their own accord to seek friction against him.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” he growled, his fingers finding the hem of my shirt and tugging upward.
I raised my arms without thinking, my resolve completely destroyed, letting him pull the fabric over my head and toss it aside. The cool air of the room hit my heated skin, making me shiver. Or maybe that was the way Diego was looking at me, his dark eyes roaming over my chest like he wanted to devour me whole.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he said, running his hands down my sides. “All these freckles... I’ve been dying to count them since I first saw you. To taste each one.”
I should have had something witty to say back, something sarcastic or cutting to maintain some semblance of control. But all I could do was stare at him, at the water still clinging to his skin, at the way his cock stood proud and thick between us.
“I want to touch you,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. “CanI touch you?”
His smile was slow and crooked, that cocky confidence returning. “Freckles, you can do whatever you want to me.”
