I let out a shaky breath, my hands gripping the counter for balance. “I wasn’t looking at you.”
“Liar,” his whisper brushed the side of my neck, and I fought back the urge to moan.
His lips brushed the back of my shoulder—not a kiss, just the whisper of one.
But it stole the ground out from under me.
“You know exactly what you were doing.” His nose skimmed my damp skin—sending a violent shiver down my spine. “And you know exactly what it does to me.”
My voice came out thin and frayed at the edges. “Do I?”
His hands slid to my hips—firm now, no more hovering—and he turned me in his arms with a slow pivot that felt like it took a century.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice a low growl. “You do.”
His thumb brushed once against my hipbone—a tiny touch, but it set off more heat through my entire body. Hot yoga had nothing on what Ivan Cristof was doing to me, and he hadn’t even kissed me yet. His hand moved up beside my face as his eyes watched my lips; I couldn’t stand it anymore. I pressed up on my tippy toes and crushed my mouth to his.
Waiting be damned. He told me he wasn’t a hero. I didn’t want one. I wanted him to break free from whatever leash that was holding him so tightly. I wanted him to want me. I’d never wanted anything so badly. Everything else could be figured out later.
The second my lips touched his, everything broke.
He grabbed my waist and hauled me into him with a sound that vibrated straight through my bones—a low, guttural growl ripped from somewhere deep inside his chest. His other hand slid up the back of my neck, threading into my damp hair, holding me exactly where he wanted me as he devoured my mouth like he’d been starving for it.
Heat shot through every nerve ending in my body. His mouth was hot and demanding, his breath ragged against my lips as he backed me into the counter with a controlled force that made my knees buckle.
“Poppy,” he groaned against my mouth, as if the words were torn out of him. “You can’t… fuck?—”
He kissed me again, harder this time, deeper, like the dam inside him had ruptured and there was no stopping the flood.
His thumb stroked the side of my throat, and his hand at my waist tightened possessively, dragging me flush against the hard line of his body.
I gasped into his mouth, and he swallowed the sound. Butterflies erupted so hard within me, I feared I would take flight. I feared that all of this would be whisked away in a few seconds, and it would be nothing but a dream because nothing had ever felt like this. No kiss had ever set me off the edge and right into the direction of an orgasm this quickly. For fucks sake, he hadn’t even touched me in the most intimate of places, but I was ready to dive right over the edge.
“I dream about doing this daily. About pinning you up against different surfaces in this house. How your body would feel wrapped around mine as you scream my name. How different things would bethistime.”
“Don’t tempt me, Ivan,” I used his words against him, and he chuckled. It did nothing but fuel the inferno raging within me.
“Don’t tempt you?” he murmured against my mouth,his breath hot and uneven. “Sweetheart… you’ve been tempting me since the moment I met you.”
His hands slid down my sides, slow enough to feel every ridge of muscle in his palms, every ounce of restraint straining through his fingertips. He gripped my hips and lifted—just slightly—pressing me harder against the counter, fitting me perfectly against the hard line of him.
I sucked in a sharp breath, and he groaned as his head tipped back.
“Careful,” he said, voice rough enough to scrape. “I’m already hanging on by a fucking thread.”
“Good,” I whispered, dragging my nails up the back of his neck. “Let it snap.”
His forehead hit mine, eyes squeezed shut like he was in actual pain.
“Poppy…” My name was a desperate plea— what seemed to be a losing battle.
His thumb brushed under the band of my sports bra, skimming the edge of my breast, just enough to make my whole body jerk.
“Look at you,” he said hoarsely. “This fucking yoga outfit—your skin… the way you smell right now—” His nostrils flared as he dragged his nose along my jaw, inhaling like I was oxygen. “You’re driving me insane.”
My legs trembled. “Then touch me.”
He froze, and I watched as he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, considering what I commanded.
