“It would be if I was wearing one.”
We both laughed, swaying together. I wasn’t sure how many tequila shots I’d had, but it was more than I’d drunk before. Ever.
My body felt loose, and my thoughts were hazy. I hovered on the edge between pleasantly tipsy and plastered. My arms were wrapped around Elijah, my hands clutching the back of his shirt beneath his shoulder blades.
Without my heels, he was nearly a foot taller than me. I felt dainty, something else I’d never felt before. While I was short, I wasn’t thin or delicate. I also wasn’t strong or toned. Mostly, I was just soft. The men I dated tended to be a few inches taller than me and worked desk jobs like I did. They couldn’t keep me from falling with ease or lift me off my feet without grunting.
“You smell good,” I murmured, burying my nose against Elijah’s chest.
When he chuckled, I could hear the low, delicious rumble in that chest.
“I smell like tequila and sweat,” he answered.
I tilted my head back. “A little, but you also smell like you.”
“And how do I smell?” he asked, his blue eyes twinkling as he stared down at me.
“Warm and tingly.”
I laughed as I said it, but the smile curving his mouth slowly faded as he studied me.
“God, you’re so pretty.”
I blinked at him. “I am?”
His hands smoothed up my sides and around to the small of my back, making me excruciatingly aware of the heat and weight of his touch. Wait. What was happening?
“You are.”
Through the haze of alcohol, I felt the dull throb of embarrassment. I wasn’t sure what to say because I wasn’t used to compliments from men, particularly men as gorgeous as Elijah Lawson. Then again, he might not be interested in women, so his compliment could be one coming from a place of platonic sincerity.
Even though he was just as drunk as I was, he saw my disbelief.
“Every time you smile at me you have a dimple right here,” he said, releasing my waist with one hand to touch my cheek with the tip of his index finger. “And your eyes sparkle. Everything about you is bright and sweet.”
I couldn’t look at him anymore. To hear this beautiful man say these things to me…I couldn’t handle it. I tilted my chin down, lowering my eyes to break away from his intense gaze.
The finger touching my cheek hooked me beneath the chin, forcing me to lift my face. When I tried to turn my head, dull heat spreading across my cheeks, his other hand tangled in the long tail of curls that draped down my back. His grip was gentle but inescapable.
“Look at me, Grier.”
I couldn’t resist his command. I tilted my chin back so I could meet his stare.
“You’re gorgeous, inside and out.”
I opened my mouth. I had no idea what I intended to say other than to tell him he was being too generous. No words came out because his lips touched mine. Every thought in my brain evaporated into smoke.
His tongue touched mine, filling my mouth with his taste and heat. The sharp flavor of the tequila he’d had before we came upstairs merged with the warmer taste of Elijah.
I had no control over my body. My muscles went lax and I all but melted into him. My hands clutched his sides in an effort to hold my weight, but his hands released my hair and my face, moving down my back to my ass. His fingers clenched my cheeks as he tugged me even closer, bringing my body completely flush with his. A breathy moan escaped my mouth when I felt his firmly muscled body against mine. It had been a long while since I’d felt this—a man’s body against mine. A man’s arms holding me tightly. Until this moment, I never realized how badly I needed to be held, how much I yearned for someone to touch me.
Elijah moved backward, pulling me with him. He sat on the edge of the bed, and I followed him, putting a knee on each side of his hips. A slit ran up the left side of my dress, baring my leg as I straddled him. I rocked my hips forward, feeling the hard ridge of his erection against my center. I moaned again as the kiss spun out of control.
He fisted my hair in his hand, tilting my head back as his mouth moved down my throat. The edge of his teeth sank into my neck, followed by a flick of his tongue against the sting. I dragged my nails up the back of his neck and up over his scalp, cradling his head close.
Yes, this was what I needed. Not only to be held tightly, but to feel consumed. To feel desired. Maybe even craved.
His answering groan vibrated against my skin, making me shiver. His lips glided over my collarbone then down the center of my chest. I gasped when his tongue ran over the inner curve of my breast, slipping beneath the halter neckline of my dress. Without thinking, I released my hold on his head and reached back to the clasp at the base of my neck. My fingers trembled as I unfastened the rhinestone clasp that held up the dress. The satin fabric slithered from my shoulders into my lap.
