“Well, you can join me if you want to.”
Jesse’s head snapped toward me. My teeth snapped shut.
I’dmeantit as a joke. One I’d said without thinking.
But the way he looked at me…
The way my pulse went absolutely wild…
He swallowed. “Uh… I mean…”
“I’m sorry,” I said with a nervous laugh. “I’m—I was just—I didn’t mean we?—”
“What would you say if I wanted to take you up on it?”
Oh. Fuck. Wasn’t there air in this room a minute ago? Why can’t I find any?
“I, uh…” I gulped. “Do you want to?”
Jesse stepped closer, his presence simultaneously rooting me to the spot and damn near sending me staggering back. His whisper was so soft it drew me in before I even realized I was moving: “Yeah. I do.”
“Yeah?”
He nodded. “Uh-huh.” He swept his tongue across his lips, unaware of how that pulled my attention to his mouth. “Would, um… Would you be offended if I told you I spent last night…” He bit his lip as color rose in his face, and he cut his eyes away as if he’d gone too far, all his boldness scattering like startled deer.
“Me too,” I croaked.
He met my gaze again. “Huh?”
“Last night.” I cleared my throat. “I was thinking about you. After I went to bed.”
His eyebrows climbed, interest sparking in those stunning eyes. “Were you?”
I nodded slowly. “Wereyou?”
“Mmhmm.”
We locked eyes. Was his heart pounding as hard as mine was?
He didn’t move, though. And it occurred to me that he’d already come this far. Maybe it was my turn.
Tentatively, I closed some of the distance between us, and I liked it a little too much when his breath hitched.
His eyes flicked to my lips, and every nerve ending in my body lit up like I’d brushed up against a live wire. When I put a hand on his waist, his breath stuttered and so did mine. Thespace between us narrowed, and there was no pretending we didn’t know where this was going, especially when he tilted his head and leaned in.
He paused. So did I. My heart slammed into my ribs. I wanted him. I wanted this. But I also wanted to savor this moment—this feeling of dangling over a precipice, waiting for gravity to inevitably take hold. I loved the goose bumps, the blood pounding in my ears, the stutter of his breath.
Only for a moment, though.
He put a hand on the side of my neck, and I closed the last bit of space between our mouths, and the whole world just… went quiet.
Kissing Jesse the first time had been hot for all the reasons a threesome was hot. It was sexy and exciting; a thrill as I lived out a fantasy while I’d helped someone else live out one of hers.
This time…
God, this time it was like everything stilled the instant his lips touched mine. It was like everything went away. Nothing existed except this man’s perfect mouth moving with mine, and our bodies pressed together as if all the shyness and uncertainty a moment ago had never been here at all.
Jesse’s hand slid up into my hair, and my toes curled against the floor as I pulled him closer. This was amazing. So unhurried and indulgent and perfect. I hadn’t realized how much of our first time had been a performance until I realized just how muchthistimewasn’t. No one was watching us. No one was here except us. As we relaxed against into this, we were gently exploratory, touching and tasting like we’d never done this before. And I supposed we hadn’t; last time, we hadn’t been able to zero in on each other and forget everyone and everything else. There was no one else to turn on or please—just Jesse—and my God, I wanted to turn him on and please him.
