Then…fire.
Arden felt it everywhere. It wasn’t only the heat of his mouth or the way his hands gripped with such certainty. It was the way the world tipped sideways the moment his lips met hers—as if gravity had let go and left her weightless in his arms. Everything tilted, everything realigned.
She arched instinctively into him, electric, urgent, desperate.
And God, the feel of him.
Hard muscle. Heat. Tension wound dangerously tight, a storm seconds from breaking.
His hands roamed. One hand was tangled possessively in her hair, angling her exactly how he wanted her. The other slid boldly downward, spanning her waist, gripping the generous curve of her hip. His fingers dug in, pulling her closer, needing to feel, to anchor, to take.
She let him.
No—she matched him, met him, demanded as fiercely as he gave.
Because he might’ve been fire, but so was she.
The kiss was hungry and utterly unrestrained, then ignited and flared deeper.
He swept his tongue slowly, possessively against hers. Tasting. Claiming. Branding.
Her breaths quickened as she trembled with desperation and desire.
As she pressed her body flush against him, a sharp inhale betrayed how he was unraveling completely.
And God, she could feel him.
All of him.
Impossible to ignore. Undeniable.
Her heart stumbled, raced.
This was the opposite of careful and controlled.
It was wild, hungry, and primal.
His touch trailed down her body over the curve of her back to the dip of her waist, then settled possessively on the fullness of her ass.
He groaned into her mouth, his hands greedy on the soft give of her curves. Her body—lush, strong, sensual—molded against his, made for him alone.
Her fingers twisted fiercely into his hair. Her nails scraped gently against his scalp, holding tight. She was every bit as desperate to consume him as he was to drown in her.
A low sound vibrated in his chest, raw, primitive, a growl of surrender barely restrained.
He was dangerously close to losing control.
He should stop.
But fuck, she wasn’t stopping either.
She was everywhere.
Her scent was midnight temptation, intoxicating and addictive.
Her breaths were quick and uneven, and she gasped sharply as he deepened the kiss. He teased her with tantalizingly delicious strokes of his tongue. When his teeth gently bit her bottom lip, a helpless, intoxicating whimper escaped her.
Her hips shifted against his with enough pressure to pull another broken sound from deep within his chest.
