A soft exhale leaves him, and I swallow it right away.
"I’m gonna walk you through it," he whispers softly. "If you want this to look real, we’re doing it right."
His hand finds my jaw. His fingers slide into my hair like he’s done it a thousand times in dreams I should never know about.
The first spark of something that should not be here.
He sucks on my bottom lip.
His mouth moves slow, and then I feel it. That faint brush of cool metal.
His lip ring.
The one I pretend not to notice, the one I try so hard not to stare at every time he talks.
God. Even that’s unfair. Even his mouth comes with attitude. It makes it worse.
Better.
Hotter.
Like he marks the danger right on his lips so I won’t forget who I’m kissing. He yanks my head back just a little, like I’m something he’s about to devour. Like he needs my face exactly where he wants it. Not an inch off.
He brushes the strands of hair out of my face, like they’re getting in his way. And then his hand just... stays there. Right on the side of my head, holding my hair back for him.
"Open your mouth."
I do.
Our tongues are basically at war, and somehow he’s winning without even trying.
I swear, when I realized he would be in Italy too, I expected arguments-and-insults kind of war.
Not a tongue war.
Then his mouth brushes against my jaw. "Touch me."
I pause.
"Put your hands on me," he says, that low teasing tone curling around every word. "She’ll be watching where they go."
I hate how easily I listen.
I raise a hand and touch his jaw. Gently. My fingertips brush the stubble and I feel him lean into it.
Oh fuck. Then I rest the other hand on his chest. Right over his heart. It’s beating like crazy.
Good. He’s not as calm as he acts.
He bites my lower lip with a smirk and says, "Lower."
I exhale through my nose, fingers dragging down his sides until I feel the hem of his shirt.
He laughs quietly, like this is fun for him. Our mouths find each other again, slower now.
He bites my lip. Just once. My breath catches.
His hands stay in my hair, steady, grounding me, making sure I don’t run.
