We kissed again, and I cupped Tallulah's jaw, tempering the heat and slowing us down. I didn't want explosive and hot like the first time. I wanted slow and deliberate so I could savor every moment she remained in my arms.
I took my time relearning her mouth, listening to her satisfied sighs, arms around my neck, her breasts pressed against my chest. I caressed her buttocks and thighs, groaningsoftly as I enjoyed her womanly shape. I'd missed this. Not only the physical contact but the emotional intimacy.
My body hardened as renewed need charged through me.
"Bedroom?" I murmured huskily against her mouth.
"Yes."
We made our way to my bedroom without the urgent, frantic need of the last time. I lowered the dress off one shoulder and kissed her bared skin, going lower to the swell of her breast and inhaling her intoxicating scent.
I unwrapped her like a present, taking my time to kiss each newly exposed inch of dark skin. She did the same, her hands gently removing my clothes, her eyes filled with tenderness as she gazed up at me and offered her mouth again.
When our bodies finally joined on top of my bed, it was quieter than the explosive passion of the first time.
"God, you're beautiful... incredible," I whispered into her collarbone.
My hips worked between her spread thighs, one hand cupping her bottom to bring her tighter against me, allowing me to go deeper. She was slick and warm and felt like heaven.
I watched her face and her passion-glazed eyes, learning exactly which movements made her breath catch and which made her face crumble with pleasure.
"You're perfect," she whispered, slipping her fingers into my hair.
We moved together in sync, with the same rhythm we had found on the dance floor. She followed my lead, her hips quickening or slowing at my direction. No thinking about what came next, no planning the future, just this moment and this connection and the building pressure that wound tighter with every thrust.
Finally, her hands gripped my shoulders, and my name fell from her lips in fragmented syllables. Her feminine muscles tightened around me, and my own control began to slip.
I kissed her as we climbed the peak together.
"Jamison," she gasped. "I'm?—"
"Yeah. Me too."
I captured her mouth with a surge of brutal passion, my thrusts faster and deeper as we tumbled together into ecstasy. Pleasure crashed through me as her body trembled beneath mine. The intensity and intimacy of coming at the same time stole my breath.
I groaned and pressed my face into the side of her neck, straining my hard body into her softer one before collapsing, spent, beside her.
My heart hammered in my chest as I stared up at the dark ceiling. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her forehead. Her hair had fallen out of her updo and lay strewn across the pillow.
"That was..." she started.
"Yeah."
There was nothing more to say. The emotions coursing through me were more than mere attraction. More than chemistry. I risked falling for Tallulah.
She pressed a kiss to my chest, and I squeezed her closer. I wanted her beside me every single day, which meant I was in serious trouble.
I hadn't just fallen for Tallulah. I had already fallen.
And for once in my carefully planned life, I wasn't afraid of where I might land.
"You had to pick tea," I said.
We were sitting up in my bed, naked and under the covers, talking. She had an arm and a leg thrown across me, her head resting on my shoulder.
"How was I supposed to know you hate tea?" she asked. "Who despises tea that much? It's a very specific thing to hate. What's your problem?"
"I don't have a problem," I denied.
