“It’s nice,” she says. “Not what I expected.”
“Yeah?”
“I thought it’d be all concrete and protein powder and expensive furniture you never sit on.”
“Wow.”
She grins and turns to look back at the view of the city, now bathed in an evening glow, and the light catches her face—half shadowed, hair pulled loose, eyes softer than usual.
“Beautiful view,” she murmurs.
Fuck, I know.
She turns back when I don’t reply, and catches me staring right at her. I clear my throat and look at the ground, kicking a pebble that’s fallen loose from the garden.
“It’s better upstairs.” I look back up at her. “From my balcony.”
She lifts an eyebrow. “Of course it is.”
I smile softly and nod my head back toward the house, then stop at the door to let her through first, watching as she steps back inside. And yeah, maybe her pace is tired, her body finally starting to sag with exhaustion, but her steps don’t falter.
She wants to be here, and I want her here too.
Her fingers trail along the walls as she moves toward the stairs, and when I catch up behind her, I slip my hand to the small of her back, guiding her gently as we climb.
Gesturing her toward the master bedroom, she glides through carefully, her eyes trailing over my bed, my lamp shades, and art on the walls, until she turns toward the French doors. I open them onto the balcony, and the second she steps through, her breath catches.
“Damn,” she murmurs, moving out into the crisp air. “You weren’t joking.”
The view from up here is magical. Denver is sprawled below in a sea of amber and cobalt, the city lights glimmering beneath the inky swell of the sky. It’s quiet, save for the wind rustling through the pines that edge the hill.
I step in behind her, slow enough that she can feel it coming, and wrap my arms around her waist, tugging her gently back against me. Her body reacts instantly, softening as I press my lips to the side of her hairline.
“Need anything?” My mouth brushes the shell of her ear. “Water? Wine? Food?”
She shakes her head, opens her mouth, then pauses.
I dip down to kiss the side of her neck, feeling her pulse jump under my lips. “Tell me.”
Her voice is raspy as she cranes her neck to give me more access. “Yeah.”
“Yeah what?”
“You,” she breathes, and my grip tightens around her. “I need you.”
Fuck.
I exhale hard against her neck and slide one hand up her side, tracing the curve of her ribs beneath her shirt. “You sure?”
She nods once. “I don’t wanna think right now. I just want…”
I know exactly what she wants.
But I don’t rush her, I just slide my palms gently down her sides, thumbs dragging over her stomach, letting her feel every inch of the control she’s handing me.
I gently nudge her forward so she’s leaning against the railing. The balcony’s long and wide enough, half-shielded by the overhang and trees, and the lights from inside cast everything in gold.
Her ass presses back into my hips, and her back arches, legs already parting when I tug down her leggings and let them fall around her ankles.
