‘No, no, these are objectively the best sweets,’ I insist. ‘Grab one, I’ll show you the best way to eat them.’
He takes one out of the bag with a bemused expression.
‘Just wrap it around a finger, like this. Yep, all the way around.’ I pluck the coiled strawberry lace ring from around my finger and hold it up proudly. ‘And voila. A delectable treat,’ I declare.
He looks unconvinced by his strawberry lace ring, his lips tugging up at the corners. ‘A delectable blob.’
I throw mine into my mouth. ‘Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, champ,’ I say through my mouthful of strawberry goodness.
He looks skeptical, and then in the most bizarrely, hilariously Elliot fashion, takes a delicate bite from one side of it.
‘Oh my God, what are you doing?’ I bend over with laughter. ‘You have to eat it all in one!’
‘I don’thaveto do anything,’ he taunts, taking an even tinier bite.
I jab my finger at him. ‘You aremockingme.’
‘I am enjoying my delectable snack,’ he counters.
‘I literally can’t watch you eat it like that.’ I lean over him in an attempt to snatch it from his grasp, but he holds it up high with a triumphant look.
‘Oh, who’s the thief now?’ he jokes, still chewing happily. I clamber right into his lap, briefly letting myself enjoy the feel of his skin against my own as I stretch up to reach it.
‘Still you,’ I spit back at him with a grin as I fail to pry open his fingers.
‘Really? Doesn’t seem that way.’
I give up and give him a haughty look. ‘No more strawberry laces for you.’
The way he’s looking up at me makes me still. His eyes are alight, dripping with desire as they clash with my own, and something inside me unravels. My resolve breaks in a flash and I lean down to kiss him, pressing my fingers into his hair. He responds immediately, gathering me in his arms with desperation, as if I might vanish at any moment.
The strawberry lace falls to the floor, forgotten.
Our kiss turns frenzied and my self-control quickly frays as I let my hands roam hungrily over the hardness of his shoulders and down his chest. The heat in my belly ricochets down to my core. His hands are everywhere: across my jaw, in my hair, down my stomach and up my thighs; but his movements are more restrained, like he’s testing his own patience.
Before long his hands are moving up my ribs and I can barely get a grip on the sensations cascading through my body when he rolls my nipple between his thumb and finger through the thin lace of my bra. My breath comes out in short, hard bursts againsthis lips as he patiently teases them, like he’s got all the time in the world.
The hardness in his lap brushes against the most sensitive part of me, teasing me, and I grind against it – desperate for the contact and heat of him. And with that his restraint snaps, and in a swift motion he lifts me in his arms and places me carefully down onto my bed before capturing his lips against mine again.
He covers my body with his own, tracing kisses against my neck and down my collarbone as I rake my hands across the hard planes of his back. Marvelling at how strong and powerful he feels. Every strip of material that creates a barrier between our bodies feels maddening. I reach behind me to unclasp my bra and shed it, ignoring any self-consciousness that flares inside me. Elliot’s mouth moves to my breasts immediately, licking and gently sucking my nipples until my head is tipped all the way back and I’m biting down on a moan.
‘Can you keep quiet, Nora?’ he asks, his voice a low rumble.
‘We’ll see,’ I whisper, and his shoulders shake with laughter.
His fingertips trail across my skin before they cradle my face, and his lips crash against mine again. I shiver as he buries them inside the mess of my hair.
I wrap my legs up around his hips and fight to not gasp out loud at how hard and massive he feels against my stomach. I let myself moan into his mouth when he grinds his pelvis tightly, slowly, against mine.
Desire lights my core with an intensity that feels all-encompassing, the ache begging to be tempered. It’s every bit as good as I hoped it would feel when he makes contact with my clit again and again. I lose almost every shred of self-consciousness, starting to pant and lift my hips desperately off my mat to get maximum contact and friction.
‘Can I?’ I ask breathlessly, plucking the edge of his briefs between my fingers.
His eyes are a storm, his breath ragged. ‘If you want to.’
I don’t hesitate to pull them down and my eyes nearly bulge as I take him in. I’m close to making an ‘impressive wingspan’ joke when his lips meet mine again and my body splinters into nothing but need. His hand slides underneath the fabric of my underwear at my hipbone, and his thumb gently circles the flesh around my hip. His touch is so infuriatingly close to where I need it that I groan with desperation and reach down to remove them myself.
The length of his entirely naked body against mine is so hard and hot andgoodit almost makes me light-headed. But Elliot pulls back, forcing himself up to look me over with shallow and broken breaths. He briefly stills as he takes in my naked form with dark and hungry eyes, and I resist the temptation to cover myself.
