For an excruciating moment, he remains completely still, his eyes widening like storm clouds about to break.
Then, he sucks in a sharp breath, his hand flexes against my back, and he releases the leg that remained captured between us, allowing me to slide completely toward him.
My legs curve around him, and our lower halves press up against each other. His free hand rests lightly against my thigh and curves around the base of my hip.
He pauses for a beat, his mouth close to mine, before he presses a tantalizingly gentle kiss against the corner of my mouth.
I wait for him to deepen the kiss, but he brushes his lips across mine to plant another light kiss on the other corner of my mouth, then one against my cheek and over to my other cheek, trailing kisses to my chin, each one soft.
His fingers tangle in my hair, stroking through it, making me shiver all of the way to my toes.
Closing my eyes, I soak up the touch I’ve wanted for so long. My hands find all of the muscles of his back, loving the way they shift as he moves.
I draw him closer, boldly running my fingers into his hair as my lips seek his.
This time, he kisses me with a hunger that takes me by surprise. His fingers tighten around my hip, his other hand stroking up my back. I arch into him, losing myself in his kiss, sinking so far beneath the surface that I forget where I am and why I’m here.
I tilt my head to give him full access to my neck as he trails hungry kisses to my shoulders, pushing aside my dress strap to kiss my collarbone all the way from my shoulder to the space between my breasts.
When I wrap my legs around his waist and press my lower half against his, he responds with a groan, hooking his arms beneath me to lift me further up the bed and settle us onto it. He pushes himself up off the surface so he doesn’t crush me while my legs remain firmly clasped around him, refusing to let him go.
The rubies glint on his finger, pressed into the mattress at my eye level, reminding me what I need to do.
Trying to focus on my goal, I pull his left hand into my right, stretching our arms up so that his body is drawn down to me.From this position, he’ll have to crane his head back to see his outstretched hand and my own brushing against it.
With my left hand, I reach for the nearest spell, hoping it’s the one I need. My fingers brush a leaf. Without looking at it, the words burn inside my mind.
They seem so natural…
I whisper against his lips, “Crimson crush come closer.”
He raises his head to give me a quizzical look, but I quickly draw his lips back to mine to distract him.
With a brush of my fingertips over his ring, the rubies fall into my palm. I push them under the pillow at my head, drawing my fingertips back to his arm so he’ll think nothing of it.
Free to do what I want now, I find the base of his shirt, tugging on it, wanting to know the feeling of his bare chest on mine.
He pulls us up into a sitting position, allowing me to draw his shirt over his head, dropping it onto the bed. I run my hands across his bare chest, exploring all of his muscles, loving the way his eyes close as I brush the hard planes of his stomach.
He responds with hungry kisses pressed to my neck, kisses that make me melt into him, his hands grazing my shoulders. The vines that wrap around my arms and torso respond to his touch, willfully giving way as he draws the material slowly to my waist. He explores every new patch of skin that the descending material reveals, making me gasp and sigh.
By the time the material gathers at my waist, he has stroked and kissed every inch of my chest, and my body is burning.
I press against him, my chest against his, seeking relief from the intense need raging through me.
It doesn’t help. I need all of him.
I reach for his belt buckle, but it’s impossible to undress him positioned like this.
As I brush his stomach again, tugging at the top of his jeans, he groans against my mouth. “Tansy…”
His breathing is as erratic as mine, his full lips slightly parted.
I chase his mouth, wanting to feel his lips against me—all of me—but he pulls away, drawing his hand to my cheek.
He gives me a shake of his head. “This isn’t what you want. We can’t… do this…”
I’ve never abandoned my inhibitions like this before, let alone around him. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to.
