She smiled up at him. He stepped closer to her, only a fraction. Enough to feel the warmth of her skin, enough to watch her pupils grow darker.
"He had a magical fairy godmother do the hard part," she murmured, her breath against his lips.
"No fairy godmother here," Zach said. "Just fabric, design, and a hell of a lot of pins."
"And," Piper said, eyes locked on his, "a guy who knows how to make a dress."
Zach sighed, breaking the silence. "I'm not perfect, Piper."
She trailed a fingertip along the bottom of his lip. "No one is."
They didn't say anything more as he finished pinning, adjusting the sleeves, modifying the neckline.
The dress looked good. They were doing this thing.
He turned to her as her arms relaxed and she let out a breath. For once, he let himself look a little longer than he should. At the subtle arch of her collarbone, the smudge of freckles across her shoulder, the rise and fall of her chest beneath her professional blazer.
He cleared his throat and stepped back.
"It's getting late. I think that's it for today," he said hoarsely. "I can start stitching tomorrow."
"I can stop by?" she asked, a sleepy end-of-the-day note to her tone.
"Or you could just stay?" he asked, trying for casual.
Her smile curved slow and sly across her face. "Now that we've done the dress. Do you want to undress me?"
He froze. Then barked a laugh and the spark between them lit brighter, pulling them together. He stole a kiss on the stairs, then another. Zach nearly tripped, too busy tasting her to watch his feet. Not like the AV closet. He grinned against her mouth. No emergency broadcast needed this time.
This wasn't fabric or pinning designs. No, this was a spark that could torch his whole loft.
They stumbled into his apartment, laughing between breaths.
Heat and fevered hands. Her fingers gripping his shirt, tugging it up and over his head with unspoken need.
He answered with his mouth on her throat, her jaw, her lips again like he couldn't handle the space between them any longer.
In the tender light of his bedroom, they left the rest of the world outside.
He slipped his hands under her shirt, grazing her skin because the bra was still downstairs.
Damn, smoother than the best cotton.
"You're killing my focus," he murmured, lips brushing her neck as he fumbled with her shirt, half expecting her to tease him for it. "I could spend hours touching you."
She giggled breathlessly, arching into him. "Hours? I don't know if I have that kind of patience."
"Mmm, but you do," he teased, nudging her onto her back and following her down. His lips took over, teasing, tongue flicking over one peaked nipple. She moaned, fingers tangling in his hair as he lavished attention on her, his free hand sliding lower to tease between her thighs.
"Someone's impatient," he teased, his finger sliding in, pulse racing as her hips shifted. She whimpered, hips lifting as he curled his finger just right, his thumb circling her bundle of nerves in slow, deliberate strokes. "Don't you dare hold back on me, Piper. I want to hear you."
Her breath hitched, her body clenching around him as he worked her closer to the edge. "Don't stop—oh, don't stop—" She came with a cry, her back bowing off the bed as pleasure crashed over her.
He didn't give her time to recover, kissing his way down her body. She gasped as his tongue flicked over her sensitive flesh, her hands flying to his shoulders.
"Too much—oh, no, never mind, don't stop—" She laughed, half-delirious, as he chuckled against her, the vibration clearly making her shudder.
He rose over her as she wrapped her legs around his hips, pulling him closer.
