I pinch my lips between my teeth to keep from laughing again, taking a step back before his hand can land on my arm. “I’d never disrespect Anonymous like that.”
His eyebrows shoot up, and he takes another step forward with an infuriatingly sexy smirk on his face. “Of course not. And me seeing your bare back would be the ultimate disrespect.”
I start backing away from him, my heart galloping in my chest as he continues to advance. “I’m a girl’s girl.”
He lets out a sharp laugh, stalking me around the living room with a predatory gleam in his eyes. “Very funny, Quinn. Give it up.”
“You’ll never catch me!”
When he lunges, I squeal, twirling away and bolting across the room. He’s a step behind, his laughter echoing through the room. I’m sure I have him beat, but as I round the dining room table, I find the bench pulled out, blocking my exit. I stop short to avoid hitting it, Colton’s arms encircling my waist as he collides with me, barely keeping us from toppling over.
Laughter racks my body until I look up at him, and all traces of amusement disappear in an instant. He’s watching me with the same greedy expression from that day in my apartment with the lingerie clutched between us. He takes one small step away, letting his hands slide across my stomach before settling on my hips.
“You’re a menace,” he says, voice low, his breath coasting over my cheek and shooting electricity down my spine. “Now, shut up so I can get you out of this dress.”
I don’t trust my voice, so I settle for a whispered, “Okay.”
I shiver when his fingertips brush the nape of my neck. He grabs the metal pull, working it down. The rest of the room disappears, the noise of the city fading away until all I can hear is the sound of Colton exposing my back.
A quarter of the way down, it catches. Colton tugs, trying to free it.
“Goddamnit,” he says as he tries pulling from different angles. A laugh bubbles up in my throat as the tension in the room fades. This feels like us, me laughing and him scowling.
Finally, the zipper breaks free and Colton continues its trek down. He lets out a victorious whoop.
“So proud of yourself,” I say with a glance over my shoulder,not realizing he’d shifted closer. Our eyes lock in on each other, and my stomach swoops.
“It’s the small victories,” he says, maintaining eye contact as he starts unzipping the dress again, more slowly this time, like he’s savoring each click of the teeth. My spine curves slightly as his thumb follows the line down to the top of my ass, and a little sigh escapes my throat.
We still haven’t looked away, and every cell in my body feels like it’s vibrating. His thumbs hook on either side of the material, running up my naked back. The straps fall from my shoulders, the dress held up by my arm across my chest.
His fingertips skim over my shoulders, his eyes tracking the progress as they flit over the draped fabric.
“Wasn’t too disrespectful, right?” he asks, his voice teasing, but he’s breathing as heavily as I am. “Modesty intact. Strategic hand placement, like an ancient statue of Aphrodite.”
I swallow thickly, trying to gather back my scattered brain cells so I can think with something besides the heavy ache between my legs.
“I’m disappointed in you,” I say, forcing levity into my voice. Colton’s gaze flies to mine. “This is Rome. I’m not Aphrodite. I’m Venus.”
His eyes flare.
“Fuck it,” he whispers.
A second later, his mouth descends on mine.
It’s… fuck. It’s perfect, with the exact right pressure before he nips at my lip, begging me to join him in the madness. I whimper into his mouth, my own opening for him as he deepens the kiss. He kisses me like we’ve been doing it for weeks, months, years, and he’s spent every second studying exactly what I liked. This doesn’t feel like our first.
“Delicious,” Colton murmurs into my mouth. “Just like I knew you’d be.”
I turn to face him fully, releasing my hold on the dress so itpools around my waist, and he wastes no time pushing it over my hips. It falls to the floor in a heap, leaving me in nothing but my lace underwear. Colton steps back to take me in, a low, desperate groan tearing from his throat.
“Quinn,” he murmurs, his fingertips making a trek from my hip bone up to my breast. His hand trembles slightly, the only outward sign that he’s as affected by this moment as I am. We both moan as his hand closes over me.
He brings his mouth to my neck, his tongue stroking the wildly beating pulse point. My hands can’t stop moving, exploring his chest and shoulders the way I wanted to when I ran into him after his shower, slipping underneath the hem of his shirt to savor the hard panes of his body. Colton moves down to my breast, taking my nipple between his teeth, and a shudder rolls through me.
“Shit, Colton. Yes.”
He groans against my sensitive flesh, growling, “Say it again,” into the hollow between my breasts before taking the second nipple between his lips.
