Something in my mind had eased. The usual background tension didn’tdisappear, but it had stopped pressing forward. I noticed the path, the steps, the door ahead of us, and then I stopped tracking them. My body knew what to do.
The usual list of checks stopped rearranging itself. I noticed the lanterns once more on the way out of the spa, then didn’t need to again.
“That was fast,” she said.
“You were clear. And I’m good at following directions.”
“Good,” she said. “I like that.”
“Thank you,” I said.
She laughed, full and surprised, and the sound hit me low in the belly. Her hands slid to the nape of my neck, then up into my hair. She weighed nothing, and it felt like this—here, in my arms, with her legs locked around me—was exactly where she belonged.
Her mouth brushed my collarbone first, testing, teasing. She pressed a kiss there, then another, lingering this time. Her lips moved up the side of my neck, unhurried.
I stopped walking.
Everything in me narrowed to that single point of contact and stayed there. The pressure in my briefs was becoming hard to ignore.
She leaned forward again and rested her forehead against mine for half a second, then pulled back like she’d caught herself enjoying something.
She didn’t go far. Her mouth found my throat instead. She kissed the spot just under my jaw, then pressed her mouth there again, teeth grazing, breath warm against my skin.
My hands tightened reflexively under her thighs.
I forced myself to move again. I needed more. Almost there.
I opened the door to my place, then kicked it shut behind us. It was the same as every night. Lights off, shoes where theybelonged, counter clear. I noticed it all, then noticed how little it mattered.
She glanced around and hummed. “This seems very you.”
I didn’t ask what that meant and carried her down the hall. When the bed came into view, I realized I didn’t really want to put her down. I liked her where she was.
I didn’t make it that far.
When she shifted in my arms, my control slipped. I stopped short and turned, pressing her back against the wall with more force than I’d intended. Not careless. Just honest. Her gasp cut off as my mouth found hers, all restraint having vanished.
Her hands slid into my hair, tugging lightly. She kissed me back without hesitation, fierce and demanding, her body pressing forward like she’d been waiting for this exact second. I pinned her with my weight, one hand braced beside her head, the other tight at her waist, keeping her right where she was.
I pulled back, gasping for breath, and she chased my mouth.
“Don’t stop,” she moaned.
That did it.
I crossed the room in two steps, the urgency back and louder now. As I lowered her to the bed, I kept my hands on her, unwilling to let go. She twined her arms around my neck and pulled me down with her.
She looked up at me, eyes dark, lips already swollen.
I hovered there for half a second, everything in me wound tight.
“Still with me?” she asked breathlessly.
“Yes.”
I braced my hands on either side of her, the space between us tightening quickly. Waiting stopped feeling like an option.
Our breathing picked up, mingling together. I trailed my hands up her sides and under her bra, filling my palms with her.I didn’t slow down. I couldn’t. My fingers moved with purpose, learning and claiming as she kissed me harder.
