Her mouth curves, just barely, then she reaches behind herself. Her fingers work at the clasp for a second before it gives, and the straps loosen over her shoulders.
I pull my T-shirt over my head as she slides the bra down her arms and lets it fall beside her.
For a moment, I forget what I am supposed to be doing.
She is beautiful in a way that makes my throat tight. Strong and soft and real, her chest rising with every unsteady breath while she watches me watching her.
Her gaze drifts down my body, and the heat in her eyes nearly does me in.
I kick off my trainers and reach for the button of my jeans, but she sits up, her hands replacing mine.
“Let me.”
I let her have that much.
For one dangerous second, I let her fingers work at the button, let her look up at me from the edge of the mattress like she knows exactly what she is doing to me.
Then I capture her wrists gently.
“Not yet.” I ease her back down onto the mattress. “I told you. My pace.”
I kneel on the bed between her legs, running my palms up her thighs. The muscle trembles beneath my touch. I find the button of her trousers and undo it, sliding the zip down slowly. She lifts her hips, and I pull the fabric down her legs, taking her knickers with it.
She lies before me, fully exposed now. The thatch of dark hair between her thighs is slick with arousal, her folds glistening in the low light. I settle between her legs, my shoulders pushing her thighs wider.
"AJ, what are you—"
"I'm going to taste you." I press a kiss to the inside of her thigh, feeling the muscle jump. "And you're going to lie there and take it."
She opens her mouth to respond, but I lower my head and drag my tongue through her wet folds, and whatever she was going to say dissolves into a moan. She's hot and slick against my mouth, her taste musky and sharp. I find her clit and circle it slowly, deliberately, feeling the swollen nub pulse under my tongue.
Her hands fly to my head, fingers tangling in my hair. "Oh god—"
When I finally close my lips around her clit and suck, she cries out, a raw, broken sound that goes straight through me.
I lift my head just enough to look at her.
Her chest rises and falls. Her eyes are dark, fixed on mine, and for once there is no order waiting behind them.
“Pippa,” I say, quieter now. “Trust me. You can let go.”
Something flickers across her face.
“I do,” she says, and her voice is rough enough to break me. “I trust you.”
For a second, I forget how to breathe.
Then I press my mouth to the inside of her thigh, because otherwise I will give her too much too soon.
“Good,” I murmur against her skin. “Then let me have you.”
I lick my way back to her clit. Her thighs shake against my shoulders, her fingers tight enough in my hair to hurt.
I pull back just enough to make space for two fingers, sliding them inside her slick channel. She's tight, her body gripping me like she doesn't want to let go. I curl my fingers, searching for that spot, and when I find it her whole body arches off the bed.
"There it is." I stroke the pad of my fingers against her front wall while my thumb circles her clit. "That's what you need, isn't it?"
"Don't stop, don't stop, don't—" The words tumble out of her, desperate and unguarded.
