Page 106 of Only Lovers in the Building

“Your wildest dreams are about to come true,” she teased.

“You have such beautiful skin,” he said. “I couldn’t stop staring at your legs. I stole every chance I got to touch you.”

“Oh, I know . . .” she whispered, smiling.

“Now you know everything.”

“I don’t know how you feel inside me.”

With this man, she had to take her fate in her hands. There was no way around it. She got up, pushed him onto his back, straddled him, pinned him down. “Your dreams are tame, Professor Romero,” she whispered.

“Tell me yours.”

His eyes were soft, but his grip on her hips was tight. With his taut body between her thighs, she felt beautiful, powerful, and very much in control. “To ride you to the ground.”

“I hope you’re not waiting for a written invitation.”

Lily was done waiting. She couldn’t take a drop more of anticipation. But in the blink of an eye, she lost the upper hand. Ben raised her by the hips and buried himself inside her, bringing her vapid dreams to vivid life. She made space for him, breathed him in like air. He murmured something, except the ocean was raging in her ears and she couldn’t hear it. She was sure the world had stopped spinning. Then, a bolt of clarity. This was their first time. There would be other times, but never a first. She couldn’t afford to zone out and miss it.

Lily caught his face between her hands. “What did you say?”

“Those eyes.”

She collapsed into his arms. There was nothing but heat and the sweat of their bodies between them. His teeth grazed her skin. Her nails dug into taut muscles. With her leg locked around his waist and his hand wrapped around the nape of her neck, a frenzied determination took hold. To dive deep into each other. To discover the undiscoverable, the sunken treasure. When they found that rare pearl, held it in their hands, cries of pleasure but also triumph.

Ben Romero was no longer Lily’s neighbor from across the hall, her book buddy, fellow coffee lover, or summer crush. From now until the end of time, he was her lover no matter how this story ended.

Pop Shop

A Pop Culture Podcast

Category: Arts

Rating: 4.5 stars

July 19: Around Midnight by Charlotte Mitchel

with Lily Lyon and Ben Romero

Lily: Hi, I’m Lily.

Ben: I’m Ben.

Lily: Together we’re wasting away our summer, reading books, drinking cocktails, and gossiping about our neighbors. If that sounds like fun to you, stick around. Ben, why don’t you introduce our book selection?

Ben: Today we’re revisiting a book that we’ve both rated five stars and I very much enjoyed. Around Midnight by a talented debut author, Charlotte Mitchel.

Lily: It’s a hot one, almost too hot for Ben to handle, if you can believe it.

Ben: Who’s going to believe it? By now, our listeners know me well enough.

Lily: If that’s true, please sound off in the comments below.

Ben: This isn’t about us. This is about Liz and Austin, our main characters.

Lily: This is our podcast. Everything is about us.

Ben: Even so, we should let the people know what this book is about and why it had us in a choke hold.