My groin tightened. “What?”
“Touch you, too.” She turned her head away, embarrassed.
I tipped my head back, letting out a hot breath. Fucking hell. There was no way I would turn her down. Seriously. All I could hope for now was that I wouldn’t fuck everything up somehow.
Catching Kira’s downcast chin in my palm, I eased her pretty face closer to mine. Tonight her eyes were the color of a stormy sky. “Let’s tr y something,” I whispered. And I finally did the thing I’d spent the entire summer avoiding—I leaned down and skimmed my lips gently across hers.
For a moment, I froze there at the corner of her sweet mouth, still hampered by uncertainty. Believe it or not, it was difficult to cross the line I’d worked so hard to maintain.
But then Kira made a soft sound of yearning, and I couldn’t hold back anymore. I tilted my head to perfect our connection, taking the softness of her mouth against my own.
Mmm. Our kiss was sweeter and slower than I usually went for. But no less hot. Before I knew it, I was tracing her lips with my tongue—the same lips I’d been staring at for three months—and a low groan escaped from my throat.
She opened for me, and I was a goner, tasting her for the first time. She tasted of summer, and of good beer and happy times.
With a whimper, she leaned even closer, bringing her breasts against my chest. And all my reservations flew away on the cool evening breeze. Locking my arms around her, I took my time tasting her, our lips sliding together, our tongues slow-dancing. I wove my fingers into her hair, only to find that the texture was even softer than I’d imagined. As I stroked her delicate jaw with my thumb, our kiss went on and on.
And Kira was right there with me, her hands wandering, her body warm and hungry against mine.
All right. Those were good signs, although my awareness was dialed up to eleven. My cock had its own ideas, straining against my shorts. I ached to slide my hands down her body, cup her ass, pull her even more tightly against me. I wanted to hurry her out of her clothes.
But I kept myself in check. The sad reason behind this tryst filtered through my lust-filled haze, and I found the will to ease up.
Go slow, I coached myself. Slower than you’ve ever gone. I stepped back, breaking our kiss. I left my forehead tipped against Kira’s. “Never thought I’d get to do that,” I rasped.
“Me neither.”
I took a deep, slow breath, reining myself in. And then I took her hand in mine, slowly guiding it down to the thickening bulge in my shorts. I placed her palm over my erection, then watched her reaction.
If I was expecting fear, there wasn’t any. In fact, her eyes burned brighter. “Really? Is that a yes?” She sucked in a breath but didn’t take away her hand. “The flip side is, if it doesn’t work, I’ll leave you like this.”
Hell, that wasn’t anywhere near the top of the list of reasons why this was a bad idea. “I don’t care about that. But Kira, if you’re not ready…” Shit. “I really don’t want to be the guy who scares you. That’s selfish, but it’s true.”
Nose to nose, she studied me. And while she did that, she moved her palm slowly up my fly, and then down again. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to avoid groaning.
“Please?” she asked. “I think it will be okay.”
I caught her exploring hand in my own. It was almost impossible to believe that this was really happening. I studied her eyes one more time, and they were just as clear and warm as every other time I’d gazed at her.
“Okay.” Of course I said yes. “How do you want this to go down? You need to tell me exactly what you want to happen.” I smoothed her hair away from her cheek.
Her face was already flushed from all that kissing, and she stumbled on her words. “I didn’t… I hadn’t thought that far ahead. We just need to go slow.”
“Sure. But…” I looked around. “Lights on or off? You need to be comfortable.”
“So do you.”
I gave her a quick kiss. “I’m easy.” She really had no idea. With a beautiful girl in my room, I found it much harder to stay clothed than to get naked.
“Well…” She walked over to the lamp on the bedside table and turned it on, then she went back to the wall switch, shutting off the overhead. “As long as I can see your face, I don’t think I’ll be scared.”
That was a sobering statement, and my heart gave a squeeze. Was I a good enough man to be somebody’s safe person? Me? I wasn’t exactly short-listed for any humanitarian awards.
With an even tighter rein on my libido, I sat down on the bed. “This is going to work best if you make all the first moves. And we need a safe word. When you need a break, what are you going to say?”
“Stop?” She walked over to stand right in front of me.
I shook my head and smiled up at her. “Too easy to confuse with don’t stop. So ‘oh God’ is no good either.”
Her flush deepened. “How about ‘wait’?”
“‘Wait,’” I repeated. “Alright. Now come and get me.” I guided one of her hands to my shirt buttons. “Go on. You’re making this happen.”
I looked down to watch as she tentatively fingered the first button. “This is weird for me,” she whispered. “It’s been a long time.”
“Hey.” I reached around to give her a playful little pinch on the bottom. “Whose idea was this? Keep going. You need to be the one in control.” Not only would that keep me from rushing her, it just made good sense. If she initiated every move, there was no way I could accidentally freak her out.
And truly, I’d rather have third-degree blue balls than frighten Kira. If she ended up having a panic attack in my arms, it would slay me.
Her eyes flickered to mine again. Then she glanced down at her work, a sly smile on her lips. Her fingers fumbled on the buttons, and my heart squeezed again. There was a sweet awkwardness here that was unfamiliar to me. But I guess that was to be expected when you already cared for someone you’d never been naked with. So this was normal, right?
But… bloody hell, had I never been in this situation? It had been years, anyway, since I’d waited longer than a few drinks to sleep with someone.
Wow. How was that even possible?
“Do I have to do all the work here?” she asked as my shirt finally slipped off my shoulders. She was standing over me, her gaze caressing my bare chest.
In answer, I gathered the hem of her T-shirt, and with a glance into her eyes to be sure that it was okay, I lifted it cautiously over her head. She wore a plain white bra underneath, and in my opinion it hid too much of her. Slowly, I leaned forward to put my lips on her sternum. With gentle fingers, I reached around to unclasp her bra in the back.
It fell away, and her beautiful breasts were right there at eye level. I’d been picturing them all summer long, and now here they were, rosy nipples hardening in the night air. I eased her body closer to mine, my chin between her breasts. I tilted back, looking up into her face. “Are we still good?” I whispered.
“Very good.” Her eyes were wide, looking down at me with something like wonder.
This is a privilege. I formed that thought even as I cupped one of her breasts in my hand, turning my face to flick my tongue across her nipple. “I’m glad I shaved,” I said into the soft swell of her breast.