I didn’t even realize I’d shifted closer until my knee brushed hers. Then her hand landed on my bicep. Light. Testing. But not moving away. That was all the permission I needed.
I slid my hand lower, slowly, deliberately. My fingertips grazed her thigh, then slipped beneath the hem of her skirt. Her breath hitched—so quiet it was almost imperceptible, but I felt it. Just like I felt the way her thighs tensed, the slight tremble that betrayed just how close to the edge she already was.
“I remember exactly how you sound when I make you come,” I murmured, my lips grazing her ear. I was done playing it safe.
She chased my lap times. I chased the way she moaned my name. In only one instance did we know what the fuck we were doing.
She inhaled sharply, her nails digging into my arms, and the sound of my name on her lips nearly broke me. “Callum?—”
“I remember how you begged me not to stop,” I continued, slidingmy palm over the delicate lace between her legs. She was so fucking warm. So ready. “Are you going to let me hear it again?”
The quietest, most wrecked little whimper fell from her mouth, and I just watched, enraptured. Rosy, glossy, plump lips, her perfect white teeth visible from how they were parted. Breathing the same air as me.
“Auri,” I managed through the haze of lust. She stared at my mouth, her pupils dilated and nearly swallowing the golds and greens I was so used to seeing.
My dick was so hard in my pants that I could barely think straight. Thank God. I didn’t want to think straight anymore. I wanted to throw caution to the wind and stop this silly dance we were doing.
That, and all that pent-up energy I hadn’t been able to expel were too goddamn close to consuming me.
She licked her lips, her breathing uneven, and I swear to God, I almost blacked out. I was already on the fucking edge, but that? That wrecked me.
I fought the urge to drag her into my lap right fucking now and remind her how I made her fall apart in Miami. Instead, I exhaled, jaw clenched so tight it hurt, and ran my knuckles over her collarbone—barely touching her, barely holding on.
“Tell me to stop.” I cupped the back of her neck, pulling her closer to me. She didn’t fight it, but came to me willingly.
I could feel her heart racing from where she pressed against me. Her nipples were hard, and try as I might, I couldn’t stop myself from looking at how she reacted to just the chemistry between us. Oh, how I could make her body sing again, make her scream my name and her legs shake.
We were both painfully aware of what was going to happen next.
“I’m only going to ask you one time,” I whispered, “to stop fighting this and just feel for one fucking night. Don’t kick me out before the night is over.” I could tell that she was ready, but I wanted to make sure she knew she had the power to stop me at any moment.
I dragged my knuckles down the side of her arm, slow and deliberate, tracing over her skin like a fucking prayer. “Aurélie, tell me to fucking stop.”
She bit her plump lower lip but said nothing.
“Tell me you don’t want this.”
Her throat bobbed. A shiver danced over her shoulders, her chest rising and falling like she was struggling to get enough air. I leaned in, letting my breath fan against her lips, just shy of taking what I wanted.
“Say the word and I’ll walk away, Auri.”
That was the biggest fucking lie I’d ever told in my goddamn life.
Her fingers twitched against my knee. Then, barely above a whisper, “Don’t.” That sweet little French accent curled around the word like a caress. One syllable. One plea. A command I’d never disobey.
The second the word left her lips, I was done. It was all I needed to fucking ruin her.
My grip tightened, and suddenly, we weren’t just sitting there—we were crashing together, devouring each other, like two stars colliding at full fucking speed.
Her handsfistedin my shirt, yanking me closer, and I didn’t just kiss her, I fucking claimed her. Deep, messy, desperate. She tasted like tequila, lime, and something sweeter—cherries again, I realized—and it took everything in me to not fuck her then and there.
As we kissed, my hand moved from her neck to her lower back, pulling her against me until she was crawling into my lap, her skirt bunching around her hips as she straddled me. I had no shame as my hips pressed upward into her, the friction sending a rush of heat through me.
One hand tangled in her hair, feeling the softness of it in my fingers. Her body relaxed into mine, our movements becoming more fluid.
Despite my best efforts to control myself, I let out a low groan as our tongues danced together. My heart pounded as if I was in the middle of a race, but this was a different kind of adrenaline. A kind that was all-consuming and completely, utterly intoxicating.
When we pulled away from each other, we were both breathless. My hands were on her thighs, thumbs tracing languid circles on her smooth, bare skin. She was so fucking beautiful—goddamn irresistible—and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep her down here.
