felt her quick, indrawn gasp at his first touch.
Felt the noticeable arch of her soft breasts against his chest.
Felt the immediate give of her lips as he plumped them with his own. Nipped at them. Sucked the lower one in, and then scraped his teeth over it.
And then Alex really began the kiss.
After a gulp of air, he went in. Freaking plundered her mouth with his tongue. This time there was a little bit less calculated skill, replaced by a lot more heated need. Because with every lick, every swirl of his tongue against hers, fire raced through his body straight to his groin.
Then Sydney started moaning. Sweet little high-pitched, breathy mewls of delight. And her hand slid down his still-damp back to rest right at the quickly loosening edge of the towel. She kneaded the fabric in her hand. Her thumb scraped against his skin, and her fingertips grazed his ass.
That shot more heat through him, faster than a volcano spewed lava.
Alex abandoned the relative safety—at least in his mind—of keeping the poster between them. Threw caution to the wind. Because, in reality, they’d abandoned caution the moment that they entered the bedroom and shut the door.
He tightened the hold on her back and put his other arm around her waist. Lifted. As soon as Sydney’s feet were off the floor, he pushed forward, putting one knee on the bed as he laid her across it.
Her hands locked behind his neck, pulling him closer. Good to know they shared the same objective. Alex still didn’t lower his weight onto her, though. No, he’d put Sydney on the bed so he could touch more of her. He tunneled his hand up under her fuzzy brown sweater.
But…it was the depths of winter. So he discovered a thin tank under that. Alex was too determined to even be frustrated. He just started again, down at the waist of her leggings, and ruched up both her tops.
The wait was worth it. Every sliver of skin that got slowly exposed was soft, pearly perfection. As sensual to his eyes as his fingers. Alex skimmed across her belly, savoring the smoothness. He didn’t want to rush through. Hit the five erogenous zones and call it a day.
No, he wanted every inch of Sydney.
Until her back arched again, drawing his attention back to her breasts. Aaaaand he refocused, just that fast.
“Kiss me,” she demanded.
“On it,” he replied. Alex trailed a string of butterfly-light kisses across her stomach, enjoying the way it flexed and tightened under his mouth. But at the same time, he palmed her breast with one hand. Squeezing. Caressing. Pinching her nipple through the layers of fabric and bra just enough to hear her breath stutter.
With his other hand, he slid beneath her to echo those motions on her tight ass. Then he swirled his tongue in her belly button, and Sydney bucked her hips.
“Points for misdirection and cleverness, but I need you to kiss me,” she reiterated.
Thank God she was as eager as him. And as vocal. Alex far preferred a woman who verbalized what gave her pleasure. “I’m getting there.”
He crawled up her body, only remembering at the last second to yank the towel along, too. Then Alex scooped her breast into his palm and out of the confines of all the clothing. He laved his tongue all around her dark pink nipple before sucking it into his mouth.
Sydney responded by digging her fingernails into his back before shifting to scrape them along his scalp. She pressed his head tighter to her. “Mmm, that’s it,” she murmured. “That’s…delightful.”
Talk about an understatement.
“We’ll call that a good baseline,” Alex said. “But plan on things getting exponentially better from here.”
If he hadn’t lifted his head to speak, Alex would’ve missed it. The faint slam of a door.
Christ on a three-humped camel.
Dropping a soft, deep kiss that wasn’t nearly long enough, Alex pushed up with both arms. “They’re back.”
“Who? Where?”
“Whoever left. I’m presuming to grab dinner? Amelia and Ever?”
Sydney managed to sit upright and simultaneously scoot back and out from under him. “I forgot about them.”
“Good. Because I was working on getting you to a state where you forget your own name.”
She tugged off the comforter and draped it across his back. Her movements were jerky, verging on frantic. Which matched her furrowed brow and pursed lips. “You’re practically naked.”
“I’m well aware of that detail,” Alex said dryly.
“Well, fix it! They can’t know…we shouldn’t…I’m going back downstairs. Wait five minutes before you follow me.” Sydney scrambled