risk for a heart attack, my mind solely focused on getting more of this magic euphoria pulsing in my head—I’d have stopped being a gentleman a long, long time ago.
But instead of saying any of that, I just tangled my fingers into her hair and smoothed my other hand over the sides of her T-shirt along the ridges of her ribcage and said, “We should have practiced kissing a long time ago.”
“Agreed.” Her lips left mine for a moment as she nuzzled her face into my neck, kissing me there once, then twice.
Her hot breath sent shivers down my spine, and when her fingers grazed along the skin where the hem of my shirt had ridden up, a deep pulse throbbed in my belly because having her fingers smoothing along my abdomen felt incredible.
“I’ve always wondered if your abs would feel as good as they looked,” she whispered, an almost timid look in her heavily lidded brown eyes.
“Yeah?” I just stared at her in awe, unable to say much else since the way she was making me feel had overpowered any ability I had to speak.
She nodded, and then bent closer to whisper in my ear, “They feel even better.”
And then she was kissing me again. Her hands explored my stomach and my chest, sending electrical sparks everywhere she touched.
I slipped my hands down to her waist, squeezing the little bit of softness she had over her hips. My fingertips grazed across a sliver of skin on her back, just above the drawstring of her shorts—my shorts. And as I let my hand travel down farther to feel the smoothness of her legs, I couldn’t decide if I was grateful that she’d put on the shorts before coming out here since it would help with my self-control, or disappointed she had because I wanted to feel more.
I wanted so much more.
I wanted to find out if she’d used that body scrub on her whole body.
“This is so crazy,” she said breathlessly.
“I know.” I sighed, my heart so full with everything I felt for her I could barely draw in a decent breath.
Our kisses grew deeper, longer, slower, and my body ached for her—an intense longing that made me lose all sense of everything. There was only this moment. Only Arianna. Only us. And I had never felt more at one with someone in my entire life.
Her fingers traced their way along my arms, my shoulders, and my neck. Heat spread through the pit of my stomach as her mouth brushed along my jawline, leaving a path of fire everywhere she touched.
“Arianna,” I whispered when I realized just how close we were to jumping off the edge with each other. But she didn’t seem to hear me because she just continued kissing her way down my collarbone.
“Arianna…” I said her name again, even though the last thing I wanted was for her to stop. “I—we—” I blinked my eyes closed, hoping it would help me form words. “I want to make sure we aren’t taking things too fast.”
She sighed, like she didn’t want to slow down either. “I know.”
She kissed me on the lips again before resting her forehead against mine so we could catch our breath. And in the barely lit room, I found the same desire reflected in her eyes that I was feeling and it almost made me want to take my words about not going too fast right back.
Because I’d waited for so long for her to look at me like this. Look at me like I was the only thing she wanted in the whole world.
I touched her cheek with my thumb, the softness of her skin feeling so good. “Believe me, I want to go further,” I said. “I just don’t think we should do everything in one morning.”
“You’re right.” She nodded. “Just give me a few more minutes of this, though.” She caressed my bottom lip with her finger. “I promise I won’t try to take it further.”
So I pulled her mouth to mine again and allowed myself to savor everything that this moment was.
Because the best things were worth waiting for. And taking my time with each step Arianna was willing to take with me was a step I knew I’d treasure forever.
32
Arianna
I don’t know how long Cole and I lay on the couch, tangled up in each other’s arms as we made up for what seemed like years of suppressing feelings I’d been scared to admit were there. But by the time