him.
My hands move with certainty to the waistband of his shorts. But as soon as I grip it with intention, his hands come back to mine.
“Iris, honey, hang on.” I look up and find urgent heat in his gaze. Sweat mists his forehead.
“What’s wrong?” I thought I knew exactly where this was going. Could I have misread the way he’s touched me? The way he’s said my name?
“Baby—” Frustration edges his eyes. “It’s been a long time for me.”
Call me petty, but as far as I am concerned, this is good news. I’ve found myself feeling jealous of Beau’s other dance partners. I haven’t even let myself think about his sex partners. Starting now wouldn’t be a good idea, either.
“It’s been a long time for me, too,” I say, and I’ll be damned, but is that relief in his eyes? “Probably longer.”
Yeah, that’s definitely relief.
Is it wrong that I think that’s sweet?
“Iris.” Beau reaches up and presses his palm to my cheek. “I want to make love to you, and I want it to be the best you’ve ever had.”
Again, good news. “Okay.” I might sound just a little too enthusiastic.
The corners of his mouth quirk and his eyes dance. “Iris.”
“What?”
Beau smiles, his dark brows lifting with emphasis. “If you touch me right now—even a little—I won’t be able to do that.”
I blink fast, stunned. “Really?”
His chuckle does amazing things to my nether parts. I bite my lip to keep from moaning, and Beau strokes my cheek.
“Iris, I’m gonna explain this so we’re clear. You’re the woman I’d walk through a hurricane to reach,” he says, his eyes narrowing and heating at the same time. “And you’re sitting on me. Without your top. Touching me. A man can only handle so much.”
I suck in a breath. “Oh.”
His gaze falls to my mouth, and he licks his lips. “Yeah,” he murmurs. Then he pulls me down to his mouth. We kiss, and heat engulfs my body.
Beau’s hands sweep up and down my back in long caresses. I spread my legs and sink lower onto the wedge of his erection. His breath goes jagged. My hands go crazy, touching and memorizing him. I run them through his hair, down his cheeks and over his beard. His neck and shoulders. Ride the swells of the muscles down his arm. Sweep along the sides of his waist.
When I find my way back to his shorts, I tuck my hands beneath him, thread them past the elastic, and grab his muscled ass.
“Jesus Christ!” He bucks beneath me, grinding into me with such power that I see stars. I want more. I want it again and again.
I squeeze him again.
“Dammit, Iris.” Beau bites my collarbone. I squeal. He laughs. And I moan, grinding down on him.
“Dammit,” he hisses again, his hands going to the fly of my shorts. I have to let go of his ass to give him room to manage the button and zipper.
In seconds his hand is down my panties, and his fingers find my slippery clit.
“God, yes,” I sigh at the same time Beau whispers, “Holy fuck.”
His fingers graze me, inflame me, but I need more. My angle and the shorts bunched at my hips keep his touch at bay.
I waste no time. It isn’t graceful—I’m never graceful—but I pop up and manage to shimmy out of my bottoms without leaving Beau’s lap.
“Holy fuck,” he says again, eyes blazing as they run down my naked body.
I have never been here before.
I’ve only been naked, beneath sheets, in the dark. And while the storm bleeds light from the sky with her rain and wrath, a gray luminescence still glows in the windows, leaving all of me bare. Even without the light from outside, the two table lamps bathe the room in a warm gold.
And I’m glad.
If anyone is going to see every inch of me, I want it to be Beau.
And if I had any lingering doubts, he chases them away when he pushes up off the cushions, bringing us face to face.
“My God, Iris.” He kisses me again, hooking an arm low around my back. My breasts press to his chest in a move that makes us both moan. I feel the tenting of his shorts, their sleek fabric between my legs, and I move, needing it. Needing him.
Beau moans again, and his other hand travels down between us until he finds my clit again. I gasp at the contact. It’s never felt so sensitive, so eager to be stroked.
“Iris,” Beau pants