his abs and pecs. Clearly the man hadn’t developed this toned body in the last few weeks of manual labor. Alex was lean, but super defined. And at what she’d guess was easily six three, his extra height made her feel ultra-feminine.
He nipped at the crook of her neck. “I was all for taking my time, but if you want to speed things up, I’m good with that, too.”
Centering her palms over his hard nipples, she slid back and forth. “We’ve got all night. This snow means we’re not going anywhere. If you’ve got the stamina…”
“Is that a challenge? Or are you trying to pick a fight so I’ll go all caveman and do this?” Alex bent his knees, put a shoulder at her belly and lifted her up, one hand banded across her thighs.
Sydney shrieked, then giggled. Even though it only lasted six steps, she enjoyed the hell out of being carried. Then he flung her onto the bed. “Yes. Yes to everything.”
He shucked out of his shoes and jeans while she did the same and got under the down comforter.
“Oh. There’s condoms in that porcelain box on the dresser.”
“And I’m sure we’ll get to them. But a gentleman doesn’t come unprepared to a date.” He waved the blue foil packet in the air. “I’ve got this first round covered.”
See? Responsible. Leaving nothing to chance. That’s where she and Alex were so similar, and Sydney appreciated the heck out of it.
She held up the covers for him to get in, but he only planted one knee on the mattress. And stared. Ogled.
“This has to be said before we go any further. You’re beautiful, Sydney. A vision.”
Okay. If he could stare, so could she. Black boxer briefs barely contained a bulge that made her mouth water. Legs that went on forever were well muscled and just hairy enough that she couldn’t wait to feel their roughness rub against her.
“You’re easy on the eyes yourself.”
As he climbed in, he angled down, running his hands up her legs. The outside first, sweeping from ankle to calf. And then, more slowly, the inside. His head disappeared under the covers to kiss the tender, sensitive spot behind her knee.
Alex lingered there, biting and sucking until Sydney writhed and tugged on his hair. Finally, finally his teeth nibbled up her thigh, slow inch by slower inch. When his mouth closed around the edge of her panties, she sighed in relief.
Until he kept up the teasing pace, tugging barely at all down one hip, then the other, and back again. Each time he switched sides, his mouth grazed her core and sent her pulse into triple time. His hot breath fanned the flames just as much. When he finally hooked his fingers in to pull them down her legs, Sydney almost did a fist pump.
Alex pressed a kiss that had her hips bucking. Then a long series of licks that had her fisting the sheets and moaning. She reached for his shoulders, trying to get him to move back up before she combusted.
“You ready, sweetness?”
“I was ready back in the living room. I’m eight miles past ready. I need you, Alex.”
“Right back at you.”
The seconds it took for him to strip and put on the condom felt like a hundred years. When he crawled up her body, Sydney latched her arms tight around him.
When he slid inside her with that same painstaking patience he’d displayed all night, she bowed off the bed and let out a moan of utter satisfaction.
Moans and pants that didn’t let up as he pounded rhythmically into her. Alex whispered encouragement and praise in her ear nonstop as she clawed at his back. And it was only after he let out a deep growl as she broke into shimmering bliss that Sydney realized what she’d said.
That she needed him.
What if that was true? For more than sex?
What if her plan for no-strings fun—with the guaranteed end date—had just backfired horribly?
And why was she kidding herself with what-ifs when she was utterly certain that they’d crossed a threshold and she did, in fact, need this sexy, thoughtful, wonderful man in her life?
That wasn’t what he’d signed up for.
It definitely wasn’t what she could ask for or deliver.
Chapter Sixteen
Alex’s hamstrings twinged as he rolled the ever-growing ball of snow. The last time he’d made a snowman had to be close to ten years ago. It’d seemed a million times easier when he was a kid.
Probably because kids were so short they didn’t have to