it all rushed through my head.
Even with my heels, he towered over me, but Aiden gently tugged, pulling me into his arms.
His hands slid over the skin of my back, my arms curled around his middle, and I breathed out shakily when there was nothing but him. Nothing I could smell or see or feel except Aiden.
All the times we’d been alone, I’d imagined heat and the lighting of a bonfire, flames hitting the sky in a sharp whooshing sound.
But this, what a slow, gentle undoing of my heart. His fingers slid up the bumps on my spine, and I tucked my body closer to his. Those hands, they pushed underneath the veil of my hair until he cupped the back of my neck.
I pulled back to stare up at him. My smile was as easy as breathing, which was sort of how it felt to fall in love with him. It was simply the way I worked, I realized. It was the big picture that I hadn’t been able to see until he was in front of me. Loving him was the thing I was born to do.
His big hand slid over the side of my face, thumb brushing the seam of my lips.
“I’m sorry I made you wait,” he whispered.
My lips split in a happy smile. “You’re worth it.”
Aiden cupped my face in both hands and leaned down. But instead of brushing his lips over mine, he kissed my cheekbone. My forehead. The tip of my nose. My hands curled into the lapels of his jacket, helpless fists that did nothing to make him hurry up and kiss me already. Then I tugged, and he chuckled against my temple.
“Impatient,” he said.
My nose brushing his, I angled my head so that our mouths were a hairsbreadth apart. “You have no idea,” I told him.
“And beautiful.” He kissed the edge of my lips. “So beautiful.” The other side.
Every inch of my body vibrated dangerously, his lips hovering over mine for a beat. Our eyes met, locked together like that, and I saw the challenge he held in his.
Sliding my hands up his chest and around his neck, I curled my fingers around the curve of his skull and pushed up on the balls of my feet, mouth sealing over his.
It was the only moment I was in control.
Aiden wrapped an arm around my waist, sliding his tongue against mine, angling his head so he could take our kiss deeper. His fingers tangled in my hair, and I tried to scramble closer but couldn’t.
He groaned, deep in his chest when I sucked on his tongue. His fingers dug into my flesh as our kiss went on and on.
Sipping at my lips, Aiden tested the way our lips moved together. Our bodies were so close, breath moving from me to him, and when he slid his tongue in a long swipe over mine, I hummed happily.
His body was so strong, so hard, and I stumbled backward, my shoulder blades hitting against sun-warmed tile. He followed me, tilting his head to suck at my bottom lip.
My head dropped back, and his fingers found the curve of my ass through my dress, grabbing hard, tugging me closer to him. His mouth slid along the edge of my jaw, the edge of his teeth pulling at my earlobe until I moaned a curse.
“Iz?” Lia called from the other side of the wall.
Aiden and I froze.
“Hang on,” I managed.
“Yeah, umm”—she sounded like she was grinning—“you’re needed for some pictures.”
Aiden stared down at me, looking very much like he wanted to devour me whole, and when I licked my lips, he clenched his jaw until a muscle ticked deliciously. He pulled his hand from my ass, sliding it up my waist, skirting the side of my breast, stopping briefly to drag his thumb along the small cutout on my midriff.
“I meant to take that a little slower,” he said, speaking into the crown of my hair, dropping a kiss on the top of my head.
I blew out a hard breath. “I’m sure as hell not complaining.”
Aiden burst out laughing, his smile broad and happy, his teeth white and straight, and he wrapped me up in his arms again.
When I pulled away, my cheeks felt hot. “Did you mess up all my makeup?”
“You look perfect.”
With a skeptical lift of my eyebrows, I ran my fingers through my hair, then picked up my clutch where it had fallen onto the grass. I reapplied some ChapStick because not even on