in sensual offering. Her hair was fire bright and her skin had a silky sheen that invited him to explore every inch with his tongue.
That didn’t mean they couldn’t play and tease. He put a finger to his chin and affected an air of deep thought. “Well, there is good news and bad news on that front.”
“I see,” she nodded, putting her own finger on her chin to mimic him. “Please start with the bad news.”
“I’m a young man about to have my first sexual experience. I believe the words premature ejaculation was created for just this scenario.”
Kira pressed her lips hard together, but she couldn’t fully contain the snort of laughter. She breathed hard through her nose, and when she had some control again, said, “I hope the good news can cancel that out.”
He lowered himself so that he was holding himself slightly above her, their mouths inches apart. “I believe it can. For you see, I am a young man, and that means my second time will last quite a bit longer, as well as the fact I am able to have a second time. And a third. Possibly even a fourth.”
“Indeed. I completely agree with you on how they balance in the end.” Her smile lost the humorous edge and deepened into something more intimate, more loving. She wrapped her arms around his neck again and pushed her mouth up to his.
Their lips were firmer this time, less tentative. He explored the curve of the top lip and the long, thin line of the bottom, little nips and slight suction that brought forth throaty sounds.
Kira returned his actions with her own. His mouth was her territory, and she claimed it however she wished. His lip found itself between her teeth, sucked into her own hot mouth, and the feel of her tongue pressed against him had his body hard and begging in the space of a heartbeat.
Her hands stroked through his hair, sensitizing each strand. He returned the favor and lay his hands on her back, her skin warm through the thin material of her shirt. With slow movements he stroked along the curve of her spine, only to have her make such a needy little mewling noise that the urge to strip her overwhelmed him. He pulled his mouth away from hers. “I want to touch your skin.”
She must have agreed with the sentiment if the speed at which she drew her shirt over her head was any indication. Her red hair lay stark against her naked shoulders and over the bindings across her breasts.
She looked a bit frailer than he imagined. With her strength of both body and will, she loomed larger in his mind’s eye. Seeing her as she truly was brought him up short.
Kira must have sensed his reservations. She took his hand, brought it to her mouth. With gentle nibbles and quick flicks of her tongue, she mesmerized him and a desperate need bloomed in him, one that must be satisfied.
When her mouth was finished, she placed his hand on the edge of her bindings. She smiled, that perfect smile.
This is going to happen.
Yes, it is.
He smiled back.
Chapter Nine
Seth leaned in to kiss her, his fingers wrapped around the corner of her bindings. Kira welcomed the return of his mouth, but this kiss didn’t have the questioning edge of their first or the blinding heat of the second.
This kiss was coming home. This kiss was about fitting together as they always had, two friends on their way to being lovers.
Tears seeped from behind her eyelids and she closed them tighter, forbidding them to fall. No. One night was all she was going to have. She refused to let it be touched by regret. That was later. Now was only the making of the memory.
The bed was soft and the fire warm, but beyond that her senses only knew Seth. His dark hair was so soft under the pads of her fingertips, almost tickling as she swept her hands through.
He broke off the kiss slowly with small kisses to ease away. His gaze left hers to fix on where his hand lay on her chest, and it was only then that she realized his skin was several shades darker than her own, a testament to his love of the outdoors and the fact that she did not share it.
And then his fingers pulled. Around and around, the wrapping came undone. With its constriction gone, her breathing should have gotten easier, but it was