He took her mouth and groaned, emptying his come inside her in one hard, final thrust.
He held onto her like that, seemingly content to brace her against his front door and carry all her weight.
“I’ve got to be heavy,” she murmured against his neck.
“Hardly.” But he finally slid her down his body, slowly, capturing her mouth in a searing kiss as he did so. “Sorry. That wasn’t quite the slow, romantic seduction I had in mind.”
She grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Forget slow and romantic. I wanted you.”
“And I wanted you. Still do.” He swept her in his arms and carried her down the hall to his bedroom, kicking the partially closed door open.
He nudged the light on with his elbow. A very masculine room with dark wood furniture and a king-size bed filled the room. But what really caught her eye was the decor.
“Oh, it’s a jungle theme! I love it!”
Animal prints adorned the dusky walls. Everything from elephants to giraffes to tigers. Even the gently waving ceiling fan blades were palms. Ceiling-high palm trees towered over the bed, the fan blowing them as if a soft breeze sailed through the room. She half expected to hear the sound of screeching monkeys or the roar of a lion any second.
He set her on her feet. “Went on safari several years back. Fell in love with Africa. The animals there are incredible, the people even more so.”
“I can’t even imagine an adventure like that. It must have been amazing.”
“It was. I went with a group of vets on a care mission. Three months. It was a remarkable experience.”
“I’d love to do that someday.”
He grinned. “You can. You’re graduating next month, and soon you’ll be setting up your own practice. You can do anything you want.”
She pulled her arms around herself. “I can’t even fathom a life like that.”
“The world is opening up for you, Abby,” he said, coming up behind her and threading his arms around her waist. His breath ruffled her hair as he spoke. “Anything you can envision you can have.”
It all seemed unreal and out of reach. “One day at a time.” It was hard to believe she’d gotten this far.
Or that she was in Seth’s bedroom, for that matter.
He turned her around to face him. “You can do anything, be anything you want to be. You have the talent and the drive.”
“You have such faith in me.”
He shrugged. “I just know what you’re capable of.”
She pressed her palm against his cheek, loving the rough texture of his beard stubble. “Thank you. That means more to me than I could ever explain.” She stood on her tiptoes and grasped his neck, pulling his head to hers for a kiss.
The first flutter of his lips against hers always made her suck in a breath. It was so painfully tender, just so damn perfect it made her belly clench in anticipation. No one had ever kissed her like this, had made her gasp for breath with just a brush of lips against lips.
Not even Chad. Especially not Chad. She’d been so dumb.
And she was never going to be that dumb again. Her eyes were wide open this time.
Figuratively speaking, anyway, since right now her eyes were closed, her palms floating down Seth’s chest and resting on his pecs. His heart beat a strong and steady rhythm against her hand as he thoroughly kissed her. She melted like butter against him, leaning into his hard, sturdy body.
He reached behind her and unzipped her dress. It fell to the floor, the sensual slide of silk down her body an unbearable torture of her senses. Every one of her nerve endings, every sense was alive and awake, anticipating his touch. She could almost imagine herself in the jungle with him, surrounded by animals and trees. They’d be in a tent, and he’d undress her, lingering over every inch of her skin like he was doing right now.
He kissed her shoulder as he pulled down the strap of her bra. The sensation of fabric along her skin made her shiver with anticipation.
“Strawberries. You smell like strawberries,” he murmured.
She smiled and kept her eyes closed, focusing on the touch of his lips along her neck, her jaw, her mouth, where he lingered, brushing his lips back and forth across hers.
The man liked to kiss. And she loved that he took the time to explore her mouth, delving inside with his tongue, stroking her slowly, tenderly, with the same gentle strokes that