Page 144 of Steamy Ever After

“To kiss the pretty girl.” He closed the distance and she stiffened. But when his hand slipped around her back, pulling her into him, she softened.

His lips were warm and gentle. He kissed her tenderly at first, teasing and coaxing, nuzzling her cheek with his nose as he found the right angle and traced his tongue across her mouth.

Her nipples pebbled tight under the cotton shirt and her toes curled. He pulled her closer, the scent of his skin all she could smell. Their legs entwined and his chest pressed into hers.

“Do you want me to stop?” he whispered, dragging those full lips over her thrumming pulse and nibbling the lobe of her ear. The trace of his warm breath sent chills down her spine.

They should stop, but everything he was doing to her felt too good. She reached for him, closing her hand around the thick muscle of his upper arm. For now, she wouldn’t stop him, but she was too scared to give him an actual green light.

“Kiss me back, Erin” His mouth found hers again, and this time he was more aggressive, opening his lips and showing her what he wanted.

Her tongue shyly teased his and he groaned, rolling her to her back and trailing his touch down her front. With no panties protecting her, his fingers easily found the warmth between her thighs.

She should stop him. This wasn’t right. They didn’t even like each other. But she liked the way he teased and stroked her softly. It was different from the way most guys touched her, and it had been a long time since anyone had been so… gentle with her.

He teased her folds, stroking softly and sliding his fingers over her flesh with a feather’s touch. Her body responded. The trace of his skin over hers was so soft, she wanted to feel everything he was doing. She parted her legs and he studied her as if checking that he was reading her signals correctly.

She closed her eyes, too afraid to confirm that she liked his hands on her, and too afraid to speak and possibly ruin the moment. He pressed a finger into her, and she sucked in a breath.

Burying his face in her shoulder, he whispered, “Jesus, Erin.” The corner of his mouth quirked against her throat as he slowly teased her, grinding the heel of his palm over her clit in a way that heightened her pleasure.

He scooted down her body, pressing kisses into her ribs and on the underside of her breasts. “Take this off.” He nudged the T-shirt up, but she didn’t move.

The moment she actively participated, she would be consenting. She couldn’t own that right now. She couldn’t deal with the fact that Giovanni was touching her and she liked it. Plus, she didn’t want the chemistry to shift. He was doing fine on his own.

He drew a hard nipple between his lips and teased the tip with his tongue. Her spine arched, pressing into him, and he sucked harder.

His mouth moved to her other breast and then lower, kissing a trail down to her navel and across the bridge of her hips until his lips kissed the sensitive spot between her legs.

Her back arched as her lips parted, a breathy sigh escaping as he drove his tongue into her. He licked her like he’d been starved for a woman’s flavor, as if she possessed the elixir of life and he wanted to drown in every drop.

“Jesus, you taste incredible…”

His words only confused her more. Giovanni never said nice things to her. He didn’t deserve to see her this way. Or maybe this was exactly what he deserved. Let him pleasure her. She had no intention of giving him anything in return.

“Erin…” He lifted her like a chalice, sipping from her body as if it were the holy sacrament.

Other men had, of course, done this to her before, but never with the attention Giovanni was giving her now. He worshipped her, anointing every sensitive inch of her skin with kisses, and whispering secrets against her flesh as intimately as a man prays to God.

“Jesus, I can’t get enough of you.”

He dropped his knees to the floor, pulling her to the edge of the bed. The blankets disappeared and he cupped her ass, lifting her closer to his seeking tongue and soft lips.

No one had ever done this to her with such devotion to her pleasure. He wasn’t after an orgasm. He touched her for the sheer ecstasy of it—hers and his. He made her head swim and her heart pound.

The pleasure became too much and she scooted away, only to have him catch her ankle and haul her back to him.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I can’t… It’s too much…”

“You can.” He delved between her thighs, licking and nibbling, teasing and soothing.

Her body tightened like a coil that wouldn’t hold. She was going to snap, but not in a pretty way. When his tongue drifted even lower, her spine stiffened. “Wait!”

He chuckled as if he liked teasing her, making her worry over the level of intimacy he might push.

She licked her dry lips, her lungs tight and unable to draw in a full breath. She was thirsty, hungry, empty, needy…

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