Page 58 of Hold Me Today

I lean down and whisper my lips over hers. Her fist circles my cock.

“You keep doing that and I’m gonna come.” Without waiting for what I know will be a sassy comment, I hold her tightly against me and swivel away from the wall. I head up the stairs, ignoring the creaks and whines beneath my feet, and focus on the woman in my arms.

Except maybe I focus a little too much—on the soft skin of her neck and her full, kissable lips—because I fail to notice the wood groan on the third rung from the top of the stairwell. Not until my foot’s already sinking down, down, down and Mina’s crying out in panic and the rung gives out completely beneath me.

19

Mina

It’s not every day that a first kiss with your lifelong crush ends with him thigh-deep in a stairwell.

I’m not sure which shocks me more: the kiss (God, thatkiss)or the fact that Nick is seconds away from plummeting to his death. All right, so he probablywon’tdie, but only because he’s got the muscles of Ares and the self-discipline of the almighty Zeus.

In other words, Nick is a gravity-defying beast.

With his arms braced against the walls to balance his weight off his submerged leg, Nick’s biceps strain with maximum, veiny effort. My gaze gleefully tracks the inverted triangle of his chest, and then lowers. His jeans are ripped at the thigh, torn through by jagged, splintering wood, and it’s probably not the time to bring this up, but . . .

“Nick, your—”

He doesn’t make eye contact. His cheeks do, however, flush with color. “Please, don’t.”

I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Is . . .” I lick my dry lips. “Is The Great One—”

Every line in his body sharpens. “Ermione. Please.”

Wringing my hands in front of me, it’s all I can do not to burst out laughing. Going from straight-up alpha, I’m-going-to-make-you-mine mode (not that I’m complaining) to wiping out from a weak plank of wood is something thatwouldhappen to Nick Stamos. Though I suppose we’re both to blame since I was in his arms. His muscular, I-lift-things-for-a-living arms.Hold me while I swoon.Plus, now that I know he’s not actuallygoing to fall straight to his death, seeing Nick like this has me feeling like I’ve won the lottery.

All those years of me losing bikini tops and other, more humiliating moments, have culminated in this one moment where we’ve swapped places.

I’m secretly living for it.

“We can do this one of two ways,” I tell him, purposely masking my tone of all amusement.Do not laugh. Donotlaugh.The full-on dread in Nick’s expression has me biting my lip.Oh God, just don’t make eye contact.I seek strength by staring up at the wood-paneled walls.“Actually, there isa third way, but I doubt you want me hammering anywhere near your leg. Coordination really isn’t my thing.” My nose scrunches. “You’d also probably fall to your death.”

He drops his head forward in defeat. “Death sounds pretty good right about now.”

“Is that because yourtsutsuli—”

“It’s fine.I’mfine.”

“You’re the one who squealed as soon as it made contact.”

“I didn’t squeal.”

Fingers suctioned to either wall like he’s sprouted tentacles, Nick moves his free leg into a wide kneeling position to better distribute his weight. God, his abs must beinsaneto hold himself steady like that. Though his cheeks are rosy, he’s yet to break out in a sweat.Impressive.Though not nearly as impressive as the size of his hard-on. The dick-print from my admittedly active teenage imagination was not misleading, thank you, Sweet Baby Jesus.

“And,” Nick spits out, clearly desperate to defend his manhood—literally—“no man likes to have his junk flattened. It’s like sitting on your balls—it happens all the time, but it still hurts like a bitch.”

I consider him with a tilted head. “You say this like you’ve had previous experience.”

“Mina.” He mutters the two syllables of my name peevishly, in that way only a male whose pride has taken a beating can. “I’ve worked in construction for fifteen years. There’s not one guy who hasn’t been where I am now, but at least, usually, we don’t have a witness.”

“Aw, are you worried about what I think of you?”

He grumbles something unintelligible beneath his breath.

To fluff up his ego, I drop to my haunches and cup his stubbled jaw. Yup, his cheeks aretotallyflushed. It says something about the state of my mind that I think it’s adorably cute. Dogs are cute. Babies are cute. Men like Nick are—

Pewter eyes flick up to my face. All train of thought careens to a standstill as I lean in and impulsively mold my lips to his, simply because I want another taste.

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