Page 65 of French Kiss

“Slow is good. As long as you don’t move any farther away.” I reached out for his hand and pulled it toward me.

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“Perfect.”

We lay like that for a while, talking, kissing, talking. Reminiscing about the museums we’d visited that morning and the food we’d eaten. We were almost too damn tired to do anything else. Almost, but not quite. Josh traced the contours of my cheeks and chin with one finger, like he was committing every detail to memory. He tucked a loose wisp of hair behind my ear and played with my long strands that were splayed out on the pillow. Every so often, he’d bend and kiss my neck where he knew it would make me go crazy.

“Mmm… thank you for coming to Paris,” I said.

“Thank you for coming in Paris,” he replied, laughing.

“Ah, so slick.”

I rolled onto my side to face him, watching the muscles in Josh’s face move as smiled, thinking there was nothing more attractive than this smart, sweet guy who never lost confidence in himself. Nothing more sexy.

“I think you need to take your clothes off,” I said.

“What happened to slow?”

“Can’t. Sorry.”

He nodded and tilted his head into my neck, exhaling a long breath that sent shivers up my spine. Then he began kissing me softly, making a line down my neck and stopping at the dip in my throat and running his fingers lightly over my skin. He edged my shirt up and I pulled at the hem, taking it up and over my head and tossing it across the room.

“See, making a mess is liberating,” he said.

“Now, off with yours.” I didn’t have to ask twice. Josh yanked his shirt up and had it on the floor with mine in two seconds. I ran my hands over his chest, feeling every contour of his pecs, then running one hand over his abs to where his belt sat low on his hips. I dipped a finger under the waistband and ran it back and forth, feeling the heat of anticipation and the increase in his heartrate under my other hand.

“You know what’s always impressed me about European hotels?” he asked.

“The hot, naked people in them?”

“The bathrooms. They’re usually quite nice,” he said, closing his eyes as I ran my finger beneath the waistband and teased him by trailing it lower. I clearly wasn’t doing enough if he was still talking. Then I heard him groan. Okay, better.

“Okay…”

“They often have tubs and showers.”

“Ah, I see where you’re going with this.” He eased my hand into his and led me to the bathroom, which was well-appointed with a tub, a shower and lots of great-smelling lavender products. Josh turned on the shower. Then he turned toward me, slowly working my shorts down over my hips before running a hand up my thigh and along my waist. It gave me goosebumps, which turned to a full body shiver when he brought his mouth down to my waist and ran his tongue under the outline of my panties.

My head tipped back and I grabbed for the shower door to steady myself as his tongue worked its way under the elastic at the top of my thigh. Christ almighty. He was working me into a frenzy. I ran a hand through his hair and wrapped it around his neck. My eyes closed. My body begged for more.

Josh yanked my panties down and stood up, mouth hard on mine. Then he reached around to my back where he unclasped my bra and let it fall to the floor.

“That was quick,” I said.

“It was necessary.”

I felt the weight of his eyes land on every part of my body. He shook his head. “I always knew you were beautiful, but you’re heart-stopping gorgeous.”

I never knew how to handle compliments, and maybe he only meant it in the heat of the moment. But his words were even more of a turn-on than the feel of his hands on my skin. I wanted him badly but I also liked this slow seduction.

“You can trust me,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me a step closer. It was crazy that his eyes roaming slowly over me could feel like such a turn-on. But, oh my.

With his other hand, he traced the outline of each breast, then tilted my head up to look at him. “It’s taking every bit of self-control I have to take it slow.”

I could barely put my feelings into words, but I managed, “To hell with slow,” before his lips dropped onto mine. Warm, insistent. I felt a moan build in the back of my throat.

He gently bit my lower lip before kissing a trail down the side of my neck. When he lowered his mouth to one breast and flicked his tongue lazily around the tip, I grabbed on for dear life because, man, this guy was my undoing.

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