She studies me, her mouth doing that almost-smile, the one that says she's thinking very dirty thoughts and probably categorizing them by achievability. I would literally kill to know what's going through her head, but she's a fucking vault sometimes.
She turns, hauling me after her, and we collapse onto her bed in a tangle of limbs and staticelectricity.
I'm on my back with her straddling my hips, the hem of her pretty little dress riding way the hell up. Without her tights, her panties are on full display. I am not complaining. Ruining those tights was the highlight of my night.
I slide my hands up her thighs, letting her grind against me, and pretend I'm not half a second from coming in my pants.
She arches an eyebrow. "You planning to fuck me in this dress again, Kirk?"
I sit up, drag her closer, letting my teeth graze the skin just below her ear. "I was going to fuck you out of it, but if you're that attached…"
Her laugh is half moan, half challenge. "Destroy it for all I care."
God, I love her.
And there it is, the thought that's been riding shotgun in my brain since day one. I'm in love with her.
The truth damn near slips out. I want to say it so badly I ache, but I bite my tongue because she deserves more than a drunken Christmas Eve confession.
So I show her instead.
I flip her onto her back, gentle but firm, and she squeals like she didn't know I could do that. She tries to scramble up, but I pin her wrists above her head, grinning down at her. She's breathless and beautiful, staring at me like I pulled the sun from the sky and handed it to her.
"You're fucking perfect," I say. "Have I told you that tonight?"
She shakes her head, hair wild on the pillow. "No. You've been too busy threatening to maim your teammates for looking at me."
I dip my head, tracing a line down her throat with my tongue, breathing her in. "You should see the way you look from across a room," I whisper, my lips brushing her pulse. "You're so beautiful it makes me stupid."
"Trent," she says, and my name on her lips is a fucking masterpiece.
I kiss her, deep and slow, taking my time, tasting the last traces of cocoa and wine on her tongue. She kisses back harder, more urgently, nipping at my lip like she's trying to draw blood.
I release her wrists and run my hands down her arms, her sides, over her hips. She shivers under my touch, arching into me. Christ, I want to spend the rest of my life making her shiver just like this.
I break the kiss and sit back, sliding my hands under her dress. She gasps when I grip her thighs, but she doesn't stop me. If anything, she spreads her legs wider, daring me to keep going.
I push the dress up, slow, savoring every inch of her skin, before flinging it to the floor, leaving her in lacy red panties and a flush that belongs in a fuckingmuseum. She's perfect. She doesn't think so, but I could spend the rest of my life proving her wrong.
She bites her lip, cheeks pink. "You know you're overdressed, right?"
I make a show of pulling my suit jacket off, tossing it onto her desk. I loosen my tie with my teeth. She snorts at that, which makes me do it again, just to get a second laugh. Then I unbutton my shirt, slow as hell, letting her watch every move. When I slide it off, she stares at me, eyes wild, like she's memorizing every scar and muscle.
She crosses her arms over her chest, suddenly shy when I'm naked and kneeling above her. I lean down to kiss her hands, then her shoulders, then every inch of skin she tries to hide.
"You're unreal, Dani," I murmur, tracing her collarbone with my tongue. "I could spend hours just looking at you."
She shakes her head. "You're so full of shit."
"I'm serious, baby."
She tries to sass me, but I shut her up with my mouth, trailing hot kisses down her throat, between her breasts, across her stomach. I go slow, drawing it out, until she's squirming and whining and begging me to hurry up.
But I don't hurry. I don'twantto hurry.
Instead, I kneel between her legs and slide my hands up her thighs, pushing them apart until she's completely open for me. I kiss the inside of her knee, then higher, then higher still, until my mouth hovers right over her panties.
She's already soaked.