I grow serious fast, my smile slipping as my belly tightens, pressure building between my legs. “I need you to touch somewhere other than my feet right now, Shade.”
 
 He groans around a laugh, releasing my feet to cup my knees and push his hands higher. Inch by inch, his rough palms run along my legs, feeling the goosebumps that I know are covering them. I bite my lip, trying not to fill the room with my moans when he reaches my panties.
 
 Instead of pulling them off, he pulls his hands out from beneath my skirt and pinches the sleeves of my blouse. I shiver, arching toward him.
 
 “Where do you want me to touch you?” he asks lowly.
 
 “Everywhere.”
 
 His eyes flick up my body, glittering with a thousand dirty promises. “Don’t let me choose, or we’ll never leave this bed.”
 
 “Would that be the worst thing?”
 
 “Millie.” He says it like a curse.
 
 I tug at the top button of my blouse, forcing his attention to follow. “Start here.”
 
 He doesn’t hesitate. His fingers are so long that they make the buttons look tiny as he works them out of their loops with care. And once he’s finished, we both watch as my blouse slips to the bed, exposing my stomach and the lace cups of my bra.
 
 I swallow the emotion in my throat and guide his hand to my breast, enamoured with the way his palm covers the entirety of it. The letters on his fingers stake their own claim to my body, marking me as his.
 
 “Gonna take this off,” he rasps, squeezing me.
 
 Leaning up, I make room for him to slip both my shirt and bra off. Left in only my skirt and panties, I lie back down as he studies me.
 
 My nipples bead under his attention, and I wiggle against the mattress, feeling damp between my legs. I itch to bring him closer again, until he’s hovering above me with his mouth and hands all over me, but I wait.
 
 “I want to be selfish with you. I want to cover you in my work. From here—” He palms my throat, thumb drifting over my pulse before dropping it to grip the inside of my thigh. “—to here. Just so I can look at you and know you’re mine. I want everyone who looks at you to know that you’re spoken for.”
 
 I twitch beneath that possessive touch. “And if I wanted you to do that?”
 
 His hand returns to my throat, holding a bit tighter now as his eyes flare. “Don’t placate me. I don’t need that to be happy.”
 
 Covering his hand with mine, I encourage him to stay there. His throat strains in response, jaw feathering.
 
 “Start with the butterflies,” I murmur, bending my knee and sliding my leg toward me along the duvet. “I want them where yours are.”
 
 He pulls in a long inhale before pulling his shirt off and dropping it to the floor. My eyes drop to his stomach, still not used to the sight of him like this. His muscles flex when he undoes the button on his jeans and slides the zipper down.
 
 “Show me where,” he demands.
 
 I tap my inner thigh, just below the bunched hem of my skirt. His nostrils flare as he nods once, bending to drag his lips across the area. My body tenses in response as I pulse with arousal.
 
 “No teasing,” I rush out, shaking my head. “I need you now.”
 
 “Don’t say that.”
 
 “I do. I just want to feel you, Shade. That’s all I need.”
 
 He breaks. There’s no need to argue further before he’s working both my skirt and panties down my legs and adding them to the growing pile on the floor. He undresses himself next and moves up my body, fitting himself between my legs.
 
 I mewl at the tease of pressure when he rubs through my pussy and kisses me, letting our bodies touch just like this for a few moments. It’s enough to steal my breath, desperately trying to steal his in return.
 
 “Gonna be a tight fit without stretching you,” he warns, the warning a garbled mess of tension and want.
 
 I take his face into my hands and nod, snaring his eyes. “I don’t care.”
 
 “Fuck.”