closer as he brought his mouth to mine. Our lips brushed across each other,
 
 quietly searching.
 
 My own were soft and dry and desperate for his kiss. We’d done it before
 
 in the Michigan woods, in the heat of despair and chaos and barely surviving
 
 death. This was everything that hadn’t been, yet the overwhelming sense of
 
 rightness was the same. My mouth didn’t just want him—it needed him.
 
 I pressed my lips against his.
 
 He parted them, drawing in everything I had to give. My pulse raced as I
 
 kissed him back and let my tongue search for his, wanting nothing more than
 
 to taste him, to drink him in.
 
 Heat rose within me as the waters of my body met, and my legs trembled.
 
 I needed more. His kiss was too hesitant. Too soft. I bit his lip and pulled him
 
 to me. He gave a low, possessive gro
 
 wl that sent shivers along my spine and
 
 raised the hair on my skin.
 
 He dug his fingers into my shoulders, and I moaned with delight. He bit
 
 my lip in turn, but still, it wasn’t enough. My flesh needed his. We were too
 
 far apart.
 
 I shifted my arms and let the towel slip away, though the little dress of
 
 shadows I’d woven around myself stayed in place.
 
 As the towel landed at our feet, Jaxson broke off our kiss and met my
 
 eyes. His pupils dilated, devouring me.
 
 My arms were pinned between us. I pressed my palms to his chest. His
 
 steady heartbeat pounded against my fingertips as his hands began to drift
 
 slowly down my shoulders to my back and then down along my sides.
 
 A shiver ran through me, and my skin prickled beneath his gentle touch.
 
 At last, after an agonizingly slow descent, his fingers came to rest on my
 
 waist. I licked my lip, and he gently pulled my hips forward. He was hard and
 
 unyielding against me, and I wanted everything he could give.
 
 I undid his shirt one button at a time, moving my hands deliberately