Page 35 of Dare Me

Which she was.

Between their nightly chats and spending the day together today, he realized how he had pretty much just been existing since leaving her on that plane a year ago. With Arianna back in his life, he felt like he had a purpose—a reason to wake up, a reason to smile, a reason to be a better person.

It was her.

Slowly maneuvering them away from the table, he lifted her and put her down on the granite countertop without breaking the kiss. Her legs instantly went around him and as he stepped between them, it felt like everything they’d gone through led to this moment.

He cursed the fact that it wasn’t in his own apartment and that it wasn’t a romantic night like he’d once promised her, but right now, he’d work with what they had.

Arianna pulled back slightly and Will simply latched on and started trailing kisses along her jaw and then along her throat.

“Will?” she panted.

“Hmm?”

“Do you remember that first night when you asked me if I thought about you?”

“Mm-hmm…”

“I thought about you a lot,” she said breathlessly as her hands raked through his hair. “And most of those thoughts were sexy ones.”

This girl…

His lips captured hers in another ravenous kiss.

How many times over the last year had he thought about this—dreamed about this? How many times had he wished he could go to her and have an entire night to touch her and make love to her?

There were too many to count and now that they were here like this, he wanted to make the absolute most of it and make up for lost time.

This time, he was the one to pull back. Resting his forehead against hers, Will did his best to catch his breath. “Tell me this is what you want, Arianna,” he whispered, his hand caressing her cheek. “Tell me you want to go inside so I can kiss every inch of you like I’ve been dreaming about for a damn year.”

“I want that.”

He didn’t let her get down from her perch. Instead, he scooped her up in his arms and strode down the hall to the guest room and kicked the door shut behind him. Most of his stuff was gone, but the bed was made with clean sheets so he counted that as a small win. Gently, he placed her on the bed as they smiled at each other.

“I know this is the wrong time to be thinking of this, but…” she began and then bit her lip.

“What? Tell me,” he urged as he braced himself over her.

“I really wish we were using the bed up in your place.”

“How come?”

Then she gave a slight bounce and started to laugh. “Because of the bouncy house effect!”

Leaning down, he kissed her. “Think of it as an extra perk. And it could be fun.” For emphasis, he pushed down on the mattress and grinned as she laughed. The sight of her breasts bouncing was definitely mesmerizing and he couldn’t wait to do that again once he had her naked.

“Hey, Will?”

“Hmm?” He was nuzzling her neck and simply inhaling her sweet scent.

“I dare you to take your shirt off,” she said as she nipped at his earlobe.

In the blink of an eye, he straightened and whipped his t-shirt up and over his head. And before she could ask, he kicked off his sneakers, pulled off his socks, and shucked his jeans.

Arianna pushed up on her elbows. “Ooh…black boxer briefs. Nice.” Slowly her gaze traveled up to meet his. “I’ve been thinking about the navy ones all week.”

He made a mental note to wear them the next time.

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