“I enjoy being with you,” he murmured. Consumed by wonder, he sifted his fingers through her silky brown locks. “From the start there’s been something between us.”
“I feel it too,” she whispered. “The apartment search was an excuse to spend time with you.”
With a low growl, Oliver pulled her into his arms. As her closeness warmed his whole body, he found sanity slipping from his grasp. Poised as they were on the verge of taking things to the next level, he was wary of pushing too hard, too fast. He slid his palms up her back, the fuzzy sweater slipping evocatively against his skin, and cupped her face. His muscles protested as he held perfectly still and captured her gaze with his.
“Tell me,” he urged, his voice roughened with hunger as he let his lips drift from her temple to her ear, “how you want this to go.”
“I want...” The rest of her words were lost to a gasp as he brushed the tips of his fingers over her nape.
His eyelids drifted shut, hoping he could hold still until she gave him some sign. The uneven cadence of her breathing mirrored the unsettled thump of his heart as he awaited the rest of her answer. When she shuddered, he realized she was waging her own internal war. This gave him some hope. If they were on the same page on this one thing, surely they could figure out the rest. Her small hand gripped his biceps. Sparks exploded in his mind. His whole body vibrated with anticipation.
And then she whispered, “I want to be with you.”
Electricity somersaulted down his spine and sent tingling energy dancing across his skin. He leaned close enough to kiss her and paused while his fingers traced along her jawline to the elegant curve of her neck. He didn’t rush. Last time they’d come together in a frantic hurricane of demanding kisses and white-hot caresses. This time he touched her with more care, making her tremble and her chest heave with each fitful breath.
“Oliver.” She moaned his name like a plea, and there was only so much strength in his self-control. “Kiss me.”
And so he did.
Sammi swayed at the first brush of his lips against hers. The teasing, gentle stroke made her hum. That he intended to take his time with her was clear from the butterfly sweep of kisses across her eyelids and down her nose. Desire shimmered to wakefulness, flashed like lightning and filled her to bursting. She gripped him around the waist and held on as he drew her lower lip into his mouth and gently sucked. Hunger built as his tongue stroked into her mouth. Her blood raged as she clung to him, needing more.
Her lashes fluttered as his strength surrounded her. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she gloried in the erection pressing against her. He was everything she wanted, and she used her lips and hands to tell him so. The world spun around her as he nipped her throat. She moaned in frustration as his hands skimmed over her curves, the barrier of her clothes dulling the sensation of his touch. Even still, his urgency was wildly exciting. She began to writhe against him, tunneling her fingers through his wavy hair and fusing their lips together. His tongue danced with hers, plunging in and out of her mouth, a tantalizing prelude for what was to come.
She was drowning in bliss when he swept her into his arms and carried her down the hall to his bedroom. With her arms wrapped around his neck, he crossed the room in two long strides and stopped beside the bed. And stilled. Before she knew what was happening, he’d lowered her feet to the floor. A moment later he jerked his hands back and stared down at her. She grasped his arm, her nails flexing into his muscles, protesting his retreat.
As his blazing blue eyes captured her full attention, Sammi realized they hadn’t yet reached a point where it was impossible to stop. Had he come to his senses? Were they to remain platonic and avoid heartache?
“Oliver?” Her lungs seized as panic gripped her. He couldn’t stop. She needed him. Why didn’t he understand that he was everything she wanted? “What’s wrong?”
“Sammi...”
His immobility made her heart sink. Had she pushed him away once too often? Of all times for him to listen. Was he going to pick this moment to agree that sleeping together again would be a mistake?
“Damn you, Oliver Lowell,” she raged, grabbing his shirt and shaking him as concern etched his handsome features. Need sparked in her stomach, before surging downward. “Don’t you dare go all noble on me now.”
He was giving her an out. The realization made her furious. Something raw and irrational raced through her. She embraced the recklessness. If he needed her to demonstrate that she wanted him, then she’d do just that. Sammi wrestled with his T-shirt until she succeeded in stripping it over his head. They stared at each other, and the only thing breaking the silence was their panting.
“Don’t hold back,” she whispered, her cheeks on fire. “Tell me what you want to do to me.”
This seemed to be the cue he’d been waiting for, because he slid his hands beneath the hem of her sweater and skimmed it over her head. The air struck her skin and made her shiver. His eyes darkened as they trailed over the nearly transparent material.
“I want to suck on your breasts until you moan,” he said, feathering his fingertips over her bra’s delicate lace cups.
Hunger tightened her nipples to hard buds and wrenched an inarticulate sound from her throat. She caught a
