I kiss along the top of her shoulder, the shadowed space beneath her neck, the dip of her collarbone. Her breast fills my mouth and my hand covers the silk between her legs. She presses up onto her tiptoes as I tease her and I feel her nails at my neck, the sharp bite of them digging into my skin. She’s as crazed as I am. There’s no chance of a slow descent for us, a gentle discovery of each other’s body. I come to know her with a frenzy, like the opportunity might be stripped from me at any second.

Her skin burns my lips as I bend down further, my mouth passing over her taut stomach, kissing her navel. She quivers in a deliciously inviting way as my lips hit the top of her panties.

She rocks back on her heels, perhaps nervous, but then her hands are in my hair and she presses her body against me, granting me permission to take the silk in my teeth and tug them down. My fingers help loosen the material at her hips so that with one swift yank, they fall to her feet.

I’m adoring her on my knees, a beggar at her feet.

When I peer up, her big green eyes are rimmed with tears.

She doesn’t try to hide her emotion. We left pretense at the door. In this room, it’s all heart. I kiss her sensitive skin, just on the inside of her thigh.

Part your legs for me, Lainey.

Let me kiss you, here.

She isn’t shy about letting me know what she likes. She might not verbalize it, but her hands fist my hair when I run my tongue between her legs. She squirms and sighs and shakes. She rises onto her tiptoes and my hands grip her thighs and I hold her steady as my mouth stays on her, tasting and taking until I hear her start to whimper.

God, the sound.

I stare up at her as I continue, watching her eyes pinch shut and her mouth fall open. She jerks in my hands, but I don’t back off. I watch her come like I’m watching the sunrise over the ocean. A sight to behold. A sight I’ll chase forever.

When she opens her eyes again, there’s a fire burning in her gaze.

For the first time since we arrived at my house, I smile. It’s devious and wicked, and she responds by bending down and tearing at my dress shirt. It’s gaping since only half the buttons got undone earlier. She starts pushing it off my shoulders, impatiently undressing me. She wants me as naked as she is, the two of us on an even playing field. Or maybe she’s as curious as I am.

I’ve wondered about her body. In the shower, in my bed, at work—I’ve thought about these hidden parts of her, but my imagining didn’t do her justice. I wasn’t generous enough.

“Help,” she pleads.

I find her impatience cute, but she doesn’t.