To hold on and attempt some level of control, I slid my fingers into the thick soft curls at his nape and gently tugged. With a moan, he smoothed a hand down my back to the curve of my ass and tucked me closer to his body. I rolled my hips into his, and Alexi tore his mouth from mine with a harsh curse.

“Abbie, you’re addictive. I can’t stop.”

I trembled in his arms. “Then don’t.”

“Christ. You can’t say things like that to me. I could happily occupy myself kissing you for decades.”

I shivered as he slid a hand up under my tank top and found the hardened tip of my nipple. My body remembered the feel of his gentle teasing in the lab and wanted more.

Breathing hard, he pulled back. “Is it okay if we take this off?” He tugged on the hem of my tank softly. Even though his eyes were clouded with lust, I knew he would stop if I asked.

I nodded. And catching the hem with sure fingers, Alexi lifted the thin fabric over my head and deposited it on the floor.

“Wow.”

Self-conscious under his gaze, I fought the urge to cover myself. Alexi kissed me softly before shifting me so that my head was closer to the headboard. He then settled his body between my legs, tracing a path of kisses from my lips to my jaw, to the sensitive hollow between my neck and my ear. Slowly, he brushed kisses over the tops of my breasts, and I held my breath.

Leaning down, he breathed soft kisses on first one, then the other nipple, each responding to his caress by instantly budding into hard little peaks. Focusing his attention on one, he drew the dark bud into his mouth, taking greedy tugs, while his thumb teased the other.

I bucked, and my back bowed as pleasure reverberated through my body. Alexi took his time, paying close attention to how I responded to his tongue and to the gentle use of his teeth.

Too impatient to wait, I tugged at his T-shirt and half dragged it off his body. With a chuckle, he released my breast long enough to discard the shirt. When he resettled into position, I sucked in a sharp breath. The heat of his skin nearly set mine on fire.

I traced my palms over the skin of his arms to his wrists. Some of his bracelets shifted, and I could feel faint ridges over his arms. What were those?

My gaze searched his looking for answers. I found them in a kiss. “We all have scars,” he whispered before his teeth nipped my bottom lip.

Tingling started in my spine. I couldn’t form a single coherent thought. The only way I could communicate was to hold his head in place and to rock my hips into his body.