“Paul,” she whispered, hesitating. “We shouldn’t…”

He closed the door and put his arm around her waist, bringing her in close to him. “Just this,” he said as he kissed her. “Nothing more.”

Her arms encircled his neck and her body pressed tightly to his, making him want much more than her enthusiastic kisses. They stood there like that, in the dark room, for a long time, kissing like two people who’d been starving until they found each other.

Paul walked her backward to his bed and came down on top of her, making her gasp from the press of his erection against her center.

Her fingers tightened in his hair as she dragged him into another kiss.

He wanted to touch her everywhere, to explore the curves that had captured his attention from the first time he met her. However, he kept his hands flat against her back, because he’d promised they wouldn’t go any further. That promise wasn’t easy to keep, however. Now that he’d had another taste of her, he wanted so much more. He broke the kiss and moved to her neck, where he kissed and licked the sensitive skin there, making her arch into him in silent demand.

Her hands moved down his back, finding the hem of his shirt and then sliding underneath.

Paul trembled from her touch, his desire for her exploding the instant her skin brushed against his. As much as it pained him to stop, he pulled back from her, mindful of his promise not to take advantage of the opportunity she’d given him. But God, he wanted to.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“Why did you stop?”

“Because if I don’t, I won’t be able to.”

She slid her hand from his back to his stomach and then up to touch his chest.

Paul forced himself to stay perfectly still, afraid that if he so much as uttered a sound, she might remember all the reasons this wasn’t such a great idea.

“Touch me, Paul.”

He closed his eyes and summoned the control he needed to go slow, to give her tenderness rather than the desperate need that every stroke of her hand was building in him. Beginning with her bare arm, he ran his fingertips over her soft skin, causing an outbreak of goose bumps that made him smile. Returning to her shoulder, he eased the strap of her tank down, kissing the length of her collarbone.

She squirmed under him, pushing against his erection and nearly making him forget all about going slow. He wanted to strip her naked and lose himself in her warm sweetness right now.

“I’m having highly indecent thoughts, and all of them involve you,” he said.

“Right there with you.”

He tugged on her top. “Could we maybe take this off?”

“Only if we take this off, too.” She smoothed her hands up his back and took his shirt with her.