The kiss ignited immediately, going from slow and soft to deep and passionate. He pulled her up on her tiptoes, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. But when that wasn’t enough for either of them, his hands curled around her hips and pulled her off her feet completely. Her legs wound around his waist, and then he was walking her toward the bed.

Aurora broke the kiss to pull at the leather straps that kept on the collar and vest she wore. She had the top two undone when Kiran tossed her on the bed. She squealed in surprise, and he laughed as he crawled onto the bed beside her.

“You could have warned me,” she said, her hands moving quickly to undo the rest of the straps.

“Where would be the fun in that?”

When she finished with the last clasp, Kiran helped her remove the protective vest, leaving her in a linen shirt and pants. He removed her boots, followed by his own. Then he lay back and rolled onto his side to face her. She did the same.

They stared at each other, and a flicker of nerves surfaced. Maybe she needed to tell him now, before things went any further. She had gotten her pause. It would never be long enough, but it had calmed her spirit. It would have to be enough.

Kiran interrupted her thoughts by rolling her back and coming to hover over her. His upper body was propped up by his hands, and his legs were tangled with hers.

“I thought we were paused,” he murmured. Lowering himself until his body rested lightly against hers.

“We are,” she said, lifting her chin to graze a kiss along his jaw. “But it can’t last forever.”

“It can last until I’m done kissing you.”

“And how long will that take?”

He slid one of his hands past her waist, down over her hip, and to the cradle at the back of her knee. With one good tug he had her leg curled around his hip, and their bodies pressed more firmly together.

“Only one way to find out.”

He lowered his mouth to hers. He gave her every kind of kiss that night. He began with the painfully slow ones that caused pleasure so sharp it nearly hurt. He kissed her fast, as if they had to fit a whole lifetime into this one night. He kissed her hard and soft and everything in between.

Aurora waited for him to ask for more, but he never did. She almost asked herself, but found she did not mind the endless kisses that led nowhere except to the next one and the next. It made her feel like this was simply one night of a thousand more they had to go.