He kissed his way down her neck, pausing at the wild pulse fluttering at the hollow of her throat, and then his mouth was on her breasts. He nipped and licked and kissed until she was writhing and whimpering and nothing more than fuck and please and so fucking good.

“God, I could watch you coming apart all day.” He whispered the words between kisses, his voice low and raspy. “I want to see it again and again and again. I want bruises on my shoulders from your fingers. I want my tongue between your legs. I want to be inside you.”

“James Kelly,” she whispered. “You’re really good at this.”

He tore himself away long enough to grin at her, a shy, boyish grin that splintered her heart. She couldn’t believe she’d ever thought him scowly, cold, and unreachable. He was the purest alchemy, lead to gold. Each time he looked at her, it was like he was looking at her for the first time, and each time he looked at her like that, she was lost.

She skimmed her hands down the lean, muscled planes of his torso, delighting in the way he shuddered at her touch. It seemed only fair, considering every part of her that he’d touched and kissed had turned electric. “We should probably get on the bed,” she said. “You’re not in the first blush of youth, you know. You could do your back in if we stay down here.”

Eyes twinkling, he licked her nose. Mika curled her fingers around the back of his neck and pulled him back down to her, kissing him until her body softened with heat and his eyes went hazy. He broke the kiss and kissed his way down her neck, then kept going, making her laugh helplessly as he nuzzled her along her ribs. She’d never known sex like this, this absurd, bewildering mixture of lust, mind-boggling pleasure, laughter, and silliness, but it was perfect.

He hooked her legs around his waist and scooped her into his arms, and then they were on the bed. He kissed her, one hand between her legs. He swore under his breath. Her hands were on the button of his jeans. “Now,” she whimpered, writhing beneath him. “Please.”

He kicked off his jeans. His eyes held hers. “Are you sure you want this?”

“I don’t know, Jamie,” she said solemnly. “You’re the one with your hand between my legs. What do you think?”

He made a low noise, his fingers still stroking her, and then he pulled his hand away and braced his arms on either side of her head. In one thrust, he was inside her. She bucked at the wild surge of pleasure. He shuddered, pulling out and thrusting in again, his eyes falling closed like he was helpless.

It was too much and not enough and everything.