Antonia smiled and shook her head. Complete awareness was what she wanted at that moment. Her eyes traveled from him to the window. Below them, on the streets of Clifden, people were still out roaming the bars. Street vendors and buskers called for customers to try their trad music over at the next drinking establishment. She looked at the door where the bathroom was and wondered if, afterward, they’d shower together. Her gaze finally rested on the bed and a surge went through her body, just below her belly. Everything in her, nerves, anxieties, and nagging insecurities began to pool at her feet. Without looking at Aiden, she heard his strained breathing. He sounded as though he were in agony. Antonia’s eyes traveled back to him. He stared at her with a look in his eyes she’d never seen in a man. In the pale light of their room, his eyes shone, burning forest green. They were hungry.

“I’ve never done this before,” she finally said.

He finally exhaled, giving a short laugh. “I was just thinking that same thing myself.”

She let her arms hang helplessly. “I don’t know how to start,” she admitted.

He slowly approached her. “We can start wherever you want.”

Antonia smiled. “From the beginning then.”

She stood between him and the door, her back resting against the cool wood. She was feverish and dazed as he raised his hands slightly and rested them on her hips. The movement seemed familiar and necessary. Antonia put her hands on his arms, feeling the cords of his muscles beneath her thumbs. His forearms were covered in springy dark hair, the same hair that peppered his chest. “Pretend we’re dancing and you’re taking the lead.”

“I don’t know how to dance,” she reminded him.

“Yes, but you’ve done this dance before,” Aiden said, removing his hands from her and placing them on the door on either side of her head. “Today is the day Antonia gets to get powerful.”

She gazed into his eyes and waited for him to touch her. “You’ll keep your hands to yourself?” she asked.

“As best as I can.”

Antonia was grateful for the chance to slowly explore him at her leisure. Aiden tended to overwhelm her senses, making it impossible to catch up with him. The way he stood over her was already incorrect. “No, this won’t work,” she murmured, switching places with him. She gently pushed him against the door and stood before him.

“That better?”

“Take off your sweater,” she said.

His eyes challenged her. “You take it off.”

Her hands trembled slightly as she reached for his waistband, dragging his sweater and T-shirt up his torso. As she pulled them over his head, he shook his hair out of his face. “That’s easy enough,” she said.

“Easy peasy.”

She ignored him and fanned her hands against his chest. His sleek hair was smooth and soft beneath her fingers. He stiffened under her touch as she grazed his nipples, watching her with the same stoic expression. Antonia slowly ran her fingers down his taut, rippling abs until she stopped at his belt buckle. She tentatively leaned forward on her tiptoes and planted a light kiss on the side of his neck. Aiden lifted his jaw slightly to receive her kisses.