“That’s no fun.”
She let out a weak laugh and hoped he wasn’t as disappointed in her as she was in herself. “No kidding.”
In a flash of movement, he shrugged off her closed fists, lost the shirt, and dropped the balled material behind him on the floor. Then he hovered over her until she flattened against the door. The spark in his eyes wasn’t one of concern. That was confidence. The kind a man got when he knew exactly what he was doing. A little thrill swirled low in her stomach. It’d been a long, long time since she’d been with a man who knew what he was doing.
He palmed the door on either side of her head and leaned in, choking the air with that spring-and-sunshine smell of his. “Would you feel better if you knew what was on the list?”
The list. She swallowed hard. Would that make her feel better? “Did you really make a list?” He was still leaning into her, but not crowding her, just… close. Too close for her to think.
“I did.”
She sucked in a breath and he tilted his head to the side and ran his tongue along her top lip before kissing it softly. “Want to know the first thing on my list?” He licked a long, sensual line along her bottom lip and then kissed her damp mouth with his, sliding his tongue inside to tangle with hers in aching slow motion.
When he pulled away, she sighed, her bones the consistency of melted chocolate. “Was that the first thing?”
He licked his bottom lip. “Taste as good as you look,” he said. “But no, we haven’t started the list yet.”
Her spine dissolved into the door, her legs barely holding her up. She managed a satisfied smile, though, both at his compliment and the fact he’d made a list after all. A list of all the things he wanted to do with her. Had he written it down? Would they check it off as they went? Not only had he taken her seriously, but he wanted her. Wanted her in the same way she wanted him.
She said a quick side prayer of thanks for Evan’s showing up tonight, grateful that Landon had rearranged the floor plan. For her?
For them, she decided. That seemed safer somehow.
No tugging heartstrings allowed.
She could appreciate that he’d set his sights on her with laser focus. That he’d approached this task with a single-mindedness she was learning was his usual MO. And she could do it without worrying about the future, about their relationship potential, whether or not her mother would like him.
A fling. Well and truly.
His fingers skated along her bra straps, effectively clearing away all those pesky thoughts. He slid the straps down, his fingertips tickling the sides of her arms, then her wrists, before he swept the bra away completely. He drew circles around her nipples, teasing but not touching them. The experience of being touched so patiently, being taken to the height of frustration was so erotic, she wanted to cry.
She was wrong a moment ago when she thought she hadn’t been with a man this confident in a long time. She’d never been with a man this confident. Never had a man taken so much time to focus on her. Usually sex was a frantic rush. A race to finish. But Landon had made it clear he wasn’t racing or rushing. His big hands circled her small breasts again, making her feel so feminine it hurt.
She decided then she would give herself over to him and his “list,” regardless of what was on it.
How unexpectedly… thrilling.
His hands continued in an arc, but he didn’t give in and touch her nipples. They peaked painfully and she arched against the door, straining toward him, begging with her body for his touch. His hands warming her body, he kissed his way down her jaw, to her neck, even ran his tongue between her breasts, but refused to touch the aching buds no matter how much she silently insisted.
Raising to his full height, he leaned in, stopping shy of touching his chest to hers. She closed her eyes and waited for the feel of his body on hers, but it didn’t come.
“Just ask,” he whispered.
Her eyes flew open. She panted, swallowed, and recalibrated her scurrying brain.
A sly smile crossed his lips. “There’s something you want. I can see it.” His breath feathered her ear when he spoke next. “I can feel it.”
“Yes,” she breathed. His body heat washed over her, causing her to shudder in anticipation.
He thumbed her lip and watched her, eyebrows raised, that sly—no, more like cocky—smile resting on his face like it had a right to be there. Only it did. Because his pattern of seduction was working on her. All too well.
Okay. He wanted to hear her say what she wanted? She could do that. She raised her chin and met his eyes. “I want you to touch me.”