He shrugged as if time slipping away were nothing. “You were the one who put a time limit on things.”
“But you agreed!”
He kissed one eye closed and then the other. “I said I could live with your rules.” His voice was as soft as his lips on her cheek. “You were so intent on boxing me in. Truth was, I never had any intention of my manly needs taking me anywhere outside your bed.”
“You let me worry!”
“Darlin’, you were the one who said you were an expert. You didn’t want to hear anything I said, so I figured the easiest way to clear things up was to let you see for yourself.”
“I could just kill you.”
“How about kissing me instead?”
“That wouldn’t be nearly so satisfying.”
“How do you know?”
He was completely outrageous, but he was right. How did she know that killing him would be more satisfying than kissing him? She’d never really kissed the man. Her eyes dropped to his mouth. Quirked in that half smile she was coming to like, it looked eminently kissable. Like, if she placed her mouth on his, she could snatch a bit of his laughter for herself. She made to move forward, and then stopped. “Would you mind?”
“You thinking on kissing me?”
“Yes.”
“Heck, no. Why would I mind that when I’ve lost more sleep these last two weeks speculating on that very thing?”
“You’ve wanted me to kiss you?”
“Yeah. I’ve wanted it.”
How…intriguing. He’d wanted it, and he hadn’t taken it. He’d waited for…her.
She leaned a fraction of an inch closer and placed her lips against his. Her first thought was that her instincts were right. As soon as her lips tested the texture of his, his smile wandered onto her own mouth. She liked the way his lips were soft and his afternoon whiskers tickled the edges of her lips.
She moved her mouth experimentally. It felt equally good. She stole a bit more of his smile before pursing her lips lightly and kissing him as she’d heard talked about, tentatively running her tongue around his mouth. Exploring the hard edge of his teeth and the slippery soft glide of his inner lips. When she would have pulled back, she ran against the barrier of his hand on the back of her head. She opened her eyes and found his closed. The expression on his face mirrored the feelings inside her. Pleasure. Wonder. Maybe even a bit of impatience?
He was enjoying this as much as she was. He was also anticipating where it would lead. She liked that. She moved her lips back to his. She pressed them there for a while, but it wasn’t close enough. She sighed at the pleasure. His lower lip felt fuller than his top lip. Softer. She touched it with her tongue. He hummed in his throat.
“I like that.”
His words whispered across her face. She did it again. He hummed again.
The vibration traveled from his lip to her tongue. The butterflies she’d noticed earlier sprang to life in her belly. This time, when she touched his lip with her tongue, she lingered, testing his resiliency. His breath escaped in a puff of air. She smiled and succumbed to an urge. She nipped his lip. Instead of jumping like she expected, she felt his lips stretch in a smile. “Hell cat.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I felt that all the way to my toes.”
“I didn’t hurt you?”
His response was to nip her lower lip. Sensation flashed through her body like a grease fire. “Oh!”
“Feels good, huh?”
“Oh my.”
“Hmmm.”
She eyed his lips with new respect. They obviously possessed talents she hadn’t considered. “What else feels good?”
He laughed, gave her a quick kiss, and pulled back. “Lots of things.”
She licked her lower lip and tasted him there. A shiver went down her spine.
“Tell me.”
Asa smiled. For a woman who preached convention, she sure was unconventional. “I’d rather show you.”
Before she could get around to asking the question he could see in her eyes, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tumbled them to the blanket. Before she could rethink her decision, he scooped her onto his chest, and pulled her thighs over his. She didn’t look at him while he positioned them, but he could feel the expectancy in the careful stillness of her body. He pulled the pins from her hair, letting it glide like silk over his hands. She didn’t say a word either as he gathered her skirt up over her thighs, but her gasp as he tucked the material under her told him she felt his arousal against her thigh. She wiggled her hips, ruining his alignment.
“You want to scoot around,” he drawled, stuffing a loop of the material into the sash on her skirt. “I’d be mighty partial if you moved down and to the left.”
Her brow creased. Her eyes widened as she figured out what he was saying. To his surprise, she slowly moved down until his manhood pressed her intimately. Her heat and moisture teased him through both their layers of clothing. His cock jerked and lengthened, fighting the restriction of his denims. When she pressed her hungry cunt against him again, he couldn’t prevent a thrust of his own.