Her knees threatened to buckle, but she was afraid to anchor herself against him. If he stopped, she’d cry. She needed more, much more. She couldn’t breathe for needing.
She kissed him back harder, and he groaned against her mouth and swept his hands down her back, across her shoulder blades, along her spine. Lower. He squeezed her behind, and her inner muscles tightened.
He pulled her close and rolled his hips so his hardness pressed against her. She gasped as an electric thrill shot straight to her core, and she arched against him, clinging to the lapels of his coat. It was either that or fall.
Closer, she needed closer. She tried to melt into him, rubbed her body against his, but it wasn’t enough. Her palms ached to touch and explore, to know him. She resisted the urge and gripped his lapels tighter as he kissed her jaw, nipped her earlobe, and sucked on her neck. Goose bumps rippled over her skin.
The room spun in a dizzying swirl, leaving the two of them in a world of their own. All she knew was the safety of his embrace, the heat of his mouth, and his scent—soap, aftershave, man. They needed a bed, a wall, a table, anything. She wanted him now, and he was so ready—
“They put too much oil in the soup,” a familiar loud voice said. “But the fish was—oh father of mine.”
His mom and several of his aunts stared at them from midway down the stairs.
Esme and Kh?i tore apart at once. Blushing furiously, she smoothed shaky hands over her dress as the ladies finished descending the stairs.
“Chào, Cô Nga,” she said before inclining her head toward the aunts. She pressed her thighs together, not used to being this aroused in a room full of people.
Kh?i ran a hand through his hair. “Hi, Mom, Dì Anh, Dì Mai, Dì Tuy?t.” Averting his eyes, he sucked his swollen bottom lip into his mouth. Oh sky, her lipstick was all over him.
“Anh Kh?i, let me—I . . .” She lifted a hand toward his face. When she hesitated to touch him, he brought her hand to his jaw.
“What is it?” he asked.
“My lipstick.” She brushed her thumb over a smear at the corner of his reddened mouth, but it wouldn’t come off. “Oh no, Kh?i.”
Instead of getting upset like she thought he would, he smiled, flashing those dimples at her, and warmth flooded her heart.
He didn’t mind getting caught kissing her.
“Young ones, ha?” one of his aunts commented, and the others tittered into their hands like schoolgirls.
“These two kids.” Cô Nga tried to sound stern, but she couldn’t keep a smile off her face. “Go home already. People will see you.” She dug through her granddaddy-sized purse until she came up with a tissue and handed it to Esme. Then she dragged the aunts off.
As soon as the front doors swayed shut, Esme lifted the tissue toward Kh?i’s mouth, but he dodged it and kissed her again, a slow, thorough press of lips to lips. The tissue bunched up in her hand, forgotten, as he threaded his fingers into her hair and tipped her head back so he could kiss her deeper.
A throat cleared.
But this time, when Esme tried to wrench herself away, Kh?i’s arms wrapped around her and held her close. She looked over her shoulder and found Quân watching them with his arms crossed and a big grin on his face.
“The older folks are starting to leave,” Quân said. “You guys might wanna . . . take this somewhere else. You know, so you don’t give them heart attacks.”
Kh?i looked from his brother to Esme and loosened his hold on her somewhat. “Do you want to go with me . . . or stay?”
> “I want to be with you,” she whispered.
That beautiful smile spread over his face again. “Let’s go, then.”
They separated, and Esme tucked the hair behind her ear, not sure how to act around Quân now. But he didn’t seem angry or insulted. If anything, he seemed pleased. Had he orchestrated this somehow?
Quân gave Kh?i one of those American handshake/one-armed-hug/back-slap things. “Call me if you need anything. Have a good night, you two.”
He winked at Esme and climbed back up the stairs, and she waved at him awkwardly. Kh?i opened the hand his brother had gripped earlier, and a shiny foil lay in his palm.
Heat exploded in Esme’s cheeks, but she couldn’t help grinning. Quân was the best brother ever.
Kh?i shifted the foil so he held it between his index and middle fingers and considered her with a steady gaze. “Will I have the chance to use this tonight?”
She bit her lip as breathless anticipation bubbled through her veins. After picking up the book he’d dropped on the ground earlier, she glanced at him over her shoulder and said, “I hope so.”