Roman chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. “Sorry. I was just kidding.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I won’t let anything get you.”
The protective way he cocooned me against his body made me believe every promise.
I tipped my head and caught his lips. He inhaled a sharp breath, then groaned. His body pressed against mine until my back bumped against the uneven wall.
“Roman,” I gasped, and blinked up at him.
“Keep kissing me.” He brushed his lips against my forehead, my cheek, the tip of my nose, and finally my lips. He slipped a finger under the strap of my bikini top, sliding it back and forth. “You look so sexy today.”
“Really?” I ran my hands down my sides. “I’m not all tall and skinny like Vienna—”
He drew back so sharply my words dried in my throat.
“Juliet, I haven’t been able to keep my eyes off you all day. And I couldn’t even remember what color Vienna is wearing if you offered me a million dollars.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He stared down and squeezed my hips, his thumbs rubbing against my stomach. “I’m obsessed with your belly button. It’s so damn adorable.”
“What?” I burst into laughter.
“Uh-huh.” He knelt in front of me and kissed my stomach, stopping to trace his tongue around my navel.
Laughter died on my lips. The ticklish sensation exploded into a streak of tingling warmth shooting to my center.
“Roman.” My voice shook.
He lifted his gaze to meet mine and ran his fingers from my knee to the hem of my shorts. “Want to kiss you here.” He pressed his lips to my inner thigh.
My whole body trembled.
He slid his hand between my legs, gently cupping me. I inched my feet apart to give him room.
“I want to kiss you here, too.”
I didn’t know what to say. My bottom lip quivered. I felt hot and tight where his hand touched me. Why were there shorts and bikini bottoms blocking him?
He turned toward the curtain of water protecting the entrance to the cave. Daylight filtered through. Anyone could pop inside, just the way we had.
He slid his hand to the button of my shorts, toying with it for a second before standing again.
A distinctive moaning and slapping sound echoed from the back of the cave.
Roman scowled.
We both turned and stared into the darkness. I caught the faint glow of a flashlight but nothing else, thank goodness.
“We can hear you!” Roman shouted.
Jameson added some grunting noises to the rhythmic thumping.
Roman rolled his eyes and returned his attention to me.
“That’s quite a soundtrack.” I smiled up at him and wrapped my arms around his neck, drawing him closer. “Forget about them.”
He slid his hands to my hips, then my legs, urging me up. Using the rock behind me for leverage, I hooked my legs around his waist, crossing my ankles to tether myself.
“That’s better,” he whispered against my lips.
He leaned into me, his hardness pressing into my center in exactly the right spot. I moaned into his mouth and tightened my arms around his neck. His body froze and he eased back.
“Nooo.” I tightened my legs around him.
He ran his hand over one of my legs and it took me a second to realize he wanted to set me down. Shaking so hard I thought I’d fall, I touched my toes to the ground.
Roman kissed me deeper, his tongue diving past my lips. I opened for him, stroking my tongue against his. He groaned and slid his palm over my stomach, quickly working the button of my shorts loose and sliding his hand underneath.
My body froze.
His movements stopped.
He broke our kiss. “I…I won’t go under your suit.”
“Okay,” I whispered. My heart pounded harder than the water falling outside.
He pressed two fingers against me and slid them lower.
“Oh!” I gasped and slapped my hand over my mouth.
“Here?” Roman pressed harder and gently rubbed his fingers back and forth.
Sparks fired behind my eyelids. Dizziness swirled around me.
“Or like this?” He dragged his lips from my cheek to my neck, while down below he changed direction, rubbing his fingers in a slow circle.
“Oh my God!”
“Mmm.” He smiled against my skin. “Like that.”
“Roman?” I whispered, desperate for something I didn’t know how to name. This was different from the day in the photography lab. More intentional, less accidental.
He kept tracing circles against me, gradually increasing the speed and pressure. My body squirmed and rocked in time with his movements. Everything in my world narrowed to where he touched me. We stayed like that for the sweetest eternity.
“Ah.” My body jerked.
The fire he’d lit inside me exploded.
“That’s it,” he encouraged.
All of a sudden, his touch was too much and I pressed my palms to his chest.
“Stop?” he asked.
“Yes…I can’t. Too much.”
He withdrew his hand and quickly buttoned my shorts. “Was that…okay?”
I slowly opened my eyes. My lips curled into a goofy smile. “Oh, yeah.”