He took over, dominated the kiss. And me. It felt so good to be held, as if I were so thirsty for contact. I was, actually. Real contact. For once, I didn’t hold back, and I opened for him, letting his tongue dip inside my mouth, find mine. He learned me, one delicious lick at a time. I whimpered, my skin heated, I relaxed, every tight line in my body curved and blurred.
I hadn’t realized we’d even moved until Reed broke away and dropped into his chair but kept an arm about my waist, so his face was in line with my hoodie-covered breasts. He kept his eyes on mine as he worked my sweatshirt up my body. I lifted my arms to help him then saw out of the corner of my eye when he dropped it to the floor.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” he said, his voice a frustrated growl as he took in my T-shirt and yoga pants.
“So are you.”
His eyes flared with heat. With another one of those small smiles, he reached behind his neck, tugged off his shirt, dropped it on top of my hoodie.
“Like what you see?” he asked. It was only then I realized I was ogling. His body was tight with muscle. Shoulders round, neck angled. There was a smattering of dark hair on his chest that tapered down to his navel. The eight-pack of abs was impossible to miss. But it was the tattoos, the one that wrapped around his upper arm and down over his shoulder to just above the flat, dark disk of his right nipple that had me reaching out. My fingers hovered, worried I shouldn’t touch.
But when he grabbed my hand, pressed my palm against his hot skin, he groaned, and I gasped. When I didn’t move my hand, he did it for me, roaming over every perfect, chiseled inch of his torso. Only when I caught on to what he wanted did his eyes fall closed and his hand dropped to his lap.
Oh yes. Complete access to touch and study Reed’s body? It was my turn to groan. At least drool. His lips were slick and red, his nostrils flared as he breathed, his hands gripped his knees as if trying not to grab me.
“Harper,” he said, my name almost ripped from his throat. When he opened his blue eyes, he looked at me with a need so intense it stole my breath.
Two fingers gripped the hem of my T-shirt, and I felt the rough brush of his fingertips on the bare skin of my belly. I gripped his hand, stilled his fingers although when I thought about it, he wasn’t moving them. My eyes met his, and all of a sudden, I felt vulnerable.
But he deserved the truth. “I’ve… I’ve never let a man see me before.”
He frowned, a deep crease forming in his brow. “But you’ve—”
“I’ve had sex, yes, but it’s always been quick, with clothes on.” I tucked my lower lip between my teeth. “Or, only took off what was required. So…yeah.”
I sighed as Reed dropped his
hand.
“That’s not how it is between us, is it?” he probed.
I shook my head, tucked the hair that had come out of my bun behind my ear.
“I won’t take what you’re not willing to give,” he said. “But I want all of you. I want to see you, touch you. Have you in my bed. I don’t want anything between us, not even clothes.”
His voice was even, steady. I could step back if I wanted, to stop what we were doing. But after the past week, distance was gone. Secrets were gone. Everything was gone that separated us except for our clothes. He already saw me. Even the darkest spots within.
“You don’t have to hide yourself from me, but when you’re ready. If that’s not—”
I ripped my T-shirt over my head, let it fall to the floor, but that spurt of bravery disappeared, so I covered myself with my arms.
I met Reed’s gaze. He didn’t look away, didn’t look lower. “Beautiful,” he said.
I loved that he called me that, but I didn’t think he meant it now. “You aren’t even looking.”
He slowly shook his head, gently gripped my wrists from beneath my neck and uncrossed my arms, lowered them to my sides. “I don’t need to.”
I was before him in my bra and my black leggings. I should be shivering, but I was far from cold.
Finally… finally his gaze dropped, and I watched his face, watched his jaw clench, his pale eyes darken to a stormy sea blue. “Is this what you wear underneath those professor clothes?”
He raised his hand and with just the tip of his finger, traced along the edge of my pale pink bra. It was fine, sheer mesh, so nothing was hidden. I didn’t have to look down to know my nipples were hard.
“Except when I run, but yeah. I… I like lingerie.”
I had a drawer full of it. No one had seen any of it but me. Until now.
He grunted as his finger slid from the swell of one breast, into the valley between and over the other. I wasn’t overly large, a full B cup, but Reed seemed to be just fine with that.