The nickname hits me low in my stomach. My knees weaken again, but this time it’s not from surprise.
“I—” I swallow and quickly grab the bracelet from the table before I lose my nerve. “This. For you.” I hold it out, my cheeksburning furiously. “It’s just…I know you wear bracelets. And I wanted to say thank you. For everything.”
He looks down at it, silent. My heart starts to pound for a different reason. Maybe it’s stupid. Maybe it’s too simple. The leather is dark brown, woven tight, with matte black beads threaded through the center.
It’s the best I could make with what I have, but maybe it’s not enough.
“You don’t have to—” I start to say but he lifts his wrist toward me.
“Put it on.”
Relief floods me so fast I almost sag.
I inch closer to him, trying not to think about how close we are. His skin is warm when my fingers brush it. He tenses as I wrap the bracelet around his wrist, and I have to concentrate so I don’t fumble the knot.
This shouldn’t feel intimate.
But it does.
My hands tremble slightly as I tie it off. I’m hyperaware of everything…his scent surrounding me, the steady rise and fall of his chest, the fact that if I leaned forward just a little, I’d be pressed against him.
Heat pools low in my belly. New. Insistent.
“There,” I whisper.
He turns his wrist, examining it.
“It’s beautiful,” he says quietly.
Then his hand closes around mine, and my heart skips a beat. His palm is rough and calloused yet warm. I look up and find him already looking at me. Those steely gray eyes bore intensely into mine.
Something shifts in the air.
He reaches up with his free hand and brushes a strand of hair away from my face, his knuckles grazing my cheek. The touch is almost gentle. My breath hitches. I lean into it before I can stop myself.
“Wilder…” His name leaves my lips as a soft, needy sound I don’t recognize as my own.
That does something to him. His jaw tightens. His eyes darken, storm clouds rolling in. Before I can think, his hand slides to the back of my neck, and he pulls me against him. His mouth crashes onto mine with searing possession. He tilts my head to the angle he wants and slides his tongue into my mouth, tasting me with slow, deep licks.
His passion and hunger explode across my senses, and I whimper in response, my hands tangling in his shirt. His answering groan vibrates through me, tightening my nipples and sending goose bumps racing across my skin.
I have imagined my first kiss a million times, but nothing prepared me for this…this consuming intensity and rush of sensations swarming my body.
I moan into his mouth, the sound reverberating between us. His body presses against mine. When I feel his arousalharden against my stomach, another moan slips out of me…shocked and hungry all at once.
His hands move to my hips, gripping me firmly. Then suddenly, the floor slips from beneath me.
He lifts me effortlessly, carrying me down the hall. To his bedroom.
The room feels different from the rest of the apartment. Larger. Darker. More him. He gently lays me on the bed, then strips off his T-shirt and jeans without breaking eye contact, leaving his boxers on. My throat dries at the sight of him…strong, sculpted, powerful in a way that makes my heart race.
He joins me on the bed, and the implication of this moment—everything—suddenly dawns on me. I clear my throat nervously, averting my eyes from him.
“I…” I swallow hard. “I’ve never…I’ve never done this before.”
“Look at me.”
I raise my eyes to his, and I’m surprised at the tenderness in the steely depths. “You’re a virgin?”
