I caught her chin and lifted her face to mine. "You get shy now?"
"No." Her fingers worked the buckle. "I'm trying to be respectful of the equipment."
A laugh broke out of me, rough and surprised.
Daphne smiled like she'd won something.
Then she opened my belt.
The sound of leather sliding through metal went straight through me. I braced one hand against the door beside her head and let her unbutton my jeans. Her knuckles brushed the hard line of my cock through denim, and my hips moved before I could stop them.
Her smile faded into heat.
"I felt that," she whispered.
I caught her mouth with mine, because if she started talking like that in my entryway, we weren't making it to the bedroom.
She pushed my jeans down just enough to get her hand inside.
I groaned against her mouth.
Her fingers wrapped around my cock, warm and sure, and every bit of restraint I'd spent five days building took one hard hit.
"Daphne."
"I like when you say my name like that."
"You're trouble."
"You knew that before the shoes."
I laughed once, then grabbed the back of her thighs and lifted her.
She made a surprised sound and locked her legs around my waist. Her hands went to my shoulders. I carried her down the short hallway to my bedroom while she kissed my neck, my jaw,the corner of my mouth, every place she could reach. By the time I set her on the bed, I was hard enough to ache and she was breathing like she'd run the whole way.
The room was simple, with a bed, a dresser, boots near the closet, and lake air moving through the screen. I'd made the bed that morning because some part of me had known exactly where I wanted the day to end and hadn't admitted it.
Daphne sat in the middle of my quilt and looked up at me. "This is where you sleep."
"Yes."
"You're very literal when you're trying not to jump me."
"I'm going to jump you."
Her thighs shifted, and she caught me noticing.
The garden noise fell away behind the closed door.
I stepped between her knees and put one hand at the side of her neck. "But first, I'm going to take my time."
Her breath caught. "I'm in favor of that plan."
"Good."
I kissed her again, slower now, and touched what I'd been waiting to touch: her shoulders under the tank top, the curve of her waist, and the soft weight of her breasts through cotton. Daphne arched into my palms and made a small sound that went straight to my cock.
I pulled her tank top up.
