Page 87 of All I Feel

“It’s fine, Archer. I appreciate your concern, but I promise, this is solid.”

He jerked his chin down. “Okay.”

“Great. Now thatthat’sout of the way, can we celebrate this man’s birthday?” I asked.

Several of the girls shouted birthday greetings to Ace as others made their way over to him. The guys followed suit. Then the night was all about celebrating Ace with good food, great music, and the best of friends.

We were having such a wonderful time together that the evening felt like it flew by in a flash. Before I knew it, Ace and I were saying goodbye to our friends and heading back to his place.

On the drive back, I tried distracting myself from my plans for the night by talking to him about the time we’d spent with our friends. It worked.

But when we pulled up in front of his place, the excitement and anticipation overwhelmed me.

“I’m going to go change out of this dress and get ready for bed,” I told him when we’d made it to the bedroom.

“Sure.” I could’ve sworn I saw a flicker of disappointment. Like Ace had been hoping he’d be the one to help me out of my dress. Since I had a whole plan already worked out and wanted to stick to it, I didn’t deviate from it. But I didn’t think it’d hurt to offer him a little bit of a tease.

Spinning around, I gathered my hair in one hand and looked back over my shoulder at him. “Would you mind unzipping me?”

Even as his stare grew intense and heated, Ace hesitated. But eventually, he lifted his hands to the zipper and slowly opened it, stopping just above my ass.

Still looking over my shoulder at him, I smiled and whispered, “Thank you.”

Ace didn’t stop himself from scanning my body before settling his eyes on my face. “It was all my pleasure, Tessa.”

I released my hair, letting it cascade down my back. Then, I put a little extra sway in my hips as I walked away and into the bathroom.

As quickly as I could, I freshened myself up and slipped into my nightie. No panties. No obstacles for him to overcome. When I was ready, I took one last look at myself in the mirror and took a handful of settling breaths to calm my racing heart before I reached for the knob and opened the door.

Ace took one look at me, quickly dropped his gaze, and said, “I’m just going to change.” He moved to walk past me, but I grabbed his wrist, forcing him to stop. “What’s wrong?”

“I have a birthday present for you.”

His features softened. “Tessa, you didn’t have to buy me anything. I’m honestly so happy I was able to have you with me tonight. That means more to me than anything I could unwrap.”

I smiled, loving how much he adored spending time with me. Then I countered, “Not even if it’s me you’re unwrapping?”

Ace’s body went solid. “What?”

Heart hammering, I licked my lips. “I want you to make love to me tonight, Ace.”

He seemed unable to breathe for a bit. Once he realized he needed to, and did, Ace swallowed deeply. “Tessa, I… Are you sure you’re ready for that?”

Nodding, I insisted, “I am.”

The air rushed from his lungs as he pulled me into his arms. “Christ, what did I do to deserve you?”

I didn’t get a chance to respond before he dropped his mouth to mine and kissed me.

TWENTY-THREE

TESSA

I’d never feltlike this.

Not even before my first and only other time.

So much was happening all at once, and I was helpless to contain it. It didn’t matter that I’d kissed Ace regularly over the last week. This kiss was making me feel everything.