Page 84 of Fake it for Keeps

“Hallie,” I rasped. “If we don’t slow down⁠—”

“Don’t slow down.” Her hands were working at my bow tie, loosening it, then moving to the buttons of my shirt. “Don’t you dare slow down.”

I captured her wrists, pinning them gently above her head against the wall. She looked up at me, her eyes glazed with pure ecstasy. I had to kiss her again just because I could.

My free hand slid up her thigh, bunching the silk of her dress as I went. Her breath hitched when my fingers brushed across the inside of her thigh.

“Tell me you want this,” I murmured against her lips. “Tell me this is real.”

“It’s real,” she whispered. “God, Colt, it’s real.”

I released her wrists to cup her face again, kissing her slow and deep this time. Savoring. My thumbs stroked her cheekbones as my tongue explored her mouth. She melted against me, her hands sliding under my open shirt to touch bare skin.

The feel of her fingers on my chest made me shudder.

“Bedroom,” she whispered against my mouth.

“Too far.”

I moved her back on my couch, standing between her legs.

“You’re wearing too many clothes,” she said, pushing my shirt off my shoulders.

“So are you.”

I found the zipper at the back of her dress and pulled it down slowly, watching her face as I did. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

The dress pooled at her waist. She wasn’t wearing a bra. The dress hadn’t allowed for one. My breath caught as I took in the sight of her. Full breasts, soft skin, the rapid flutter of her pulse at the base of her throat.

“Hallie,” I breathed.

“Touch me,” she said. “Please.”

I didn’t need to be asked twice. My hands cupped her breasts, thumbs brushing over her nipples. She arched into my touch, her head falling back. I leaned down and took one nipple into my mouth, swirling my tongue around it. She gasped, her fingers tangling in my hair, pulling me closer.

I gave equal attention to the other breast while my hands explored the rest of her. The softness of her stomach. The curve of her hips. Every inch of her was responsive, eager.

She pushed my shirt off my shoulders, and I let it fall to the floor. Her hands moved across my chest, and everywhere she touched felt like fire. I’d been with plenty of women, but this felt different. Intense in a way I wasn’t prepared for.

“Bedroom,” I said, my voice rough. “Now.”

I thought to just have her bent over my couch, but I quickly realized that would never do. I needed to experience this woman. In a bed. Under me. Over me.

Once again, I was walking her backward down the hall toward my room. She kissed my neck, my jaw, my ear, making it nearly impossible to walk in a straight line. I shouldered open my bedroom door and led her to my bed. One gentle push and she sat down. I kissed her hard enough to force her back onto the mattress.

I jerked the dress over her hips and tossed it to the floor. She was wearing white panties that looked virginal. I took a moment just to look at her, sprawled across my sheets, flushed and wanting.

Mine.

That word again. Possessive and primal and completely accurate.

I stripped off the rest of my clothes, watching her eyes widen as she took in my body. When her gaze dropped lower, her tongue darted out to wet her lips, and I nearly lost it right there.

I climbed onto the bed, covering Hallie’s body with mine. The feel of her skin against mine was almost too much. I kissed her deeply while my hands roamed, learning every curve, every sensitive spot. She gasped and moaned and arched into every touch.

I kissed my way down her body, paying attention to every place that made her breath hitch. The spot just below her ear. The curve of her breast. The soft skin of her inner thigh.

When I settled between her legs, she tensed slightly. “You don’t have to⁠—”