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“Got it?”
Through difficult breaths, I replied, “Mm-hmm.”
“Okay.” With that, he came gently out of his handstand until at last he was back on his feet. He turned to me, his face now ruddy from the blood that had been rushing to it. The blood made his blue eyes stand out even more, enough so that I could see their every flicker. Just then, they were busy running over my body. God, did I have the strength to resist him?
“Your turn,” he said, interrupting my inappropriate thoughts.
I exhaled and took his position in the space.
“You know what to do?” Simon asked.
“Um, I think so.”
“All right, let’s see. I’ll be here to catch you if you fall.”
That was reassuring, since I was most definitely going to fall. I studied the ground below me, thought through the movements of my body, and then nodded. This was totally doable.
I leaned forward, stuck my hands to the ground, and kicked my legs up in the air, crying, “Look, I did—”
Just as I was about to say ‘it,’ my body tilted and I plummeted to the earth. I was going to land on my back and have the wind knocked out of me. I braced for total impact.
But no impact came.
I opened my eyes, which had tightened shut during the descent, and saw that Simon had been good to his word — he’d caught me, mid-fall, in those powerful arms. He shifted his hands to my hips and move to the side so I could right myself and stand. Now, we were chest to chest, just like that first day in the woods. Only this time, there was no frantic scrambling to get away from one another, no escaping the situation.
His face was inches from mine, and my arms had, of their own volition, slid around his long neck, grazing the edges of his shoulders.
“Are you okay?” Simon asked with concern.
There was no resisting anymore. Fuck the scholarship. I needed him more than I’d ever needed anything before.
“I am now,” I whispered, moving my face closer to his.
He replied, his voice straining, “We can’t.” I knew what he meant without needing clarification.
“So what?” I returned.
Simon’s eyes were flames, open flames on cold water, their movements searing me. I could see his teeth clench, the action creating additional shadows along his jawline. He was trying so very hard to resist temptation, until suddenly he wasn’t.
His mouth found mine, his lips parting my own. Simon kissed me like it was the last kiss he’d ever have, like the fate of the world hung in the balance.
And I kissed him right back.
My arms clenched tighter around his shoulders and he hugged me closer, our faces ducking and weaving so that our lips could encircle one another more fully.
A deep growl emerged from his throat, and I knew that whatever line might have been in the sand had now been crossed. With me in his arms, his lips still locked to mine, Simon sank to his knees. Was it a kneel of martyrdom, or a kneel of holy worship?
He deposited me gently on the ground, and I knew that the answer was the latter. Those eyes roamed across my body with a newfound freedom, like they’d been chained to their fixed position for too long. He took in my heaving breasts, the erect nipples that showed through the thin fabric, the hips that I was grinding against the dirt with desperate need.
“I’m going to devour you,” he said simply, then pressed his mouth against mine once more.
Chapter 17
Simon
Fuck it.
I was done trying to deny my attraction to Catya, to pretend like I didn’t notice how brilliant she was, how funny, how hot. Enduring her temptations was impossible. Trust me — I’d tried. Now, I was ready to give into my body.
But before we could go any further, I had to do one last check.
“Catya,” I said, reluctantly pulling my mouth away from her soft one. “Are you sure about this?”
She pressed her chest up to me, and replied, “Don’t I seem sure?”
With a grin, I ran my hand from her shoulder, down the taper of her waist and to the flare of her thigh, which I gripped and hugged closer to me. Her body was opening for me like a flower, inviting me in with a full-bodied scent and beautiful petals.
“Yes,” I replied earnestly. “But you know that this — us — could cause a ton of trouble, right?” Of course she knows, my brain said sarcastically. She’s not an idiot, give her a little credit.
Her nails dug into my back as she said, “Of course I know,” as though she’d read straight from the text of my mind. She went on, saying, “My scholarship, your job… everything’s at risk. I don’t fucking care. I want you, badly. And I’m pretty sure you feel the same.”
