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His hand eased around the back of my neck, and his mouth covered mine with intense dedication. His lips caressed mine until I parted them with a tiny moan, and his tongue stroked deeply against my own, teasing me with the deep mimicry until my entire body was on fire and I had flattened myself against him, draped shamelessly, aching for his hands to slip lower and set fire to the rest of me.
And at that realization, I somehow managed to draw back and whisper at him in outrage that didn’t quite reach genuine. “Stop! Anyone could walk in here.”
“So what? They’re not going to be scandalized by a kiss.” His brows winged up and his lips curled. “If you want them to be scandalized, I can arrange that...”
I batted his hands away as they started to slip lower on my body and snaked away from him. “Behave.”
“I don’t think so.”
I didn’t want him to. “Friends, remember? And what if Shoshi saw us?”
“Shoshi needs to get rid of the stick up her ass.”
“She’s just trying to look out for me.”
Frustration hardened his jaw. “She doesn’t need to. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Not on purpose. “Abe...”
He silenced me with a hard, deep kiss that left me leaning against the counter, absolutely breathless.
And then Lucy poked her head around the corner, puppy-dog pathetic-ness on her face. “Wine? I need more wine.”
See? I mouthed broadly at Abe.
He laughed and picked up the bottle, lifting it in Lucy’s direction. “On our way.”
* * *
The guests started trickling out around eleven. Shoshi and Abe both stayed late, helping us clean up all the dishes, clearly trying to outlast each other. Abe finally said, “I’m going to win, you know.”
Shoshi glared at him, and then looked to me. “He’s wrong, right?”
I squinched my face up in awkward apology.
She let out an offended huff, and then practically snarled at Abe, “You hurt her, I hurt you, got it?”
“Goodbye, Shoshi.”
When she finally left, I drew Abe into my room and jabbed a finger at him. “You’re cheating.”
He grinned down at me. “Huh?”
“You’re cheating! How was I supposed to pay attention to anyone else, when you were sitting there being all—” Wonderful.
“Are you going to see any of them?”
“I don’t know. Yes.”
He lifted a tendril of my hair and wrapped it around his forefinger. I couldn’t help myself; I leaned my head toward him. He slowly moved to stand behind me, and his fingers dug through my hair and into my scalp. They stroked my head in slow, powerful motions that caused a small groan to escape out of me. I craned my neck so he had better access. He slowly gathered up all my hair and pinned it against my head with one hand, and then his other slid along my arm. My entire body tingled and I tensed with anticipation, not sure what he was doing, not sure what I wanted him to do.
But he just picked up my hand and moved it so I held up my own hair, and then his hands traveled down my neck and landed firmly on my shoulders, kneading and digging away the knots I hadn’t even realized existed. My head drifted forward and my eyes shut. I know I should tell him to stop, but it felt too good. “Urm.”
I could hear the smile in his voice. “You like that?”
His thumbs dug into a pressure point at the top of my shoulder blades, and I gave a small moan of agreement. The hitch of his breath coincided with the pause of his massage. I wiggled my back slightly to indicate he shouldn’t stop.
His hands returned and moved along my back, his thumbs stroking down alongside my spine, his broad hands curving around my rib cage. “You know, this would be a lot easier if you weren’t wearing this dress.”
