“Trying to be brave, too,” she whispers, pressing on tiptoe. Her mouth brushes mine, and air rushes out of me.
“Kate, honey—”
“Kiss me,” she pleads.
“I promised I’d wait—”
“As long as I needed, I know. And you’re wonderful—you’ve been wonderful—but I don’t need to wait anymore. At least not for these kisses.” She leans in, pressing me back into the counter, her hands scraping through my hair.
Heat spills through me, my skin burning everywhere her body presses into mine. “You’re sure?” I whisper against her mouth.
She nods.
“God, I missed your taste.” I wrap my hands around her back and drag her against me, taking over the kiss, coaxing her mouth open. Our tongues dance, slow, hot glides as my hands wrap around her hips, moving her with me, rocking, rubbing.
A soft, needy sound leaves Kate that makes my cock thicken, the air in my lungs catch. “Christopher,” she whispers. “I need more . . . I need you to touch me—”
“I know,” I tell her, hands slipping beneath her sweater, across the satin warmth of her skin. I palm her breast and nearly come from just touching her, feeling its slight weight filling my hand, her nipple tightening as I tease it with my thumb. “If it’s too much, just tell me to stop—”
She shakes her head. “Don’t you dare stop.” She reaches for the hem of my shirt and drags it up, out of my jeans.
“Kate, you don’t have to—”
“I want to,” she pants, tugging at my jeans, pulling my hips toward hers.
“Honey, slow down. Just let me do this.” I bend enough to lift the hem of her long skirt, dragging it up her leg. I slow down as I get higher, my fingertips teasing lightly along her inner thigh.
“W-what are you doing?” she says hoarsely.
Finally, I slip my hand between her thighs, cupping her over her underwear. Her legs give out, but I hold her easily, an arm wrapped around her waist. Kissing her, I mutter against her lips. “I’m giving you what you need. Let me touch you like this? Please?”
My finger toys along the hem of her underwear, dipping beneath it. She knows what I’m asking. “I need an answer, Katerina.”
“Yes,” she whispers, arching into me.
A groan of relief leaves me as I slip my fingers beneath her underwear and feel her, so beautiful—soft curls, warm, smooth skin that’s goddamn drenched.
“Christ, you’re wet.”
She sighs, tight and breathy. “You make it sound so dirty.”
“It’s not dirty.” I kiss her deeply, loving her mouth with mine. “It’s beautiful, what your body does, how it responds to me. Now hold on to the counter.”
“Why—” Her voice breaks off as I drop to my knees, rucking her skirt up and away. I press a kiss to her hip, the inside of her thigh. A shaky exhale leaves her. “Christopher, what’s happening?”
“I’m kissing you,” I tell her, toying with the edge of her underwear again. “Let me see you, here, Kate.”
A deep red blush crawls up her cheeks. “I’m all . . . natural down there.”
I groan. “You’re perfect.”
I kiss the juncture of her hip and her thigh, breathing her in, squeezing her ass in my hands as I kiss her. My fingers toy with the hem of her panties.
“You can see me,” she says quietly. “Take them off.”
I tug at her underwear, and either they’re threadbare or I’m hornier than I thought, because they rip right in half.
Kate gasps. “You just ripped my underwear.”
“I’ll buy you more,” I mutter absently, too distracted with my fingers parting those soft auburn curls, discovering pink, silky skin. I stroke her gently, lap her with my tongue. She jolts and cries out, her hands sinking into my hair. God, she tastes so good.
“Christopher,” she says shakily, “people are going to be h-here soon, and—” Her head drops back as I lean her against the counter and slip a finger inside her, then another.
“And what?”
“And—” Somehow, her blush deepens. “They could walk in on us.”
“Hmm,” I murmur against her, sucking softly, flicking my tongue, tasting her sweet, warm skin. “I think you like that, Kate.”
She sucks in a breath. “The things you say.”
I smile against her, lost in how much I love the ways she can be so fierce and fiery one moment, then shy and scandalized the next; how much I love the feel of her body, clenched around mine.