“We can do that if you’d prefer it.”

I look over and see a little look of disappointment on his face, so I reach out, taking his hand. I don’t want him to think I’m unhappy or ungrateful for the over-the-top gesture. I love it. It’s sweet he took so much effort to do this. At every turn, this man keeps surprising me, showing me he isn’t who I pegged him for that first day. A little guilt hits me.

“No!” I say too loudly, and then try to recover. “No. This is perfect. Thank you. This is more than I expected. It’s really sweet.”

He squeezes my hand back, and the dimples return. Those adorable dimples are going to break me. Even more so when I say something that makes them appear.

“What would you like?” He indicates the trays, and I’m overwhelmed.

“I think I have too many butterflies to eat yet. Coffee?”

He smiles at my words and reaches for a cup beside him. “Lots of cream, lots of sugar and a dash of cinnamon.”

“How did you know that?” I ask, gripping the cup. I take a sip. It’s perfect. Exactly how I like it.

“I have my ways,” is all he says in response. It warms me that he’s taken so much effort to find out little things about me, adding to the bubble around us. It’s almost like a thrill and I want to hold on to a little bit of that mystery.

He looks down at my coffee cup, and I raise an eyebrow in question.

“Looking to see if you left a mark.” He takes the cup from my hand and places it back in the holder next to him. He looks at me with such intensity, I’m about to ask him what’s wrong. But suddenly, his hands come up to my face and his mouth is on mine.

His lips are so soft, but in them is a need beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. My mouth opens, taking a breath, and his warm tongue slips inside. He moans at my taste, and I put my hands on his shoulders, clinging to him. Not wanting the kiss to end, or the sensations that it’s causing. I didn’t know a simple kiss could do this. Make every part of you come alive. All thoughts of the world dropping away and leaving only this one moment. But that’s because this kiss isn’t simple at all. This kiss is everything.

I lick him back, wanting to taste him, too, and needing to be as close to him as possible. I run my hands up the back of his neck and into his hair. My body is out of my control as I grip the short length and try to hold on to him.

His huge hands slide down my sides to my waist. He pulls me to him in a possessive hold, and suddenly I find myself sitting on his lap, his erection digging into my hip. It should probably scare me but it doesn’t. It makes me feel desired and feminine. The kiss deepens, and the taste of cinnamon goes from my tongue to his. His cologne rubs onto my body as my full breasts push against his suit. For a split second I want to reach down and rip his shirt open so I can touch the skin of his chest, but as he bites my lower lip, all I can think about is the ache between my legs unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. I had no idea it could be like this.

He palms my ass and pulls me closer to his hard cock. I’m sideways on his lap, but I want to wiggle my dress up and straddle him to try to relieve this pressure that’s building. I want all of my body against his, and I want it now. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve ever lost control, and it’s fucking amazing.

When I make a move to straddle him, one of his big hands comes down to gently rest on my thigh. Breaking the kiss, he looks at me, and I see the need in his eyes matches my own.

“Mallory,” he whispers, and it sounds like he’s begging me.

Doubts of this all being a game to him slip past me in that moment, in the way he says my name. The hunger he has for me. I’ve never had that from anyone. To look at me with so much want and need. I want it. I might be jumping off the deep end, this being my first relationship, but for once I don’t care. I’m not planning and looking at it from every angle. I’m going and it’s a little freeing. To let go. Let him catch me even if it’s only for this moment and it’s all I have. He could break my heart but I’d still remember every second of this. This seems so right. It has to be. I’ve never felt like this with another person before and I can’t let this moment pass me by. I won’t let it.

I try and move again, but he holds my legs together so I can’t. When I open my mouth to ask him why he’s stopping me, he plays with the hem of my dress.

“This.” His voice is soft as his fingertips trail up the inside of my thigh.

I keep my eyes locked with his as I let my legs fall open for his touch. His hand slips under my dress and up to my panties, and I nearly moan at the contact. I’ve never had a man touch me here, and as Oz’s big fingers delicately touch the damp spot on my panties, it nearly makes me combust.

“Oz.” There is such need in my voice, but a little panic, too. I want this, but I’m terrified. This is absolutely crazy, but I don’t want to stop to think about that right now. Later. I will think through all of this much later.

“I’ll take care of you, Mallory. Always.”

He slowly pulls my panties to the side, and I shiver at the first touch. He rubs my soaked pussy, reminding me of how turned on I am. His breath catches as he touches me, and knowing he likes it turns me on even more.

I cling to him, my fingers in his hair, my legs open for his touch. He rubs my clit, and I tense under him, so close to an orgasm. I’ve given myself a few, but they’re always a lot of work, and never really worth it. This is nothing like that. This is already way better than anything I’ve given myself, and I’m climbing toward something gigantic.