His hands find my ass, and he lifts me. I wrap my legs around his waist.

He carries me upstairs to his bedroom.

It’s not the first time I’ve been in here, but somehow, this feels different…because things will be different. We might not be about to have sex, but we’re going to reach a whole new level of intimacy.

He lays me down on the bed, coming down with me. Between my legs, his hips press to mine.

Holy hardness. I can feel how much he wants me, and from the feel of this thing, it’s a lot.

He’s still kissing me, less ragged but still needy. His fingers find the hem of my top.

“How far do you want to go with this?” he asks, sounding breathless. “What is more? Are we talking second or third base here? I need to know because I don’t want to make a mistake with you, and screw this up.”

I press my hand to his cheek. “You could never make a mistake. And, honestly…I’ve never…” I bite my lip, lowering my eyes. I slide my hand from his face. “I’ve never done anything but kiss before, so I don’t know. And I know how lame that makes me sound.”

His fingers go under my chin, bringing my gaze back to his. I stare into his eyes, and the look in his is intense.

“It doesn’t make you lame, babe. It makes you mine.”

He takes my mouth again, kissing me as intensely as the look was in his eyes.

His tongue seeks entrance, so I part my lips. He groans into my mouth, and I feel it low in my belly.

Taking my face in his hands, he starts to press soft kisses over my lips. “Evie…have you ever made yourself come?”

“Oh my God!” I blush. Pushing away, I turn my face from him.

“Hey…don’t be embarrassed.” His hand forces my face back to his, but I still can’t look at him. “It’s me, Evie. Just you and me here, and there isn’t anything you can’t tell me. Okay?”

“Okay,” I breathe out, face still flaming. I run my hand through my hair, feeling all kinds of awkward. “And, to answer your question…no, I haven’t ever done that…to myself.”

He’s silent for so long that I have to look at him, worried that he’s disgusted with me because I’m sure most girls would have done that by now.

But he doesn’t look disgusted. He looks…well, he looks like he wants to devour me. I take that to be a good thing.

“You’ve never come?” he asks, his voice sounding rough.

I shake my head.

He groans. Those intense eyes of his darken further.

He runs his thumb over my lower lip, which I’m apparently biting again, and frees it from my teeth.

“Do you want me to make you come?” His voice is husky, and as sexy as hell.

I squeak, and his lips lift into a heartbreaking smile, leaving me spinning.

My stomach is practically doing backflips.

“I guess…yes. I mean, only if you want to.”

He dips his head to mine. “Oh, I want to. I want nothing more.”

He brushes his lips over mine, and I feel his fingertips run along the sliver of exposed skin between my top and shorts.

“But you have to tell me to stop if you don’t feel comfortable.”

“I will,” I breathe.

His hand slips under my tank top. Moving up my stomach, he reaches my breast. Then, he’s cupping it over my bikini top.

I’m breathless, and I can’t imagine that I’ll be telling him to stop anytime soon.

His hand feels so very good there. His finger is now tracing a path around my erect nipple through the fabric of my bikini.

His hair caresses my face as he kisses a path down my neck.

I raise my arms, letting him know what I want. He removes my tank top. I hear the soft thud of it hitting the floor.

He kisses down my chest, between my breasts. The whole time, his erection is pressed up against me, and he’s moving ever so slightly, creating this amazing friction. I’m starting to feel hot all over, and all I know is that I want more of what he’s doing.

I need more.

His tongue traces over the rise of my breast before he presses a kiss there.

Suddenly feeling brave, I reach back and loosen the string tied behind my neck. Then, I untie the string behind my back, letting my bikini fall away.

I watch his face as he takes me in for the first time, his expression almost undoing me.

So many emotions, it’s hard to capture one, but all of them are good, and they are making me feel amazing.

“God, you’re beautiful, Evie. So very fucking beautiful. And you’re all mine.” Then, he’s kissing me again with the same ferocity as he did downstairs. His tongue is in my mouth, claiming me, just like his words did.

His T-shirt-covered chest is pressed on my bare one, and it kind of feels unfair.

It’s not that I haven’t seen Adam shirtless before because I have plenty of times at the beach, and seriously, his body is smoking, but I want his shirt off right now more than I want my next breath.

I need to feel his skin against mine.

Grabbing the hem, I drag it up. Adam breaks away from my mouth long enough to let me get it over his head, and then he’s back, kissing me.

And we’re skin to skin, and I have never felt anything like it in my life.

Then, when his head moves to my chest and he takes my nipple into his mouth, a feeling so intense brings my hips up off the bed and has me squirming. I’m pressing against his erection, needing the friction.

His tongue is swirling around my nipple, and my hands are in his long hair, pulling at it, as it tickles my skin.

“I’m gonna take your shorts off now. Is that okay?”

I love that he’s checking with me, but it just serves as a reminder that I don’t have many items of clothing left on.

I swallow, feeling a little nervous, and give him a nod.

“Are you sure?” He looks me in the eyes. “You have to be sure about this, babe.”

I bolster my confidence. “I’m sure.”

His eyes linger on me.

“I promise,” I reassure him.

He’s seemingly happy with my words as his fingers find the button on my shorts. Without taking his eyes from mine, he undoes them and slides them down my legs.

I’m lying here in only my bikini bottoms and my blush as he stares down at me.

“Beautiful,” he murmurs.

And I feel it—not just because of his words, but also because of the way he’s looking at me, like I’m the most precious thing in the world to him.

He leans down and begins kissing a path up my stomach, starting at my belly button. When he reaches my mouth, he pauses. “I’ve never wanted anyone like I want you, Evie. I know we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, but…I’m crazy about you.”

I curl my fingers into the strands of his hair. “I’m crazy about you, too. I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t.”

A growl escapes him. “You have no fucking idea what hearing that does to me…what you do to me.”

His hand moves down my stomach, his fingers tickling, as he reaches the edge of my bikini bottoms. Then, he slides his hand inside and he’s touching me there, and lights explode behind my closed eyes.

“Oh,” I moan, pressing my head back into the pillow.

He starts to move his finger over that spot, which feels so very good.

“That’s it, babe,” he whispers over my lips. “Let me make you feel good.”

“Oh God, you are. You really are.” My hand grabs hold of his arm.

The sensations he’s creating in me with that magic hand of his has me feeling like I need him to stop but also never, ever stop touching me there again. It’s so confusing.

I feel like I could climb out of my own skin. I’m restless and needy, searching for something I don’t understand.

My other hand curls into the bedding, gripping it like a vise.

My body is tingling, and my sole focus is narrowed down to that one spot between my legs and what his hand is doing there. I feel like I’m climbing toward something unknown—but something really freaking good.

“Evie, I need to taste you.”

What?