His words alone caused goose bumps to rise along her arms, despite the heat. She could leave. He was giving her ample opportunity to flee, just as she had last time. But this was, for all intents and purposes, their third chance up at bat. The first he’d fumbled, the second she had. If they struck out now, she’d never know what it was like to lose herself in her arms. She’d never get to watch his control shatter.
Because of her.
She moved in and slid her hand up to the back of his neck. Without her heels to narrow the gap in their heights, she felt at a definite disadvantage. He loomed over her, the breadth of his shoulders reminding her exactly how big he was. All over.
He waited until she leaned up before closing the distance. Their mouths came together in a hard clash that knocked the few preconceptions she had left of him right out of her head. He slanted his lips over hers and drove his tongue deep, groaning as she seized hold and tugged.
No hesitation. No doubts. Nothing but pure, sweet relief that it was so damn good between them, better than in her wildest dreams.
She licked the length of his tongue, sliding her own back and forth in a languid tease. He yanked off her headband and sent it flying, then buried his hands in her hair, shifting her head so he could explore her thoroughly. Her mouth was his playground, and he claimed it with a carnal patience that set off a desperate pulse in her core.
Panting, he gripped her arms to pull her up on her toes. When that wasn’t close enough, he hoisted her onto his hips and cupped her ass, somehow managing to hold her in place when her renewed kisses sent them flying back into the mirrored wall. His skull bounced off the glass and she gasped, reaching up to feel for blood or lumps. “Are you okay?”
“That’s one way to solve this.” He opened one eye. “Kill me.”
She deliberately rose up in his arms, putting his face near her straining breasts. They were both breathing raggedly, and it was hard for her to string words together. “You’re not dying until I get my fill, Santangelo.”
“Take it off.” He looked down where her shirt had ridden up, exposing her navel. “Take it all off. Now.”
The thrill in his demand incited a shiver. Her body didn’t seem to know the temperature was set on broil. “There is another class later.”
“The operative word is later. Trust me, we won’t be bothered.”
She frowned. “How do you know?”
“I paid off the woman at the desk to reserve this room for our…discussion. Our privacy is assured.”
Cocky much? But she couldn’t drum up any irritation, not when he’d turned her brain into an omelet with his kisses. Under other circumstances, she might’ve even found it amusing that he assumed no one would dare to challenge his will. Or his checkbook.
“FYI, Santangelo, this a gym, not a motel.”
“For Christ’s sake, will you just shut up and get naked?”
Ignoring him, she shimmied down his body and gripped the waistband of her shorts. His eyes fired as he zeroed in on her fingers. Torturing him had always been one of her favorite things, and apparently that even applied when they were about to have sex.
“Want me?” She cocked her head and played up her vamp role. “Then come and get me, big boy.”
…
Cory stalked toward her and yanked off his jacket and tie. She was right about one thing. Coming was definitely on the agenda.
Normally he wasn’t one for sex other than in the place intended for it—with the occasional side trip into a shower or hot tub—but she made him absolutely crazy. This studio with its soft mats and walls of mirrors added its own sexy ambience, part of why he’d changed his plans from talking to touching. As soon as he’d walked in and seen her barely-there outfit and glowing, dewy skin, he’d walked right back out and reserved the room.
Exactly how flexible was she from all that stretching and bending? Oh, the ideas he could conjure. Combining their knowledge of all the ways the human body could move—and be restrained—would be truly mind-blowing.
She rolled down her shorts and kicked them off her toes with a leg extension than nearly made his eyes roll back. That yoga thing? Total win.
He followed the long, silky line of her legs up to her triangle of golden curls. Not honey-blond like the hair on her head but as light as corn silk. Just enough to tease.
Something he’d pretty much reached his limit on.
He pounced, hitching an arm around her waist and lifting her off her feet. Then she was on her back on one of the cushy mats and he was on top of her, pushing her shirt higher. He already felt like he was coming out of his skin, on the verge of roasting alive, but the sight of her naked and exposed nearly popped off his damn head.