Without warning, I felt Griffin’s arm slung over my torso. He slid close. “You do feel cold,” he murmured.
His body pressed up against me. He was a solid block of heat, a furnace of a man. I turned and snuggled close.
“Better?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “Much.”
His arm tightened around me. His hand rubbed my back. He drew in a sharp breath and dropped his hand.
Instantly, I felt guilty. “You don’t have to do this, you know. I mean, I know you don’t want to get distracted, and I don’t mean to be cold—”
“Shh,” he said. He was talking right in my ear, his voice rich and thick. “Go to sleep.”
Right. Okay. I’d do that then. I buried my face in Griffin’s hard, hot chest, and I tried to go to sleep. But I could hear his heart beating through the shirt he was wearing. And he was so close. It energized me, excited me. I couldn’t just sleep.
He wormed one arm underneath my neck, so that I lay on it like a pillow. That seemed to make him comfortable. His breath grew slow and steady.
Was he asleep?
Dammit.
I should go to sleep too. Maybe the reason that I couldn’t was because I wasn’t comfortable. One of my arms was kind of pinned against Griffin’s body, after all.
I rolled over on my back. That was better, but my arm was still trapped. I tried to scoot out a little bit, but then I wasn’t as close to Griffin, and I was cold.
I rolled onto my other side, so that I was the inside spoon and Griffin was bent around me.
“Stop squirming all over the place,” he rumbled. He grabbed me by the hip and tugged me against his body, holding me there.
I gasped. I couldn’t help it. The way he touched me just seemed so intimate.
“Doll...” I could hear him swallowing.
His entire body caressed mine, enveloping me from behind. I could smell him again, his wild, untamed, male scent. My heart sped up, racing in my chest.
Griffin’s hand moved slowly over my hip, tracing its way up to my waist. His touch was feather light. I could barely feel it through my sweatpants.
And all of my rolling around meant that my sweatshirt had hiked up just a little, and there was maybe a half an inch band of bare skin between my shirt and pants.
His fingers touched it.
I let out a little noise, kind of a half-whimper, half sigh.
And I heard him let out a breath too.
His fingers eased under my sweatshirt, splaying over my bare belly.
Shivers ran up my torso again, but these weren’t bad shivers. They were delicious and exciting. If it was possible, my heart beat even faster. I turned in his arms.
I put my hand on his cheek. I turned his face to mine.
And our lips met.
The kiss started out sweet and slow, like a piece of kindling just beginning to catch fire. The heat of Griffin’s and my desire was a timid ember, first just glowing, and then eventually bursting into flame. He rolled on top of me, his mouth assaulting mine, his body pressing onto me, over me.
I ran my hands over his head, his short-cropped hair, moans building in my throat. We were kissing like crazy, like we were desperate for each other.
He pulled away, gasping for breath. “Look, doll, you have to understand that it’s been a really long time since I’ve... done anything like this. And when I did, I was a different person. I don’t know if I can even...”
“It’s okay,” I said, breathless myself. “It’s more than okay.” I sought his lips again.
His mouth met mine hungrily. His hands thrust inside my shirt on either side of my body.
Thrills ran up my rib cage from the sensation of his fingers on my bare skin.
Fingers traveled higher, finding the walls of my breasts.
I choked.
He broke the kiss. “Okay?” he whispered.
“Definitely,” I said.
He shifted so that his weight wasn’t settled on me, propped himself on one arm. “You are so soft.” He kissed my forehead. “So sweet.” He kissed my nose. “So small.”
I closed my eyes, drinking it in. He was perfect.