“Watch your mouth.”
“No.”
He laughs and bites my neck. “Cheeky.”
“Let’s raise a toast!” Dad’s cheerful tone pulls us out of our private moment. “To twins!”
“To twins!” Mum chants, and we all clink our glasses in acknowledgment to the fact that I’m going to get really fat.
After Jesse pays the bill, we take a slow wander back to my parents’ house, Mum pointing out all of the sites to Jesse as we walk and chat. When we get home, Dad takes his usual seat in the window, armed with his remote control, and Mum fills the kettle.
“Bedtime tea?” she asks.
Jesse looks across the kitchen to me, clocking me yawning. “No, I’m taking Ava to bed. Come on, lady.” He walks over and rests his hands on my shoulders, then proceeds to direct me out of the kitchen. “Say good night to your mother.”
“Good night, Mother.”
“Sleep well,” she says, flicking the kettle on.
“Say good night to your father,” Jesse instructs as we pass the lounge.
“Good night, Dad.”
“Good night, you two.” Dad doesn’t even crane his neck around from the television.
I’m pushed up the stairs and guided down the hallway until we reach the guest room, where he begins to strip me down. “That was nice,” I muse as my dress is pulled up over my head.
“It was, but your mum is still a pain in the arse,” Jesse replies dryly. “Give me your wrist.”
I hold my hand up to him and watch while he removes my Rolex and slides it onto the bedside table. “You trampled her again.” I’m smiling.
Reaching up to my neck, he starts unknotting my cream lace scarf. “She’ll learn eventually.” My scarf is removed, revealing my diamond, and he smiles, straightening it out. “Are you looking forward to a few days of constant contact?”
“I can’t wait,” I answer without a second hesitation, reaching up to unbutton his shirt and pushing it from his shoulders on a sigh. “You’re just too perfect.” I lean in and kiss his chest, leaving my lips lingering.
“I know,” he agrees, with no humor or sarcasm. The arrogant arse.
I drop his shirt and start working the button fly of his jeans before sliding my hands into the back and working them over the solidness of his arse. “I love this.” I dig my nails in as I pass.
“I know,” he concurs again, making me smile. When I’m down to his thighs, I slip my hand around the front and grasp him loosely. He’s solid, as I knew he would be. “And you know how much I love this.”
He sucks in a hiss of breath through his teeth and pulls his groin away, but I maintain my hold. “Ava, baby, there is no way in hell I’m taking you under your mother’s roof.”
“Why?” I pout. “I can be quiet.” I’m drifting into temptress mode.
He looks at me doubtfully, and so he should. I can’t guarantee that at all. “I don’t think you can.”
I lower to my knees and unlace his shoes, and he lifts each in turn for me to remove them, along with his socks. Taking the waist of his jeans, I slowly pull them down his legs. “I think you’ll be surprised by what I can do. Lift.” I tap his ankle.
“You mean I’ll be surprised by what I can make you do.” He lifts in turn, so I can remove his jeans and boxers. “And I’m never surprised. I have that effect on you.”
Instead of stroking his overinflated ego, I stoop down and kiss the top of his foot before moving my lips to his ankle, circling my tongue and kissing my way up his legs. I take my time, flattening my palms on the fronts of his thighs, just feeling him as my lips skim every naked inch of his flesh, but I soon find myself at his neck, despite my determination to drag out the whole episode.
I inhale his scent and lift up on my tiptoes to reach his chin, which is higher than usual because he’s looking up at the ceiling. I can’t reach. “What’s the matter?”
“I’m trying to control myself.” His voice is all gravelly.
“I don’t want you to.”
“Don’t say that, Ava.”
“I don’t want you to,” I repeat, all low and throaty, biting at his neck.
He moves fast. His arm snakes around my waist, and I’m pushed up against the nearest wall on a growl. I’m ecstatic and trying to play it cool, but my lips are parted and I’m breathing shocked gasps. “You seem to be making some noise,” he observes quietly, holding one side of my face and pushing his mouth to my ear. I close my lips, clench my eyes shut, and rest my head against the wall. I need to focus because he’s going to make this hard for me, even if he doesn’t give it to me hard. “Now, listen very carefully.” He unhooks my bra while keeping a hand on my cheek and his mouth at my ear. “Your parents seem to like me. Don’t fuck it up.”