Too Sweet (Hayes Brothers #3)(55)

And she’s naked.

My gaze dips to her perky breasts. They’re not big. A handful at most. Pale pink areolas almost melt into her complexion. A small beauty mark in the valley between her breasts begs me to kiss it. I glance lower, her waistline as perfect as my seared-in memory. Clean-shaved pussy, round hips, smooth legs.

“You have no idea how beautiful you are,” I say.

She really doesn’t. I can tell. It’s in her stance—the self-consciousness and insecurity. She knows she’s pretty when wrapped in a cute dress, but she has no idea how fucking beautiful she is dressed like Eve.

I get up, take her face in my hands, and kiss those unbe-fucking-lievable lips. I’ll never get over how full they are. How soft. I scoot her off the floor, aware I seem to do this every time I kiss her. She’s tiny. She weighs close to nothing, and having her legs wrapped around my waist is too enticing to pass on. I can’t fucking help myself, and I’m sure I’ll be carrying her around a lot.

“Comfortable?” I ask, laying her on the bed.

“As comfortable as I can be, I guess.” She pushes her damp hair back. “This is new. A little scary.”

I trace my fingers from her neck across her collarbone and lower, touching the side of her breast. She tenses immediately, her breathing shallow. Instead of retreating, I set camp in that spot, caressing her skin until she starts to relax.

“Getting naked when you’re in the heat of the moment, working your way up to sex, is easier than what you’re doing for me now. What’s the scary part?” I move my hand lower, making her squirm when I ghost the line of her waist and hip, then slowly up again.

“I’m not sure. Not knowing whether this...” She motions to her body, “...will live up to your expectations—”

“You exceed my expectations on every corner. Your body’s not an exception, Mia.”

God, I want to suck those pink nipples. I want to trace my lips down her stomach, dive between her thighs, and lick her until she comes, moaning my name and tugging my hair. I want to know how she tastes. Sweet, I bet. Everything about her is sweet.

“Okay, I believe you. You’re comfortable around me. Now get dressed before I have a fucking aneurysm.” I dip my head, kissing her neck. “I want a taste, baby. I want you to come on my lips, but that’s not happening tonight.”

She squeezes her thighs together, pupils blown.

“You’re already soaking wet for me, aren’t you?”

“I’ve been wet for you since we met,” she admits quietly. “I wasn’t far off volunteering to be your one-night-stand.”

“It could never be just one night. You’re too deep under my skin.” I dip my head even lower, kissing along her collarbones. Her pebbled nipple touches my chin, making Mia squirm beneath me. “Still comfortable?” I drop my nose between her breasts, inhaling deeply.

“Yes,” she utters on a sigh.

That does it. My restraint goes to shit. I veer off to the left and take her puckered nipple between my lips, gently grazing it with my teeth. Mia lets out a quiet, needy whimper, her fingers grasping a thick tangle of my hair.

“Good girl,” I whisper, toying with the other nipple between my thumb and forefinger. “Don’t ever hide how I make you feel. Don’t pretend you’re not aroused when I touch you. Own it. Show me. I want to see it.” I reluctantly grab a blue night dress from where she’s laid it out on the bed, pull it down over her head, then sit up, taking her with me.

She makes herself comfortable in my lap, all the pink blush gone from her cheeks. “Close your eyes,” she whispers.

“Why?”

“Please. Just close your eyes for a minute.”

I do, curious and unable to refuse. At this pace, she’ll have me wrapped around her finger by morning. I feel her fingertips on both sides of my jaw. She slides them lower to meet on my chin, then higher, over my lips and nose, brushing my eyelashes gently like she’s committing every inch of me to memory.

She moves her hands to caress the soft spot behind my ears, runs her fingers up the nape of my neck and into my hair, then cups my face, thumbs under my eyes, as she stamps a kiss on my forehead.

I’m gone. Swallowed by the intense feelings. Overpowered.

She won’t own me.

She already does when she kisses me slowly, slipping her tongue between my lips. I grip her neck, and my fingers disappear in her hair as I match the rhythm of her lips.

I’ve touched and kissed a lot of women; had sex with many, too. Wild, breathless sex, but nothing in all my twenty-nine years ever came close to the intimacy of this moment. It’s not what I imagined I wanted. Nothing like any of my deepest fantasies.

Mia’s more. So much more.

My whole life was a lie. An illusion crafted from a social definition of beauty and fulfillment—tall, confident, career-driven brunette. That’s what I thought I craved.

A petite, sweet, helpless little blonde is what makes me tick. She’s all I think about. I want her safe, happy, and mine.

I flip her back, laying her flat on the bed, never breaking the kiss. I don’t want more than this. Her lips, her touch, the cautious tenderness... it’s enough.

It’s fucking everything.

“I’ll take care of you, baby,” I whisper, my mouth grazing her cheek until I nibble her ear, my hand under her sky-blue nightdress setting another camp, caressing her hip. “I bet I won’t want to leave once I’m in there.”