Page 107 of Even Ground

I flex my hand, resisting the urge to touch it. “I think I’ll go to sleep instead.”

“You’re no fun.”

She rolls onto her side. “I’m lots of fun. Just not tonight because I have to get up early in the morning.”

“It’s not that late yet.”

For a moment, she just stares at me before blushing and looking away.

“Maybe I just want to kiss you some more.”

She looks at me from under her long eyelashes. “I’d like that.”

I scoot over to the middle of the bed, and she moves forward. I look into her eyes. Her cheeks are flushed, and her breathing seems a little heavy.

“Touch me,” she whispers.

I hesitate. She takes my hand and guides it to rest on her stomach.

“I want to kiss you more first.”

Pania’s lips twitch. “I guess that’s really the first step.”

I press my lips to hers, and she opens up. For a moment, I’m lost as my brain stops working.

I slide my hand up her shirt as I kiss her again. Her breast is firm beneath my hand, her nipple pebbled under my fingers.

She rolls onto her back and I follow, squeezing her breast, my mouth on hers.

Pulling away, she gasps. “You cheated. I thought you were kissing first, touching later.”

I nuzzle her neck. “I have the rare male ability of multitasking.”

Pania throws her head back and lets out a throaty laugh that’s so sexy, it drives me wild. “Prove it.”

I kiss her again, and this time as our tongues do battle, I slip my hand into her pyjama shorts, pushing aside her panties and moaning as I touch her smooth pussy.

“Reece,” she whispers.

I slide one finger into her, and she battles to keep her eyes open as I slide it back out and over her clit.

“Please.” She arches her back, and I pull up her tank top with my other hand, exposing her breasts. She’s so beautiful. Her nipples are a darker shade of brown, and I lean over, taking one in my mouth as I keep working her clit.

“This isn’t happening,” she whispers.

I raise my head. “It is.”

“You can’t be real.” She reaches out and strokes my face, her hips moving in rhythm with my hand.

“I’m real, sweetheart.” I turn my head and kiss her palm before kissing her again. And then I’m lost in her, the woman I’ve wanted for so long. She’s in my arms, and her body tenses below me.

“Pania.” I nuzzle her cheek. “I’m right here.”

She explodes in my arms, shuddering, her hips thrusting upward before stilling. The hazy way she looks at me makes me smile.

“I need you inside me,” she says.

“Don’t you want me to—”