Page 104 of Seven Minutes
God help me, I loved him.
I braced one hand beside his head, the other sliding under his shirt again, palm flat against warm skin. He arched into it, breath stuttering as if he couldn’t decide if he was melting or coming apart.
“Tell me what you want.”
“I want—the way you were touching me.” His voice trembled. “I want more of that. More of you.”
I exhaled slowly, fighting the urge to take him fast and hard, because that wasn’t what this was. This was him bursting open and choosing me to be the one who catches the pieces.
I pushed his shirt up inch by inch. Eli lifted his arms automatically, letting me pull it over his head. He lay beneath me, bare chest rising, his eyes fixed on mine with something vulnerable and trusting and unbearably beautiful.
I traced the line of his sternum with two fingers. “Still okay?”
His breath shivered out. “Please don’t stop asking. But yes. I’m okay.”
I bent and kissed his chest, right over his heart, feeling the rapid thud against my lips. His hands slid down my back,tentative at first, then firmer as he grew bolder, pulling me closer.
I let some of my weight settle onto him. His breath caught—not in panic, but in relief.
“You feel so good,” he whispered.
“You feel like home,” I answered before I could think better of it.
His eyes glazed over, but he didn’t look away. Instead, he cupped my face with both hands and pulled me into a kiss that was slow and deep and unguarded in a way that made my lungs burn.
I kissed him back, tongue sliding against his in a lazy, hungry sweep, my hips pressing fully into his. He gasped into my mouth—a sharp, needy sound—as his body arched in perfect answer.
“Adrian…” He swallowed hard. “Touch me. More.”
I moved my hand lower, over the plane of his stomach, fingers teasing the edge of his waistband. His breath stuttered, hips lifting instinctively to meet my touch.
“I’ve got you,” I whispered into his throat, my voice wrecked with wanting him. “I’m right here. Not going anywhere.”
He nodded, barely holding himself together.
I slipped my hand under the elastic of his pants and wrapped my fingers around him.
Eli made a choked sound and grabbed fistfuls of my shirt, needing to anchor himself.
His thighs trembled around my hips. “God… I?—”
“I know,” I murmured the words over his skin, kissing his jaw, his cheek, the corner of his mouth. “Let yourself feel it.”
I stroked him again, long and slow, my thumb teasing the sensitive ridge just beneath the head. His whole body jerked, his breath breaking apart.
“Adrian—I—don’t stop?—”
“Wasn’t planning to,” I murmured into his ear, letting my teeth graze the shell lightly.
Eli shuddered. The violent tremor that ran through him wasn’t just pleasure; it was fear melting out of his body, a physical unwinding. I felt it the moment his fingers clutched at me, holding tight. It rolled straight into me, a full-body pull that dragged me deeper.
My control frayed when he lifted his hips again, chasing my hand as if he couldn’t help himself.
“Eli…” His name came out rough, almost a warning, but he didn’t stop. Didn’t hesitate. Just clung to me as if I were the one thing tethering him to the earth.
He kissed me hard, and the noise he made when I kissed him back nearly finished me.
“Adrian,” he whispered, voice nearly gone, “I need?—”
