Page 100 of The Birthday List (Maysen Jar 1)

The heat between us grew as the seconds passed, but still, we didn’t break our stare. My hands stopped moving as my chest heaved with choppy breaths. Cole sat frozen against me—waiting.

Waiting for my signal.

I blinked before filling my lungs with a jagged breath. “Will you do something for me?”

“In a heartbeat.”

“Kiss me.”

His head came off my shoulder as he twisted. With his arms bracketing my knees, Cole leaned forward, fitting his naked chest against my front. His hands left the bed, traveling up my sides with the lightest touch. Those long fingers grazed the sides of my breasts before running over my bare arms and up, into my damp hair.

The entire time, Cole’s eyes stayed glued to mine.

When his face came closer, I dropped my gaze to his lips. I only had a second to study them before he kissed me. The moment we touched, my eyes drifted shut and my lips parted for his tongue. It touched the tip of mine before darting back out to trace my lower lip.

A greedy moan came from the back of my throat as Cole teased. He nipped and sucked on my lips but he was holding back. My hands, dangling limp at my sides, reached for his waist, but he jerked his hips back, not letting me get a grip.

“Cole,” I pleaded when he broke away.

He was panting as he searched my eyes. “How far do you want to take this?”

The answer came without hesitation. “All the way.”

He leaned back, like he didn’t trust himself to be too close. “Are you sure? Because once we do this, once we cross that line, we aren’t going back.”

I cupped his jaw. “I’m as sure as I’ve ever been. This. Us. I want this. I want you.”

I’d barely gotten the last word out before Cole’s mouth slammed down on mine. This time, there was no teasing. No playing. No holding back. Cole kissed me so deeply that I was lost to anything other than his mouth.

My hands clung to his back as I pulled him closer, needing more. I was dizzy from the throbbing between my thighs and the lack of oxygen, but I just held tight, desperate to consume him completely.

On a groan, his hands left my hair and moved down to my ass, squeezing tight as he picked me up off the bed and laid me on my back, and not once did he break the latch he had on my mouth. As my hips cradled his, his hard length rubbed against my aching clit. I arched up, rubbing myself against the thin cotton that separated us.

Cole’s tongue dove back into my mouth, plundering relentlessly as his hands roamed to my breasts. He squeezed them over my camisole before yanking it down, freeing them so he could fill his large hands.

I arched my chest into his hands, craving a harder touch on my pebbled nipples. And Cole didn’t disappoint. With his palms still cupping my breasts, he used his thumbs to flick and tease my hard buds. Every tug and roll sent my pulse shooting directly to my center. Surely my wetness had seeped through my panties and sleep shorts. Surely Cole could feel just how much I needed him inside.

My hands slid between us, working their way toward the waistband of Cole’s pants, but before they could slip inside, he broke away, cursing.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

“What?” I breathed.

He collapsed onto my chest, panting and still cursing into a pillow. When he lifted his head, his jaw was clenched tight. “I don’t have any condoms.”

Fuck.

Before I could say anything, Cole rolled over me, reaching for the phone on the nightstand. “I’m going to call the front desk.”

“Wait!” I smacked his hand away from the receiver. The last thing I wanted was for a bellhop to bring up a condom that had been sitting around an old mountain lodge for who knew how long. “I’m on birth control, and I haven’t been with anyone since . . .”

His hand came back to the bed. “I just had my annual physical and I get tested every year. I’m clean.”

I lifted my head from the pillow, pressing my lips to his.

“Then what are you waiting for?”

He grinned, the light in his eyes sparkling brighter than I’d ever seen. “My perfect woman.”