Page 97 of Falling Overboard

I leaned in so that my mouth hovered just above hers, not touching. She was unbelievably tempting and someone should have given me a medal for keeping my lips and hands to myself for so long. I had to gulp back the sensations I felt in my attempt to keep a clear head.

I reminded myself that this was her decision and I would respect it.

But it didn’t mean I might not try to sway her a little. “I promise not to tell the captain.”

“That’s not the point. I would know.” She was trying to sound determined but she had already decided.

I couldn’t stop the eager grin that spread across my face. “Yes, you will most definitely know when I’m kissing you.”

“I don’t want us to get in trouble.”

“Everybody else is doing it.” I murmured the words while nuzzling my nose along her wet, dark hair.

“To quote my nonna, just because everybody else jumps off a bridge doesn’t mean that I should.”

That put an image in my head that I had to share with her. “It will feel like that between us, you know. Like we’re free-falling, not able to catch our breath. Our stomachs will swoop, we’ll be in sensory overload, dizzy and weightless, that spike of adrenaline making it thrilling and terrifying at the same time.”

“Terrifying?” She said the word so sweetly that a bolt of desire shot up my spine and I had to lean slightly against the door so that I didn’t fall over.

“You’re terrifying, Lucky Salerno. You scare me to death. The things you make me want, the way you make me feel ...”

She reached up then to run her fingers along my cheekbones, and her touching me, wanting to touch me, ignited my blood, setting me on fire.

Then she said the one word I had been waiting for.

“Yes.”

I would go slowly. I would. I would not freak her out. I watched as her eyelids drifted shut and she waited. I wanted to remember this moment. The last one before I kissed her.

After this, everything was going to change.

I lowered my head slightly and softly brushed my lips against hers. It was so light that there was barely any contact, but it was like I’d licked a live electrical wire. I felt that small kiss in every corner of my body, lighting me up like a Christmas tree.

Then she did something that almost destroyed me.

She moaned.

And that sound fizzed hotly in my blood. It made my hands tremble when I moved them up to her hair, anchoring her against me.

I used the tip of my tongue to lick her lips briefly, needing to taste her.

“You taste so sweet.” I groaned the words against her, not knowing how I was still capable of speech. “Like you still have sugar on your skin from last night.”

“I washed it all off,” she said, her breath catching.

“Then it must just be you.”

Not able to help myself, I returned my lips to hers. I kissed her as thoroughly and tenderly and gently as I could. I needed to tell her with my kiss the things I couldn’t yet say. Her mouth moving against mine ... it made me shiver and I felt the heat and sweetness of her lips all the way down to my toes. It made me want to forget all of my resolutions.

I had no idea that my lips were connected to so many nerve endings in my body. Every single one of them was exploding.

Something she seemed to be feeling, too. She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me closer. Urging me to do more.

Not yet. I had to retreat. I pulled my head back. “Slowly. I’m going to enjoy this. I intend to savor it. Savor you.”

I saw what my words did to her. Her hungry expression was doing unspeakable things to me. She tried to challenge me. “Says the man who stole cookie dough because he didn’t want to wait for the cookies.”

“You said I couldn’t have a cookie, so I took what I could get.”

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