Worth it.

But painful.

He reached down, wrapping his hand around my foot. “There isn’t an inch of you that I don’t want to savor.” He drew my legs apart, baring everything, and I fought the natural urge to hide myself. “Not a single inch of skin that I don’t want to taste.”

“Oh. Oh my . . .” That was all I could say. My brain broke.

One side of his lips kicked up, proving that the Seth I knew was still there. That cocky half-grin was as infuriating as it was sexy.

I watched, muscles tightening low in my stomach, as he came at me from the foot of the bed. He started at my ankle, kissing and licking his way up my leg, lingering at the surprisingly sensitive spot behind my knee before continuing up my thigh. My breath was coming out in sort-of pants, and when he reached the crease of my thigh, he ran his tongue along the crease, creating a rush of dampness. Then he started all the way down on the other leg.

He made a sound against my inner thigh, like a purr, and then he nipped at the skin. My hands fisted the comforter and my hips rolled. Seth moved up, dropping those hot, wet kisses over my belly and then my breasts. His fingers and then his tongue moved on the hardened nipples, and it wasn’t long before I was grasping the back of his head, my body moving restlessly, wanting and seeking oh-so-much more.

“Seth,” I urged, grabbing his arm and trying to pull him down on me.

“I’m savoring.” He worked his way back down, his tongue dipping into my belly button. “Patience, Josie.”

I was breathing heavy. “I’m out of patience.”

He chuckled against the fluttering section just below my navel. “We’re going to have to work on that.”

“No,” I protested. “We do not need to work on that right now.”

Seth paused just over the space between my thighs and lifted his head. The slow grin that tugged at his lips sort of made me want to kiss him . . . and punch him. “You sure about that?”

“Yes.”

One brow rose as he curled a hand around my thigh, spreading my legs further. “Now, Josie, you know what they say.”

“I don’t care what anyone says right now.”

“You should. Good things come to those who wait.”

A laugh caught in my throat. “I’ve waited. You’ve waited. It’s time for the good things.”

Seth’s gaze dropped. “Damn. I so agree on that.”

He dipped his head and my back arched as a strangled cry erupted from my throat. Good gods, I couldn’t breathe as he teased and tasted, nipped and sucked. There was no room for thinking, only feeling, and with each thrust of his tongue, my body rose. Moans escaped me. Desire pounded through me, mixing with something far deeper. Emotion swelled in my chest, and when he lifted his head again and pierced me with those amber eyes, I knew there would never be anyone else for me.

“There has only been you,” I told him even as warmth splashed across my cheeks. “There will only be you, Seth.”

His features sharpened and then he surged over me, that hungry near-haunted gaze fixed on mine. I trembled as he reached for the condom. I ached as I watched him roll it on.

He held my stare as he reached between us, easing a finger through the gathering wetness. “This is mine.”

It wasn’t a question. Oh gods, that was a statement, but I nodded, because it was his. I was his. Like my skin was branded with his scent and aura, I was his.

He circled his fist around the base of his erection. “This is yours.”

I was more than thrilled to hear that.

Seth brought his mouth to mine, his tongue delving, matching the thrusts of his finger and then his fingers, quickly working me back to the point where I felt like I would explode into nothing. He pulled away just before, and I whimpered, but then I felt him, just the tip, pressing against me.

My heart pounded wildly as his gaze found mine once again. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, voice hoarse as he moved his hand away. “It’s the last thing I want to do.”

“I trust you.”

Skin puckered between Seth’s brows as he squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t move, and I wasn’t even sure he breathed. He was going to pull back. I sensed it, and I couldn’t let him do that.

Gripping his hips, I lifted mine before I could really think about what I was doing. A gasp punched out of me as I stretched around him.

Seth groaned as the muscles in his arms bulged. “Gods, Josie, I’m trying to take this slow.”

“I don’t want you to take it slow.”

His laugh was strangled. “You’re going to kill me.”

My heart pounded fast. “I don’t want that.”

“I know.” He slid a hand down to my thigh, lifting my leg slightly. The arm beside my head trembled as his intense gaze searched my face. “I need . . . I need this to be perfect for you.”

I licked my lips. “It . . . it already is, because it’s with you.”

Seth’s forehead dropped to mine as a shudder rocked his body. Neither of us moved or spoke for what felt like a tiny piece of eternity, and then he kissed me softly, and there was something infinitely sweet in the way his mouth moved over mine. The hand on my upper thigh shook once more and then his hips thrust forward, all the way.

Air lodged in my throat, pushing out the soft cry as my fingers dug into his sides. A dart of pain shot through me as I squeezed my eyes shut, giving way to a burning sensation that wasn’t exactly painful. I didn’t know how to describe it. Adjectives failed me. There was a deep pressure inside me, neither uncomfortable nor entirely pleasant.