In one smooth shift, he was rolling me onto my back and covering me, his weight braced on his forearms just enough that I could feel him everywhere but without crushing me.
And without thinking too much about it, I pushed my hands up his hips, caught the hem of his shirt, and tugged it up over his head.
It came away easy. And after tossing it somewhere into the dark, I was suddenly able to drink in all the bare skin and hard lines, backlit by the faint moonlight slipping through the window.
“Gosh,” I breathed, my chest rising and falling fast as I stared at him. “You’re so hot.”
A soft laugh rumbled out of him, low and rough before he said, “And there you go objectifying me again.”
I let out a breath that sounded like a laugh. “I can’t help it when you’re literally the hottest man I’ve ever seen.”
“Well, thanks,” he said, his gaze holding mine for a moment. Then with his mouth tipping into the smallest smile, he added, “And just so you know, you’re not just the sexiest nanny I’ve ever had.” His voice dropped. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve seen in years.”
My throat tightened, because I’d needed him to say that more than he could know. Hoped that even though he’d initially gotten to know me as his little sister’s best friend, that he’d also be able to see me as a woman worth pursuing on her own.
His mouth found mine again in the darkness, and when his hand slid up my leg, squeezing my outer thigh, we were back to the races.
He kissed my jaw. Then my neck, gently sucking enough for me to get a rush from it, but not enough to leave a mark.
And when he tugged my cami strap down my shoulder and pressed his mouth to the skin there, I knew that if we kept going down this path, we probably wouldn’t be stopping to get some sleep anytime soon.
Did I want that?
Yes?
But did I think it was probably a good idea to take things one step at a time?
Yes… at least, part of me thought so.
The other part really didn’t want to think about what repercussions might come from a night of no restraint.
That would be future Nora and Theo’s job to navigate.
I was just thinking about taking things to the next level when suddenly, Theo pulled back with a gasp.
“You should probably tell me to stop,” he said, pressing his forehead to mine, his voice rough in the dark, “before I lose what little control I have left and take this too far.”
My pulse kicked hard.
“Do you want to stop?” I whispered back.
“No.” His answer came out as a quiet laugh.
And the raw honesty in that one word made my throat tighten.
He dragged a slow breath in, then exhaled like he was forcing his body to listen to his brain. Like he was grabbing the steering wheel before we went off the road.
“But I don’t want our first time,” he said, voice rough, “to be because we got carried away.”
That hit me right in the chest.
Not because I didn’t want to get carried away. I absolutely did.
But because he was being Theo. Careful with me, even while I was basically on fire.
“So…” I swallowed, my voice barely there. “We should stop.”
“I think that’s probably best,” he said, and even in the dark I could feel him looking at me. Steady. Holding on. “At least for tonight.”