“For what?” he says, not moving.

“I should let you get to bed,” I reply, also not moving.

“I suppose you should.”

Neither of us moves away. Instead, I feel his arms tighten gently around me and one hand comes slowly up to stroke my hair.

Slowly, I tilt my face up to his to see those grey eyes, more serious than I’ve ever seen them, staring into mine.

A foreign emotion … I think it’s shyness … makes me look down again, but then Liam’s hand is on my cheek, tilting my face up toward his, and his lips are on mine, and I’m melting into him.

Our proposal kiss was surprising. Our wedding kiss was awkward. Our grope-on-the-couch kiss was hot.

This kiss … This isn’t like any of those.

His lips are so warm, so soft, so gentle and yet so confident that for a while, the sensation of kissing him is the only thing that exists. The ache in my back and the soreness in my feet disappear. Thoughts of that hot bath melt away—because why would I need it when I can sink into these arms, these lips, the deliciously clean smell of him instead?

Slowly, the sweet, serious kisses start to amp up, getting bolder, braver … hotter. The hand that was stroking my hair is now fisting it, the arm around my waist pulls me against the solid wall of his body and I can feel his arousal pressing into me. My brain cedes control to my loudly purring girl parts, which in turn license my hands to roam those broad shoulders, that hard chest. I run my hands all over him, unable to get enough of the soft cotton of his dress shirt and the firm muscles beneath it.

“I thought you were tired,” I murmur into his mouth. I’d thought I was tired, too, but that’s gone, replaced with a sparking, electric energy that makes my heart beat faster and my breath come quicker.

“I think I’ve found my second wind,” he mumbles, nuzzling my neck. I tilt my head back and he trails the length of my throat with his lips. I shiver, that sparking energy starting to coalesce deep within me.

“Liam …” It’s a question, a statement, a declaration.

A commitment.

“Take me to bed.”