“Oh my God, Jules, no! It means that you are freaking cute. I also find you super hot.”

He gestured between us, drawing my attention to the bulge in his jeans.

Yes. I, too, found him hot.

“Kissing you felt great,” Nikolai murmured around his teeth digging into his bottom lip.

“You liked it? But what about me…” I repeated his gesture, indicating my strange behaviour.

“God, that was so hot, Jules. The way you ground on my lap? I loved it.”

He did?

“Fuck yeah, I did,” Nikolai answered my silent question, just like I had responded to his implied question before, and got up from the couch. My eyes dropped heavily to his hand adjusting himself.

I swallowed.

“Sorry about that.” The gorgeous human gave me a rueful smile.

“Don’t be. It’s just that I am not used to…being near anyone like that.”

“Do you want me to go?” He asked gently, taking a step forward.

“I…no. No, I don’t.”

He took another step until he was close enough for me to feel his warmth again.

“Jules?” His voice was raspy. He cleared his throat and rubbed his hand over his neck again.

“Yes?” My voice was as hoarse as his. He made me nervous, something I couldn’t remember feeling in a long time. Maybe ever?

“I really want to kiss you again.”

“You do?”

“Yes. Do you want to kiss me, too?”

“Yes,” I blurted out.

“You’re so cute.” Nikolai palmed my cheeks, then pressed his lips on mine.

This time, he kept his mouth shut for only a few moments before his tongue darted out to coax my lips open for him.

Needing to steady myself, I cautiously put my hands on his hips.

“You can touch me, Jules,” he mumbled but kept kissing me.

I held back for a full minute before I slid my arms around his waist, mapping the expanse of his warm back.

Nikolai stirred feelings in my body that confused me, elated me, and made me lose my head. I shuffled nearer, hoping to feel his body brushing against mine.

I had touched myself in the past, yes, and I wasn’t entirely inexperienced. But it had never felt this way before. Being near Nikolai woke nerve endings I didn’t even know I possessed.

“God, Jules.” With a groan, he sank one hand into my hair. The other skimmed down to rest on my—

“Bunny!” The name came out on a low, snarling growl, unlike any sound I had ever made. Afraid that I had scared him, I tried to pull away, but two warm hands kept me in place.

I could have broken his hold on me easily but was too desperate for his touch to even consider it.