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After pulling the soft cotton nightgown over her head and around her hips, she unzipped her jeans and shimmied out of them. Was it Matthew’s imagination, or was this nightgown even shorter than the one she wore the night before?

“You should finish getting ready for bed,” she said, then ran a hand across his bare chest as she walked by. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get us something to drink.”

Without a moment of hesitation, Matthew kicked off his shoes, removed his socks and pants, then pulled on a pair of pajama pants and a tank top from his overnight bag. When he rushed into the bathroom to brush his teeth and squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush, he noticed his hands were trembling with excitement. He wanted her more than anyone he’d ever wanted before, and he couldn’t wait to see what she had in store for him.

When she returned with a cocktail in each hand, he was propped up against the pillows on the bed. “That doesn’t look like bourbon.”

“Gimlet.” She handed him a glass. “Gin, not vodka.”

“Hmm, thank you.”

“No, thank you for being so wonderful tonight.” Katherine clinked her glass against Matthew’s and took a long sip. “I thought you like sleeping in your boxers.”

“I do.”

“Then what’s with the pants?”

“I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want to assume that it was still okay,” he said, raising his glass for more liquid courage.

“I want you to take your pants off,” Katherine announced as Matthew was mid-swallow and nearly choked. “Your shirt, too. I really liked the way you touched me, and I wanna do the same to you.”

As Matthew’s face wore a pleasantly satisfied grin, he lifted his glass in salute her, then took a long drink and set it down. Doing as Katherine asked, he got up to remove his shirt and pajama pants and tossed them aside. Then he got back on the bed in just his boxer shorts and closed his eyes. “I’m all yours.”

“Open your eyes,” she said. “I want you to watch when I touch you.”

As his heartbeat quickened, he wondered how much of this he could handle. She hadn’t even touched him yet, but she had him to the point of leaving behind any and all self-control.

After another sip of her own liquid courage, Katherine left her glass on the table next to his. When she climbed onto the bed, she threw one leg across the top of his thighs to straddle him. Instantly, Matthew sucked in a breath as his eyes rolled back in his head.

“I’m not too heavy, am I?”

When he spoke, his voice was shallow and ragged. “Not at all.”

“Good,” she said staring into his eyes as he fought to stay still under the weight of her body.

Gently, she moved her hands over his bare chest, searching for sensitive places where she’d let her fingertips linger. And when his entire body tensed, she knew he liked to be touched there.

“I’m trying to decide which way I like you best. Like this, or in your uniform, or when you walked in my door tonight,” she confessed with a smile. “You looked so good I almost didn’t want to undress you when we got home. But once I got that shirt off, I knew I had to see more.”

Then Katherine leaned down to breathe in from the side of his neck. “Mmm… I love the way you smell. Why do you always smell so good?”

When she sat up, Katherine’s eyelids fluttered, and a knowing smirk transformed the shape of her lips. Taking her time to tease him, she told Matthew everything she admired about him and how much she wanted to be with him.

Through each confession, she explored a different line of muscle on his chest, arms, and stomach. She told him that she would etch in her memory all the places that made his tummy tighten, and his hips rise in response to her. In silence, Matthew smiled at everything she shared with him while watching her explore nearly every inch of his body.

Finally, she told him it was time for sleep and made him roll over. Though she promised to keep touching him, she wanted him to concentrate on relaxing enough to fall asleep.

After turning the lights off, she stood next to the bed and ran her hands down the muscles of his back, the curve of his backside, and finally, his thick muscular legs. And by the time she reached his feet, Matthew’s breathing had slowed.

Carefully, Katherine got up next to him on the mattress. When he stirred and tried to speak, she calmed him with her words, then snuggled into his side when he rolled over on his back.

With his breathing slowed again, Katherine thought Matthew had fallen asleep, so she reached down and carefully pulled the blankets over them, settling herself next to him once more. As she laid a possessive leg over the top of his, her soft, contented sigh filled the room.

“Thank you, God,” she whispered before falling into a deep sleep.

** *

Matthew lay motionless under the weight of Katherine’s leg until he could be sure she was completely asleep. Then he opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling. Part of him was wide awake from the incredible things she’d said and done. While the other part of him was wide awake from the guilt he felt for not stopping her from touching, kissing, teasing, and confessing to him in all the ways that she did. But he couldn’t say no to her.