A little cocky now—with a blush, she imagined several other things he probably had to feel cocky about, all of which she was suddenly longing to experience—he grinned at her and said, “Your turn.”

She stepped up to the marker he’d dropped on the grass, turned slightly to the left, put her weight on her right leg, pulled the Frisbee back toward her chest, and let it rip.

Straight into the tree a good ten feet to the right of the basket.

She could hear him trying to muffle his laughter as she headed over to the tree to pick it up.

“Did it slip at the last second?”

She could barely keep her own laughter at bay as she said, “What do you think?”

But they were both laughing by the time he said, “Why don’t you try again? Hold up a sec, though, so I can get out of your way first.” He moved halfway behind another tree. “Go for it.”

Again, she tried to copy what she’d watched him do. This time, it went better, landing on the grass only five feet away from the basket without hitting any trees or bushes.

“I have an idea,” he said as she picked it up a second time. “Since you’ve obviously never thrown a Frisbee before—” He ignored her faux scowl even as a grin continued to play around the edges of his mouth. “—maybe it will be easier if I help you get a sense of what it should feel like.”

Stepping behind her, he put his arms around her and reached for her hands. “Is this okay?”

Instantly consumed with the delicious heat of his body against hers, and how good he smelled, all she could manage was a quick nod.

He had her shift her hips slightly to the left, then used his right foot to scoot hers up on the grass. “It should be an effortless glide of your arm from here—” He brought their right hands back toward her chest, careful not to touch her inappropriately in any way. “—to here.”

She felt the muscles of his forearm and bicep ripple against hers as he moved their arms back out, both of them still holding on to the Frisbee.

“And don’t forget,” he said, his breath dancing across her earlobe so that she had to work really hard to fight back a shiver of need, “this is supposed to be fun. Keep breathing and relax your muscles.”

She had learned at a young age how to make her too-long arms and legs move in a seemingly effortlessly coordinated manner as she walked down a runway. But it was one thing to do that around a bunch of other women and g*y men with cameras. It was another entirely to do it around a ridiculously hot guy who sent her system into such disarray that she could hardly remember her name.

“Ready to give it another try?”

Actually, she was mostly fighting the urge to spin around in his arms, drop the Frisbee, and lace her fingers through his hair so that she could drag his mouth down to hers for another one of the kisses she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about. But she forced herself to follow his lead, instead, and together they threw the Frisbee.

It landed right in the middle of the basket.

“Good job.”

His arms were still around her as she laughed, and this time she couldn’t stop herself from turning to face him, her hands pressed flat to his chest between them, his heart beating steady and strong against her palms. “You did all the work, you know.”

“It was both of us.”

She was tall enough that his mouth was right in front of hers when she tilted up her face to look at him. She could feel her breath coming faster and his heartbeat picking up against her hands. “Maybe I should try one by myself this time.”

“Maybe.” His gaze dropped from her eyes to her mouth. “Or maybe you should kiss me.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Serena surprised them both by not hesitating at all before she softly pressed her lips against his. Heat instantly enveloped her, both from his hands tightening on her waist and the sparks that shot from just one sweet kiss. She hadn’t forgotten the pleasure of being in his arms at the frat party. And still, she was stunned by the intensity of her attraction to him.

“Again.”

His request was deep and hungry. And it was her own hunger for him—and pure feminine instinct—that sent her hands up from his chest to twine around his neck. Her mouth had barely touched his again when his lips came crashing down onto hers.

His groan, her gasp, they were both one hundred percent pleasure at a kiss that was at once rough yet sweet, possessive yet gentle. And when he moved one hand from her waist up to cradle her cheek, she felt warm and cherished as he slowly angled her jaw so that he could take the kiss deeper.

His tongue slicked out across her lower lip, leaving a sensual path of fire in its wake. One that could only be quenched by another taste, and then when that wasn’t enough, the slow slide of his tongue against hers.

Desire crashed into her just as his mouth had, exploding at the tips of her br**sts and the vee between her legs. She felt hot, desperate, achy.

Wanted.

But she’d been her mother’s daughter for too many years to be able to sink into passion without worrying about consequences. She’d been taught her entire life that all men were evil and only wanted one thing. The very same thing she suddenly realized she desperately wanted herself.

Overwhelmed by it all—by so much heat and desire and need that every last part of her felt swamped by it—she abruptly pulled away.

“Serena?” She was surprised to see that he looked as overwhelmed as she did. “Are you okay?”

She put her hand over her racing heart as if to try to slow it, and to keep from reaching for him again. “Every time you kiss me, I...”

She loved words, but right then she couldn’t find any of the right ones to explain what his kisses did to her. Not when she was only beginning to understand just what a truly powerful force desire could be.

But Sean didn’t seem to need her to finish her sentence. “I know. When you kiss me, it’s like that for me, too.”

If he had reached for her again just then, the truth was that being overwhelmed or confused couldn’t have stopped her from letting him take her into not only another kiss, but more. So much more.

Anything he wanted...because in that moment she would want it, too.

Instead, with what looked like major reluctance on his part, he walked away from her. It took her a few long moments to realize that he was grabbing her Frisbee from the basket.

“Ready to try again?”