Page 187 of That Rush

“I could have escaped. You were distracted by my mouth.”

“Fair.”

I curl my fingers into his shirt. “I’m here because I love you, and I want tonight with you because I choose it. Saying I love you didn’t create an obligation to prove anything.”

His expression shifts, the teasing disappearing, replaced by something steadier.

“You don’t owe me proof.”

“I know.” I hold his gaze. “And tonight isn’t an answer about the cabin, Christmas, riding lessons, or where my books belong.”

“It’s tonight.”

“Yes.”

Aiden cups my jaw. “Then that’s all I’m asking you for.”

The certainty in his voice warms me more than the possessive edge ever has. He heard me on the porch. Whatever he wants tomorrow, he isn’t taking it from me tonight.

“I love you,” he says.

No question or expectation follows the words. He gives them to me and lets them stand.

I rise onto my toes and kiss him slowly. “Say it again.”

“I love you.”

My fingers move to the buttons of his shirt, opening the first one and then the next. “Again.”

His breath warms my lips. “I love you, Paige.”

Hearing my name grounds the words, and the feeling that follows is a tremor through my bones. I slide my hands beneath his shirt and feel his muscles tighten beneath my palms.

He reaches for the hem of my shirt, but I catch his wrist.

“Slow.”

His attention locks on me. “You’re giving orders now?”

“I’m directing the pace.”

“That sounds like librarian-speak for bossing me around.”

“It is respectable.” I guide his hand beneath my shirt and place it against my bare waist. “I want to feel all of this.”

His thumb moves once over my skin. The touch is patient, but his control is a hard line in his jaw.

Then he hooks two fingers beneath my chin and waits until my eyes meet his.

“Look at me, Paige.”

“I am.”

“Tell me what you want.”

“I want you to undress me. Slowly.”

Aiden’s thumb brushes my chin. “Anything else?”