ETHAN
Her breath was shaky, warm, and intoxicating. I had her pinned between the library shelf and my body, close enough that the heat radiating from her seeped into me. My fingers brushed along the bare skin of her thigh beneath her skirt, slow, deliberate strokes that made her pulse race.
She didn’t push me away this time. That, more than anything, told me I was getting to her.
“You’re so tense,” I murmured, my voice pitched low, as if the words themselves were a secret. “But it’s not from fear, is it?”
Amber’s lips parted slightly, her eyes wide but unfocused, caught between defiance and surrender. The corner of my mouth lifted. I knew that look—she hated that she wanted me, and that made me want her even more.
“You can pretend all you like,” I said, tilting my head so my lips almo
