He opened his mouth, then closed it. His eyes flashed something that could only be labeled pleasure, and he took a step toward me. “OK?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes. OK,” I repeated.

A grin tugged up one corner of his beautiful mouth. “OK as in you’re gonna cancel that date with Thad and make new plans with me? All weekend?”

All weekend. He was here for the whole weekend? I nodded, unable to keep from smiling even more brightly. I was going to get to spend the whole weekend with Mase. He had come here to see me.

Me!

Mase closed the distance between us, and his hands reached up and cupped my face. My body tensed but then eased almost immediately. His smell met my nose, and I was comforted.

“I’m going to kiss you now, Reese. Can’t hold back any longer,” he said, his breath a whisper over my lips before the soft plumpness of his mouth touched mine.

He was so gentle as he pressed soft kisses at each corner of my mouth before the tip of his tongue slid along my bottom lip, as if asking me to open. I had seen people kiss. I knew you opened your mouth, but it seemed so intimate. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that. Or if I would be any good at it.

“Please open for me,” he begged against my lips, and I realized I would probably do anything if he asked me to.

I opened my mouth—and gasped when his tongue slid inside and brushed against my tongue, as if in a dare to play. He tasted like peppermint. A low moan came from his chest, and one of his hands went to my lower back and pressed me closer to him as he slid his other hand into my hair and cupped the back of my head. The way he held me was different. He was careful with me.

His tongue continued to tease mine, so I ran my tongue over his and began exploring the minty taste of his mouth. When my tongue ran over his bottom lip, his hand against my lower back fisted. With a sharp intake of breath, his body trembled.

So I did it again.

This time, he made a pleased sound in his throat, then broke the kiss and rested his forehead against mine. “I knew you’d be sweet. But damn, baby, you taste like my own little heaven.”

My chest swelled, and I smiled. I hadn’t done anything wrong. He enjoyed it as much as I did. “Can we do it again?” I asked him, resting my hands on his biceps.

A low chuckle vibrated in his chest. “Yeah. We can kiss all you want to.”

His lips brushed mine again before pressing closer and opening back up. I savored the feel of touching him in such a personal way. His hands rested on my waist, and whenever I licked the roof of his mouth or tasted his lips, his hands tightened only briefly.

My body was tingling all over, and I wanted to crawl into his lap and do this all night. I was enjoying myself, and I was amazed that I was enjoying myself so much. My breasts ached, and my body instinctively pressed closer to his to find relief.

The second my chest pressed against him, he pushed me several inches away. Kissing over.

Mase was watching me as if he wasn’t sure how to handle me. He was keeping me at arm’s length. Literally.

“I need to know what I can and can’t touch,” he said, sounding out of breath. “I know something makes you cautious and nervous. I’ve watched you closely, and I read body language well. But you’re confusing me, Reese.”

Without asking me to tell him about my past, he was letting me know that he knew something was there. Something haunted me. And he was being careful not to scare me. The little bit of my heart that I thought I still had possession of fled. Mase Manning now had it all.

“I liked what we were doing,” I told him, hoping that all the love I felt for this man wasn’t shining on my face like the bright ray of sunlight that was warming up all the things inside me that had long felt cold.

Mase smirked, then shook his head. “Yeah, I got that you liked the kissing. But getting close and pressing those sweet . . .” He trailed off as his gaze flicked to my chest, and he let out a small groan before looking back up at my face. “My hands are going to want to explore. I’ve been fantasizing about your body for a while now. I need to know where my hands can and can’t go.”

He had been fantasizing about me? Oh, my.

Where could he go? My heart wanted him everywhere, but I knew my head might not agree. The problem was, I wasn’t sure what would set me off. So far, what we were doing was nothing like the nightmare I’d lived through. It was wonderful. It helped hold back the ugly memories. I wanted more of this in hopes that it would drown out the past.

“What part of me do you want to touch?” I asked.

His eyes went back to my chest. “I’d like to start there,” he said in a hoarse whisper.

My breasts began to tingle and ache at the nipples, like they knew they were getting attention from this beautiful man and liked it. They were as shameless as I was. I nodded, and his eyelids lowered as he kept his heated gaze locked on my now heaving chest. I was having a hard time breathing, because I was that excited to feel Mase’s hands on me.

He took a step toward me, and his hooded gaze met mine again. I think I stopped breathing in that moment when his hand lifted, and I felt the warmth from his skin as he cupped his palm around my needy breast.

I inhaled sharply, and he studied me carefully. He didn’t move until I began breathing again normally. Or as normally as can be expected when your breast is being fondled by the man you’re in love with. His thumb grazed over my nipple, and I grabbed his biceps to steady myself. His eyes were locked on my chest now. With the pad of his thumb, he circled and teased my nipple, causing me to make some sounds I had never made before.