The Bucket List (A REVERSE HAREM ROMANCE)

30. ALBANY

His lips tasted different.

Of coffee and something else, something salty. A weird combination but not something that was off-putting. I liked it. I liked it a lot. But I absolutely loved the way he kissed me. It was so much different than Severide's kiss.

My hands crawled up his chest to his shoulders and then to the back of his neck where I buried them into his hair. A tug had him groaning against my mouth.

The tip of his tongue slid between mine and entered my mouth without asking permission first. My stomach clenched and more heat flooded my body as his tongue brushed mine a few seconds before he sucked on it.

A whimper fell from my lips.

Steven gripped my hips and pulled me onto his lap. The feel of his arousal against my sex, had more wetness flooding my panties. He felt different than Severide. I moved my hips experimentally which earned me a low groan from him.

I broke the kiss and sucked in much needed air.

Steven was struggling to catch his breath just like I was. He pressed his forehead against mine and stared deep into my eyes. His eyes were dark with desire.

Reaching up, he pressed a shaky hand against my cheek before he slowly slid it down to the side of my neck. Steven gave my lips one last peck and then sat up.

"I think the spa day should be done together," he said huskily.

I blinked at him, unable to comprehend why he was talking about spa days. His lips slowly curled up into a smile and his eyes filled with amusement.

"You're bucket list, Albany. I'm talking about your bucket list."

Oh! Right. It was why I came to see him in the first place. I nodded and blew out a breath but I was still unable to form a coherent sentence. Chuckling, Steven leaned forward slightly and grabbed something from his desk. When he sat back he was holding my list in his hand.

"I'd like to share a tradition with you."

"W-what kind of tradition?"

He shrugged. "Anything you want to do."

"I'll think about it."

"Okay. We've decided that we'd do seven, eight and nine together. You can do number ten with Thomas." His smile widened. "Or you can take Kieran with you to the arcade. Don't know if he'll go though, he's a bit too serious."

"I've noticed that."

"Severide and Kieran are pretty open to anything. They'd never say no to try new things. Thomas is a bit. . . hung up about doing certain things." He paused. "I'm a bit too cautious try some of the things you have on your list."

"Why?" I asked him.

"It's just the way I was raised," he told me softly.

I bit my lip. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

My eyes dropped to his chest. Dropping my one arm onto the back of the chair, I relaxed against his chest and slipped my other hand down to play with the top button of his dress shirt.

Memories flashed through my mind, followed by the sharp burning pain I had felt all those years ago. Fear of feeling it again had kept me from ever having sex.

"Does sex always hurt?"

Steven froze. His chest had stopped moving beneath my palm. After a moment he blew out a breath and sucked another one in. His body slowly softened beneath mine again.