Arresting Developments by Lena Diaz

they’d both believed him to be inside. What did she know about Dex? She knew that he was a good person, kind, and genuinely caring.
    She curled her fingers around the doorjamb. If loving him, just this once, was a mistake, why did the thought of being in his arms feel so right? She was tired, so tired, of being on guard and worrying all the time. Just this once, she wanted to push all her worries aside and simply live. Especially if she’d be spending the rest of her life in prison or—worse—facing the death penalty.
    With that thought, she pushed herself forward until she was standing at Dex’s door. This was what she wanted, one night of joy, one night to treasure and hold close to get her through the darkness that surely lay ahead.
    She turned the knob, then slowly pushed the door open. “Dex?” she whispered. If he was asleep, she’d go back to her room and know that this was a mistake.
    The covers rustled in the big four-poster bed. “Amber? What’s wrong?” He slid out of bed, the moonlight glinting through a slit in the curtains, revealing that he was wearing only boxers.
    Her mouth went dry at the sight of all that skin and those sculpted muscles as he strode toward her. He stopped in front of her and moved her to the side as he peered into the hallway. Always the protector. She loved that about him, even though she knew she could protect herself.
    “Nothing’s wrong,” she said.
    He stepped back and turned around. “Then why—”
    She pushed the door closed and, for emphasis, turned the lock. “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
    His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat and his hand shook as he swept her hair back from her face. “Canoe Girl, don’t tempt me. Because since I met you, I’ve been thinking about little else but getting you into bed.” He dropped his hands to his sides, his fingers curling into fists as if to make him stop from reaching for her.
    “Why fight it, then? I want the same thing.” She reached for her nightshirt to take it off, but he grabbed her wrists.
    “Don’t. I’m trying to be noble here. You’re just feeling beholden to me because I paid your bail and hired a lawyer. I wouldn’t want you to feel obligated. Please, go back to your room.” He reached for the doorknob, but she moved in front of him.
    “Amber—”
    “Dex,” she whispered back, as she swiftly pulled her nightshirt over her head and tossed it to the floor.
    His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he looked his fill. She was completely naked and knew she was being unfair. But just the fact that he was trying to be noble had made her want him even more. He truly was a good guy. She just wished she’d met him years ago, that he could have been her first, and maybe her last, and that she could have been anywhere but here back when her grandfather had gotten sick. Maybe, just maybe, things would have turned out differently.
    She ruthlessly stepped forward, sliding her hands up his glorious chest, reveling in the catch in his breath and how his muscles tensed beneath her fingertips. She slid her fingers up, up, up until her body was pressed flush against his and her hands were behind his neck. A shudder racked his entire body, and he groaned. It was a groan of surrender, because suddenly he was pulling her tighter against him, against the hardening erection pulsing against her belly, and molding his lips to hers.
    His kiss was like fire, igniting all her nerve endings, tightening her belly almost painfully and melting her insides. She shifted against him, their mouths greedily moving against each other as she tried to get closer, closer. He reached down and lifted her into his arms, one arm beneath her bottom, his hand molded against her thigh as the other wrapped around her back. He turned with her in his arms and pressed her against the door.
    His tongue dueled with hers, tasting, teasing, fanning her pleasure higher and higher. He broke the kiss, both of them gasping for air as he