Star had never thought of herself as more than passably pretty. She’d always thought she was too lean, that her curves were too straight, her breasts not nearly large enough, her legs too long, her face just a little too angular, her hair too unruly. Lukas obviously didn’t think so. He looked at her like she was a goddess; like a siren- like- like she was utter perfection.

The way he looked at her created a warmth that started deep inside and soon suffused her entire body.

She knew, before he even removed his clothes, that Lukas was perfect. She didn’t have to have sleepless nights spent agonizing over him to create some kind of illusion. He was the real deal.

His clothes fell to a pile on the floor and he stepped back, obviously not at all shy. She sat down heavily on the edge of her bed. Her gaze was pulled, like a magnet, to his body. His shoulders were impossibly broad, his chest the kind of stuff that women died for and men envied. His abs were hard and chiseled. His legs looked like twin pillars of beautiful marble. They were hard and sinewy, bulging with defined muscles. Her gaze slowly moved back up, back to his chest. It was dusted with a light blonde smattering of hair over his pecs that trailed off and resumed right below his navel. Her eyes followed that trail lower, until she realized she was staring at his cock.

She quickly glanced down, completely mortified at what she’d just done.

Lukas chuckled softly. “I’m glad you like what you see.” He took a few steps towards the bed and then another and another, until he was standing right before her. “Do you want to touch me?”

Oh god yes! More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. She couldn’t let him know how desperate she felt, how utterly raw and achy her entire body was, as though she hadn’t just experienced an incredible, mind numbing orgasm. “Yes,” she whispered shyly.

“Go ahead.” His voice was raw, husky, full of male longing.

She tentatively reached out and, with hand shaking, wrapped her hand around his thick shaft. It was so large she almost needed her other hand. She managed to smother a gasp that would have been completely humiliating.

Lukas made a sound low in his throat, a sound that was half a growl, half a moan. She liked it. It made her feel powerful, knowing that she was the one that had pulled that sound from him. She slowly moved her hand, running it over the thick shaft right to the base then back, slowly moving over the thick, rounded tip. Beads of moisture coated her hand as she ran it over him again and again. She kept going until Lukas reached down and gently placed his hand on her hair.              

“Enough,” he said thickly.

“I…” she wondered what she had done wrong. Her face heated painfully at her ignorance. She had done this a couple times when she was younger, in college. She regretted it every single time. It had been nothing more than awkward, drunk fumbling that had led to little pleasure. Certainly nothing like she’d just experienced in the living room with Lukas and he’d only used his mouth.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Lukas assured her in that sexy, husky tone. “I just… I want to be inside of you.”

Her body lit up like a lazy fire that had just been doused with gasoline. “Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, I want that as well.” Her face heated again, even voicing the words.

Lukas turned, went to his pile of clothes on the floor, bent and retrieved something out of the pocket. It took a second to register what the little foil packet in his hand was.

“You came prepared,” Star said dryly.

Lukas grinned. “I’m not going to say I anticipated this. More like extreme wishful thinking on my part.” He ripped the packet open and it was only a second before he was ready.

He moved so fast, Star hardly had a chance to process what was happening. Lukas gripped her hips and spun her around, bending her over the edge of the bed. She had imagined something much more vanilla than this, something… missionary. Lukas’ hot thighs parting her legs, his granite chest leaning into her back, his flesh hot against hers- it was so much sexier and darker than she ever could have imagined.

She tensed when she felt his cock at her opening. She knew how big he was. She anticipated that it would hurt more than a little to take him inside of herself. She was wrong.

Lukas went slowly, sliding in inch by inch until his entire thickness filled her. She gasped at the shocking sensation. It didn’t hurt at all. She was so wet and ready for him that her body had no problem adjusting to his size. He waited, giving her a moment to fully adjust before he started to move inside of her.

He thrust gently at first, little pumps of his hips against her. She couldn’t control the hot whimpers that were torn from her throat as his thrusts quickened. The friction was delicious. He moved almost all the way out before sliding back inside of her, filling her once more. She thought it couldn’t get any better until Lukas reached out and cupped her breast. He found her nipple and kneaded it gently, sending shards of endless pleasure racing through her.

“Lukas…” she panted. Star felt heat coiling in her belly again. It built steadily, growing sharper and hotter with every single thrust. She rocked her hips backward, opened her legs further, taking him deeper than ever before. His hand fell to her hip then dipped lower.

She gasped when he found her clit and massaged her gently while he pumped into her from behind. The friction that had been slowly building blossomed into a blinding heat that spread into every limb. It suffused every single part of her until she felt like she was floating out of her body. All she knew was the pleasure. There was nothing else but that heady, amazing sensation of his body giving hers exactly what she needed.

She came apart in a climax that was harder, sharper and hotter than the first. She screamed Lukas’ name because she couldn’t keep it past her clenched teeth any longer. She rocked her hips, bucking against him, drawing his own hard climax from him in a long, loud, shuddering groan.

Afterwards they collapsed together, in a tangle of heated, sweaty limbs. Their skin stuck together, their scent of the pleasure filled the bedroom.              

Star had never experienced anything so… incredible. She didn’t even have a word that could properly describe it.

“That was amazing,” she whispered, tracing a lazy circle over Lukas’ chest.

“Don’t get settled,” he responded. He looked down at her, grinning widely. “I am far from finished with you yet.”

She gasped. “What? But you…”

“Don’t have another condom?” He had the grace to look ashamed. “Okay. So maybe I was really dreaming when I stuffed a couple into my pocket. Really reaching for the Stars.”

She shook her head. “No. Not the stars. Just one. Just one Star.”

“Yes,” he whispered as he bent his head to claim her mouth. “Just one Star.”

***

The next morning, Star woke the unfamiliar sensation of a solid wall beside her. The sharp, raw scent of masculine skin in her nose brought her eyes fluttering open.

She realized she and Lukas were entwined together in her bed. Covered only with her sheet. She recalled everything that they’d done the night before with startling clarity. Her body heated painfully.

She shifted slightly so she could stare into Lukas’ sleeping face. He looked so at peace. Harmless. Beautiful, tranquil. There were a thousand words she could think to describe him and none were quite right. None of this had any words. There was no one expression that could clearly define the fear, loathing and utter happiness she felt, all wrapped into one.

This was a mistake. Star tried very hard to make herself believe that but somehow she just couldn’t. She did know that it couldn’t happen again. She’d had a moment of weakness. A moment of amazing, incredible weakness that she would treasure for a lifetime. It couldn’t be more than that.

No matter how glorious the night seemed, the morning had a way of dampening even the most ardent hopes. She was still Star Schellen and he was still Lukas Millar. Just because they’d slept together didn’t mean that anything more would ever work between them. Worse, she could lose her best friend over this. Even the mere thought of Annie was enough to send Star into a frenzy. She gulped down the rising tide of panic and concentrated on carefully untangling her limbs from Lukas’ heavy, warm ones. When she was free and slid from bed, her skin, her senses, her entire being, missed his presence.

She hurried over to her dresser and pulled out a fresh pair of underwear. She needed to shower and get dressed. She’d wake Lukas and tell him they had to talk. Just not now. She had to be at the kitchen. She was safe there. She could hide there, regroup there, try and make sense of everything she felt and thought.

She knew now why she had avoided Lukas for so long and tried so hard to keep him at arm’s length. One night with him had shifted her life. She knew, without a doubt, that she was never going to be the same.