Hands and a hard chest, not concrete, break my fall. I open my eyes and see the anxious face of a burly security guard.

“I gotcha, Ms. Hart,” he says in a deep voice. “Are you okay?”

My whole body shakes as I nod. I’ve never been more thankful for the throng of security guards at the base of the stage, but right now, the only hands I want on my body are Bryce’s.

“Bryce?” my vocal chords croak.

The security guard’s mouth tightens as he glances up at the stage. “He’s engaged. I’ll take you backstage.”

I turn toward the crowd as they send up a huge cheer. I follow where the thousand pairs of eyes are looking on the stage and gasp when I catch a glimpse of what’s happening up there.

Bryce has Kenny Wright in a headlock, his beefy arm twisted around the drunk man’s neck, while my band members evacuate the stage. Kenny’s blustery face goes beet red from the lack of air, and spittle and foam fleck the corners of his snarling mouth. He lets out a muffled yelp and sinks to his knees as Bryce tightens his hold. Kenny punches the air in front of him once before going limp.

The crowd goes wild as Bryce heaves the drunk man over his shoulder and heads offstage. His steps falter when his eyes land on me, and then he speeds up, taking the man behind the curtain and out of my sight before I can do so much as wave.

Zoe steps out on stage and begins to calm the cheering crowd. “Sorry, folks! Autumn won’t be able to finish that encore, having fallen off the stage and all…”

“I’d like to walk, if it’s okay,” I say to the security guard carrying me. He’s bigger and slower than Bryce, and at this rate, it’ll take me weeks to get backstage.

He slows to a stop. “Of course, ma’am.”

“Thank you!” I shout over my shoulder as I run toward the stage door. I throw my shoulder into it and then clamor up the stairs. My legs shake as I take them two at a time. My body’s desperate to have Bryce hold it.

“Autumn!”

The tears I’m holding back burst from my eyes at the sound of that familiar gruff voice. In seconds, I’m swept up into a pair of strong arms that hold me tight. I lace my arms tightly around Bryce’s neck. Our bodies fit together like they were made for it. The hard beat of his heart against my chest steadies me as I gulp for breath. I fill my lungs with the sharp tang of his sweat and cologne and let the breath go, savoring it.

“Thank God,” he says in a tight voice. “Zoe’s got it under control. I’m getting you out of here.”

A door kicks back against the wall, then silence. My eyelids peel back to reveal a starry night sky as the crisp, dewy air sweeps across my skin. I look up at Bryce and trace the tension lines crisscrossing his striking face, then my eyes dip lower to the tendons chording his neck. The man pressing me into his chest is strong and brave and wild and…

The vivid memory of my assailant in a chokehold flashes before my eyes. That’s when I put a name to the biggest change I’ve sensed in Bryce since he came back: dangerous.

The realization thrills every inch of me as he trots through the parking lot toward the Escalade idling at the curb. His steps are firm as he closes the distance, his hands steady when he opens the back door and eases me onto the cool leather seat, but I could feel the tension radiating from him.

He slips in next to me, barks directions at George, and sits back in his seat. The car ride is silent as we speed toward the hotel. Our hands meet across the dark seat and intertwine, not breaking apart until the car glides up to the Mayflower.

Bryce’s arm slides around my waist and doesn’t let go as we make our way up to my room. The moment the door clicks shut behind us, his arms are wrapping around my shoulders and reeling me into his chest. “Are you okay?”

His hot breath stays on my cheek long after his words fade away. “I’m fine now.”

His arms tighten around me. “God, I was so scared. So fucking scared.”

“Me too, but now I’m not.” I bury my face a little deeper into his shirt. Our bodies are so close that I can feel his heart pounding against mine, and in the space between breaths, trembling bodies shift to heated desire.

His fingers flex and lower to my waist, the heat from his fingertips leaving a hot trail down my skin. My breasts swell and strain against his chest as I fight to respect our self-inscribed line in the sand. But when the thick ridge of his erection rises up between us, I decide lines are meant to be crossed.

Bryce stiffens as my hands wander from his back to his waist. “Autumn—”

“No, Bry.” I raise my face to his as my hand dips to the growing budge between his thighs. “I don’t want to talk.”

A groan emerges from his lips. “Wait.”

“Haven’t we waited long enough? I’ve longed to be more than friends with you for so long that I don't want to take this slow.” My hand stills over his zipper. “Or are you still afraid?”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I want you?” he says in a tense voice full of raw passion. “You’re the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted in my life.”

I reach up and hold his face in between my hands. The harsh rush of his breath on my face sends a shudder of longing through me. My cheeks are already flushed from everything that happened, but now that I’m finally asking for what I want, they burn. “Then why are we arguing when we could be giving in to what we’re both craving for? Forget your excuses, your reasons, and taste more of me. All of me.”

His eyes darken dangerously. “We’re not arguing. Not anymore, at least.”

He covers my mouth with his before I can speak, my argument falling away as he finally gives in to what we’re both desperate for. His mouth is demanding, and it’s all I can do to stay on my own two feet under his hard lips. He moves his hands from my hips up my waist, sliding his fingers into my hair and tilting my head back so he can explore my mouth deeper with his tongue.

I’ve spent the better part of the last four weeks worrying about my changing feelings for Bryce. But as I return his kisses with needy ones of my own, my fears melt away. Nothing has ever felt so natural as the passion between us. Two friends destined to be so much more. And yet it’s our past—the bike races to the lake and inside jokes and midnight escapades out our bedroom windows—that makes it so easy for me to dive head first into the unknown. To cross the line in the sand drawn so many years ago by two nervous adolescents.

As Bryce tears his mouth from mine and tugs me down onto the bed, I know we’re not adolescents anymore. I’m no longer afraid of the unknown or of putting my heart on the line, because I know a future with Bryce is a one full of promise, love, and heated passion. And for a chance at that, I’d trade the world.

“I’ve needed you in bed, beneath me, for way too long,” he says huskily, moving through the moonlight of the dark hotel room. “I can’t wait another second for you, Autumn.”

I love the way his demand makes my pulse soar, and as he gets up and secures the door, I know that the sound of a lock sliding into place will forever remind me of the pleasure that Bryce is going to give me tonight with his lips, his hands, and the rock-hard bulge between his legs.

My thoughts are stolen away as his lips crash back down on mine, easing himself over me and pressing my back against the cool, soft sheets. Every time until now, our kisses had been cut short. Tonight, I would finally have the time to learn the taste and the feel of him, and the ways we could give each other pleasure.

As my tongue moves with his, I glide my hands down his chest and take a fistful of his cotton t-shirt. His strong pectoral muscles jump beneath the graze of my fingers as I slide his shirt up his chest and over his head. It drops to the floor without a sound.

I drag my mouth slowly over his bottom lip, teasing him before pulling it between my teeth to give it a soft nip. He gasps into my mouth, the chording of his lats under my palms showing me just how much he enjoyed it. Delight whips through my body at the way he responds to nothing more than a lick and bite. It makes me wonder what will happen when I taste more of him.

Bryce catches my hand as I reach for his pants. He wraps his fingers around my wrist and presses it back against the sheets behind my head. “I’m not done with you yet.”

“But—”

He shakes his head slowly, his cloudy eyes locked on mine. “I haven't seen you. All of you.”

My protests die on my lips when Bryce dips his head and presses a kiss to each new inch of skin that he bares. The roughness of his fingertips excites my skin as he draws my top up over my silk bra. His lips find the underside of my breasts and kiss, his wet tongue pressing against the silk and soaking it.

“So beautiful.” His mouth dips to the skin between my breasts before moving to kiss more silk. My breath hitches as his lips trail a line of kisses on the upper curves where my flesh rises from my bra. “So smooth.”

Heat pools between my legs as he slides one bra strap off my shoulder and then the other. “Bryce,” I pant, reaching for his pants with my unfettered hand. It’s captured and pressed back against the bed in an instant.

His gaze runs heated and hungry over my exposed flesh. “You’re not naked yet. I haven’t had my fun.”

I draw my tongue over my bottom lip. “Not fair.”

His pupils dilate as they follow the slow arc. “Then let me change your mind.”

The blood rushes hot in my ears as his fingers find my bra clasp and pinch. The black silk tumbles away from my chest, aided onto the comforter by Bryce’s waiting hand. He dips his head and leaves a hot and damp kiss against a different patch of skin on my neck, my collarbone, my chest, between my breasts, and then—

I gasp as his hot mouth covers my sensitive peak. His tongue is hard and needy as it strokes and sucks at my nipple.

As the perfect pleasure races through me, I’m vaguely aware of Bryce’s fingertips inching down to the top of my tight jeans. Thank God he has the mercy to quickly unzip them and slide them off my legs. I wanted Bryce before we kissed, but under this sweet assault, I’m burning with need.

Bryce’s eyes pause on the matching black panties between my legs as my pants fall to the floor. With agonizing slowness, he reaches out a hand and lightly runs two fingertips over the bottom. His gaze is heavy when it reaches my face. “I got you all wet.”

“Please…” My voice is a soft breath of air.

Bryce raises an eyebrow. “I’m only getting started.”

I force myself up onto my elbows and glare at him. “Tease.”

I moan into Bryce’s mouth as it finds mine. A whimper escapes my lips as he pulls back. His eyes are alive with laughter and desire as they watch me fall back onto the bed, silenced.

“I’ve waited for this.” He leans back, hooks his fingers under my panties, and yanks. His chest grows still as he lets his gaze wander over every bit of my exposed flesh. “I’m not going to rush it.”

With great effort, Bryce drags his gaze back to my face. The wild look on his face excites and scares me all at once. “You thought you were begging before? Let me show you what begging looks like, Autumn.”

My eyes widen, then flutter shut as his lips close around my sweet center. His kiss between my legs sends a ripple of searing heat through my limbs, igniting the gnawing fire deep in my belly. It whips through me as his tongue explores and strokes my folds before focusing on the hardened mound of my clitoris.

My senses explode as he takes me with his mouth, pushing me closer and closer to the edge with every slow arc of his skillful tongue. And when his two fingers join in his assault, sliding up my inner thigh before entering my slick walls, I arch my back and cry out with white hot pleasure.

He pulls back and feasts on my writhing form with his eyes. “More?”

I give a weak nod as his fingers continue to caresses my sensitive walls. The ecstasy rocking through me is intoxicating, addictive, and leaves me hungrier for more. No other man has ever come close to giving me pleasure like this. Never. And now there are no other men. I’m ruined forever.

He growls as I press my mound against his palm. His fingers curl slightly, rubbing against the sensitive spot deep inside of me. “I can’t hear you.”

My breath hitches in my throat as the first few bursts of euphoria pour over me. “Oh, Bryce, please.”

A wild look appears in his eyes as I look up at him, and then I’m arching against the sheets as his head dips between my legs and finds my center. His lips cover my mound and suck with unrelenting greed. His tongue flicks my clitoris over and over until I’m shaking with bliss.

I give a sharp cry as my orgasm breaks, shattering any lingering vestiges of control. My hips move on their own as his fingers and lips work together to draw out my climax. I’m helpless under Bryce’s touch as my body quivers and bucks under his mouth. The intense shockwave coursing me is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, the roaring in my ear blocking everything but the sound of my gasps and moans.

When Bryce finally lets me go, I’m drunk with pleasure, my limbs heavy and head hazy as I sink into the sheets. The earthy scent of my arousal fills the air as he draws back. He lifts up a hand to wipe me from my lips, but I reach up and pull him to me. The taste of me sends my heart pounding against my ribcage, and the heat between my thighs begins to build again, sooner than I thought possible.

My leg grazes the hardened shaft under Bryce’s jeans as I rock my hips against him, and I remember that I still haven’t gotten my turn.

Bryce moans against my lips. “You taste so good. I don't know if I’ll ever get enough.”

“You don’t have to,” I say, hooking a leg around him and flipping him onto his back. Fire licks at his eyes as he rakes his gaze over my naked body, and I revel in the attention. Being wanted this badly by a man, especially one like Bryce, is a pleasure I’ve never known.

But I’m happy to change that.

I lean down and graze his cheek with my lips on the way to this ear. “Because now it’s my turn, and payback’s a bitch.”