I’d been through the emotional wringer tonight, but my body buzzed with the high that came from too much adrenaline and too little sleep. Logically, I knew we both needed rest, but there was something else I needed more.

Rhett.

My heart hammered so hard, I thought it might be in danger of exploding. Wham-bam, wham-bam, wham-bam. The rhythm pounded in my chest as Rhett turned me around, found the zipper tab at the top of my dress, and slid it down. The cool air hit my overheated skin with each inch he uncovered, and when Rhett pressed his lips to the top of my spine, I thought I was going to trip right out of my shoes.

But he didn’t stop there. He took his time, kissing a path down my back until he was kneeling behind me, my dress pooled in a puddle at my feet, and his lips just above the lace band of my thong.

I thought he’d yank it down and keep going, but the man kept me guessing.

I didn’t know why that surprised me most of all. Probably because I’d envisioned what this moment would be like hundreds of times, and I couldn’t have been more wrong. This wasn’t the crazed tearing at clothes like it was when it started in his Jeep. No, Rhett was savoring every moment, tasting every inch. Worshipping me. That’s what he was doing.

Rhett kissed a trail around my hip, guiding me with his hands until I spun to face him and his lips were pressed just below my belly button. He leaned his forehead against my stomach and breathed me in.

“I’m gonna devour you.” His husky voice sent shivers zinging to my clit and hardened my nipples. “I want you to know what my lips feel like on every inch of your skin.”

He lifted his head, and I regretted the loss of contact for a moment before his eyes met mine with a swift emotional punch. “This isn’t a one-time thing, Ari. This is just the beginning.”

“I don’t expect promises from you.” I didn’t recognize my own voice.

“You’re getting one anyway.”

The heat burning in his eyes wasn’t just arousal, it was a vow. Everything building between us had led to this moment.

He scraped his teeth from my belly button to the top of my panties and reached up with both hands to drag them down my legs, his mouth following every inch he uncovered until he skimmed over my bare lips.

“Red, you’re soaked.”

I didn’t know what possessed me to say it, but I blurted, “Didn’t you know everything’s better when it’s wetter?”

A moment of silence followed before Rhett’s entire body shook with laughter. His piercing green gaze met mine. “You’re priceless, and I swear I’ll always treat you like it. But right now, I’m going to eat this pussy until you scream.”

One hand pressed to my stomach as he pushed me back onto the bed, where I landed with a bounce. Before I could say anything, he was between my legs, his tongue sliding through my wetness.

I couldn’t tell who moaned louder, me or him. My hands fisted the covers as I pressed up against Rhett’s mouth. Whatever he was doing—

“Oh my God.” I couldn’t possibly already be coming. It was impossible. Wasn’t it?

But sure enough, the orgasm built and my cries grew louder and louder, until he slid a single finger inside and my climax slammed into me.

“That’s right. Come hard for me, Red. Grip my finger like you’re gonna grip my cock.”

Who knew Rhett was a dirty talker? It turned me on like I never would have guessed.

His lips circled my clit as he pumped his finger in and out, sucking and nipping and tugging until the first orgasm stretched into two. If I’d been capable of rational thought, I would have worried about the wet spot I was surely going to leave on the bed.

Rhett lifted his head, and my eyes took a few seconds to focus on him. “You come just like you do everything else. You don’t hold back.”

My mouth was moving before I’d even consciously decided what to say. “Probably because you eat pussy like you do everything else—perfectly.”

The grin. Oh sweet Jesus, that grin. It stretched across Rhett’s face and tugged at my heart. I was in serious danger here, and it didn’t scare me at all.

“I’m just getting started.” He pushed in a second finger, cutting off any response I might have made with a harsh intake of breath. “You’re so damn tight.”

“Uh . . . thank you?” I didn’t know if that was a compliment, but I was going to consider it one.

Rhett’s laugh told me it was the right response. “That’s going to be what I say when I slide into your sweet pussy and you wreck me.”

Having his magic fingers working me over and his hot eyes on mine while he said those things sent waves of heat up my cheeks.

His eyes glinted as his grin turned lopsided. “It makes you even wetter when I talk dirty.”

It wasn’t a question. He was stating a fact, and it occurred to me that he could tell.

“I didn’t know—”

“It’s sexy as fuck.” He pulled his fingers free and lifted them to my lips. “You ever taste yourself, naughty girl? Because I can tell you that it’s tart and sweet and spicy, just like you.”

My eyes probably bugged out of my head comically. “Taste myself?”

He painted his fingers along my lips, and I imagined him painting something else along them. My nipples hardened even further, pushing out the lace of my bra.

Rhett missed nothing. “What’s that thought?”

I swiped my tongue out to taste, and he was right. It wasn’t bad. It was different. “Could be worse.”

“That’s not what you were thinking when those little nipples peaked.”

I sharpened my gaze on him. “How do you know?”

Rhett rose to his feet, the bulge in his pants becoming obscene. “Because I know you, Ari. Now tell me, what were you thinking?”

He reached for the first button on his shirt and unfastened it. One after another, he released the buttons until he pulled the shirt off and dropped it on the floor. Then he reached for his belt.

Oh God.

“You were thinking of me rubbing something else against those plump lips, weren’t you, Red?”

How does he know this stuff?

As if I’d voiced my question, Rhett twitched his lips into a smile. “Yeah, you keep forgetting those detective skills I still have. Number one? Reading people, especially the beautiful woman who’s lying on the bed, legs spread, wet pussy waiting for me, when she’s thinking about what it’d be like to have her lips around my cock.”

The flood of moisture between my thighs would have given me away if he’d still had his fingers inside me.

“Don’t worry, Red, you’ll have your chance as soon as you admit it. I see it all over your face.”

Leather hissed against the fabric as he pulled his belt through the loops.

Oh sweet Jesus. How did I admit that I’d imagined this moment more times than I could count? The moment when I finally learned if the rumors I’d heard in high school were true? That Rhett Hennessy was hung?

My breathing quickened and I was probably in danger of hyperventilating when he dropped the belt, thumbed open the button, and slid down the zipper. His thick bulge strained against the black boxer briefs and all the saliva in my mouth dried up.

He might be even bigger than I thought.

Rhett released his grip on his pants and they fell to the floor. After he stepped out of them, I levered up on my elbows and stared. He didn’t look like he had in high school. Nope.

Rhett was built like a brawler, not a boxer. He was around six feet tall with broad, heavily muscled shoulders and a carved chest that tapered down into a narrow waist gripped by the band of the boxer briefs. His thighs stretched the fabric to the limits, just like his erection.

And those tattoos . . .

I was a goner.

“You should probably put your dick in my mouth.” I slammed said mouth shut, unable to believe what had just come out of it. It was a good thing I didn’t close my eyes too, because I would have missed Rhett’s jaw drop before he recovered and shot me a wicked grin.

“I can honestly say those aren’t words I ever expected you to say.”

My cheeks burned. I shouldn’t be allowed to talk. I’m totally screwing this up.

“Umm . . .”

“Do you know what the sexiest thing about you is, Ari?”

I was naked except for my bra, laid out on a bed, and I wasn’t about to start guessing. “No.”

“Your mind. Sometimes, it works so fast you don’t have time to filter it, and I get the pure, unvarnished parts of you. Smart, funny, sweet, sexy. You check all the boxes. You’re the ultimate package. The fact that you’re here, with me, shows me that sometimes life does work out the way it’s supposed to.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, but any other rational thought disappeared from my super-smart genius brain when he hooked his fingers in the sides of his briefs and tugged them down.

Oh. My. God.

Big, thick, and built just as solid as the rest of him, Rhett’s cock bobbed free. If it hadn’t been weighed down by its own bulk, it probably would have reached up to his navel.

My mouth formed into an O as he stepped forward. I scrambled up from the bed and did the only thing I could think of.

I threw myself at him.