We pull up to Rex’s building, and he jogs to the passenger side of the car to open my door. He extends his hands and helps me out before tossing his keys to the doorman.
“Welcome back, Mr. Ambrosi. Would you like me to leave your car out or have it parked for the evening?”
“Park it,” he commands, looking down at me. “We won’t be needing it anytime soon.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You have a doorman?” I ask. “Your building is much cooler than mine.”
He laces our fingers together as the elevator doors slide open. “I do.” With his hand pressed to the small of my back, he ushers me into the small space, and once the doors are closed, he pins me up against the wall. “Is that really what you’re thinking about right now? My doorman?”
Two large hands land on either side of my head, his hard body presses against mine, and it’s obvious from the erection digging into my belly that he most certainly isn’t thinking about the doorman. The silence stretches, causing our breath to echo in the tiny space, and I realize he’s waiting for me to respond.
“No,” I answer, hating how breathless I sound.
But damn it, I am breathless. This man creates a yearning inside me that makes it difficult to think, let alone breathe and speak.
“There are so many things I want to do to you. All I can think about is sinking deep inside your body and losing myself for hours.” He presses his lips to the base of my neck. “I want to kiss every inch of your skin. I want to see your face when you fall apart in my arms, and when you think you’ve had about all you can stand, I want to fuck you again.”
I sigh, dropping my head back against the elevator wall. “I want that too.”
Rex’s mouth travels south over my collarbone and along the swell of my breasts, and all I can think is how grateful I am that we’re alone in this elevator.
“I’ve wanted to fuck you since the moment I saw you standing on that sidewalk. I pictured your long, dark hair tumbling down your naked back, your legs spread wide, and then I saw this mouth.” His thumb runs a slow path along my lower lip. “I want these lips wrapped around my cock.”
I reach for his pants, ready to give him what he wants, but he stops me, pinning my wrists at my sides.
“And then when you showed up at my bar, I knew I had to have you.”
This man is sex incarnate. He’s cocky and irresistible, and he knows that if he wanted, I’d let him take me right here in the elevator.
He tugs a strap on my dress, pulling it down my arm until my left breast is exposed. “Tell me what you want from me,” he demands before wrapping his perfect lips around my nipple and sucking.
I tunnel my fingers into his thick hair, holding him against my body.
“Rex.” My neck arches back, my eyes struggling to stay open as I stare at the ceiling, and I cry out when he sucks, hard.
The elevator slides to a stop. Rex releases my breast with a wet pop, lifts the strap of my dress back into place, and scoops me up. My body is buzzing. I’m drunk from his touch, and I would gladly spend days praying to the porcelain gods if it means I get to spend the night with him, letting him do everything he’s promised. It’s the best damn feeling.
Thirty seconds later I hear the soft click of his door unlocking, followed by the sound of it shutting. Rex lowers me to my feet, wisely not letting go until he’s sure I won’t topple over.
His condo is dark, bathed in nothing but the faint glow of the moon through the window. I hear his keys hit what I assume is a coffee table, and then a warm hand slides around my waist. Closing my eyes, I take a breath, trying to calm my racing my heart.
“You are so beautiful.” He peppers kisses down my neck. Goosebumps scatter across my skin, and I feel him smile against my back. “I love how you respond to my touch.” Skimming his fingertips over my shoulders, he snags each strap of my dress, tugging them down my arms at an achingly slow pace until the flimsy black material pools around my hips.
Rex groans and drops to his knees behind me. “Fuck me,” he says. Hands around my hips, he turns me to face him.
I smile, knowing he can see my tattoo. It runs along my side, starting at the base of the outside of my breast and ending at my hip. When I feel the first brush of his tongue against my skin, I pry my eyes open and watch as he worships the words that mean more to me than he’ll ever know. I whisper the words of my tattoo as he uses his finger and mouth to outline each letter.
Never look back, but never forget. Always forgive, and never regret.
“It’s beautiful,” he murmurs, looking up at me through thick black lashes.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
Raw, sexual energy pulses through the air. It isn’t the first time I’ve felt it in Rex’s presence, and it saddens me to think it might be the last. I’m desperate to lose myself in the moment, in him.
“Touch me. Please,” I add, hoping he’ll understand how much I need him.
Rex’s pupils dilate, and a rush of moisture settles between my thighs. Hooking his fingers in the sides of my dress, he tugs the material over my hips, letting it fall in a pile at my feet.
I’m standing naked in the middle of a room with a fully clothed Rex kneeling between my legs, and for the first time in…ever, I feel sexy and completely uninhibited.
Trailing his finger down my thigh, he wraps his hand around my ankle. “Lift.” Steadying myself with a hand on his shoulder, I lift my foot and Rex slips my sandal off, repeating the process on the other side.
“I think you’re a little overdressed,” I say.
“Patience, princess.” He tugs me forward until his lips hit the lower part of my belly. With slow strokes of his tongue, Rex worships every inch of my skin he can reach and when he runs out of room, he sinks lower until he’s at eye level with my most private part.
“Open.” He nudges my legs until they’re a shoulder-width apart, and before I have time to brace myself, his mouth is on me. His tongue takes a slow path up my slit before diving inside. My body jerks, my hands grip his shoulders.
“Oh, fuck,” I moan.
Smiling mischievously, he brings his finger to my opening, dipping it inside as his mouth latches onto my clit. Each swipe of his tongue across the tight ball of nerves pushes me closer to the edge.
The sight of his mouth on my pussy is almost too erotic, but I can’t look away. He’s eating me like a starved man, like he’s a prisoner on death row and I’m his last meal.
Every nerve ending—some I didn’t even know existed—flares to life, and my hips move of their own accord.
“That’s it, beautiful,” he coaxes. “Ride my face. Fuck my tongue.”
His words push me over the edge. My eyes drift shut, my fingers tightening in his hair as I grind my hips against his face. Thank God Rex has a hand around my thigh because when my body convulses, I come long and loud, screaming out his name along with a series of unintelligible words before sagging against him.
He lifts my naked body into his arms with ease. I close my eyes, nuzzling against his chest, and a few seconds later I’m being lowered onto a big, comfy bed.
Sitting up, I reach for him, but he shakes his head. “I’m two seconds from exploding, and if you put your hands on me now, I’ll never last. And I have big plans for us tonight.”
With deft fingers, he pops the buttons of his shirt and shrugs it off. I knew Rex was built—I could see it beneath the fit of his shirt—but I had no idea he looked like this. His chest is chiseled to the point of perfection, his abs cut into a six pack with enough dips and valleys to keep me occupied for days, and oh sweet baby Jesus he’s got one of those Vs I’ve read about, leading to—
“Like what you see?” he asks, tugging off his pants. His cock springs free, hard and throbbing and glistening, begging for my mouth.
I lick my lips. “Like is such a weak word.”
It isn’t lost on me that I have no idea what to do with a guy like Rex. Sure, I’ve been with men, but it’s been the fumblings of young adults. Not one of them looked like this man, and suddenly I’m unsure of how well this is going to work.
Rex takes a step forward, and his rough hand grasps my chin, lifting my face toward his. When our eyes meet, I know I have nothing to be afraid of. It’s written all over his face: he wants me just as bad as I want him.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
A shiver of need rolls over me at the gravelly sound of his voice, and I shake my head. “Nothing.”
Running his fingers along my jaw, he cups the back of my neck. “No lies. Tell me. What is it?”
How does he do that? It must be one of his superpowers, and I’m convinced he has many.
“You’re so perfect.” I swallow, trying to find my words. “And I’m…” I look down at his cock bobbing heavily between us. “What if I can’t…”
My thoughts become a jumbled mess when Rex palms his cock, slowly working it from base to tip. A small dot of precum forms on the head.
“See that, Shae?”
I nod, my eyes locked on his hand.
“That’s what you do to me. Being near you makes me so hard I can’t see straight. I’ve been walking around with a goddamn hard-on since you showed up at Vault. Walking away from you the other night was the most difficult thing I’ve had to do in years, but I did it because I want you to remember this. I want tonight to be burned into your memory. I want to consume every one of your senses, own every sigh. I want to ruin you, Shae, bring you pleasure you never thought possible. I’m going to make it impossible for any man to ever live up to what happens between us tonight.”
His words pulse through me. I want what he’s offering more than anything. A year from now, I might regret it, regret letting him control my body the way he so desperately wants to, because where will that leave me? But I guess that’s a chance I’ll have to take, because right now I don’t have the strength, or willpower, to ask for anything less.
His gaze sweeps over me. Purposely. Unapologetically. Placing a finger at the base of my neck, he drags it down my chest, over each breast and along my belly, not stopping until his hand is at my hip. Tucking it under my ass, he pulls me to the edge of the bed. He’s still standing, and the height of his bed is perfect, except that I can’t quite reach him.
“I want to touch you,” I beg.
“You will.” He steps forward until his thighs are pressed against the mattress. He grabs first my left leg and then my right, guiding them around his waist. “But right now, I need to fuck you. I’ve been waiting too damn long for this, and I need to feel you wrapped around me. Fast now, beautiful, and then we’ll go slow and you can touch me all you want.”
Oh. Okay.
I like the sound of that.
In the back of my mind, I wonder if I’ll be able to do it more than once. Rex is a large man, much larger than the other men I’ve been with, and I haven’t had sex in years. Worst-case scenario, I won’t be able to walk tomorrow, which I’m surprisingly okay with.
He must be able to read my mind, because he dips his fingers inside of me and says, “Trust me, Shae. I’m going to make this good for you. But make no mistake, we will be here all night.”
Next thing I hear is a condom wrapper tearing. He rolls it on and brings his hands back to my body.
I dig my heels into his ass, pulling him closer to me.
“Easy.” He pumps his fingers in and out of me a couple of times.
Pulling them out, he coats my pussy with the wetness and then slides his finger down to my ass. My hips jerk, lifting off the bed as he outlines the tight ring. I gasp at the foreign feeling. No one has ever touched me there.
“I need you nice and relaxed,” he says. “The last thing I want is hurt you now, but tomorrow, plan on being nice and sore.”
“Rex. Please.”
He looks up from my pussy, where his finger is making delicate sweeps back and forth, up and down, and his gaze collides with mine.
No words are spoken. None are needed. I see my need for him reflected back at me, and in one gentle move, Rex guides himself to my entrances and pushes inside.
All the air rushes from my lungs as he stretches me, filling me more than any man ever has. It’s overwhelming and feels so damn good and I don’t know how I’m supposed to walk away from him after just one night.
Rex groans, and I lift my hips. My body welcomes his with ease, molding around him until he’s seated balls deep. He doesn’t move right away, instead giving me time to adjust, but I don’t need time, and I shift my hips, easing him out and losing my breath when he pushes back in.
Rex’s eyes smolder with a look so raw and feral that it leaves me momentarily stunned. He told me before that he isn’t a gentle lover, which is how I know he’s holding back. There’s strain on his face as he prevents himself from fucking me into oblivion. But I don’t want him to take it slow. I want him consumed by the moment and the passion running through us.
“Please,” I beg, watching where we’re joined, wanting nothing more than to see his cock slide out of my body. “I need more.”
His grip on my thighs tightens, his fingers digging into the skin with just enough pinch to keep me grounded in the moment as he pulls himself out. My lips part, my pulse racing, and I’m not sure if it’s because I’m watching this Adonis of a man fuck me, or if it’s because it feels so goddamn good.
“Look at us,” he says, pushing himself back inside my body before pulling out again. “I knew we’d fit together like this. Your body is perfect for mine, your tight pussy squeezing my cock.”
I’m not sure I can handle this—him. His touch alone sets me on fire, but add his filthy mouth and dirty words, and it’s about all I can do to keep myself from losing control. My body is coiled tight, my legs trembling.
Rex’s fierce eyes connect with mine. I hold his gaze for a moment, but my body is buzzing with too much energy, and my eyes flutter closed as I fist the comforter on either side of my hips. A groan pulls from Rex’s lips as his hips surge forward, hard and demanding.
My back arches off the bed, silently begging for more, and Rex is quick to oblige. His mouth closes around one of my nipples, his tongue working it to a tight peak.
Sucking.
Biting.
Teasing.
Claiming.
Tunneling my fingers into his hair, I hold him against me as he laves at my breasts. Our hips match each other thrust for thrust, and there’s a stirring deep in my belly. Warmth spreads through my body. Desperate for release, I squeeze a hand between our bodies. My fingers find my clit.
“Fuck no,” he demands, pushing to his full height. He nudges my hand out of the way and rubs my clit—tight, fast circles that drive me crazy and cause a lick of fire to race down my spine.
“Oh, God, Rex. Please. Faster,” I beg, my orgasm slamming into me.
Whatever control he was holding on to snaps. Rex fucks me harder, deeper, and the sound of our bodies slapping together fills the room.
He tosses his head back, the muscles in his neck and shoulders tightening as he groans through his own release before collapsing on top of me. Our mouths crash together in a brutal kiss as we ride out the waves of our climaxes.
“You’re so beautiful, Shae.”
I want to say something nice to him, compliment him the way he does me, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around what just happened. He thrusts his hips one last time before pulling out.
“Don’t move,” he says, stripping off the condom.
I couldn’t move if I tried.
Less than a minute later he returns. With an arm around my waist, he drags me to the center of the bed so my legs aren’t dangling over the edge. I snuggle against his chest, one arm draped across his abdomen. We’re both panting, and I don’t know about him, but I can’t seem to stop smiling.
The two-year drought has ended.
“What are you thinking about right now?” he asks, his lips resting against the top of my head.
That my legs are on fire and I hurt in places I’ve never hurt and it feels so damn good. I’m also thinking that whatever this is between us, it’s stronger than I gave it credit for.
“I’m thinking you tried to kill me, Mr. Ambrosi.” Propping myself up, I look at him and smile. “And I’m thinking death by orgasm might be the best way to go.”
His gorgeous eyes warm, and I find myself drowning in their chocolaty depths. No one has ever looked at me this way, and it makes me want to run away and pull him in close all at the same time. It’s an overwhelming feeling: wanting someone, but knowing you shouldn’t.
“What?” I whisper.
“Nothing.” He shakes his head. “It’s just…nothing.”
My throat clogs with emotion because I know what he’s thinking, what he’s feeling. I feel it too. Whatever we just did, it sure as hell wasn’t a quick fuck. As much as I want to believe I can walk away and never look back, I’m not so sure I can.
“Rex?”
“Hmm?” He runs his fingers up my bare back, circling my shoulder blade before traveling back down.
“You have to stop looking at me like that,” I whisper.
“Like what?”
“Like I’m some sort of princess. Like I’m special.”
He sits up abruptly, pulling me onto his lap. I wrap my legs around his waist because there isn’t anywhere else for them to go.
“I’m not special,” I whisper, remembering where I come from—who I come from. I’m the opposite, the girl your mother would never want you to bring home. The girl who lost one family only to have another walk away from her. The girl who can’t hold onto something good if her life depends on it.
Rex blinks rapidly before pinning me with a clear, determined gaze. Cupping my cheeks in his hands, he rests his forehead against mine.
“You are mesmerizing, Shae, and I can’t promise I won’t look at you like that again. But make no mistake about it, I’m not looking for a princess, because I’m sure as hell not a prince.”
My heart expands, pushing painfully against my ribs, and even though I know I shouldn’t say the words, I push them out anyway. “What are you looking for?”
“Right now, or in the long run?”
“Right now.”
“Right now, I’m looking for a sexy brunette with warm blue eyes that hold more secrets than my own. She’s innocent, but I can tell she’s seen more in her life than most people. It’s written across her face; it’s ingrained in every move she makes. She doesn’t trust easily, but for some crazy reason, she let me in. She makes me want to be more—do more. Oh, and she makes me smile. Her name is Shae. You might’ve met her.”
I run my fingers across his chest, fighting back a smile. “I have met her. She’s little snarky, if you ask me. Too closed off. You could probably find someone much more accommodating.” Pushing my hands up his chest, I cradle his neck and lower my voice. “For the record, you don’t need to be more. I’m pretty sure she likes you just the way you are.”
Without breaking eye contact, Rex leans in and brushes his lips against mine. I tilt my head, and he takes the invitation. His tongue slides deep, tangling with mine.
Exploring.
Tasting.
His hands are everywhere, but mine stay locked around his neck. Warm fingers glide down my arms and over my waist before traveling up my back. One hand pressed to the center of my back, the other at the base of my neck, he holds me tight. Our bodies, slick with sweat, press together. My heart beats rapidly, and there isn’t a doubt in my mind that he can feel it against his.
Despite all the voices in my head telling me why we aren’t a good idea, I allow myself to get lost in him—in us.
Rex pulls back all too soon. His lips move across my cheek and down the side of my neck. My head drops back as he licks his way down my chest.
“Rex.” I whisper his name, needing him to pull away because I know I can’t. If we continue whatever this is, if I open myself up to him, he will get hurt. It’s inevitable. But JJ was right. I’m not strong enough to walk away because Rex makes me yearn for things I thought were unattainable. He makes me believe I can settle here in Chicago and start a life, though I know that’s not safe.
“Stay,” he whispers, his warm lips resting on my shoulder.
The emotion runs thick in his voice, and I can’t tell him no.
Untangling my arms from around his neck, I place my palms flat on his chest and push him down to the bed. I lace our fingers together and lower my body.
“I’ll stay,” I whisper, pressing my lips to his. “Only because you leave me no choice.”
Hours later, we collapse into a pile of sweaty arms and legs on the bed. Rex curls his body against mine, his chest pressed to my back, one arm draped over my belly, and I close my eyes.
Rex sighs and nuzzles the side of my neck. “Goodnight, Shae.”
“Goodnight.”
For the first time in fourteen years, a kernel of hope unfurls in my soul, and I fall asleep content.
Warm.
Safe.