Grayson carries me up the stairs while kissing me deeply, and my heartbeat dances to a riotous song. The beat is low and loud, banging through me with a steady thrum. It makes me feel sexy and hot, and I dig my fingers into Grayson’s thick hair, reveling in him, returning every sweep of his tongue with feral abandon as if he’s the only thing that can keep me from falling.

But I have fallen for him — completely, addictively — and tonight is the night I’m going to give everything to him.

My virginity.

My heart.

Everything about me has been crying out for him from the first second I saw him, but I’ve resisted. Yet each time I see that mysterious something in Grayson’s gaze, I wonder...I hope that he’s feeling the same thing I am. He’s obviously not a man who’s honest about his emotions, although he never hesitates to tell me what he wants to do to my body in stimulating detail. But tonight he showed me that there’s something more than just hot sex between us.

And, if I’m wrong, I’m in for an even bigger fall.

He barges into his suite, still kissing me as he carries me through his sitting room and then his bedroom until we arrive at his palatial bathroom. He sits me on the counter and stalks over to the massive round claw-foot tub. Red mosquito netting hovers over it, adding a splash of decadent color to all the cool white marble.

Red — just like the heat I’m feeling as he runs the water.

He tosses in some bath salts. “I rarely use this tub,” he says in a sinfully rough voice.

Is this an admission of how he never, ever relaxes? But is he also confessing that I’m the first person he’s allowing into his life deeply enough to get him to relax here in his tub?

Brazenness overcomes my shy streak. “Besides you, who else has taken a bath here?”

“No one.”

Am I his first time, even in this small way?

He sends me a wicked smile. His hair is tousled from my restless fingers, his eyes dark with animal greed. He moves toward me, tugging at his tie, discarding it onto the marble floor. As he unbuttons his suit jacket and then his shirt, I’m caught in a breathless place where I can only watch him come closer. His every step echoes inside of me like a sonic boom, hitting me hard, getting me wet.

When he finally stands in front of me, I’m so anxious and aroused that every breath is a struggle, every heartbeat a rip in the lining of my composure.

He never breaks sexy eye contact with me as he tears off his jacket, then his shirt. And there he is — all smooth, tanned skin, all powerful shoulders, chest, arms, and muscles. The passionate flame that burns in my belly flares, licking me between my legs.

With erotic care, he undoes the straps of my heels, then tosses those away too. Citrus-scented steam from the bath soaks the air, making it heavy. My skin prickles with heat and goose bumps as Grayson reaches behind me to unclasp the ruby necklace from around my throat. Then he takes off my earrings with equally slow, maddening care, then my bracelet.

He leaves my body thudding for him as he walks back to the tub, which is full now. His muscles flex as he shuts off the water and begins to strip off the rest of his clothing. I watch in fascination as he reveals his perfect ass, his granite thighs, his long and toned legs. My pulse flails as my Greek god slips into the tub and reclines against the slope of one side. Then he crooks his long finger at me.

“Take off that dress and come here,” he whispers raggedly.

With a yearning shudder, I slip off the counter. My legs barely hold me up because they’re so damned weak. But I want him more than anything I’ve ever wanted before, and I strip for him as he watches me with melting lust in his gaze.

Then I stand before him without any clothes on, offering myself, my nerves raw and screaming. I need him so bad, and I know he can see it, because my nipples are tight and aching, the hair on my mons wet with my cream.

He runs a starved look over me and then murmurs, “Get over here, baby.”

On trembling legs, I go to him. He reaches out a hand, and I reach back. With a strong grip, he clasps me, helps me into the water where I sink all the way down into the scented, warm liquid. I face him, my skin humid with the steam and the flush that’s raging through me.

A muscle flickers in his jaw as he looks at my full breasts, which bob in the water. Then, as if he can’t control himself, he wraps an arm around me and pulls me toward him. I gasp, gushing for him with all the force of the water that spills over the edge of the tub. When I’m between his legs, he eases his hands down my back and to my rear. He cups my cheeks, kneading them.

Dear God, I’m already his ticking time bomb.

“Are you on the pill?” he asks.

“Yes.” I’m choked with desire. “I’ve been on it for a while, and the mail-order website had me visit the doctor to make sure I’m clean. I read in your dossier that you are too.”

“Rick hacked into my doctor portal to get screen shots of my latest medical records, but I’m not going to fault him for that, because I want to feel every bit of you once I’m inside you. I want to feel your bare, tight, wet pussy around me. Do you want to feel all of me too?”

“Yes.”

Hell, yes.

As he kneads my ass, his fingers slide back between my thighs and get dangerously close to my slit. I bite my lip so hard that I nearly draw blood.

“God, Harlow,” he whispers. “I cannot wait to feel that pussy around me. But I’m going to wait.”

“What do you mean?” He’s not going to take me like I asked him to?

He pulls me even closer to kiss me softly, achingly. Then he murmurs against my mouth. “We’re going to take all night, because I want to make sure you’re ready for me.”

I think I know what he means, and my heartbeat flits into a panicked rhythm as I remember how huge Grayson is and how much this might hurt. But I want it, although I’m not sure how long I can wait...

As he draws me into another long, deep kiss, I melt. I relax. I even start to forget about tomorrow night’s business dinner and how one wrong move from either Grayson or me could ruin this entire fake girlfriend charade.

If it is a charade anymore...

I forget everything but him as he explores my back with his big, capable hands and runs his tongue into my mouth. I moan, falling in to him even further.

We kiss for what feels like hours of lazy foreplay, the water lapping, his hands slick against my skin as he caresses me. He worships me as if we have all the time in the world, mapping my ass, my hips, my waist, then my breasts as if he’s taking a journey that he never wants to end. He kisses my neck, finding a million erogenous zones that spike through me with zapping delight.

Under the water, I can feel him getting aroused — his cock is long and stiff as it rests against my thigh — but somehow he’s restraining himself. He’s that ruled by self-control, and this experienced man is about to initiate me into his sexual world with his expert hands, fingers, mouth, and beautiful cock.

God, how long can I wait?

As he plunders my mouth, I get restless, shifting closer to him so that I can feel his tip against my clit, but he merely breaks off our kiss.

“My baby is so ready,” he whispers. “But, as I said — we’re going to take our time. You’re never going to forget this night.”

No kidding, and I dig my nails into the skin of his wide shoulders in carnal anguish. He makes a low, frustrated sound and suddenly turns me around on his lap. Water splashes out of the tub, hitting the floor with a smack as I suck in a breath. The length of his cock is nestled between my throbbing lips, and at the nearly pornographic sensation of his bare hardness, I lean forward, bracing my hands on the edges of the tub and arching so that my pussy slips over his shaft.

I want him inside me now.

“So eager,” he whispers, tugging my hips back toward him so that my twat kisses his belly. His large palms cup my tits. “But you aren’t going to get it yet. I’m going to make your body sing tonight many, many times, and then I’m going to fuck every thought out of your mind.”

My clit bangs against the skin of his belly. I want to feel his cock sliding through my slit again.

But he’s clearly still in control of himself, even if I’m not. I restlessly rub myself against the base of his cock and his belly, trying to make the ache of my pounding clit go away, wishing that I would just climax so I won’t feel this torture anymore.

Grayson soothes me by pouring bath gel over my back. He soaps me up, taking his damned time, keeping me at a frustrating boil. He washes me everywhere while kissing my ears, the back of my neck, my spine. All the while, my pussy clenches and unclenches against his shaft, building up to something I’m not going to be able to hold back for very much longer.

It’s only when he slips his hand to my tummy and rubs me that I start to lose it, the muscles there jumping, thumping with every stroke. And when he coaxes his fingers to my clit, all it takes is his touch to trigger me, and my world busts apart in a series of bangs that get harder and faster until I’m as liquid as the warm bathwater.

Shuddering, I pull in air, but I can’t fill my lungs. When Grayson lightly bites my neck, I go even weaker. Then he easily lifts me out of the water, taking me with him out of the tub. I can’t even manage to stand up, so I cling to him as he dries me off with a thick towel and then takes me into his arms again. He carries me to his massive, round bed and lays me down in the moonlight that streams through the French doors.

He gazes down at me with a frightening, arousing appetite, looming over me, naked and domineering, his muscles rippling as he leans down to brace his hands on the mattress. I grip the bedspread as he speaks in a low growl.

“I want to taste you again. I can never get enough of you. Fuck, you don’t know how many times my mind has drifted off while I’m trying to get things done in the office or lab. I’m always thinking about how you taste like sweet oranges soaked in cream. How you’re so delicious.”

He has no idea how many times I’ve dreamed about him. And, like the little beast I am, I spread my thighs for him. His gaze burns all the brighter, a fire that’s about to get out of control.

With a muttered curse, he climbs onto the bed. As he sits, he takes my legs and pulls them up and over his shoulders. I expel a shocked gush of air, but I’m thrilled beyond imagination as he gives me a gentle order.

“Wrap your legs around my neck, baby.”

Disobeying him doesn’t even enter my mind, and I tighten my legs around him. He uses his fingers to part my lips, then bends to my pussy. He blows softly with such moist heat that I moan loudly. He slips his hands down my thighs. As I hold back another tormented groan, he runs his palms over my stomach until his hands cover my breasts with the heat of his touch.

“Everything about you puts me under a spell,” he murmurs near my beating pussy. “Everything.”

Then he licks up my slit, and a light show floods my vision — lasers, flashes, strobing slices of red and pink that pump me up until I’m swelling. He kisses my most vulnerable place with long, slow strokes as he also stimulates my breasts with his fingers. I grind into him while pressing my hands over the back of his, connecting to him like never before. When he starts sucking and playing with my pussy lips with his tongue, he makes satisfied erotic noises as if I truly am delectable. I can feel the hungry hum of his mouth against me, and that only adds to the growing pressure that’s expanding in my core.

“Grayson,” I whisper. “Do it.”

He speaks against me. “Do what, baby?”

“Your tongue. Please.”

He squeezes my tits, and I buck off the bed. Then, with a voracious thrust, he enters me with that talented tongue, fucking me with it slowly and thoroughly, in, out, in, out. As I moan and squeeze my thighs around his neck tighter, he keeps caressing my breasts, and I’m so overcome with sensation that I start to come again with a rolling pressure in my belly that spreads and spreads like a growing quake.

A crack of oblivion.

A thunderous bolt of destruction.

And then my world slips to black.

I don’t know how long I’m out, but when I come to, I’m a wetter mess than ever. Grayson is propped up on his elbow, lying on his side and looking down at me with intensity. Pleasure. Enthrallment.

“I thought I lost you,” he says.

He’ll never lose me. What I feel for him is beyond comprehension, and right now, I think — I truly think — I see the same thing in his eyes. “When will you...?”

“Give you my cock? Soon, Harlow. Very soon...”

But he’s a damned liar, because he starts exploring every inch of my skin for what seems like hours. I’m not complaining as he kisses me, slipping his fingers into my slippery folds, then pulsing his fingers into me and opening me up in preparation for his cock. The pulses turn in to hard, fast pumps that whip me back into a frenzy. I’m so soaked for him, beating so hard and hot that I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again. I’m so desperate that I wrap my fingers around that teasing cock of his. At his incredibly hard thickness, I groan.

“Please,” I say.

I can feel a rumbling in his chest, and I know he’s at the end of his sexual rope too.

He slips a third finger into me, and I gasp in surprise as he opens me wider than ever, pumping slowly, stirring my juices, getting me high.

“You need to be ready for me,” he growls.

“I’m ready...so ready...”

“Almost there, sweet baby. Almost there.”

He swirls around his fingers until I want to cry out louder. He plays with my clit, returning me to the fringe of darkness, and when I claw my nails into his arms and scream his name in utter frustration, he finally relents.

He picks me up, guides me back to the pillows, and then props me up and hooks my legs around his hips. Even in the near darkness I can see how excited he is. I can feel his engorged cock as he urges his smooth, silky tip against my clit. My vision goes upside down with the sensual shock, and I wiggle against him, trying to get him to truly fuck me.

He makes a primal sound, and he pushes his velvety head slightly down until it’s inside me. The opening of my pussy expands around his tip, and with a burn of pain, I jam my nails into his skin harder.

With a muttered curse, he reaches down to his cock, and when he swirls his tip around inside of me, opening me up even more, the burn starts to mellow.

“More,” I whisper.

He slides in a little more. My vaginal walls embrace him with a wet grip.

“More,” I say.

With a feral moan, he pushes all the way into me, and I rock away from the pillows and bed, taking all of him in. There’s some pain, but sensation quickly gives way to pleasure as he begins to stroke in to me with smooth, even thrusts. I move with every one of them, my body humming, my blood chugging as he plows me with his cock. Then it’s as if I never felt any pain at all as Grayson looks into my eyes, fucking me wonderfully, sending me higher and higher. It’s as if the air gets thinner, harder to breathe as I soar up closer to the night sky. Shooting stars paint the night, arching, imitating every pulse of Grayson’s cock into me.

The stars burn brighter, darting faster, flaring down to nip at me. Then, with one explosive burst, I come. I shower apart just as he climaxes inside me with hot, slick, wild pulses.

As I catch my breath, I become a part of the night, everything dimming until I feel his arms around me. Then I slowly open my eyes as the earth finally goes still. I tremble in his embrace as peace descends on us.

Our skin is sweaty, our juices mingling. He kisses me and then cups my face, looking into my eyes with such intensity that I know without a doubt he feels what I do.

Grayson Royal has real feelings for me.

But as he pulls me against him so I’m lying on his chest, unable to see his face, I can’t help but wonder if I saw a bit of terror along with everything else...

Sleep starts to brush over me as I lie content in his arms. I’m never letting go, and whenever we wake up, I know Grayson will feel the same way...

But when morning comes, I’m proven wrong.

He’s gone from the bed, leaving nothing except for a note on the pillow next to me.

Harlow,

I must see to the details of the dinner with Jake Foreman tonight. Jayne will spend the day with you, polishing up your final details. Please stick to the schedule I have given her, as timing is vital.

I will see you at six when the limousine arrives for us. Jayne will see to it that you are ready.

Grayson

And that’s all he wrote.

I’m beyond stunned. Hurt numbs me all over, and I’m not just talking about the slight soreness I feel between my legs. Where there was excitement and heat the night before, there’s a sense of nothingness now.

Am I nothing to him? I’d been so sure that his defenses tumbled down with me, but this note...

This note is so cold that I can’t even feel my heart.

I find myself walking through the day as if I’ve been anesthetized. Jayne watches me curiously as I go through one last mock dinner interview with her and then submit myself to a facial, manicure, pedicure, and massage.

All the while I say nothing, because this pain is beyond comprehension.

But then, little by little, the pain turns to anger at Grayson and his damned walls that he keeps up to protect whatever emotions he’s hiding for whatever reason.

Then the anger turns into determination.

By the time Jayne brings me my beautiful dinner gown at five thirty PM sharp, I’ve decided how things are going to go down at that dinner.

I put on my best fake girlfriend smile for Jayne, ready to show Grayson exactly what he’s dealing with.