Lori slathered melon-scented lotion on her legs before she pulled a slinky robe over the Chinese silk gown in deep reds and golds that she’d bought in Hong Kong the week before.

She went over to pull an envelope of cash out of her purse and placed it on the table in the hotel room, just as she heard her cell phone buzz.

Glancing at the caller ID, she connected and said, “Hi, Sabrina.”

“Hey there! So you’re finally back, are you? You’ve been gone forever.”

Lori had called her cousin as soon as her plane had landed that afternoon and had left a message saying she’d arrived safely. “I’ve just been gone a month. Hardly forever.”

“Well, it felt like forever to me. I guess you were having such a grand time scouting out exotic locales that you didn’t miss me at all.”

Lori chuckled. She’d spent four weeks in Hong Kong doing research for her new book and attending an international fiction conference where she’d given a workshop on writing romance. It had been a good trip, and she was glad she’d gone.

But it did feel like she’d been gone forever.

“So are you going to come over tonight? I’ve got beer and we can order pizza.”

“We’ll have to do it tomorrow,” Lori said, returning to the bathroom to run a brush through her loose hair.

“Why? What are you doing tonight?”

Lori blushed a little as she stared at her image in the bathroom mirror. Her hair was shiny, hanging down in big waves around her shoulders. Her cheeks were rosy and her smooth skin was set off by the vibrant colors of the silk. And her eyes were sparkling with excitement.

She was so impatient she felt like squirming, and it was still fifteen minutes until seven.

“I have plans tonight,” she said vaguely, knowing as she spoke the words that her evasion would never work.

After a brief pause, Sabrina exclaimed, “You’re seeing him tonight, aren’t you?”

“Sabrina,” Lori began, turning the word into a warning.

Sabrina, of course, ignored it. “You are! As soon as you hit the ground in Seattle, you rush right into his arms!”

“I’m not rushing into his arms,” Lori said, a little annoyed by her cousin’s implications since it didn’t at all capture her interaction with Ander. “We just scheduled an engagement for this evening.”

“An hour after you land?”

“Two hours,” Lori corrected. “And that’s just the way it worked out.”

“You keep insisting that this thing isn’t serious, but tell me the truth. You’re not getting Pretty Woman inspired daydreams, are you?”

“No! Of course not. Give me a little credit. I’m not a fool. I like him. And I like the sex. And I pay him for his services. I’m not pretending it’s anything romantic. That’s just not how we are together. It’s professional.”

“All right. I guess I believe you. I thought this whole thing was cool and fun at first. But I get worried every now and then. You’re not using it as a crutch, are you?”

“Of course not.” Lori sighed. She knew her cousin genuinely cared about her, and that Sabrina couldn’t really understand her relationship with Ander just by hearing about it second-hand. “I’m pursuing real relationships. I am. Did I tell you I met someone?”

“What!” Sabrina demanded. “Who? When? Where?”

Lori chuckled, glad of the distraction and glad that she’d saved this bomb to drop on Sabrina with maximum impact. “Asked like a true reporter. I met him at the writer’s conference. He’s from Seattle too. He’s a lawyer-turned-writer. You’ll never guess who it is.”

Sabrina hesitated for a moment, obviously searching her mind for possibilities. “How incredible would it be if it was that hot Phil Rothe. I saw him on a morning news show last month. He had the most delicious jeans on and, with that five-o’clock shadow, wow!”

Lori grinned against her cell phone. “That’s the one. He was wearing those jeans when I met him.”

Sabrina squealed in thrilled delight.

“I’ll have to tell you the details tomorrow. I think he’s interested though. We talked a lot. And we already made a lunch date for next week, and he asked if I’d go with him to a museum fundraiser next Saturday. I haven’t been this excited about someone in a long time.”

“I’m dying for more info, but I’ll try to restrain myself until tomorrow. Just tell me this. If you’ve got this hot, scruffy, manly man waiting in the wings, why are you rushing back to fuck your gigolo?”

Lori swallowed. Then she shrugged in the empty room. “It’s kind of embarrassing, but I’ve been having sex with Ander every week or so for the last three months. And now I’ve been away for a month. I guess I’m sort of in the habit.”

“I get it,” Sabrina cackled, “You’re horny!”

After an appropriately snide reply, Lori hung up. She knew Sabrina was right, though.

She was horny. Hornier than she’d ever been in her life. She’d taken her vibrator with her to Hong Kong and had had to make use of it almost every day. It hadn’t been fully satisfying, however. She’d lain in bed more nights than she’d like to admit fantasizing about what she’d do with Ander when she returned to Seattle.

The truth was she had rushed back to meet up with him again. She wasn’t sure she could wait another night.

She’d been anticipating so much that she was already wet , despite the distraction of her conversation with Sabrina. She sat down on a chair and glared at the clock, which still said there were nine more minutes until Ander’s arrival.

Then there was an unexpected knock on the door. Ander was miraculously, wonderfully early.

Lori flew to the door and flung it open.

Ander stood in front of her—lean, slick, and handsome in a blue dress shirt and black tailored trousers. He looked so scrumptious she wanted to slurp him down.

He smiled at her, appearing genuinely pleased to see her. “How was your trip?”

“No time for that.” Lori yanked him into the room and pushed him toward the bed, already fumbling with the buttons to his shirt.

A few minutes later, he was naked and her beautiful Chinese silk gown was disgracefully pushed up past her breasts so Ander could mouth and stroke her bare flesh.

Lori clutched at his head, pushing his mouth against her sensitized nipple more firmly. She couldn’t stop pulling at him, trying to get him as close as possible, feel him as much as she could. Her thighs were parted and her legs wrapped around his middle. She wriggled and rocked beneath him so she could rub her aching clit against his belly.

To her relief, Ander wasn’t as leisurely as usual. His mouth was hard and hungry, and his hands were demanding and seeking. He must have some instinct from years of experience that was able to tap into her mood because his hot urgency was exactly what she needed, exactly what she felt herself.

She squirmed and clawed at him as he worked her up into deeper desire until she couldn’t take anymore. “Enough, Ander,” she gasped. “I need you to fuck me now.”

He didn’t hesitate. Barely raised his face from her breast. Just reached over and grabbed for a condom and the lubricant from the nightstand. Then he finally pulled himself up.

His face was a little flushed and his skin damp with light perspiration as he rolled on the condom and slicked himself up with lube.

Lori practically howled with impatience until he parted her legs and stroked her open with his fingers. Without prelude, he sunk two fingers inside her, curling them up to massage her g-spot.

She made an odd throaty noise—almost like a purr—and arched her spine up off the mattress. As he pumped his fingers inside her, she tried to concentrate enough to decide what position she wanted to use today. They’d been experimenting and she now had quite a few positions in her repertoire. But she couldn’t make her mind work through her heated haze to settle on one to request of Ander tonight.

As it happened, she didn’t need to. Instead of waiting for her lead, he muttered, “Why don’t you turn over?”

She did as he suggested automatically, her body clenching in excitement. His fingers remained inside her as she rolled onto her stomach, and the feel of the penetration as she shifted position was delicious and debauched.

Ander adjusted his hand to accommodate her sprawl on her stomach and she almost whimpered in pleasure as he fucked her with his fingers. Unconsciously, she lifted her bottom to give him better access, and she felt his free hand stroking and squeezing the soft flesh of her hips and ass.

“Oh, God, Ander,” she gasped, her head jerking to the side as she felt a climax tightening inside her already. “I need to come so bad.”

He made a strange sound. A grunt or something. And then he pulled his fingers out. Before she could whine about the loss of penetration, he’d replaced it with his cock.

He slid into her with a smooth, hard stroke, and she bit back a cry of pleasure at the tight, tantalizing feel of him inside her.

She managed to look back over her shoulder at Ander. He was straddling her thighs and holding her bottom high enough to allow him access. But Lori’s upper body was flattened on the bed, and she felt helpless and deeply sexy at the same time.

She clawed at the bedding and moved a pillow lower so she could bury her face into it if she felt the need to scream.

When he began to thrust, his presence hot and tense and powerful above her, she was pretty sure she was going to need the pillow. The pressure of an orgasm was already at its breaking point, and her body writhed and shook beneath his hard, steady thrusts from behind.

“Oh God,” she mumbled, burying her face in the pillow as the tension shattered in a hard climax. She smothered her cry of release so it came out as a muffled mewing sound. The tremors of her orgasm shook her whole body, and she heard Ander make a guttural sound as her pulsing inner muscles tightened brutally around his cock.

He kept thrusting though, and she was able to turn her head and gasp for air as the sensations finally leveled off. “More,” she rasped, fisting her hands in the sheets as she prepared herself for more pleasure. “Please, more.”

He didn’t say anything. He hadn’t said a word since he’d told her to turn onto her stomach. But she could feel him intensely at her back. Some sort of intense vibrations were radiating off of him, slamming into her, and spurring her on to even higher need.

His rhythm built back up, and the stroking of his cock into her tightened body was hard and almost raw. But she needed even more of it. She tried to pump her hips to meet his, although her position allowed very little freedom of motion. His pelvis slapped against the soft flesh of her bottom on every in-stroke, and the wanton sound mingled with the bed’s shaking and their loud, desperate breathing.

Then he wrapped an arm around her hips until his hand found her swollen intimate flesh. He rubbed her clit in a massage so urgent it was almost clumsy, and the additional stimulation caused Lori to choke on new waves of pleasure.

She came again. This time, she wasn’t prepared and she moaned and whimpered as she rode out the pleasure, not finding the coordination to hide her face in the pillow. As she contorted her face and sobbed out her second release, she heard Ander make a rough, wordless sound behind her.

His rhythm grew suddenly rough and choppy, and his hips pistoned against her ass. He kept rubbing her clit, and her body was trapped between the conflicting sensations of his fucking and his massage.

She shook and shuddered as the tension tightened inside her again. His thrusts were rough and urgent, and she could feel the heat of his body, hear the almost frantic sound of his panting.

“Oh God,” she choked, her spine arching and her head lifting involuntarily off the bed. “Gonna come again.”

Without warning, Ander was right behind her, on top of her, just at her back. Before she knew what it meant, she felt his teeth on her skin as he bit down on the dip of her shoulder.

She cried out loudly—no pillow to muffle it—and came hard. As her body convulsed and the spasms of pleasure sliced through her, she was conscious of Ander’s pelvis jerking against her bottom. The stifled, guttural sounds he made as he climaxed were drowned in her own cry of release.

She collapsed forward when she finally came down, her body limp, sweaty, hot, and deliciously sated. She felt Ander’s weight at her back, his hot breath against her neck and shoulder. For just a moment, it felt wonderful—like he was as replete as she was.

“Wow,” she croaked. “Wow.”

He grunted.

“Wow. That was...wow.”

He grunted again.

“That was...that was incredible, Ander.” She’d never come so hard in her previous engagements with Ander. She’d never come so hard in her life.

Then she felt Ander pull his weight off of her and then pull his cock from her still clinging channel. He stumbled to the bathroom to take care of the condom, and she heard the water running. He was gone for a lot longer than normal, and she started to wonder if something was wrong with him.

He hadn’t seemed quite his normal self today, she realized. He hadn’t talked much, and he hadn’t been as slow and attentive as normal.

Maybe he’d been having a bad day. He seemed to be into the sex, but she figured he couldn’t feel like being the patient, careful mentor every single evening. Plus, she’d spurred them both into urgency tonight.

She hoped he wasn’t upset about anything, though. She’d hate to have had such an amazing time if he had been worried about something else.

When he finally came back, he reached down to pull on his boxers like usual before he stretched out on the bed beside her.

She studied his face, but it revealed nothing but his typical, cool composure. “You all right?”

He blinked, clearly surprised by the question. “Of course. You?”

She gave him a crooked smile. “I’m pretty good.”

“The sex was all right?” he asked, his eyes sharp and observant as if he were searching for something in her expression.

Now, Lori was incredibly confused. “Um, yeah. Did you miss it? All right is a massive understatement.”

His face relaxed slightly. “And you...you came enough?”

Lori frowned. Surely he hadn’t been so distracted that he hadn’t even been paying attention to the way she’d enjoyed the sex and her multiple orgasms. She knew theirs was a professional relationship, but she didn’t like the idea of his focus being elsewhere. In fact, it bothered her a lot. “Yes. Three times is pretty good. Is it not enough for your ego?”

Ander relaxed his expression even more. He even smiled at her. “My ego is doing all right. Thank you.”

He seemed more natural now, so she hoped it had just been a temporary distraction. She certainly didn’t want Ander swooning over her like a tragic romance hero, but she hated the idea that he was just going through empty motions with her. They weren’t in love. They weren’t even friends. But they got along pretty well. And she hoped that maybe he could enjoy the sex a little with her.

“So how was your trip?” he asked, turning onto his side the way he usually did when they chatted in between rounds of sex.

More comfortable now that they’d fallen into their normal routine, she talked to him for a while. She told him about her research in Hong Kong. Part of her knew she needed to be careful, or he would figure out who she was when her next book was released. Still, she couldn’t help sharing some of the funny stories and interesting tidbits she’d discovered.

As they chatted, she realized she hadn’t just missed the sex. She’d missed their conversations. His wry, intelligent perspective and understated, dry humor.

When she asked him about his month, he gave her no details. He never did. But he mentioned a few books he’d read and a trip he’d made to Martha’s Vineyard. She assumed the trip was part of a job, but she avoided asking for information about it. She really didn’t want to know who’d hired him for the weekend trip or what they’d done together.

“How did you like that position just now?” Ander asked, after they’d fallen into companionable silence after a long chat.

“Good. Obviously.” Lori slanted him an ironic smile. “Is that a favorite one for men?”

“Rear entry usually is.”

“I guess it gives a man a caveman thrill.”

Ander arched an eyebrow at her. “I suppose.”

Genuinely curious, she asked, “Do you ever get a caveman thrill?”

He was staring at the ceiling now and, at the question, he let out a slightly bitter chuckle. “I don’t think there’s much caveman left of me.”

Lori frowned, wondering what that meant. Wondering if he’d grown so cosmopolitan, cultured, and cynical that he felt like all surface—no longer possessing core, innate passions or drives.

The thought made her a little bit sad.

She’d never gotten much out of him about his background, beyond the little he’d said about his parents and the loss of his hair. Several things he said implied he’d been born wealthy. She knew he’d been to college and maybe even graduate school. And she knew it was his bitter relationship with his father that had pushed him into his chosen profession.

She didn’t know if his life-choices were acts of revenge or desperation. Maybe they were both.

“I’m sure you can act the caveman pretty well,” she said casually, realizing his eyes were resting on her and not wanting him to know what she’d been thinking.

“Of course, I can. Are you interested in that?”

She sneered at him. “How many times do I have to say that I don’t want to pretend anything with you?”

Ander gave a half-shrug. “Just asking.”

“I know what you can do. And do very well. So what won’t you do with one of your clients?” Lori asked randomly, not even sure what prompted the question.

Raising his eyebrows, he asked, “Looking to expand your repertoire?”

Lori snickered. “No. I’m pretty happy with what we have going. I was just curious. Are there things that you refuse to do as part of your services?”

“Of course.”

“What are they?” When Ander hesitated, she added, “It might be good for me to know, so I don’t accidentally ask for one of them.”

“I doubt that would happen. I’m pretty good at sizing people up. You’re not into anything I won’t do.” He spoke easily, naturally, and he looked relaxed and gorgeous stretched out on the bed wearing just a pair of silk boxers.

Lori privately wondered whether or not she was uncomfortable at his intimate knowledge of her character—or at least at how deeply he believed himself to know her. “So you really won’t tell me?”

“I won’t do men,” he began.

Lori blinked. It wasn’t what she expected him to begin with.

“It does come up,” he explained at her blank look. “Not as much now, since I only work through referrals. But I used to get a lot of requests.” He shook his head. “It’s just a personal preference. I work with women.”

Lori nodded, somehow pleased with learning this fact about him, although she recognized her satisfaction as irrational. “What else?”

“I no longer do threesomes. I allow a third to watch but not to participate.”

“Why not? What if both of them are women?”

Ander’s lip gave an almost imperceptible twitch. The first one tonight. The sight of it made her happy. “Honestly, a threesome is too much work. It’s too hard to focus enough on two women at the same time. I invest a lot of thought and concentration into each engagement, and I can’t work as effectively if my attentions are torn between two women.”

“Interesting.” She was starting to feel a little weird now. She couldn’t help but wonder how much work and focus having sex with her had cost Ander. She pushed through the foolish worry and prompted, “What else?”

“I don’t do anal sex.”

“Why not?”

“For a number of reasons. It takes a lot of time and effort to make the act comfortable, and it’s done best with a level of trust that doesn’t exist between me and a client. I provide romance, and the logistics of anal tends to spoil the mood. Plus, it’s just too hard on the condom.”

“It is?”

Ander nodded and blew out a breath. “The percentage of breakages is much higher with anal. Not even the higher price I could charge makes it worth the risk.”

Lori didn’t have to prompt him to continue his list again. He went on, “I don’t do hardcore S&M. There’s not a high demand for that with my clients anyway, and it doesn’t happen to be one of my talents. I refuse to do anything that has the potential to do physical harm. No whipping, caning, significant bondage, cutting off airways.”

Lori stared at him. He wasn’t looking at her, but his face was perfectly sober.

“It’s not worth the risk to me,” he explained. “Obviously, I’d be as careful as possible, but I can’t guarantee no accidents or flukes. As I said, there’s not a high demand for it anyway with my clients. They’re looking for romantic fantasies, for the most part. So I don’t do anything beyond silk bindings for a limited period of time and the occasional spanking.”

“Huh,” she said, mulling over what he’d told her. She’d honestly had visions of him performing all kinds of sleazy acts of depravity and she wasn’t sure what to make of his calm, rational explanation of his professional choices.

“Are you disappointed in my white-bread ways?” he asked, with another twitch of his lips.

She giggled. “Don’t laugh at me. I just never thought about it before. I don’t blame you for being as careful as possible, though. You’re fortunate in that you’re able to choose only what you’re comfortable with.”

“Yes. In that, I know I’m fortunate.”

Something sober entered the mood between them with his comment, and they lay in silence for a few minutes.

Then she asked, “Have any of your clients ever fallen in love with you?”

His face grew oddly still. “Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know. I just wondered. You’re a really attractive man who’s really good at sex. And you usually act out a romantic role, if I understand you correctly. It must be hard for some of your clients to separate fantasy from reality. That’s why I prefer it this way.” She gestured between their bodies to capture her point. “It keeps things clear.”

Ander nodded slowly, not meeting her eyes. “Yes. Some of my clients have fallen in love with me. Or at least, in love with the fantasy I give them.”

“What do you do?”

“Nothing, unless they approach me outside of our professional engagements. If they do, I no longer do business with them.”

“Have you ever been stalked by clients who refused to end things?”

“Yes. Twice.”

Lori sucked in a breath, although she could see how it might happen. “What did you do?”

“The first woman’s family stepped in and got her psychological care. The second woman was arrested when she tried to kill me.”

Gasping again, she sat up straight on the bed. “She tried to kill you?”

Ander nodded, but his face was closed off, so she didn’t push for the rest of the story. Sometimes, over the last few months, she’d pushed too hard and Ander had shut down and wouldn’t be genuine with her for the rest of the evening. She was careful now.

“Have you ever been arrested?” she asked, purposefully changing the subject.

“No.”

Lori stared at him, almost disbelieving.

“I’m extremely careful,” he explained. “And now I only work through referrals. I do my research on all new clients before we discuss terms of any kind.” When Lori nodded, he lifted his eyebrows again. “Any more to this little inquisition?”

“Sorry,” she said, smiling ruefully. “I’m just nosy, and I don’t know anything about all this.”

“You don’t really need to know all the background for our engagements to be successful.”

“Well,” Lori said, sticking out her chin at his cool, lofty tone. “I want to know.”

Ander’s lip twitched.

She scowled at him, although she wasn’t genuinely annoyed with his obvious amusement. He really was irresistible when he repressed a smile that way. He only occasionally showed her the practiced smile anymore—the sensual, urbane one she despised.

Her eyes drifted down to take in his bare chest, lingering on the tight muscles of his belly. His boxers were riding low on his lean hips, and she found the waistband strangely tempting.

Randomly, she wondered what he’d do if she just yanked his boxers down without warning. She was hit with the overwhelming urge to do so.

She resisted. Such a gesture seemed too presumptuous and intimate for the nature of their relationship. It wasn’t like they were a couple where such a playful, teasing act would be natural.

When her eyes drifted back up to his face, she caught his eyes lower on her own body than her face. Had he been leering at her the way she’d been leering at him? His eyes adjusted quickly, focusing on her face with a casual smile. But she felt weirdly self-conscious and glanced down at herself. Her beautiful silk gown was wrinkled and disarranged. Her breasts were full, but the clingy gown didn’t give her as much support as a bra would have. Her belly and waist were trim, but her hips and ass were curvier than she’d like.

It was nice to think he’d been admiring her gorgeousness but she wasn’t entirely convinced.

All of these reflections were giving her definite ideas, however. She rolled over to glance at the clock and was relieved to see that it wasn’t even ten yet.

They had a lot of time. She’d already had three amazing orgasms this evening, and she had this gorgeous, talented man at her disposal for two more hours. Plenty of time for more.

She grinned at him, feeling remarkably pleased with herself.

Ander chuckled. “Why do I suddenly feel like a piece of meat?”

Lori laughed too and spontaneously rolled on top of him, loving the feel of his hard, lean body beneath her. They were both grinning now, and their gazes met and lingered.

Something warm filled her chest as they smiled at each other, and she leaned down unconsciously before she jerked to a stop with a gasp.

She wasn’t entirely positive, but she might have just almost kissed him. Without having any intention of doing so.

It was inevitable, she supposed. The lines in a relationship like theirs were bound to get a little blurred. In general, she was doing a good job keeping things in perspective. One near slip-up wasn’t the end of the world, so she wouldn’t let it bother her.

But her heart was pounding painfully as she stared down at Ander. His lips were parted slightly and the expression in his blue-gray eyes transformed from warm to deep to a little confused.

Distracted by the memory of what he’d said the minute before, she frowned and asked, “I don’t really make you feel like a piece of meat, do I?” She still occasionally suffered from lingering guilt over participating in prostitution, even in a context such as this. And she really didn’t want to objectify Ander more than his profession would necessitate.

His eyebrows drew together and the smile faded from his lips. “No. You don’t.”

“Good.” It only took her a minute to recover her bright mood and excitement. She grinned down at him again and stroked his chest with her palms. She straddled his hips and spent a few minutes exploring his body and trying to figure out what kind of caresses pleased a man the most.

Despite the number of times she and Ander had had sex, she’d generally done more receiving than giving.

After a few minutes of stroking and fondling—and a few experimental kisses on his chest and abdomen—she could feel Ander tighten beneath her. The muscles of his belly and thighs had visibly tensed. She felt a strange thrill of power at the ability to cause such a response in a man as cool and composed as Ander.

He was letting her do this. And he wasn’t close to out of control. But still...

She could see his erection growing under the slick fabric of his boxers. She was definitely turning him on.

Unless he was just doing his mental thing and trying to affirm her self-confidence.

She frowned at that thought. But as her hands lingered on his waistband with a silent question and he nodded mutely, she had trouble believing it was all an act. He was perspiring again and his body was palpably tense. When she gently pulled down his underwear, his cock was close to fully erect.

“May I?” she asked, clearing her throat when her voice broke. She’d never caressed him intimately before. She always wondered if that was off-limits unless she paid for a blow job.

He nodded again, something quiet and intense in his gaze. His eyes had been focused on her face, but they lowered to where her hands wrapped around his erection.

He sucked in a sharp breath as she felt and squeezed his firm, warm shaft. He hardened even more beneath her touch.

His subtle responses were turning her on with remarkable speed. She shifted a little, uncomfortably aroused despite the sex she’d had not long before.

She fondled and explored his shaft and balls for several minutes, until she was almost squirming with arousal and Ander was having trouble lying still. He kept adjusting slightly, moving his hips or his arms. His body had clenched up like a fist, but he hadn’t spoken. And he hadn’t pulled away.

“Ready?” he asked when she moved her hands away, letting his cock rest on his lower belly. His voice was thick.

“Yeah.”

He sat up and eased her down onto her back. “Foreplay?” he asked, smoothly pushing slippery Chinese silk up past her thighs and hips.

She shook her head against the pillow. “That was enough for me. You can fuck me now.”

He stared down at her for a minute, and she couldn’t understand the intensity of his expression. Then he reached for another condom and the lube, and she didn’t let the question distract her from what was more urgent.

“You want to try a new position?” he asked, his voice more natural than it had been earlier as he took care of preliminaries.

“Sure. What did you have in mind?” He’d never guided her into an uncomfortable or demeaning position. Occasionally, she started out a little embarrassed, but she’d always grown to like each new position eventually.

He adjusted onto his knees between her legs, parted her thighs even more, and lifted her hips slightly. Then he slowly slid inside her.

She felt him deeply in this position, and her legs felt a little loose and ungainly, hanging down on either side of his body. She was glad she was still wearing her gown because it felt like the excess flesh of her belly wouldn’t be displayed attractively. The penetration felt really good, though, and she liked how clearly she could see Ander’s body and expression.

She breathed deeply and relaxed the way Ander had taught her, and she felt spiraling pleasure on his first thrust.

He started slow, taking his time. She tried to move with him, although he had more control over her pelvis than she did. After several pleasing minutes, she finally felt a climax coalescing at her center. Her motion grew a little jerkier and she stretched her arms out spread-eagle, fisting her fingers.

“How is it?” Ander asked, his voice thick again.

“Good,” she mumbled, tossing her head a little. “Gonna come.”

His rhythm sped up some, his hips working ceaselessly between her thighs. His expression was tight, almost rigid, and his eyes never left her face.

The pleasure grew and Lori’s motion became more clumsy and frantic, her hands fumbling desperately for purchase on the bed and her head and hips moving restlessly. After a few more minutes, she came, with a smothered whimper and a dramatic arch of her back.

Ander sucked in an audible breath as her muscles clamped down on his cock, but his rhythm didn’t falter. He kept thrusting through the contractions and continued after her body had softened. Then he moved a hand down toward where they were joined so he could rub her clit.

As the minutes passed and he fucked her with a steady, pleasurable rhythm, Lori’s body kept responding with shameless eagerness. She came again. And then again. And then again. She didn’t feel like screaming this time, but kind of swallowed over each cry of release.

Eventually, her body was drenched in sweat and aching with exhaustion, but she still wanted more. She was overwhelmed by a deep craving for Ander, for his body and the pleasure he was giving her. He showed no signs of faltering or losing his control. He was sweating too—streams of perspiration running down the sides of his face and the middle of his chest. He was still clenched as tight as a fist.

But his eyes were unwavering, fixed on her face, and the motion of his hips was ceaseless.

“Oh God,” she gasped after her fourth orgasm. Her body squirmed desperately but he held her hips firmly with one strong hand. “You’re killing me.”

“Too much?” he rasped, the words seeming to stick in his throat. He was still massaging her clit and the bit of flesh was so sensitive now it was almost painful.

“No. Wanna come again.” Her body was starting to shake as another climax tightened in response to the stimulation. “Faster. Please.”

Ander intensified his thrusting and the pleasure swelled up and burst open. She made involuntary sobbing sounds as she came once more, even though she tried to bite her lip over the helpless noise.

With a breathless huff, Ander shifted positions suddenly, leaning forward and bracing his arms on either side of her. The shift changed the angle of penetration, and Lori’s clit was finally freed of the massage. But now all she could feel was Ander above her—heat from his shaking body overwhelming her, drowning her.

He usually looked so cool and polished. How could he possibly generate so much heat?

He was still holding onto the threads of his control, but she didn’t want him to anymore. “You come now,” she said weakly, her arms reaching up to hold onto his neck.

He inclined his head, maybe a nod, maybe just a random twitch of his neck. His mouth was so tight now his lips were white, and sweat from his body was smearing onto her. He fell out of rhythm, pumping into her hard and fast.

She thought she would just enjoy watching him come, but the shaking of their bodies and the way his cock drove inside her pushed her into climax once more.

“Oh God,” she gasped, clawing at his neck and shoulders. She couldn’t stop, even though she knew she was leaving angry scratches on his skin.

He grunted, and she read it as a question

“Coming again.” Her body tightened up and she tried to breathe as he’d taught her to. She couldn’t even begin to take a full breath.

She managed to wrap her legs around him, squeezing him with her arms and her legs. Her orgasm was on the edge of cresting, and Ander’s hot, shuddering, urgent body felt delicious against hers.

She cried out breathlessly as the tension broke inside her, and Ander let go at the same time. As she rode out the waves of pleasure, she was conscious of Ander releasing a loud, guttural sound, just at her ear. His hips jerked and his body seemed to pulse as his own climax ripped through him.

She collapsed back onto the bed with Ander on top of her. She was soaked with sweat and shaky with fatigue and an overload of sensation. Her eyes, throat, and lungs burned, and she was sore from his cock and the stretching of her stomach muscles.

Her intimate flesh felt swollen, and still throbbed with achy pleasure.

“Oh God,” she gasped. She stroked the skin she’d scratched on Ander’s neck, shoulders, and back. “Oh God.”

Ander grunted, breathing damply and very fast against the crook of her neck.

“Oh God, that was good,” she said. His body was still radiating heat but it had softened lusciously with the release of so much tension. When he didn’t answer, she added, “You all right?”

“Yes.” He straightened his arms, pulling himself off of her. Then he held the condom in place as he pulled his cock out with a slurping sound. “I’ll be right back.”

Once again, he went to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. And once again, she heard the water running and thought he was gone longer than usual.

When he finally came back, he didn’t get back into bed. She was a little disappointed, since they still had more than a half-hour left of the evening. Not that she could take any more sex tonight, but she always enjoyed their chats afterward.

She knew Ander well enough by now to know that he was ready to leave. Not that he’d ever say so. She had paid until midnight. But she understood the question in his eyes as he stood looking down at her.

She was actually a little hurt. She’d had amazing sex—mind-blowing sex—and now he couldn’t wait to get away from her.

Maybe he was tired, though. Maybe he’d had a bad day. She liked and respected him too much to make him stay just because she technically had another half-hour of bought time.

With a smile, she said, “You can take a shower if you want. I’ve had all I can handle tonight.”

He thanked her and retreated to the bathroom with his clothes.

Lori sighed and told herself to be reasonable. There was no reason to have her feelings hurt. This was business to him. While she was convinced he’d enjoyed the sex, there was no reason for him to linger afterwards, just because she felt like reflecting on how good it had been.

 By the time he came out again—cool, composed and fully dressed—she felt good again. She’d had two rounds of amazing sex and quite a few powerful orgasms. She definitely needed a shower to cool off and wash up, but after that she’d be able to enjoy the aftermath of her climaxes and have a long night’s sleep in a cozy bed.

And tomorrow was Saturday. She could get settled again at home and hang out with Sabrina.

Plus she had a lunch date on Wednesday and another date next Saturday with a handsome, eligible man. The fundraiser should be fun—with a lot of affluent, important people to mingle with and have fun taunting. She’d have to go shopping with Sabrina to find herself a new, sexy dress. Phil Rothe really was gorgeous. With all the practice and experience she’d had recently, she wouldn’t even be self-conscious or scared about sex, so there was finally the potential to get serious about a man.

She had nothing to complain about.

When she got out of bed, she stumbled at a jolt of sharp pain between her legs.

“All right?” Ander asked, eyeing her with concern.

“Sore,” she admitted. “We had a lot of sex this evening.”

He chuckled, and she was relieved to see he looked relaxed again. “We did.”

“It was really good,” she told him, sliding the envelope of money over to him. “I’m not sure what got into me.”

His gaze was careful and observant, although he still smiled as he slipped the cash into his pocket uncounted. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I was...was like an animal.” She blushed as she thought about her shamelessness. “I hope I didn’t scratch you too much.”

“You didn’t.” One corner of his mouth quirked up. “I think the animal suits you well.”

His comment was clever and flippant, but it made her blush again. This time from pleasure.

“So we’re on for a week from Monday?”

“Yes,” he said as he packed up his case. “I have you scheduled.”

“Good. I’m looking forward to it.” She walked him to the door and leaned against it as he left the room. “Have a good week.”

“You too.”

As Lori watched Ander walk down the hall toward the elevator, she had to ask herself what she was more looking forward to: her first date with an eligible man she could possibly have a future with or her next engagement with Ander.