Christa checked her watch again. Ten more minutes and she’d know for sure. If he hadn’t come by then, he just wasn’t coming. She straightened the pillows on the couch and tightened the knot on her robe.

It had been almost two hours since she’d left the bar. She’d run through the gamut of emotions countless times and had finally settled on abject terror.

Terror that he wouldn’t show.

Terror that he would.

She hadn’t banked on the price for their conversation when she’d planned it all in her head. She still couldn’t believe she said yes. Even as the words tumbled from her lips she’d wondered who’d spoken them.

She’d agreed to a one-night stand with the man who had the power to obliterate her heart.

Judging by the poleaxed expression on Tai’s face, he was as shocked as she was. His reaction was almost comical and his surprise was so genuine that she nearly burst into semi-hysterical laughter.

She was going to have sex with Tai. Again. Her stomach clenched tight. How could something that had happened so long ago be so fresh in her memory? She could almost feel the balmy summer breeze coming off the lake. See the stars shining against the inky sky. Hear the song playing in the background…

Come on,

Come on,

Cry to me...

“Put your hands on my hips,” she’d whispered.

“Like this?” Tai’s big, warm hands closed on her hips and gave a squeeze. Her breath caught in her throat.

“Yeah. Just like that. Now I put my arms around your neck like this.” She slid her arms around to caress his nape. “Sway with me, back and forth. Good.”

It was so much better than good. Tai’s hard body pressed against hers then pulled away only to return and set every nerve ending on fire. She resisted the urge to bounce her hips forward…to get closer.

“In the movie, she lets go of him and leans back all the way. He holds her tight and swings her back up again, until their mouths are close enough to kiss. Remember?”

“I oughta. You’ve made me watch it three times in the past six months.” His teeth gleamed in the moonlight, the warm huskiness of his voice sending a pulse of heat between her thighs. He didn’t hesitate as she released his neck and bowed her back. He swung her from one side to the other then pulled her back to face him, his movements sure.

“Ohh, that was gooood. Patrick Swayze has nothing on you,” she murmured. “I may have been practicing.” The confident smile wavered and he looked away.

The warmth that had suffused her body spread straight to her heart. God, she loved this boy. “I love that you did that for me. And I love you.” Tonight, she was going to show him how much.

“You too, doll. More than anything.”

Christa jumped at the sharp rap on the door, the memory scattering like leaves in the breeze. Panic gripped her, and for a second she was frozen in place, staring at the blurry TV set. She wiped a hand over her eyes and it came away wet.

“Be there in a second,” she called. She ran into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face, then patted it dry with a fluffy hotel towel. Sparing a quick glance in the mirror, she groaned. Her eyes were red and puffy and her nose was all red at the tip.

“Awesome.”

Nothing to do about it now. She made her way through the living room and the knock came again, more insistent this time.

She peered out the peephole and there he was. Tai, looking gorgeous, angry and bitterly sad all at once. At least she wasn’t the only one with swirling emotions. She swung the door open and stepped back.

“Come on in.”

He stepped in but didn’t respond as his hot gaze made a sensual slide down her neck, over the demure collar of her robe, and lower. “Not exactly dressed for seduction,” he murmured.

She cleared her suddenly parched throat. “I didn’t come to Cincinnati for seduction, I came to talk to you.”

“Sorry to throw a wrench in the works, but I still don’t quite know what we possibly have to talk about after all this time. On the other hand, one thing hasn’t changed. I still want you. Bad. We were good together, do you remember, Chris?”

His pupils dilated as she wet her lips. “I remember.”

He took a step forward and she instinctively took one back. His lips curled in a feral smile. “It would be even better now, you know. Now that we’re older. More in tune with our bodies, more mature.”

She dragged in a shallow breath and with it, his woodsy scent. Her focus wavered.

They were supposed to talk.

He reached out a hand and ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “Remember how we used to make each other come with just our hands? And then our mouths? I used to dream of that mouth and the way it felt on my cock. Like liquid fire. You’d look up at me with those big blue eyes. Jesus, I loved that.”

His words sent a rocket of heat straight to her clit. “Me too,” she heard herself whisper. What the hell was she doing?

He muttered a curse and bent toward her. She closed her eyes, anticipating his kiss, gasping as his teeth closed over the sensitive tendon in her neck. She grabbed his shoulders for support, marveling at their breadth. Her Tai had grown.

He closed his hands around her waist and dragged her closer, until there was no question that he wanted her as badly as she wanted him. She pulsed her hips against his, reveling in the pressure of his thick cock. His hands trailed over her breasts, the silky material of her pajamas stroking her straining nipples in a sublime caress.

“Tai,” she groaned.

He pinched one hard peak between his thumb and forefinger and all thoughts of talk melted away.

* * *

In every scenario he’d played out in his mind, despite his desire, none of them had involved actually sleeping with Christa. He’d had plenty of time to think too. When he left the bar, he went back to the bus and changed into gym pants and a t-shirt then went for a run in hopes of burning off some of the anxiety and frenetic energy coursing through him.

It hadn’t worked.

After a lightning-quick shower, he’d taken a cab to the hotel and stood in the parking lot for a good thirty minutes before he finally got up the cajones to go in. As long as he kept it short and sweet then hightailed it out of there, he might be okay.

Now, with Christa’s body twisting against his, he wondered what had ever made him think he could resist the chance to touch her again. She was pure magic. Whatever the price, he couldn’t walk away now. He needed her. Needed it. One more time. One more memory to last him the rest of his life.

He pulled back to watch her face as he slipped one hand between her thighs, cupping the molten heat of her pussy through her nightclothes. She bucked toward him. Parting her robe with the flick of his wrist, he pushed up the short hem of her nightgown. His cock throbbed as he realized she wasn’t wearing panties and he paused in hopes of regaining even an ounce of sanity.

“Please, Tai,” she groaned. “Please.”

He wanted to roar with satisfaction when she said his name, begging for his touch. Fuck sanity. “Tell me what you want. Is it this?” He closed his hand over her, flexing his finger until it was buried deep in her tight sheath. She gasped, he growled.

“Fuck, that’s tight. Just like I remember. Like wet silk. I can’t wait to feel your pussy clench over me when you come. I still dream about it.”

Sanity returned for a brief moment as his words rang in his ears. He wanted to bite his tongue off. Don’t let her in. Don’t you fucking do it.

He bent his head, slanting his mouth over hers. Her lips were swollen from her biting them and he nipped her hard. Her pussy tightened over his finger and his cock jerked in response. He slid out then thrust in again, grinding against her clit with the heel of his hand.

Her hips arched against him, fighting for leverage, trying to find the rhythm her body so desperately needed. He pulled back, gazing down at her flushed face. She stared up at him, eyes wild with need.

“Spread your legs,” he whispered, pressing his knee against one of hers, urging her to open for him. She did, a shiver running through her.

“That’s right. Now untie that robe.”

She lifted a trembling hand to the sash, clumsily untying it. The sides fell open and the sight that greeted him almost brought him to his knees. The modest, perky breasts he’d remembered had grown a little fuller, heavier. The dusky-pink nipples called to his mouth and he couldn’t resist, bending low to capture one. He pulled deeply and she whimpered.

“Your mouth is so hot.” She threaded her hands in his hair and pulled him tighter to her satin skin. The smell of honeysuckle filled his nostrils, rushing to his head.

He had been so right. She was already bewitching him. He briefly imagined stopping, walking away, before coming to the humbling realization that he didn’t possess the power to do it. The hold she’d had over him since the day they met had more than weathered their ten years apart. He’d been fooling himself pretending otherwise. It wasn’t discipline that had kept him away from her. It was only physical distance and lack of opportunity. The sooner he could re-create those conditions, the better.

She closed a hand over his jeans-clad cock, her sure grip banishing all coherent thought from his head.

“I want you inside me. Please.”

Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of his fly and he pulled his hands away from her body to yank them open. His cock sprang free, unencumbered. She didn’t waste a second, closing her fist over him, stroking him just how he liked it. Long and hard. His hips pumped forward and back of their own accord as every nerve in his body lit up with need.

“Mmm,” she groaned, dropping to her knees to lave the bead of pre-cum that had escaped him.

He squeezed his eyes shut, knowing the sight of her golden head bobbing over him would be the end. Battling the clawing need to feel the back of her throat with the head of his cock, to pound into that hungry mouth until she sucked him dry, he wrapped his hand in her hair and urged her to stand.

He stepped forward, pushing her back until she was flush against the wall. “Open those thighs for me, doll.”

Her legs bounced against his but she did as he asked. He splayed a hand over her flat stomach, then lower, past the light smattering of feathery hair to her soaking-wet slit. He slicked a finger over her plumped clit and her whole body tensed.

“You ready for me?”

She tossed her head in a semblance of a nod. He pulled away, jamming his hand into his jeans pocket, fumbling for a condom, but she stayed his hand. “I’m on the Pill, and I…well, I’m safe. You? I know with the groupies and—”

“No. I’m safe.”

He refused to tell her why. That he’d never wanted to sleep with groupies much because they’d never live up to being with her.

Now he was here. With and Christa, with nothing between them…but everything.

She lifted her leg high and draped it over his hip. He shoved his jeans down to his knees as she closed her hand over his length again, robbing him of the ability to speak. She worked his shaft until he took both hips in his hands and hoisted her up, bracing her against the wall.

A breathless moment passed as he hovered over her entrance, the heat and moisture from her pussy bathing the tip of his cock. She reached between them and pressed forward, slowly feeding his cock into her clutching heat inch by torturous inch. He ground his teeth together as the tight channel gripped him, stealing his sanity.

Unable to stand it another second, he gripped the backs of her thighs and flexed forward, thrusting hard. Her breathy gasps became keening moans as his cock pulsed and bucked deep inside her.

“Don’t move for a second,” he said, his voice ragged with the strain of holding back.

She nodded mindlessly, but her hips fluttered against him. “I just need…”

His fingers dug into her pliant flesh as he searched for the last of his shredded discipline. “I know what you need, doll, and I can’t wait to give it to you.”

Her face twisted with need. He took a steadying breath and began the advance and retreat she was pleading for. Deep, then deeper, the drag of her inner muscles stroking his cock, milking him. She tossed her head, her back arching as he pounded into her, his thrusts coming faster, harder.

“Oh God. Tai, I—”

Her hoarse scream nearly stripped him of the little control he had left but he weathered the onslaught. This was the last time he’d ever touch Christa Reilly. He wasn’t leaving until he’d marked her as surely as she’d marked him. She would never forget this night.

He pinched his eyes shut as she quieted against him. Her soft moans became sighs and he pulled away, the molten drag of her pussy against his cock a lure so strong it almost brought him to his knees.

She let out a grunt of protest as her feet touched the ground. “What are you doing?” she mumbled. “You didn’t…”

“Oh believe me, I will. But I need to taste you first.”

He pinned her hips to the wall with firm hands, making his way down her body, nipping and licking along the way. A light mist of sweat clung to her stomach where they’d been locked together and he flicked out his tongue to collect the salty droplets. Her muscles tensed as he moved lower. She was so damn responsive, he found himself wishing he had hours to explore her. But each minute he spent would turn into countless hours of torture later as he relived every move, every touch, over and over.

She speared her fingers into his hair, urging him lower, and his troubled thoughts melted away. Just a few more minutes of this. A few more minutes of Christa. He pressed a kiss to one lean hip, then the other.

He sank to his knees and pulled back to stare. The wisp of golden hair between her thighs was a sorry camouflage for the succulent, slick flesh beneath.

His cock pulsed as he struggled for some superhuman discipline that might allow him to take her with his mouth gently, savor her. He lost the battle, leaning forward with a muffled curse and plunging his tongue into her folds.

“Tai, oh God, it’s too much.”

She was tearing at his hair, holding him down one second, trying to pull him up the next, but he hung on. Her clit was plump and firm, and he pressed forward, wrapping his lips around it. He sucked. She screamed. Her legs clenched as she ground her pussy against him now. His name was a chant as she came, her clit pulsing in his mouth.

The moment the tremors stopped, he tore his mouth away and stood. Her glassy gaze captured his, but he closed his eyes. He lifted her leg and planted himself into the vee of her thighs. Clutching her hips in a punishing grip, he thrust forward and up. His cock was full to bursting as her body closed over him in a tight, wet embrace.

The breath left his lungs in a whoosh. Memories of the past coalesced with reality as he rocked into her, slow at first, then harder…faster. He could almost hear the soft lapping of the water at the edge of the lake. See the look of shocked wonder the first time she came.

The sound of bodies slapping together grew louder, dragging him back to reality, as he slammed into her. The clasp and release of her pussy was a siren song for him to follow. She cried out, gasping his name.

His balls pulled tight as liquid snaked up the length of his cock. The orgasm hit him hard, his vision blurring as hot streams of cum spurted into her. He rode her hard to the end as his body jerked and bucked against hers.

She shuddered, the aftershocks of her climax an internal caress. After a moment, she collapsed into him, spent, and he braced his thighs, holding her upright.

His heart thundered in his chest as he struggled to catch his breath.

Amazing.

And exactly the reason why sex for him had been scarce over the past ten years. Nothing else compared and after a while, he’d just stopped chasing it. He wanted nothing more than to carry her to bed and stay there all night. Hell, forever. But she was poison.

Why did he conveniently forget that every time he was within five feet of her? Time to get back that oh-so-necessary distance before he lost himself forever. He buried his face in her hair and took one last, long sniff, then pulled away, shutters firmly in place.

He cleared his tight throat and rasped, “That was real nice, doll.” With a pat on the ass, he stepped away, leaving her to cling to the wall.

She pushed the hair from her eyes with an unsteady hand and gave a tremulous smile, her breath still coming in pants.

He forced himself to ignore the sexy sounds, bending to retrieve his t-shirt. Guilt made his voice even gruffer. “It was fun…catching up with you.” He yanked his shirt over his head and made his way to the door. “Have a nice life.”

The strangled cry nearly made his knees buckle but he couldn’t stop now. Save yourself, every instinct screamed. He turned the knob and opened the door.

“Tai,” she called on a broken sob.

He hadn’t even finished buttoning his fly over his still-damp cock when he walked out the door.

Don’t think, just move. One foot in front of the other.

It wasn’t until he’d walked halfway back to the bus that he realized his whole body was quaking. In spite of his best effort to think of something—anything—else, he couldn’t get the expression on her face off his mind. She’d looked…destroyed. Why did that make him want to comfort her? To hold her and kiss her and tell her everything would be okay.

He ran a shaky hand through his hair and let out a vicious string of curses. After what she’d put him through, now she was the injured party? What right did she have to feel hurt? And still, she was hurt. That much he knew for sure. The best actress in the world couldn’t have faked the devastation she’d felt at his cold words and abrupt departure.

Maybe it was just shock and anger that she hadn’t gotten what she wanted. Little-rich-girl syndrome. His lip curled as he contemplated that possibility. It would certainly make his callous treatment of her easier to swallow. But something about that explanation didn’t sit right. There wasn’t even a hint of anger in her face. Just utter despair.

Acid churned in his gut as he approached the Man Bus. The lights were on. Not what he’d been hoping for. That meant Gigi was probably awake, ready to pounce. He climbed the steps, prepared to barrel in and shoot down her questions sniper-style.

But when he stepped through the door to find her sitting on the couch, gazing at him expectantly through concern-filled eyes, something in him cracked. He opened his mouth to speak and but no words would come. She stood and silently held her arms out to him.

He stepped in and bent low, laying his head on her shoulder, then sucked in a shuddering breath.

“Jesus, I’m so fucked in the head, Gi.”