He stepped out of the shower, grateful to wash the workout sweat from his body. Ever since he’d left Sam on that plane, he’d doubled down at the gym. It was the only place and the only way he could focus on anything besides her.

Connor vaguely remembered Arnold Schwarzenegger talking about his Mr. Universe days. Working out was likened to a blackout. He’d said it didn’t even really click when he got a call that his father had died. He’d just gone right back to his reps.

That’s what Connor hoped for.

However, it was mostly quantity and not quality. He barely slept, and insomnia wasn’t the best accoutrement to gym sessions. He couldn’t lift as much as he used to, and his reps weren’t as high. He powered through them, but mostly it was cardio. When he looked at the time and realized he’d somehow lost an hour on the treadmill, it felt like a gift.

Connor rubbed the towel over his wet hair. His phone buzzed. Isn’t this your girl? It was from Jay, who had attached a grainy shot of what appeared to be Sam. She was bent over while a young guy with blond hair dry-humped her on the dance floor.

Automatically, his fists clenched when he saw the hands on her hips. Where are you? he asked Jay.

Connor was absolutely livid as he got dressed. Just because the contract doesn’t stipulate we can’t date other people, that gives her no right to rub it in.

Sam knew damn good and well he frequented that club. As did his friends. What did she think was going to happen? He pulled on his Tom Ford jeans and rolled up the sleeves of his Burberry shirt. He’d show her what it meant to cross him.

Connor threw the keys at the valet and marched to the front of the line. There were protests from those who’d been standing there for hours, but he shook hands with the familiar bouncer, handed him a hundred-dollar bill, and stepped inside.

“Connor!” Jay spotted him instantly.

“Hey,” he said, and they pounded each other on the back. “Where is—”

“She’s over there,” Jay said, and pointed at the dance floor.

He saw her in a barely-there turquoise dress. Now, she was with another guy who had thick black hair to his shoulders. Connor stormed through the crowd, which parted easily for him.

Connor grabbed Sam’s forearm, and she looked up in shock. “Come on,” he said, and pulled her.

“Hey man, what are you doing?” the guy asked.

“Don’t get in the middle of this,” he warned him.

“Connor!” she said, as she tried to yank her arm free.

“It doesn’t look like she wants to go with—”

Before the guy could finish, Connor released Sam’s arm and punched him squarely in the jaw. There were gasps around them and a wide circle cleared.

“Fuck, man, what’s your problem?” the guy asked. He cupped his jaw and stared at him.

“Connor, you’re gonna have to go.” The bouncer was suddenly at his side.

“Sorry man, I’m going,” he said. “She’s coming with me.”

He took Sam by the elbow and urged her along. Surprisingly, she obliged, though she trailed slightly behind him.

Connor directed her to an alley around the corner where they could still hear the sounds from the club. “What the hell was that?” she asked.

“You tell me! I get this photo of you basically fucking some guy on the dance floor—”

“Not from me, you didn’t!” she said. “It’s not my fault if you have your little spies set up all over the city.”

“Spies? Hardly. You know damn well my friends and I come here. How do you think that looks? Just because you can technically do what you like off the clock, that doesn’t mean you can sabotage what we’ve built in the process.”

“Me?” she asked. She stepped directly in front of him and he could smell the sweet cocktail on her breath. “I’m not the one who sabotaged anything! I was minding my own business, finally having a fun night out for once, and you crashed in here like a goddamned caveman. I’m not the one who created a scene. That was all you.”

He was enraged with her, but at the same time she was irresistible to him. “You fucking drive me crazy, you know that?”

She rolled her eyes, but before she could speak, his hands were on her waist and he’d closed the distance between them. Sam’s lips parted easily, and his tongue found hers. He walked them back, just three steps, and pushed her against the brick wall.

Her hands were on his chest, beneath his jacket. He’d missed this, this hunger she had for him that he could never quite tame.

Connor hadn’t seen anyone else in the alley, but now he wouldn’t have even cared. He reached underneath her short dress and found a skimpy lace thong. It tore easily in his hands, and he cast it aside.

His mouth was on her neck while he sucked and nibbled. Sam’s breath was heavy in his ear. He slipped a finger between her folds. She already gushed with want, and let out a low moan at his touch.

Connor went back to her mouth and kissed her deeply. He pulled her breasts from her dress. Either the chill of the night, his touch, or both had her nipples hard in an instant. With ease, as if she weighed nothing, he hoisted her up around his waist and she wrapped her legs around him.

He leveraged her against the wall and sucked her nipples. When she pushed her wetness against the bulge in his jeans, he sucked harder until she let out a cry.

Carefully, he put her back down and turned her around. With her back to him, and her dark hair cascading down her back, he peeled up the unbelievably tight bottom of her skirt to reveal her ass.

Connor gripped her hips and yanked her back a couple of steps. Forced to bend over at a sharp angle, her palms pressed against the wall, he slapped her ass. It made an incredible echo into the night.

“Look at me,” he told her, and she gazed at him over her shoulder. Connor slid two fingers into her and she squeezed her eyes shut as she let out a gasp.

He fucked her with his hand and began to increase the speed. Still, he held her steady with his other hand—not that she would move even if she could.

When he felt her start to get close, he released her waist and bent down. Connor kissed one of her full cheeks before he bit lightly. As he slid his fingers out of her and began to circle her clit, he flicked his tongue across her rim. Sam flinched, just barely, but she didn’t move. And she didn’t try to stop him.

He wouldn’t go any farther than that, not now. He tasted the most secret part of her and worked her clit faster. Connor could feel her wetness start to flood. It trickled down her thighs. Occasionally, he would leave her rim to lap up the trails along her thighs.

“Did you miss this?” he asked her before he dove his tongue into her opening.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“I said, did you miss this?” he asked again, and pressed harder into her clit.

“Yes,” she said, louder into the night.

“Are you going to come for me?” he asked, even as her clit was swollen more than he’d ever seen.

“I don’t—”

“Come for me,” he demanded. He moved back to her rim, and squeezed her ass apart with his hands. He could hear her as she panted. Connor took a finger back to her clit while he slid a thumb inside her. Sam started to command her own rhythm as she rocked back and forth against his face.

When he dipped his head to taste more of her, he could see that she played with her breasts. “Good girl,” he told her, and she moaned at his words.

Connor brought her closer to orgasm. He hit her G-spot and worked his tongue expertly. His erection pushed painfully against his jeans, but he didn’t care. All he wanted was to make her come.

“Are you going to come for me?” he asked her again.

“I’m—now—”

He buried his face deep into her, and felt the rock of her orgasm as it shook her entire body. She cried out, but he didn’t let her go. It wasn’t until he’d drank every trace of her orgasm that he stood up, squeezed her ass again, and turned her around. He didn’t even bother to wipe his face. He wanted her to cover him, evidence of what he could make her do.

She was weak on her stilettos, her face and chest flushed. He ran a hand across her bare chest, and squeezed a nipple between his thumb and finger. There were still the slightest hints of his hickeys on her chest. He’d been a goddamned idiot to treat her the way he had.

He looked down at her swollen clit, emerged from the hood. He could fuck her all day. Her wetness was evident, spread along her mound and the fronts of her thighs.

Sam panted lightly, still in the afterglow of the orgasm.

Connor went to unbuckle his jeans, and her eyes moved from his groin back to his eyes. She smiled. Finally.

His erection nearly hurt, he needed her so badly. Connor reached out and ran his finger across her lips while he pulled his length out. He left a trace of her come, and she licked it away.

Sam bit her lip and pulled him toward her. She maintained eye contact, and it was impossible to look anywhere but deep in that green abyss. He went to kiss her, but she ducked away—shy, like a schoolgirl. Instead, she lowered into a crouch, his cock inches from her lips. He looked to either side of the alley, but saw nothing.

Below him, Sam looked like a goddess. What did I do to deserve this? She looked up at him and gave him another one of those smiles he’d been so desperate for the past few days.

Connor closed his eyes, grasped his base, and waited to feel her lips on him. He could still remember the magic of her mouth. How it had felt when she’d taken him into the back of her throat. How she had licked the precum from his tip like it was the best thing she’d ever tasted.

“This has to stop,” she said, her voice like ice. He opened his eyes, and she stood once more, her mouth against his ear. She’d thrown his words from the plane right back at him.

Sam had tucked her breasts back in her dress and pulled down the hem.

She turned and stormed down the alley, somehow balancing on those cobblestone streets even in dangerously high heels.

Connor was left holding his dick alone in the alley, his mouth open and the taste of her all over his face.