He woke up late, aware from the way the sun poured through the butcher paper that it was close to midday. Sean groaned and checked his phone. Almost eleven.

He hadn’t heard Harper at all. Normally, he was woken up by her blending of smoothies in the morning for her pre-gym protein. Sean pulled himself out of bed and adjusted his morning erection. Already, dreams of the previous night escaped him, but he knew they had all been of Harper. They always were.

“Hey,” he said as he opened his bedroom door. She was curled up on the couch. A book rested on her knees.

“Hi,” she said. For once, the smile that spread across her face was easy and natural. It was the first time since they’d moved in together.

“You haven’t eaten?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Not in the mood for a smoothie,” she said.

“How about brunch?”

“Okay,” she said.

He made his way to the kitchen. Yesterday, when she asked him to cook for her, it had been a sign. That was his way back to her. Sean pulled out a half-dozen eggs from the fridge and a packet of English muffins. He cracked the shells and started to whisk egg yolks with lemon juice in a stainless steel bowl for hollandaise sauce.

He heated a saucepan with a thin layer of water. As he drizzled in butter and watched the sauce thicken and double in size, he sensed Harper behind him. Afraid to say anything, worried that it might scare her away, he reached for the salt and cayenne.

“Are you making eggs benedict?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t know people actually made that.”

He laughed as he started to brown bacon in a skillet. “Did you think they just appeared?”

“I don’t know!” she said. He handed her two English muffins to toast. “I thought they were really hard to make. Like, only chefs made them.”

“They’re not hard,” he said. He broke another egg into the water and reduced the heat to a simmer.

“How do you know when they’re done?” she asked. Harper peered into the pan.

“Practice,” he said.

“Thanks.”

“About three and a half minutes,” he said. “Watch for the egg white to set but the yolk should still be soft.” He removed one of the eggs with a slotted spoon and let it drain over a paper towel. As he carefully assembled the benedict and spooned the poached egg on top of the bacon, he seasoned both plates with salt and pepper. Finally, with the hollandaise poured over them and a garnish of chopped parsley, he handed Harper her plate.

She looked at it like it was a science experiment. Sean could see numbers and calculations flying across her face. “Just try it,” he said gently. “It’s good for you.”

He ushered her toward a seat at the kitchen island and kept an eye on her while he put more bacon into the pan and pulled out the pancake mix. “You’re making more?” she asked, her eyes wide.

“You haven’t had breakfast or lunch, have you?”

She didn’t answer, but when he pushed the freshly cooked bacon onto her plate, she made a face and started blotting at the strips. “How many calories are in bacon?” she asked.

“Does it really matter? Just enjoy it.”

She gave him a look like a surly teenager. He watched her as she nibbled on everything, going at the egg whites with more gusto than anything else. When the first batch of pancakes were done, he forked two onto her plate, but Harper shook her head vehemently. “No more,” she said.

He sighed and looked at her plate. For her, she’d eaten a decent amount, though it still wasn’t nearly enough to count as sustenance.

“You interested in working out together again?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe,” he said. “It’s Sunday. I thought maybe we could lounge on the couch and watch a movie first. We can decide if we want to work out later.”

“Okay,” she said reluctantly.

“Hey. How about you choose the movie?”

“Really?” she asked, brightening.

“Go on, I’ll clean up.”

Harper rushed to the living room while he rinsed the dishes and loaded the dishwasher. By the time he made it to the living room, she had Mean Girls cued up on Netflix.

“Seriously?” he asked.

“You said I could choose.” She pulled a face that dared him to disagree.

They sat on opposite ends of the couch like armies readying for battle. Eventually, Harper propped her feet up on the couch, taking up two-thirds of it. “You want a foot rub?” Sean asked.

She looked startled, but bit her lip and nodded.

He started at her perfectly dainty feet, cold to the touch. Sean warmed them, surprised at the softness—especially with all the working out and those insanely high heels she wore. When he worked his way to her bare calves, she didn’t react. The rolled-up boxers she wore as pajama bottoms had hiked up so high that his hands had miles of flesh to explore.

Sean reached her thigh and she squirmed. When he raised his eyes to hers, there was a hunger in there he hadn’t seen in weeks. She lunged at him. Her lips met his as her arms snaked around his neck.

Without thinking, he kissed her back. Harper’s hand twisted around the front of his t-shirt and she pulled him closer. That kind of desire, that dominance, was new in her. Any other time, he’d despise it, but something about it being her made him harden instantly.

Sean pulled off her tank top and yanked down her shorts. She wore no bra, no underwear, nothing. If he’d known the only thing that stood between him and her ethereal body were a few wisps of cotton, it would have been impossible to make it through brunch without bending her over the island and fucking her senseless.

He stood up and cradled her into his arms. Her mouth consumed his and she tugged at his shirt uselessly as he carried her to his bedroom. “No,” he said as he tossed her onto the mattress. Her breasts bounced and her nipples hardened when she hit the black duvet.

Sean leaned over her and pinned her hands above her head with one hand. “You don’t want to know what will happen if you move your hands. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, sir,” she said.

He was hard as a rock, but the desire to taste her, consume her, overpowered everything else. Sean worked his way from her hungry mouth to the salt of her collarbone. He took one nipple between his lips and sucked while she writhed and moaned.

As he flicked his tongue across her abdomen, he caught a scent of her desire. Harper’s legs were spread wide, eager, her clit already swollen with want.

He dipped his tongue into her wet folds and heard her cry out. Still, she kept her hands above her head in an invisible bind. For an hour, he teased her clit. She tried to grip his head with her thighs, to fuck his face while following his rules, but each time he’d firmly push open her thighs.

Sean refused to indulge in any pleasure for himself. You have a lot to make up for, he told himself as he slid the tip of his tongue inside her. Harper’s taste, the sweet muskiness, was addictive. She was so wet he couldn’t imagine it would keep up, but even after an hour the flow of her juices never stopped. With every orgasm, she gushed more and he ardently lapped her up.

“Please,” she begged after another orgasm. He felt the tremors throughout her body, how her limbs had become heavy and languid. Sean didn’t want to, but he acquiesced. It’s the only way to show you I care.

He pulled himself up beside her and gently lowered her hands. She continued to shake as she rode the afterglow of her orgasms. With one arm resting heavily across his chest and a leg wrapped around his, he felt the warm stickiness of her center spread over his thigh. “I want you,” she said. Her eyes were heavy but her voice was thick with desire. “I need you, all of you,” she whispered into his ear. “I just missed you so much …”

With a growl, he rolled on top of her. Harper’s legs immediately wrapped around his torso and her heels pulled him against her. He slammed into her and it felt like home.

Harper’s eyes were screwed shut as her nails dug into his back. “Yes,” she called out. “Fuck me, thank you. Thank you—”

He buried his head into her neck and breathed in the sugary scent of her. He wasn’t going to last long, not this time. “I love you,” he breathed into her hair as he released himself into her. She gasped and pulled him deeper inside her, thirsty for every last drop of him.