Oh God, oh God, oh God.

It was a wonder Lexi even heard him over the pounding of her heart and the roaring in her ears, not to mention the throbbing ache that speared outward from her nipples and centered down between her legs.

“That’s slick, real slick,” she murmured, hoping she’d pulled off a drawl and not a moan.

She’d thought he’d been going to kiss her. Before. On the mouth. Like a normal person might with a first kiss. He’d given her plenty of time to move away if she’d wanted to, but God help her, she just hadn’t wanted to. She’d closed her eyes when he’d moved in, already feeling the warmth of his body so close to hers, her lips parting in anticipation of his mouth on hers and then…nothing.

Jerk. And she’d been just sitting there, eyes closed, lips puckered like she’d never been kissed before and waiting for him to make all the moves. Like an idiot.

Her first thought was that he’d been playing with her except…he’d been looking at her like he’d never seen her before, a frown between his heavy brows, as if he’d wanted to devour her whole. Kind of like now.

“I want to fuck. Nothing more, nothing less. I’m not looking for a girlfriend and I don’t want a relationship. I went into that bar to pick up a woman for some hot, dirty, no-strings sex. That’s it.”

God, what an arrogant—

Too bad he was so damn hot and he turned her on so damn much and it had been so damn long or she’d tell him to go take a damn hike.

She’d never had a one night-stand. Ever. She went to bars for some girl-bonding time and straightforward fun. And she liked to dance. Simple. She’d been hit on more times than she could count and had rebuffed every single one of them. Until him. Okay, he hadn’t exactly come on to her but after the “kiss” and the speech there was no way to misunderstand what he wanted. And what he was offering. Or not.

Could she really do it? She’d often thought about sex for sex’s sake, physical pleasure without any of the awkward aftermath or unequal expectations. No hurt feelings. No guilt. Just screw and then go your separate ways. She could barely remember the last time she’d been held in strong arms, since she’d been under a man, since she’d lost herself in the release of good sex. And the solo kind was a poor substitute. Yeah, it seemed forever since she’d let a guy get that close to her. Could she really do it with someone she didn’t know, knew nothing about?

“I get it. You’re here and then you’ll be long gone,” Lexi countered. “I’ve got my eyes wide open here, hotshot.”

“And I like to be the aggressor.”

She smiled, looked him up and down, and burst out laughing. He should have looked ridiculous with his jeans bunched down around his ankles, but with that arrogant stance, he could probably pretty much pull anything off. Actually, the only thing he looked right now was “ready”.

“No news flash there.”

His mouth tightened. “I’m not into any fancy games or anything either. Sex, straight up.”

She couldn’t resist. He’d left himself wide open. She cocked her head to the side. “So you like it standing up?”

He didn’t really do anything, didn’t make any particular movement, but she felt the tension lift from his big body. “You’re such a smart ass, you know that?”

The flash of white when he smiled said he liked it though. A lot.

Her breath hitched, her stomach jolted and the wet heat between her legs went to a full stinging ache at the broad, smooth expanse of skin as he jerked off his shirt and dropped it to the floor. She’d known he was built, but God, ripped was more accurate. There wasn’t an ounce of spare flesh on him. Anywhere. He was all sinewy muscle, angles and shadows—big, hard, powerful. And she wanted. Bad.

He bent to toe off his shoes, kick out of his jeans, and then he yanked down the underwear in one rough move that left him all the way naked.

She swallowed. Yeah, he was built all right. All over. Especially there. And he wasn’t shy, not one bit. Why would he be? He was long and thick and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from it, from him.

Her heart raced out of control. It was all she could do to stop herself from laying a hand over a stomach that trembled and jolted at the sight of him. Apprehension? Nerves? Nah, not really. Despite being in a strange hotel room, laid out on a bed in front of a guy—a naked, very aroused guy—one she really didn’t know, it wasn’t anything except a deep-seated anticipation.

He bent and slid his hands up under her skirt, grasped the sides of her panties and pulled them down, stopping when they reached her knees. The cool air washed against her hot flesh. They were no-fuss, economical movements, for a purpose. He meant business—his eyes said so, his actions backed it up and her mouth went dry at the possibilities.

He came down on to the bed and everything in her went still.

“Is that how you like it?” he drawled. “Standing up? Well, sorry, baby but this time? You’re going to be under me.”

“Oh,” Lexi gasped when he lifted her legs at the knees, pushed them together and back toward her head. Or she might have moaned. Did it really matter? Anyway, she was surprised she could even get that much out. She took a deep breath. The only trouble was she got the desperately needed air but also inhaled a wave of his warm, male scent that did nothing to calm her down.

“Fuck…” he breathed.

He was drinking his fill, his eyes dark, hot, and riveted between her legs. He ran a finger unsteadily up and down her folds and she trembled at the light caress, when she suddenly needed so much more. She was wet. There was no hiding it. Or the tremor that ran through her at the light touch.

She let out a shuddering breath when he slid a thick finger inside slowly and then out again, spreading her moisture over and against the swollen bud of her clitoris. She tried to flex her hips with the movement, to spread her legs to encourage a deeper touch, but the way he was holding her made it pretty much impossible to move.

“So,” she managed, almost whimpering when he withdrew from her slowly. “You got a name? A nickname maybe?”

“Nickname? Yeah, you don’t want to know.” His voice was flat, hard.

“So, what should I call you? ‘Oh, baby, oh yeah, baby’ might get a bit old after awhile. Besides, I like to be more original than that.”

He barked out a laugh, almost as if he couldn’t help it and the hard lines eased from his face, all except the sexy ones at each corner of his mouth. His gaze lifted to meet hers, his mouth lifted at one side.

“Nash. You can call me Nash.”

He twisted her underwear in one hand, binding her knees tightly together. Lexi saw him swallow, lick his lips and then he bent and put his mouth to her. No tentative starting caress, no hesitation at all, he was just suddenly there.

She couldn’t move at all in this position. She couldn’t escape the thick, firm laps of his tongue, she couldn’t thrust up against his mouth either as he raised his lips from her to breathe against her softly. And God how she wanted to thrust against him. The position meant she couldn’t even reach him with her hands. No, she couldn’t do any of that. The way he held her meant she was completely at the mercy of his wicked tongue, his sinful mouth.

He licked and sucked against her clit and all she could do was fist her hands in the covers, clench her eyes closed, throw back her head and endure the exquisite torture.

He rubbed the thumb of his other hand through her moisture, beneath his ravaging tongue, spreading her moisture down, down to her—

She moaned when he rimmed her, soft, circular motions pushing ever so gently against the puckered entrance, all the while he worked her with his tongue, his mouth making soft, wet suckling noises that were so hot she thought she might combust on the spot.

She bit her bottom lip. It might prevent her from begging him, saying something she might regret later.

“Nash.”

Or maybe not.

“God…”

She wanted to grasp his head in clenched hands, spread her legs wide and pull him to her, grind herself against him, force him to tongue her harder. She wanted to cry out for him to finger her, to fuck her, just do something, anything to apply pressure to her aching clit and fill the empty torment.

“Please…”

Her inner muscles clenched, a futile attempt to draw him in, to communicate without words what she needed, now, right now, to give her some kind of relief, to make her come because God knew she was close, so close.

She whimpered when he lifted his head and levered himself away from her. It was some consolation to see he was breathing harshly, his face drawn tight, his lips wet from what he’d been doing to her.

He dragged her panties roughly the rest of the way down her legs, over her boots and tossed them aside. Lexi brought her legs back down to the bed, her knees still bent. She was shaky, still balanced on the knife edge of a pleasure that had been almost within her reach, her own breathing choppy. The ache between her legs now a torrent of sizzling liquid heat.

“Alexis?” His voice was harsh, low, as he expertly sheathed himself with a condom she had no idea he’d gotten or when.

Oh. My. God.

Her breath lodged in her throat. The sight of his hands moving down his rigid length was almost enough to send her over. She was wet, so wet. She pulsed and ached and now the heated flesh between her legs throbbed in stinging anticipation of being filled by him because he was going to fill her and how.

She dragged her gaze up to his with an effort. He raised an eyebrow when she remained silent.

“It—you—you’re, well, you have to know you’re um….big.”

He glanced down at himself and shrugged. “Is that a problem?” His expression hadn’t changed, but there was a wicked gleam in his eyes.

She snorted softly. “As if.”

One corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.

Lexi licked her dry lips as he knelt between her legs on the bed. Naked, aroused, intent. “And ah, you should probably call me Lexi now. You know, considering…”

He smiled savagely. “Considering I’ve been inside you? With my tongue? And I’m about to—”

“Yeah…that.”

Trying to ignore the hammering of her heart, Lexi grasped the bottom of her top. He might be naked, but she still had everything on. Well, except the panties.

“No,” he rasped, his hot gaze on the exposed curves of her breasts as he ran a palm up and down his encased length a couple more times. “Leave everything on. Just like that.”

He came down on top of her, his weight forcing her back into the mattress. She sucked in a quick breath as he spread his legs, forcing her own wide apart to accommodate him.

“Fair warning,” he bit out. “It’s been…awhile.”

Tension etched every line of his hard body, his eyes dark, his breathing still deep and unsteady. Hesitancy wasn’t something she would’ve associated with him and she frowned.

“You’re telling me this is going to be quick?”

“Honey, that’s a given.”

It was dumb. He probably called all his women “honey”, yet she couldn’t help the warmth that zinged through her body. And it was better than “baby”.

“I’m saying…” A muscle at his temple twitched. “It might not be up to my usual…standard.”

A chink in his armor? Uncertainty at the very least. Somehow she didn’t think that happened very often or that he let anyone else see any type of vulnerability. And it got to her, like nothing else probably could have.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. God, she couldn’t wait to get her hands on him, her mouth against his skin and to have his all over her, in her. “I’m sure it’ll be…fine.”

His mouth tightened. “I’m not after a pity fuck either.”

She took in his broad shoulders, deep chest and those muscles flexing under his skin every time he moved. Women probably slept with Nash for a lot of reasons. Well, maybe it boiled down to something pretty basic, but she was sure “pity” wasn’t one of them.

“Nash. It’ll be fine.”

“See, here’s the thing.” He lifted his head and she had to swallow at the look in his eyes and at the jerk low in her abdomen because of it. “Fine aint gonna cut it.”

Oh, boy.

He nudged against her opening at the same time he braced himself on one arm near her head and leaned down to lick at her nipple, sucking and flicking at it in a way that made sure she felt the sensation all the way down to the swollen flesh between her legs. And all the while he rocked his cock back and forth against her until he began to ease inside.

Lexi arched back and up into him. The slow slide of pressure set to drive her mad. She whimpered, lifting her legs a little higher, giving him more room, angling herself to help his entry.

“What’s taking you so long?” she moaned as he moved to her other breast, his hot mouth engulfing her sensitive nipple and sucking. Hard.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

To hell with that.

She grasped his shoulders, her lower body jerking against his. God, it seemed impossible, but already she was close, so close and he wasn’t even all the way in.

His fingers clenched hard into the soft flesh at her hip. “Give me a minute,” he groaned.

Lexi saw the grimace, knew what it meant. She’d never been responsible for a guy losing control before and the knowledge that she could now went to her head in a rush so powerful nothing else mattered.

She flexed her body beneath his, her heart slamming against her ribs at the flash she saw in his eyes. She wrapped her arms around his neck, leveraged herself up so that her lips were against his ear. She groaned softly when she flexed her inner muscles around him and he shuddered.

“Lexi,” he growled. “Give me a goddamn minute here. All I need is a minute.”

She had him, she so had him and the sound of her name in his deep, gravelly voice cinched it. “Fuck me, Nash,” she whispered to him. “Come on, fuck me with that big cock of yours. I want it, I need it, please I—”

“Aw, fuck.”

She gasped as his body slammed into and against hers, finally, all the way in, the full weight of him coming down on her, completely dominating her, keeping her immobile for his deep, pounding, mind-destroying thrusts. She dug her nails into his massive shoulders as his body jerked and convulsed against hers. Endlessly, over and over until all she could do was hold on to him and glory in her ability to drive a man like him to intense and all-encompassing pleasure.

His breath sawed in and out of his body, his heart beat a fierce tattoo against her chest. “Jesus, are you happy?” he rasped against her neck, his voice raw, hoarse.

Yeah, pretty much.

Lexi smiled, knowing he couldn’t see her face. She’d driven Mr. Hot Bod crazy, out of his head for her, pushed him to lose it. Her. Who would have thought? Damn though. His movements inside her could have sent her over if they’d just lasted a few seconds more.

He pulled back to stare down at her. He should have looked pleased, he should have appeared satisfied. He didn’t. Actually, he wore furious really well. “Why the hell would you do that?”

Because I could?

“Fuck. I can’t be positive, but I’m pretty sure you didn’t come, so—”

“It’s okay.” She cleared her throat. He still felt hard inside her. Big and hard and thick and yeah…she was still revved and ready to go. More than. “You can make it up to me. Next time.”

“Next time?” He lifted his body from hers, disengaging from her in an abrupt move that had her gasping. The tender flesh still hot and aroused and…God, just plain aroused. “Next time? Jesus, I’m not some twenty-year-old stud who’s going to be ready to go at it again in ten minutes.”

Lexi winced at the slam of the bathroom door. She sat up and pulled her top back into some order so that at least she was covered. Those were not tears she felt prick at the corner of her eyes, sting the back of her throat. They weren’t. Were they?

Perhaps she shouldn’t have goaded him, perhaps she shouldn’t have pushed him when he’d needed so badly. Yeah, she’d provoked him, knew what the result would be and had gone with it anyway but— God, maybe she should have left well enough alone.

Lexi jumped when Nash stormed back into the room. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he grated.

He had a towel wrapped around his waist and what the guy did for a towel should be illegal. The dark scowl she could have done without.

Lexi cleared her throat. “I said it was fine. I—”

“No. It’s not fine.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I could have hurt you.”

“No way.”

 

Nash would have agreed under normal circumstances, but everything and anything concerning this woman was far from normal. He’d been so far gone for those few seconds he’d been completely unaware, uncaring of his surroundings. He’d been vulnerable, that was the bottom line and that was unacceptable. In fact, it scared the hell out of him like not many things could these days. Just like his reaction to her from the very start.

He had strong sexual urges. He always had. There was a hunger that was never far from the surface and he knew to control it, had learned how to keep his needs tightly leashed. He didn’t mess around when it came to sex. He took what he wanted, what he needed, as quickly as possible. His ego made sure he took care of the woman first. Always fast, but first.

Jesus.

He swallowed at the memory of how her body had felt under his, around his, and his balls tightened in a sizzling rush. God, she’d been tight and hot and man, he could kick himself for what had gone down. He’d wanted her under him, had wanted to be deep inside her when she came the first time, to feel her body clutch at him. He’d wanted to watch her, to see her close her eyes in pleasure, to hear her come, not be so far out of it himself that he’d had no clue if she’d even been close. He’d underestimated her affect on him and overestimated his control. A lack of judgment, plain and simple.

Dammit.

He’d gritted his teeth and willed himself not to come. He’d willed himself to think about something, anything to take his mind off the hot, wet clasp of her body. She’d whimpered in his ear, flexed her muscles around him and whispered that dirty talk and he’d been gone.

Fuck it.

She had a hot body and was responsive as hell. The first was usually a prerequisite for him, the latter an added and unexpected bonus. None of that explained what the fuck had just happened. Her reaction to him had been honest and open and so hot he’d shaken with the need to be inside her. And if he was honest? He still was. And he couldn’t say when he’d met someone who could make him smile as much as she could. Or get him as hot because of it. Not that he thought she was trying to. She was just being herself and yeah, he’d been as intrigued as hell even before he’d touched her.

He hadn’t counted on losing control like that, on her being able to make him lose control like that. And that was the rub. No one had ever been able to do that before.

“You have to leave,” he ground out.

“What?”

Yeah, his dick wasn’t happy with the reality of the situation either.

Too fucking bad.

“You can’t stay.”

He knew he was being a jerk—more than—but he’d brought her into his own space and he never did that. Never. Christ, he hadn’t intended to fuck her either. At least until she’d touched him and then he’d been a goner.

He tried to stem his reaction when she stood and smoothed down her skirt. Her top already covered her gorgeous breasts and despite what he’d told her, his dick twitched in an age-old show of appreciation. And hope.

She sent him a look he didn’t want to think too closely about as she plucked her underwear from the floor and stuffed them in her pocket. God, the panties were the only article of clothing he’d taken off her. He hadn’t even seen her all the way naked.

She took a deep breath when she got to the door before she looked back at him. She cocked her head to the side in a gesture he’d already come to recognize as pure Lexi.

“Your walk totally lied by the way.”

Her voice was flat and he frowned. “What?”

“The walk, the way you strut around. It’s advertising something you obviously can’t deliver. I guess you figure you’ll never see me again, so why put yourself out, right?”

It was a low blow, but she was more than entitled. He felt the flare of color on his cheeks. God, he was blushing? He would have bet his life that was impossible. “I warned you,” he choked out. “I told you—”

“Yeah. Guess you did.”

Nash ground his teeth together as she swung the door wide and disappeared through it. He was braced for the slam, for the show of anger and displeasure, but she closed it carefully, almost quietly.

He scrubbed his hand across his face. A slam would have made him feel a hell of a lot better. He would have understood a slam for one. That exit? He had no clue.

He exhaled a rough breath. He’d watched her dance. Just like every other red-blooded guy in that bar as she’d moved her body and that sweet ass of hers to the beat of the music. Man, to think he’d had that body under his and hadn’t gotten a chance to see what moves she had. No, he’d totally blown it and what did that make him? A fucking moron, that’s what.

He rubbed a hand across his abdomen, at the burning ache that had settled there—a twinge of something he couldn’t name. It was late. He’d just sent a woman out into the night, alone, one that might be slightly—okay make that a lot—pissed.

His stomach clenched when he heard an unfamiliar low cheep, saw what poked out from under the edge of the bed.

Aw, fuck.

He’d let a woman leave, he’d let Lexi leave—alone—in the dead of night in a not so great part of town. And she didn’t even have her phone with her. As well as being a moron he was also a prize asshole.