Tessa’s Mensa-qualifying IQ vanished into thin air. She got lost in the heat of his mouth, in the thrilling male taste of him. And as he turned her in a circle and stepped her toward his hotel, Tessa couldn’t come up with one decent reason not to sleep with him. In fact, she wanted to do exactly what he’d suggested—let go of control. Maintaining everyone else’s life while holding her own together was exhausting. For once, just for a little while, she wanted someone else to take the reins.

She pulled out of the kiss and reached into her pocket for her phone. “I should check in with my nanny.”

A grin exploded across his handsome face. “Do it.”

Then he stepped back, grabbed her hand, and set a deliberate pace across the street toward his hotel.

Tessa wanted to call Abby, but she didn’t want to wake Sophia, so she tapped out a quick text as they walked. How is everything? I may be later than I thought.

Then her brain chimed in. Oh my God. What am I doing?

They reached the front doors of the ritzy hotel just as her phone buzzed again, but there wasn’t a hiccup of doubt in Ian’s stride.

Abby’s message read, Everything’s fine. Sophia’s out cold in my bed. Did you talk to him?

No. Long story.

Then why will you be late?

Tessa’s fingers froze. How did one phrase “Because I’m getting lucky with the hottest guy I’ve ever met” in a politically correct way?

Good for you, girl. Abby texted before Tessa could respond. Obviously, the twenty-one-year-old’s brain worked far faster in these situations than Tessa’s did. Enjoy yourself for a change. No worries, we’re fine here.

“Everything okay?” Ian asked, leading her into the grand lobby.

She closed the message screen. “Yes. She’s asleep. Abby took her to the museum this afternoon, and I spent the morning with her at the beach. She’s wiped out.”

Ian pressed the Up arrow at the elevators, then stepped behind her, circling his arms at her waist and pressing his lips to her neck. With her head light from the wine, Tessa closed her eyes and rested her head against his shoulder, absorbing the delicious sensations. Enjoying the moment of escape. And thinking maybe she should drink more often.

His big, warm hands stroked up her arms, over her shoulders. He lifted his head and murmured, “Do you have a picture of her?”

She turned her head and looked up at him. “What?”

Ian’s grin sparkled in his blue eyes. “Does she look like you?”

She smiled, but her heart tugged a little. “No, she doesn’t.”

“Let me see.”

That one little request turned her stomach into Fourth of July sparklers. The only man who ever wanted to see pictures of Sophia was Gordon. The elevator doors opened. Ian guided her inside, tapped the number 10, then leaned against the elevator wall and drew her between his legs. With his arms locked low on her waist, she was pressed intimately against him. And every time she felt him, she grew hungrier.

He lowered his forehead to hers and closed his eyes with an exhaled “Man, you feel good.”

She was thinking the exact same thing. He was one giant wall of muscle. Hot, strong, sexy muscle.

“Is that her?” he asked, his gaze on her phone.

She lifted her screen and turned it toward him, flashing the image she used as a screensaver—Sophia and her latest baby-toothed grin.

He laughed. “Wow, she’s cute.”

He turned his gaze on Tessa’s face again, scanning her. His hands lifted, skimming her back and shoulders to cradle her face as he sipped and sucked at her lips. He was both confident and sweet. Mystically in control while making her feel nothing but cherished. “Can I take your hair down?”

The whisper didn’t compute in her lust-swamped brain. But Ian didn’t wait for her answer. He lifted his hands to her bun, felt around, and pulled out the clips holding it up. Then he fingered her hair loose and combed his hands through it.

“So soft.” He released her hair, letting it fall in a mess around her face and shoulders.

The way his gaze raked over her, the heat and hunger reflected there, was something she’d only imagined. No one had ever looked at her like this. And Tessa couldn’t deny, she’d never felt as sexy as she did right this second, fully clothed, in an elevator with a total stranger.

“Christ…” The awe she’d seen in his eyes when he’d taken off her glasses at the bar flashed again. “You’re so… You’re beautiful.”

Her gaze flickered away from his as she tried not to buy into compliments tossed out in the heat of the moment.

“Hey.” He lifted her chin until she looked him in the eye again. “I wouldn’t say it unless I meant it.” He combed his fingers through her hair again. “Why do you hide this?”

Tessa was glad he didn’t wait for an answer, because she didn’t have one. And when he kissed her, she opened to him. His mouth devoured her with a hunger that stole her breath.

The elevator dinged, and Ian tore his mouth from hers, but when the doors slid open, he just looked down at her—and smiled. “You almost made me forget we were in an elevator.”

She laughed, and he kissed her again.

A shhh pulled her attention. “The doors…”

Ian slipped out from between her and the wall, stopping the doors with his foot. Then he turned and extended a hand toward her, wearing an utterly adorable grin. “Almost had to ride the elevator a few more floors. That would have been dangerous.”

Tessa laid her fingers in his. Something soft passed through his eyes before he closed his hand around hers and drew her from the elevator.

“Hey,” she said as they started down the hallway. “I um, this is probably a stupid thing to say, but is there, you know—”

He stopped in the middle of the hall and pushed her against the wall, stealing her breath. Then he cupped her face. “If you change your mind, say the word.”

“I…I don’t… I didn’t….”

He kissed her, and it helped clear the jumble in her head.

When he pulled back, he leaned his body into hers and ran his thumb across her cheek. A little grin tipped one side of his mouth, and her heart skipped. “Now, what did you want to say?”

She licked her lips. “Is there any sort of…you know, etiquette…or anything for one-night stands?”

His smile grew. “They’re generally called hookups.”

A mix of humor and embarrassment made her laugh. “See?”

“Baby, there’s no right or wrong.”

“No?”

“No.”

He made her feel like the teenager she’d never had the chance to be. “Okay.”

“Damn, you light me up. Anything else before I strip you naked?”

The fiery lust burning in his eyes struck right between her legs. His bold words, his passion, and the sense of possession she felt in his touch, in his kiss, unnerved her. Not exactly in a bad way. But she didn’t understand this kind of man. She was used to careful, conservative men. Men who wanted to seem in control but didn’t know how to take it. Men who fumbled and worried and then rushed.

“I… A shower, maybe.” She lowered her gaze and felt her cheeks heat. “I’ve been out in the sun and in these clothes all afternoon. God, I was so determined to meet him today. It was stupid to think I’d be able to track him down.”

“You’re dressed to kick ass and take names, baby.”

She scraped out a laugh and lifted her hands. “And look at me.”

“I’ve been lookin’ at you for hours. He’s the big loser here. I’ll let you kick my ass and take my name.” When she met his gaze again, he was wearing that crooked smile. “And a big ol’ yes to that shower. Your naked, sudsy body sliding all over mine? Oh, hell yes.”

He released her waist and grabbed her hand, then started down the hall at a pace that made her jog to keep up with him. He made her laugh. Made her feel so alive for the first time in a long time.

He slid his key card into the door, pushed it open, and gestured her inside. “A room fit for my princess.”

Nerves fluttered in her belly. She moved into the foyer, but as soon as she got a look at the room, she stopped dead. It wasn’t a room, it was a suite. A magnificent suite with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the ocean.

“Oh my God.” She wandered farther into the space, pausing behind the sofa facing the windows. Below, the hotel pool shimmered aqua, ringed in palm trees. Beyond the pool, the ocean glimmered in moonlight. “This is insane.”

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Drawing her back against him, he rested his chin on her shoulder and pushed his hips against hers, where his erection indented the flesh of her ass. “What’s insane is how bat-shit crazy you make me.”

He turned his head and pressed a kiss to her neck, shooting tingles across her skin. Then his hands flattened low on her belly and slowly traveled upward, feeling every inch of her until he cupped her breasts in both hands. And moaned.

The skin of her breasts tightened in his palms, and her nipples went taut. Tessa’s heart thundered. Her head swam. The sensation angled like a V straight to her sex, which also tightened and ached. Ian’s fingers brushed her nipples, and lightning strikes of pleasure made her spine arch and her breath catch. Her ass pushed harder against his erection, and he growled against her skin.

“Talk to me, Tessa,” he murmured at her ear. “Tell me what you want.”

He brushed her nipples again and again until her hands dug into the back of the sofa.

“Let go,” he told her. “I can feel the tension humming through your body.”

Let go. Let go. Let go. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and chanted the words in her head.

“That’s better,” he praised, his smooth confidence easing another layer of stress. “You’re perfect. Right here, right now, you’re absolutely perfect.”

His words drove deep into her heart, touching a part of her she rarely visited. Tessa had never been perfect, and she had no illusions she ever would be. But he had chosen to take her home and not one of the dozens of bombshells he’d had access to tonight. And she couldn’t deny the warmth his words created, or how they spurred her to strive to push all her fears aside and enjoy the moment.

He kissed and sucked the curve of her neck while his hands fisted her blouse and pulled it from her waistband. “Do you want to leave it up to me? Do you want me to take care of you?”

“Oh yes.” She wanted that so badly.

“Do you want me to take control?”

“Yes,” she admitted in a hoarse whisper.

His hands slid under her blouse, and skin met skin. She jumped at the contact, then immediately melted into his touch. His big, warm, strong hands traced her waist, her ribs, and cupped her lace-covered breasts again. And as she writhed to his touch, she didn’t care how slutty or bad this made her look. She needed it. Needed the contact, the escape, the affection. And between Sophia and work, this was the only opportunity she’d had to get it in what felt like forever.

He drew her blouse up and over her head, making this situation suddenly very real. Her heart skipped an erratic pattern as he tossed her blouse on the sofa. Then his hands were back, exciting her. Claiming her. One stroked across her stomach, the other found the zipper at her hip. He pushed her skirt down until it dropped to her feet. And just like that, she was standing there in bra, panties, and heels, her image reflected in the dark windows.

Thank God for the wine. Without it, she’d be immobilized with vulnerability.

“Look at you,” he whispered in her ear. “I knew you were hiding something special beneath that suit.”

Nothing special, just white lace underwear. It wasn’t even Victoria’s Secret. But his hands stroked over her like she was made of porcelain, and Tessa felt herself grow wet. Her nerves danced just beneath her skin and responded instantly to the feel of his hands sliding over her ass. He stroked and squeezed, his heavy breaths raspy. His hands lifted her ass and separated her cheeks, then he leaned into her, rocking his slacks-covered cock into the crease.

Lust surged through her sex, and Tessa moaned at the feel of him.

“I love the sounds you make,” he whispered in her ear, rocking against her, making her push back. “I love the way you move against me.”

And she loved his voice. His heat. His strength.

Ian sighed a moan against her shoulder, brought one hand to her stomach again, then let it glide right between her legs.

“Oh…” Her surprise emerged in a whimper, and her body arched to his touch.

“Mmm, baby, you’re wet for me.” His voice, a soft, low hum, skittered down her spine. “So hot.”

His fingers barely skated over her silk panties, creating maddening whispers of teasing pressure against her throbbing sex. “You’re swollen already.”

One finger barely touched her clit again and again as she rocked her hips, searching for friction and pressure. So hungry for release, so fast. Maybe it was the wine. Maybe it was her level of need.

Maybe it was just Ian and his sexual charisma.

He pressed a kiss to the curve of her neck and breathed deep. “God, you smell like sun and flowers.”

She was so high, her head floated. Her body sang. All she could focus on was the feel of his big body at her back, his hands creating sensations she was sure she’d never felt. He tightened one arm across her belly, holding her against him, while his other hand grew heavier between her legs. Finally, the pressure she needed. Hot currents of need rolled through her sex, making her moan.

“Let me hear you,” he told her. “Tell me how good it is.”

Tessa had jumped the fast track to release. His heavy, confident fingers circled and circled and circled, then stroked and stroked and stroked, inching her toward bliss. The feel of his hand on her was electric.

“Perfect,” she managed. “Perfect, perfect, perfect.”

She rocked and rolled her hips, against his cock, into his hand. Ian growled and closed his teeth on the skin of her neck and grabbed her sex. The sudden roughness pushed her right to the edge, and she cried out—in surprise, in pleasure, in need. Instinctively, she released the sofa and gripped his wrist, so thick and hard beneath her fingers.

He released the hand between her legs, leaving her light-headed, dizzy, and trembling on the edge.

“Want me to stop?” he asked just before sliding his tongue from the base of her neck to her ear, then taking the lobe between his teeth.

“No, no,” she breathed, intoxicated. “God, no.”

His fingers traced a path across her panties again, teasing the swollen bud of her clit. Tessa whimpered, and her hand flexed on his arm. The tendons and muscles moved to the rhythm of his fingers stroking her, an erotic combination.

“You like me touching you?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You like feeling me touch you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want my fingers inside you?”

Her breath caught.

“Driving,” he continued in a dark voice at her ear. “Stretching. Moving—”

“Yes,” she spoke over him.

“Deep and hard. Fast and slow—”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

“You’re hungry.” His voice dipped an octave. “That’s so fucking hot.” His hand slid from between her legs only to slip under the panties’ waistband and push deep again. The skin-on-skin contact made Tessa gasp. The slide of her own juices beneath his fingers made her moan. “Want me to make you come?”

His hot whisper tingled at her ear, and she choked out a rough “Yes.”

The hand at her waist slid up, past her breast, and settled at her throat. He pushed her head back against his shoulder and rasped a hot “Let go, Tessa. Give me control.”

Then he turned her head toward him and covered her mouth with his. His tongue teased her lips while his fingers teased her opening, sliding, sliding… She whimpered and opened wider, stroking her tongue into his mouth. He growled and plunged his tongue in to meet hers while his fingers plunged into her body.

Tessa moaned, the sound smothered by his mouth. Her body rocked and climbed as his mouth mirrored the work of his hand until she was riding his fingers and drowning in his mouth.

Ian tore his lips from hers and bit into her neck. Tessa gasped.

“Come, Tessa,” he told her—an order, not a suggestion.

He covered her clit with his thumb, and Tessa lunged toward a climax, stopping just short when his teeth closed on her skin again. She couldn’t hold still. She’d never needed climax this badly. He made the slightest movements with his hand, and Tess’s body sought relief. The combination was explosive. She moaned, cried out, and snapped.

The orgasm cut through her in exquisitely hot slices. The sensations took over her muscles, jerking her in hard cracks of pleasure as she came apart in the safety of Ian’s arms.