By the time we returned to Eric’s house, I was exhausted. My brain felt as if it was fried and squeezed through a meat grinder and if I didn’t get any sleep, I’d fall over.

“I’m sorry, Emma. This was a lot to take in today.”

“No, I had a wonderful time, but I’d like to stay in tomorrow to do some research on my computer.”

“You just say the word, and I’ll stay out of your way.”

“I don’t mind you being here.” I hoped Eric wouldn’t leave for the day just to let me work. I enjoyed his company and felt so at ease with him, I could have sworn we’d known each other in a previous life. Plus, after that little session he gave me by the barn I couldn’t help but hope for more. “I may have some questions.”

“I have work to do of my own with the horses, so I’ll definitely be around.”

“Good.” I was standing in the doorway to my bedroom, suddenly feeling nervous. Eric stepped from one foot to another, hesitating. Was he nervous as well?

“I’d like to take a shower, if you don’t mind,” I finally said.

“Go ahead. I have some work to do, but I’ll be back soon.”

And he left.

I quickly jumped in the shower, taking note of the meticulous way the soap and the sponge had been stacked on one side, as well as his body wash and shampoo. Eric’s home was cleaner than the bachelor pads I remembered my brothers living in. I picked up a bottle, flicked it open, and inhaled the scent, immediately imagining Eric next to me.

“Amazing,” I whispered as his torturous words of barn fucking drifted back to my mind. I pictured him over me, the tinge of his sweat mixing with the aqua aroma as I spread the soap over my own body. For the first time in years, I tried to remember how it would feel to have a man inside me again, and the thought awoke a new wave of heat and desire between my legs. It had been so long – too long since a man had touched me. What I’d allowed Eric to do to me against that barn was absolutely sinful. I wanted it again. I wanted more. I needed Eric like I hadn’t needed a man in a long time, and I knew that the dildo hiding in my bathroom back in New York would never be enough. Although not many knew, I was a complete opposite to what my reputation suggested. While I chose to give my brothers the impression of a party girl, it didn’t mean that I was one. I desperately tried to stop everyone worrying about me, showing them I was over the accident and had moved on, when deep inside my heart had always ached for someone I could bare my soul to – someone like Eric, who was now so much more than another name on a file.

After the shower I lay flat on my back, sinking into the soft mattress. I wasn’t sure how long I’d stayed like this, but I think I dozed off. When I heard Eric turn on the shower, thoughts of his naked body nearby filled my mind. I imagined the water cascading over his muscles as he lathered a sponge and drew it over his arms and abs, the way he’d flex and stretch. I fought the urge to rip my shirt and panties off and jump back into the shower. I checked the clock on the nightstand – six o’clock. There was no way I’d be able to fall back asleep until he was done, so I hopped out of bed and headed to the kitchen for a cup of tea.

The smell of burning wood and the crackling sound of logs breaking apart filled the house. Eric had lit the fireplace. I brewed my tea and sat down in front of the fireplace, forgetting the work that had brought me to Eric’s home just for a moment. It had been a long time since I’d been able to relax. Spending the day with Eric, even though I’d been working, had been one of the best days I’d had in a long time. He rekindled a hope I’d lost the night David died. And the way Eric looked at me made me feel like I was worth millions and like there was no other woman in the world he wanted more. My need to help him put his past behind and find John Huntz grew. I wanted him happy, healed, and proud of the work I’d done. I needed his justice almost as much as he did.

And his family was so pained. I could see it in his mother’s eyes and his father’s sagging cheeks. They were troubled – and it wasn’t solely because of what had happened in the past. Whatever burden they carried now was different. They lived in fear, which they were hiding from Eric, and I suspected that fear was somehow justified. Part of me wanted to tell him what I’d seen at their house. The overwhelming number of locks and bolts sent shivers of their fear up my own spine. Another part needed to secure the evidence first.

A shuffle of footsteps startled me, and I jolted up.

“I’m sorry, I thought you were asleep.” Eric stood in the doorway leading to the bathroom. A white towel was wrapped around his waist and another one hung on the back of his neck, draped over his shoulders. He must have just fluffed his hair. The two piercings in his nipples reflected the flames of the fireplace. Along with that sleeve tattoo, that was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. Beads of water dripped off his chest like perfect pearls, leading down the middle path of his abs. I followed their trail down to the sculpted V above his hips that narrowed near the edge of the towel. It was a miracle that the fabric managed to stay fastened below his hip bones. A darker shadow of hair was sprinkled just above the towel, and I felt my heart pick up speed as I looked away. A bit more staring and I’d be the one to eat him alive.

“I dozed off. It’s too early to go in for the night.” I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, suddenly feeling as if every single one of my nerve endings was tapped into a live wire streaming erotic vibes.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s just that… you in the shower… I needed some tea.” Was my voice shaking?

“I hope I wasn’t too loud.”

I stood up quickly, nearly spilling my tea, and Eric froze. His gaze snaked down my body and I realized I was wearing only my panties and a button-up plaid shirt I’d bought earlier in the day. I was sure my body had already betrayed me as the ache in my nipples pulsed through the fabric. “I should go.” The whisper that came out of my mouth was convincing neither him nor me. I watched him breathe from the distance, noting how my slow inhales moved in tandem with his.

And after three long and determined steps, Eric was in front of me. We collided and I was in his embrace, wrapping my arms around him like an anaconda, pressing against his lean body, kissing him with the desperation that had been building inside me. If his lips and body were to disappear right now, I’d crumble. I needed him more than air. I wanted him more than life, and in that moment, I’d do anything he asked of me.

But of course Eric’s lips were too busy nurturing my mouth, trailing along my jaw line to my ear and neck. I moaned, feeling his hand grasp my breast, aggravating my hardened nubs with his thumbs. My head lolled back as his mouth found the hollow in my neck, licking and kissing, nibbling and teasing. I heard a low swoosh of fabric, and I realized Eric’s towel had fallen from his hips. I pulled away and gasped at the size of him, all ready for me. He gave me a knowing look and grasped each side of my shirt, pulling it apart, leaving me in my laced hipster panties. The buttons bounced on the hardwood floor, scattering around the room, exposing me. Eric sucked in a quick breath and I saw his cock twitch. I felt a drip of desire make its way into the fabric between my legs.

“I liked that shirt,” I said.

“I’ll get you a new one. Just so that I can rip it off you again.” His gaze lowered from my face to my bare cleavage, and he took a step toward me until his body was within inches of mine and his erection rested against my belly. The warmth of his skin oozed onto mine. My hands slid up his beautifully shaped arms to his biceps, and I wondered what he’d done to make them so profound.

“So this isn’t a one-time thing, right?” I whispered. The smell of his freshness and the aftershave did something wild in my belly as I recalled inhaling it in the shower. I could take that scent in all night long and I’d never get enough.

Eric leaned his forehead against mine, and said, “No way, Emma. You were mine the moment I saw you. I don’t think once or twice will be enough. I don’t think one hundred times will be enough.”

He then grasped my wrists in his big hands and slowly lifted them up over my head. His erection, now poking against my bare skin, left a moist trail. Excitement slowly dripped down my inner thigh as my back pressed against a wooden beam near the couches. I didn’t think I’d been this wet for anyone, ever. He cuffed my hands with his left palm and slowly neared my mouth again. I wanted to reach down to feel his length pulse in my grip, but he wouldn’t allow me. Eric had me pinned between the beam and his lean body, and it felt so good to be this way, yielding to his gentle approach, being wanted so feverishly.

“How long has it been, Emma, since you made love?” His breath flew through me, circling in my lungs like an aphrodisiac. His hand slid down along my silhouette and right between my legs. He moved the fabric of my panties to the side, his finger playing with my wetness.

“How long?” His raspy breath energized every hormone in my body.

How did he know? How could he tell?

“Too long.” I was panting. With each word, each skim of finger along the inside of my wrist with his other hand, each swerve of hips toward me, Eric was making me hornier by the minute.

“How long since you’ve had a man inside you?” he repeated.

“Two years.” Was my voice shaking? And had it really been that long? Had I forgotten how to please a man like Eric?

“Then let me make up those lost years to you.” He kissed me quickly before his mouth slid against my jaw and down my neck. He finally let go of my arms and I was able to rest them on his shoulders. Eric trailed sweet kisses along my collarbone. He opened my shirt wider, cupping my breasts, taking my nipples between his fingers and deliciously rolling them.

“Ahh.” My chest rose higher into him. The tiny zap on the pull of my nipple flew down my belly right to the swelling flesh between my legs. I felt another drip on my thigh. God, I wanted him so badly! When his mouth lowered to my breast and his tongue swept around my hard nub, soothing the pinch, I thought I’d disintegrate. How in the world did he have enough strength not to dive into me already?

“Eric, please.” I moved my hips forward toward him, spreading my legs, lowering my hands to his hips, pulling him in closer.

“Emma, as much as I need to fuck right now, I want to make love to you. I want to pleasure you senseless until you can’t stand on your own two feet. And once I’ve satisfied you, then I’ll fuck you.”

I gasped as he lowered himself down to his knees, kissing my tummy before hooking his fingers into my panties and lowering them. When his breath touched my pussy, warming my flesh with a promise of a closer contact, I couldn’t believe that this was happening again. Already winded, remembering how his mouth felt on me, I couldn’t wait until he licked me. He pulled his tongue along my flesh and I froze, thinking I’d explode right at that moment. But Eric leaned away as his fingers spread my wet folds, preparing me for him, taking his time with every touch, teasing and probing, bringing me closer to that wonderful detonation I’d experienced earlier in the day. I lowered my hands to the top of his head, holding on, because if the impact I already imagined was going to happen was anything like this afternoon, I’d need to have an anchor.

And then he dove in with his mouth, closing right around my clit, suckling, depriving my skin of any oxygen. Feeling him go inside me with his fingers at the same time was excruciating but so, so good. I didn’t want him to stop. I felt him fill me deeper, probably with another finger, while he flicked the tiny flesh in his mouth, sucking my flesh so expectedly, once every few strokes heading lower and licking me from where he’d entered right up to the top. My hips moved forward as I started grinding myself against him. The pull of his tongue along my folds had my pelvis pressing harder into him. Fearing he’d suffocate from the way his face was buried in my bare flesh, I pulled back on his hair to let him breathe. Cooler air blew at my heated skin, intensifying the feel of his hot mouth as he went back in for the kill. I felt my thighs tighten and I grasped his hair with my fists, not knowing whether to push him away or pull him deeper onto me until I couldn’t take it any longer.

“Eric!” I screamed as the jolt of pleasure spread through my body, consuming my every muscle and every cell. But Eric licked harder, milking that orgasm out of me like an addict. The fire rose higher in the pit as if replying to my climax, igniting its deepest splinters.

“Eric!” My body shook and I was sure I’d soon collapse, but the everlasting bliss wouldn’t stop. It kept flowing through me in spurts as Eric sucked on me, pumping his fingers even harder. I yanked on his hair, taking his mouth away from my crotch because there was no way that I could take any more. My heart was trying to escape my chest, my muscles had disintegrated into nothingness, and I fell into his arms.

He held me against his body, and lowered us to the top of the sheepskin by the fireplace. The warm glow cast provocative shadows on our bodies, flickering in a dance. I rested my head on top of his chest, skimming my finger over the barbell in his nipple.

Once I was able to collect a steady breath, I said, “I didn’t expect a man like you to have such piercings.”

“Let’s just say you’re not the only one who loses bets.”

I chuckled. “You’ll need to tell me that story sometime.” I sighed deeply before breathing out against his skin. “You took me apart, Eric.”

My breaths were still hard and over-consuming, fighting to slow down my heart rate. I raked my fingers through the stray hairs on his chest, forcing my lazy eyes to look up. He kissed me in response, saying, “I put you back together, Emma.” The slight taste of my essence was still on his lips, and I felt something tickle inside me. I was ready for more. Much, much more.

“Stay here,” I said.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll be right back.” I rushed to the bedroom and back. Eric was still lying down on the sheepskin, and still so ready – I knew he needed a release as much as I had needed one for so many years.

“Well, hello there, Cowgirl.” He laughed, propping himself on his elbows.

Still in my shirt, I slipped it off my shoulders and threw it to the couch, letting the cowgirl hat be my only remaining attire. Straddling the sides of his legs, I lowered myself down onto his thighs, saying “I’ve wanted to ride you since the day I saw you.”

“Is that how it’s gonna work?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s how it’s gonna work.”

I grasped his length in my hands, licking my lips. The vibrant pulse of his vein underneath my fingers slicked my thighs. His skin was hot and tight, stretching him into his full thickness. I wanted him to fill me so badly, I couldn’t wait to move my hips over him.

“Hold on, Emma. I better get a condom.” He shifted, trying to get out from underneath me, but I grasped my legs tightly around him and grinned with pride as I reached to the top of my hat, removing the foil packet I had placed there before coming out. “A cowgirl is always prepared.”

I ripped it open with my teeth. Eric let out a raspy breath as I rolled the thin rubber onto his straining cock, all the way down, before maneuvering my hips over him, holding him steady, centering myself.

“At your pace, Emma.”

I nodded in agreement. Although eager, I couldn’t help but be afraid of what the feeling of having a man inside me again would be like. I had toys at home, but having the real thing, slowly sliding inside me, all warm and pulsing to my tempo, was so much better and much more fulfilling. At least, that was the way I remembered it being.

I bit my lip feeling Eric enter me. As I lowered myself, the intense stretch made me hold my breath, and I stilled as my eyes flew open.

“You all right?” he asked, smoothing his finger over the white oval on my thigh. “From the accident?”

I nodded, slowly making my way up, feeling my forehead scrunch and every muscle in my body contract.

“Take it slow, baby.”

“It’s just been some time.”

“You’re tight, Emma. So perfectly tight.” His head fell back.

Wanting to feel him deeper, I let gravity slowly take me down and Eric fill me from wall to wall. When my ass finally touched his thighs, so deep, I couldn’t believe he’d fit inside me. I waited there for a moment before moving back up, slightly circling my hips on the way. Eric let out a loud groan of pleasure.

“Fuck, Emma. You’re gonna make me come too soon.”

As my body got used to his width, I increased the rhythm, sliding along him, rolling my hips with each descend, watching his eyes shut tight and his chest rise and fall faster. With my knees at his side I added a forward motion, which rubbed my still-sensitive clit against his pelvis, and something stirred in my belly. A spark I’d never felt before. I’d never climaxed with a man inside me. The only way was through oral stimulation, but having Eric now grasp at my hips and feeling his leg muscles contract beneath me when I came down on him inflamed my entire body. I couldn’t get enough. Despite his full thickness and the comfortably painful ache of the long-awaited stretch, I rode Eric quicker, listening to the slap of our skin echo through the room and blend our heavy breaths and the squish as my fluids that lubricated us escaped from within. The thick smell of pure sex with savory desire floated around me.

Eric’s hand lowered between us and he reached for my pussy, and began strumming my clit. It wouldn’t take long now. His fingers knew how to work me so well.

My breasts bounced and I grasped them to hold on, squeezing my nipples, feeling the surge of a beautiful release come to fruition as I clenched around Eric. It zapped through my entire body like a live current, shaking my limbs and slowly reducing them to jelly.

“Jesus Christ!” Eric let out a loud grunt, and thrust his hips harder before he stilled inside me.

I lowered my body to his, lying down on his heated chest, feeling the final pulses of his cock inside me as he emptied himself. My cowboy hat slid off to the side. Beads of sweat dripped off Eric’s forehead, and I felt some meander down my spine as well.

“Emma, you were incredible.”

“Yeah?” I couldn’t get enough air into my lungs.

“Yeah.” He kissed my forehead. I rolled off him and onto my back, feeling him slide out of me. Eric sat up, removed the condom, tied it up, and said, “I’ll be right back.”

I just lay by the fire, feeling my blood pulse through my muscles, trying to recover. I would definitely feel the remnants of tonight for a few days. Never in my life had I found sex so fulfilling. Not even with David. Guilt stirred inside my chest. I shouldn’t have even been thinking about him right now. I needed to let him go. I had to let him go. But then again, I didn’t have anyone else to compare Eric to, and I doubted that sex got any better than what had just happened. We’d been so in sync, and I knew from the moment he entered me I wouldn’t be able to get enough for a while.

I still couldn’t believe this had actually happened. Me and another man. I’d pushed the thought of being with anyone else away for two long years. It’d never felt right after David’s death; but now, having Eric in my life, nothing felt wrong. Eric stripped me of my inner guard. It seemed that he was meant to find me and heal me. The attraction between us was undeniable. I couldn’t say no to him, and I didn’t want to. It was a weird feeling, knowing the person you see for the first time is your soul mate, but I recognized the emotion because I’d already once had a soul mate, and now I was lucky to find one again. Being with Eric was a necessity. How in the world would I ever be able to leave Ogden? How could I not? How could we make this work?

Was I over thinking this? We’d known each other for over a week, yet it felt like I’d known him for years. And it was just sex, wasn’t it? People had sex all the time without tying themselves down. Yet Eric had said that he wanted to make love to me first. What did that mean? I hated to admit it, but Grace had been right. I was just like her, except instead of thinking that every guy was the one, I reserved that for just men I’d slept with – which tonight had grown from one to two.

What would she do in this situation? What would Allie and Kendra advise me to do?

Eric returned before I had a chance to finish my thoughts. He brought two pillows and a blanket, propped them at the side, and covered us both, spooning me.

“Are you tired?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Then sleep. I know there’s a ton of questions running through your mind now, but you need to rest.”

“How do you know I have questions?”

“Because you’re a PI and you can’t help it.” He kissed my shoulder blade. “Don’t overthink it, Emma. Everything was wonderful, and hopefully we’ll get some rest, and the morning will bring more of wonderful.”

I snuggled into his side, resting my head on his chest. His arm was wrapped around me, holding me tightly. And before I closed my eyes I heard Eric whisper, “Over seven billion people on Earth, and I had the privilege of meeting you. A man cannot get luckier than that.”

I drifted out, feeling pure love.