Her ability to do this to me, to make me see nothing and no one but her, scared me from the very beginning.

I’m terrified now even as pleasure multiplies and shoots its intoxicating venom into my veins. I drag my gaze from her entrancing face to look down at the even more enthralling sight of my cock pulling out of her gloriously tight pink pussy. I flick my gaze upward as I push back in and absorb the wave of pleasure turning her face even more beautiful. The diamond presses against her clit as I grind her against me. The clack of my belt against the glass reminds me I didn’t stop long enough to take off my pants before fucking her. That ought to be engraved on my tombstone: Couldn’t stop long enough for a single fucking thing…when it came to Elyse Elly Lucky Gilbert.

A detached part of me finds that fucking hilarious. Enough to pull my lips into a reluctant smile. She sees it. Her breath catches. And fuck if it doesn’t make her wet enough for me to ease even deeper inside her.

“Ah, my delightful little creature. Did you just give yourself away there?”

“I…what?”

“You just got wetter, took a little bit more of me,” I mutter against her lips. “Did I do something to please you?”

Her beautiful eyes avidly search my face. “Your face. Your smile. It’s everything.”

God. I wonder how I’m still standing. How I’m still breathing. Yes, I’m fucking the love of my useless life, that’s how. And here, with her, like this, I’m giving her every damn thing she wants. I fuck her harder, jealously gorging on each hitch in her breathing, each bounce of her beautiful tits, each caress of her gaze.

And because I’m helpless to refuse her a single thing, I let her pleasure fuel my smile.

Tears fill her eyes. “Oh…Quinn. God, I love you so much.”

Something solid and heavy and frightening breaks in my chest right then. “I love you too. So much. Too much.”

She shakes her head. “Never too much,” she whispers. “Never.”

“Kiss me,” I plead, needing that final, ultimate connection.

Her arms slide around my neck, and she offers me her sweet, gorgeous lips. Our mouths fuse together, our tongues creating stunning magic that explodes stars across my vision. I’ve fucked a lot of women in my time. Kissed even more. But the chemistry Elyse and I create together will forever remain unfathomable to me. It’s sacred, and I don’t come anywhere near deserving of it. But, fuck, I’m taking it. For as long as I’m able.

I swallow another moan when it flows from her throat. The first rush of her pre-orgasmic wetness intensifies my insanity. Triggers my own fatalistic crash.

“God. Elyse!”

“I’m coming.” She moans harder.

“Yes! Give it to me.”

Her fingers claw into my hair, her body rolling and twisting beneath the whiplash of love and lust. It’s a blessing and a privilege to watch. I slam into her one last time and shamelessly absorb every convulsion and ripple that spells her ultimate pleasure.

“Quinn…Oh!”

“You’re so beautiful when you come, baby,” I mutter raggedly against her lips, already lost in my impending climax. “I want to make it last for you.”

“Come inside me.”

I intended to do that anyway but the invitation is like a fuse to my balls. They tighten and jerk up, and I explode like a firecracker. “Fuck, yes.” The sensation of drenching her, of triggering another climax with her blackens my vision. The only tangible thing is her, in my arms. I hang on, fighting for breath, pleading for mercy and blessings I don’t deserve.

Because the crack I felt a little while ago is widening, forcing out insane possibilities like belief. Hope.

Maybe this all doesn’t have to end just yet.

Maybe this fucked-up version of love can sustain us a little longer.

Maybe I can learn from her how to love her better.

My vision clears as my mind wrestles with the possibilities.

“Are you okay?” her soft voice asks.

“Am I okay?”

“Hmm. Your eyes are closed. You never close your eyes this long. It’s scary, actually.”

I feel another grin tug at my mouth. “Maybe I don’t want to open my eyes and see how badly you’ve ruined my suit.”

“Just your suit? You’ve ruined me, Mr. Blackwood.”

I open my eyes and stare down at her perfect face. “Quinn, please. Mr. Blackwood has left the building now that he’s achieved his fantasy of fucking Elly the Waitress.”

Her nose wrinkles before she bursts out laughing. The sound forces that crack of possibilities wider open in me, and before I know it, I’m laughing too.

We laugh and kiss and hold each other tighter. After a moment, she sobers. “I should’ve told you about Dr. Freeman. I’m sorry.”

“Yes. You should have. But it’s okay. Is that why you came here? Was this all to make it up to me?”

“Partly. But I came mostly because my man bared his supposedly nonexistent soul to me this morning, and I wanted to give him something back.”

I lower my head and taste her lips again. “Does that make you happy, when your man bares his…himself to you?”

She nods. “What you said touched me. But I know it troubled you to admit it too. I want us to get to a place where admitting our vulnerabilities to each other doesn’t have to be painful.”

“And you think the good doctor can get us there?”

Her eyes widen as they stare into mine, and I know she hears the possibilities I feel. “I think it wouldn’t hurt to let him help us work toward that goal.”

I kiss her again before I lay my forehead against hers. “Okay.”

Her breath catches. “Okay?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself, woman.”

She blinks rapidly but I still see the sheen in her eyes. “I love you.”

“That’s great, sweetheart, but my suit is still ruined. And it’s still the middle of my fucking workday.”

The smart comeback I expect doesn’t happen.

“Oh God.”

I tense. “What?”

“You ripped my dress.”

“Your piece of shit dress,” I clarify.

“How…The rest of my clothes are downstairs. What am I going to wear to get out of here?”

I slide my hands beneath her and lift her off the table. Her pussy clenches around me, and I feel myself harden again as I head across the room. “Maybe I should keep you here, get you to service me a little longer.”

I can tell the idea isn’t entirely displeasing to her. Her legs wrap around me and her fingers tighten in my hair. But still she says, “No, I have things to do.”

“Like?”

“Studying. Homework. Researching the best places to find a job when my training is over.”

“You can come and work for me.”

Surprise jerks through her. “What?”

I stare back at her without responding and try not to be too irritated when she starts to shake her head a minute later. “No. You…I can’t—”

“We’ll talk about it later.” I want nothing to fuck up my sublime mood.

She bites her lip, and I know she wants to press the issue. “Quinn…”

“Later, Elyse.”

I reach the east wall in my office and key in a code. The door springs open and we go through a short corridor.

“Where are you taking me?” she asks.

“You’ll see.”

The executive apartment is small by Blackwood standards, but it has a shower and bedroom and, more importantly, a change of clothes.

“Wow, another apartment?”

I carry her into the shower cubicle and set her down. We both moan as we disengage. She bites her lip again, and I hope it’s because she misses me inside her. My cock is already protesting the separation. I leave her to turn on the shower as I step out and undress. Through the glass, I watch the woman who owns every single piece of me.

When the decision arrives, it’s so fatalistically easy that I wonder how I’ve spent the better part of a year fighting it.

 It’s time to stop dicking around. I might hate my surname because of the fucked-up things my father did, but I can’t deny the dominant, survivalist blood that runs through my veins. For as long as Elyse wants me, wants us, I will make this work.

When I step back into the shower, she glances up, and her eyes widen.

“What?”

“You look…scarily determined.”

I slide one hand around her waist and one into her hair. “Good, you need to be scared, because I’m fucking determined to spend every minute from now on making you crazy-happy.”

“Oh my God.”

“Save that awe for when I’m inside you again, baby. You’re going to need it.”