The last, soft words fell on my ears, but I barely heard them.

Sean’s story hit me square in the heart, and I was overcome by the urge to grab him and pull him close, stroke away all the misery he clearly felt, all the way to the core of his soul.

What must it be like, living with that?

I couldn’t even begin to imagine, and I didn’t want to.

But I didn’t have to imagine his misery. It was in his voice, on his face, even in the way he watched me.

The dull ache in my index finger had started to fade, the neatly bandaged wound showing Sean’s capable handiwork. Tugging free from his grip, I reached up and cupped his face in my hands, drawing his head down to meet mine.

At first, he was reluctant, even though all I did was give his mouth a soft, gentle brush, my lips feathering over his.

Innocent and chaste as that contact was, it successfully reheated the fire that had raged through me when we’d slept together.

That fire hadn’t gone out completely. Even my anger hadn’t been adequate to extinguish it. Now that I understood what had been behind his behavior, that anger was obliterated. Yes, he’d been an ass. And I could understand, even sympathize.

Still, I had every intention of moving away. It was what I needed to do, what I had to do.

Sean was bad for me in ways I was just now starting to understand, ways I lacked the experience to realize. If Wylie had hurt me, then Sean had the capability to devastate me, and I’d be wise to avoid him.

But just when I found the strength to end the kiss, he reached up and cupped my cheek, using his thumb to tip my head back.

I moaned as he slid his tongue along my lower lip, deepening the kiss, seeking entrance to my mouth. I couldn’t deny him, even though I knew that giving in was likely to lead to madness.

He pulled me more firmly against him as his tongue sought mine, the kiss going from soothing and chaste to needy and demanding, becoming even more insistent in the span of heartbeats. I reached for him, digging my fingers into the hard slab of muscle atop his shoulders. Pain flared in my index finger, but I ignored it.

He impatiently reached out, and I heard clattering as things from the island went crashing to the floor, but I didn’t pull away.

I couldn’t have done that if my life depended on it.

I sucked in a breath as he boosted me up onto the island, bringing my mouth on level with his. I didn’t have a chance to appreciate it fully because he pulled away and reached for the hem of my shirt, yanking it up.

It went flying.

He came back to me, palming my breasts and groaning as he dipped to bury his face in my cleavage.

“So soft,” he muttered. “So pretty.”

I flushed, going red at his huskily spoken words.

He slid his fingers under the straps of my bra and tugged downward. A few more tugs behind my back and the garment fell away, freeing my breasts. Catching my breath, I fell back on my hands as he plumped the full curves in his hands, rolling my nipples back and forth before pinching them.

“I like the way my hands look on you.”

The blunt, honest words brought fire to my cheeks, and I couldn’t quite manage to look at him. But now that those words were out there, it was awkward to look at him too. Staring at his darker skin, watching the way he expertly plucked at my nipples, and at the same time, feeling an answering ache deep down in my pussy, it was too much.

I closed my eyes.

“Look at me,” Sean said.

There was an insistent demand in his voice, one that was almost a plea, and I couldn’t ignore it.

“I love how your face goes pink like that.” His eyes gleamed as I met his gaze, and a second later, he was kissing me again, twisting the fingers of one hand in my hair, arching my head up and back.

He gripped my hip in his other hand, and I curled my legs around him, drawing him closer. It brought me to the edge of the island, half-dangling off with the hard ridge of his cock wedged against me.

I was already wet. I’d pulled on leggings, and a t-shirt earlier and now the thin material of my leggings and panties felt like little more than spun silk as far as barriers went. The rough material of his jeans was nothing more than an added tease as he rocked back and forth, dragging me against him.

I cried out into his mouth.

Sean lifted his head, staring down at me.

Then he pulled back.

I reached for him, but he evaded my hands, pulling me off the island and stripping my leggings down until they were twisted around my knees. Then he turned me around.

Two thick fingers thrust into me.

A sharp, startled gasp escaped me, followed by a cry.

Grabbing onto the edge of the island, I tried to brace myself.

It was no use.

He did it again and again, fucking me with his fingers, his body bent over mine in a manner that felt oddly protective, oddly possessive.

“You’re so wet,” he rasped. “So hot and tight. Moan for me…let me hear what I do to you, Tish.”

I couldn’t have held it back if my life depended on it.

Rocking back to meet each devilish twist of his fingers, I whimpered and moaned, sighed and pleaded.

He bit my shoulder.

I came hard and fast.

When Sean caught me up in his arms, I gaped up at him, but he only dropped a kiss onto my forehead.

I stared up at him, feeling vulnerable. “What…what are you doing?”

“Taking you to bed,” he said softly.

“Your bed?” The feeling of vulnerability increased.

“Yes.” He pressed his lips to my forehead, leaving them there as he murmured, “And no…I’m not kicking you out again.”

He came to me after he’d stripped naked, hard thighs brushing against my own.

The languid heat that had overtaken me had faded, although it hadn’t disappeared. He pressed a gentle kiss to my mouth, my chin, slowly working lower while the band around my chest seemed to tighten with every brush of his lips, every stroke of his hand.

When he reached the apex of my thighs, I shivered and reached down, curling my fingers in the sheets beneath me.

He kissed the sensitive spot where groin met thigh, and it was like that small bit of flesh was connected to every other part of me because I felt his lips brush over every other part of me. It was erotic and intense, and my heart swelled up inside my chest.

Sean placed a hand on the inside of my thigh and stroked upward, carefully, lazily, slowly, urging my legs apart until he could settle between them.

Nerves gripped me, hard.

This wasn’t anything I was used to. My previous sexual encounters had been…basic. Not unsatisfying, but…basic.

Nothing with Sean was basic, though, and I already felt my control fading away as he pressed his mouth to the hot, wet center and slowly slid his tongue through my folds.

He groaned against me, and I felt it reverberate throughout my entire body—way too intense.

I shivered and strained against the sheets, against him, not certain if I wanted more, or if I wanted time to breathe. Sean didn’t give me time to figure it out, either, focusing his attention on my cunt, on my clit, while pushing two fingers up into me and twisting them, settling on a quick, driving rhythm that reignited the fire inside me.

He didn’t drive me to climax this time, though.

He stopped just shy of it, and when I was sweating, moaning, all but ready to beg, he stopped and pushed up onto his knees, staring down at me with glittering eyes.

“Sean…”

He licked his lips. “I like how you taste.”

I blushed. I blushed so hot and red, it was a miracle I didn’t combust from it.

He shifted, and my peripheral vision caught sight of his movements. My heart lurched inside my chest as I realized what he was doing.

“Oh…”

That single syllable came out of me in a harsh puff, a stunned exclamation that didn’t quite do justice to how I felt when I saw him wrap a hand around the heavy, hard jut of his cock and pump up and down, up and down.

I rolled my lips inward and pressed them together in an effort to muffle the moan building inside me.

Then he stopped, stretching out over me. I felt him press against my belly, the thin, slightly sticky shield of the rubber, the slippery presence of lubricant. His eyes burned into mine.

“You’re not going to kick me out when this is over, are you?” I asked even though he’d already promised he wouldn’t, feeling small and uncertain.

“No.” Sean kissed me. Rough, deep, and possessive. When it was over, he muttered against my lips, “It would probably be better for both of us if I did, but…fuck, no. I’m not kicking you out.”

He caught my thigh, lifted it to his hip, then with one deep, bruising thrust, he filled me.

I arched up, crying out as I fought to take him.

He didn’t stop until I’d yielded to him completely, his body demanding and urgent, his eyes locked on mine as if he couldn’t bear to look away.

“Tish…” He dipped his head and pressed his forehead to mine as a hard shudder went through him.

An echo shudder passed through me, and I whimpered, an agonized sort of pleasure gripping me, pulsing through me with every throb of his swollen cock. I whimpered and rocked up against him, wanting—needing—more, but uncertain if I could handle it.

Slowly, eyes trained on mine, he started to withdraw.

I sucked in a breath and reached up, gripping the barrel of his torso, my nails sinking into his flesh.

A shaky curse escaped him, then he breathed out my name.

I could feel every muscle in me contract at the sound, and he grimaced, then drove deeper inside me.

I wailed and thrust upward, seeking more of him.

“Fuck—”

Sean stiffened, then began to thrust, hard, deep, and fast. He muttered against my mouth, “Sorry…you just…fuck, you’re sweet. Is that…I’m not hurting you?”

“No,” I gasped, clinging tight. He wasn’t hurting me. I wasn’t sure what he was doing but hurt was the furthest thing from my mind.

His cock swelled, and he gripped my hip, canting my hips up so that he rode me at a harder, rougher angle. I cried out and started to come.

His cock lurched inside me, so hard it felt like it bruised me. A second later, he started to come, gripping my hips and driving into me with short, rough digs of his hips.

It seemed to last forever.

But it was over far too soon, and he collapsed against me, burying his face against my breasts and groaning my name.

I didn’t even have the words to speak, so instead, I wrapped my arms around him and clung tighter.

And I tried, really hard, not to think.

The last thing I needed to do, after all, was admit that I was letting myself fall for this guy.