Gray lifted his hands to her face, spanning her cheeks with his fingers. She could’ve been made of glass, he took so much care in tilting her closer. He brushed his lips over her mouth, tasting smoke and toothpaste. A lick of his tongue against the seam and her lips fell open, her breath escaping on a moan. His hands trembled as he drove them into her hair, driving her backward into the hot tub. She let out a startled squeak.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, rubbing her back where she’d made contact with the frame.

Then they were kissing again, and he couldn’t focus on all the textures of her. Warm lips, slick tongue, rising and falling breasts. He cupped one in each hand, feathering his thumbs over the puckered tips, and lifted his thigh to force hers open. He hoped she was as ready for this as he was, because damn them both, he doubted he could wait.

He’d been waiting for eight years.

“It’s okay. I’m okay. Oh, that feels good.”

“It better because I can’t spare a hand right now.” He caught her laughter in his mouth and swallowed it down, desperate to get drunk on all the sounds she could make. It might take a lifetime to tease all of them out of her.

“I can.” Lightly, she dragged her nails down his stomach before undoing his zipper. He groaned as she curled around him, groaned again as she tightened her grip. “This time you’re not coming on my back,” she said fiercely, pulling his lower lip between her teeth while her hand shuttled up and down his length.

Some part of him was shocked his pretty, perfect, innocent Jazz could be saying such things. Another part reveled in the dirty light in her eyes. He palmed her cheek, angling her head back so he could lick a pathway along her jaw to her ear. Hoops and dangles crowded the lobe, jangling together as he sucked the pliant flesh into his mouth. “Where do you want me to come?”

“Anywhere.” She fumbled her small hand farther into his jeans and squeezed the base of his cock, making him hiss. “Everywhere.”

“Jesus.” Reluctantly, he let go of her breasts and bent to grab her dress. “Let’s go inside before Nick comes back and sees you.”

“He’s seen it all before.” He sent her a dark look over his shoulder and she flushed, clearly realizing what she’d just said. “Uh, I mean—so would this be a bad time to tell you I dropped your joint and it rolled away?”

He laughed and pulled her close again. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“I am. So lucky,” she said, glancing up at him as if he’d just presented her with a bucketful of stars.

“Don’t try to sweet talk me now. I’m supposed to be annoyed, remember?”

Her eyes twinkled up at him. “You can’t be. Just like I can’t be mad at you. It’s our curse.”

“Uh-huh.” He dragged the sill higher and patted her very fine ass. The door was right there, but he couldn’t deny he wanted a view of her from behind. “In you go.”

“I thought that was your line. I mean, in you go in me. Oh shit. I’m high.” She giggled and climbed in the window.

Gray smiled and shook his head. He couldn’t even be annoyed at himself right now for letting her have some of the joint because she seemed so loose and relaxed. How could he ever wish that away?

He’d no sooner climbed inside and tossed her dress on a chair than she threw her booted foot up on the bed and yanked down the tiny side zipper. A dozen foil packets tumbled out.

“Wow.” He cleared his throat. “Looks like you have plans for me.”

“Oh, I do.” She grabbed one between her teeth and used both hands to shovel the rest onto the floor. She unzipped her other boot and unearthed her cell phone, setting it on the nightstand, then toed off both boots and climbed up on the platform bed.

Something about her efficiency made him laugh in spite of the serious hard-on he was sporting. “Good thing I’ve been saving up.”

A shadow passed over her face, a brief cloud in the midst of all the sunshine. “Have you? Really?”

“Really. I haven’t been with anyone in months.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “It’s even been a while since I’ve been with myself.”

Instantly the sun sliced through the momentary darkness in her expression. She flashed him a dazzling smile. “Me either.” Invitingly, she spread her legs, revealing her swollen pink pussy. No hair to speak of, anywhere. “So. Where were we?”

“Christ almighty.” He didn’t smoke pot often enough to know what it normally did for sex, but with every passing second, his cock thickened more. He felt harder than the exposed beams overhead. Even walking to his bedroom door to lock it presented a frigging challenge, but he did it because he wouldn’t risk Nick interrupting them—again. “Warn a guy before you do that, would you?”

“No. Because I don’t want you to have control around me. I want you on the edge, like I am.”

“No worries there.”

He turned back and drank down the sight of her, all tumbling hair, hungry eyes and puffy lips. Without lowering his gaze, he shoved down his jeans and boxers. He stalked forward and leaned across the bed, banding his hand around her thigh to drag her closer. The simple movement made his head swim as if he’d downed a few six-packs. He had a light buzz going from the few pulls on the joint he’d managed before her appearance, but that wasn’t the cause of his dizziness. He could smell her now, sweeter than springtime, more alluring than the most seductive drug.

Smiling at him, she picked up the remote he’d tossed on the pillow earlier and aimed it at the small speakers on the dresser. “Ripcord” from their EP flowed out. He’d been trying to write earlier—on his own, since Nick had taken off hours ago and hadn’t returned—so he’d turned on Oblivion’s music in the hopes of luring out the muse. That hadn’t worked, so he’d turned to weed.

Now he would turn to Jazz.

He nipped her lower belly, causing her to drop the remote and lean up on her elbows. He learned her flesh from touch rather than sight, because he couldn’t bear to look away from her eyes. That lust-soaked blue dragged him on a path straight into the heart of her, her lashes fluttering while his tongue parted her swollen folds. The pink crystals on her hood piercing nearly made him beg. Seeing that delicate flesh pinched and ready for his kisses made him want to send up a few thousand prayers of gratitude.

Unable to wait a second more, he shoved her legs open wide. He held her gaze as he licked her from her clit to her entrance and back again, but he couldn’t maintain it when he pushed a finger inside and she trembled around him, her body yielding to his invasion. She moaned and flexed around him, inviting him inside her just as she’d done on the deck by licking her lips.

God. He wasn’t going to survive this. He wouldn’t survive without seeing her come, either.

He flicked her piercing, eliciting her high, thin cry, then focused on her clit. A rainbow of colors exploded in his mind. He swore he could hear her heartbeat, that wild, unsteady thud, and his own drummed in response, an endless beat that sped up at even the smallest movement. Razoring his teeth over the piercing and the plump bundle of nerves, he slid another finger inside her, pulling upward, coaxing that same melodic response from her throat, a delirious mixture of sigh and moan, more breath than actual sound.

In the background, his guitar solo dominated the song before her drums came crashing through, breaking apart the rhythm and making it something all new. Something all theirs.

Then a new sound, a new instrument to add complexity to the composition. Her sighing his name, over and over. She drew it out until it vibrated like the strings in his guitar. “Gray.”

He closed his eyes and savored, losing himself in the overwhelming pulse of their song, of her swollen, wet flesh around his pumping fingers, of her heart throbbing against his mouth. Tasting her pleasure as he created it felt more like making music than he’d ever known before.

Her body rose up, her full breasts lifting, her dusky nipples pointing skyward. Red from his fingers and her desire. He licked up the evidence of it between her legs, desperate to take it all, to fulfill every want she had before she found the voice to ask. Offering her bliss in small, steady doses until she quivered, her breasts shimmying, her muscles growing taut.

She gripped him relentlessly, pushing back against him with every thrust of his fingers. Her hips pumped, her heels dragging up the comforter, her head thrashing over the pristine bedding. Those rustling noises joined the rest, becoming a cacophony of need that surged blood into his cock and tore a groan from his throat. He wanted to hear only her, to know exactly that instant that she lost herself, but he couldn’t stop the helpless convulsing of his hips.

“Fuck. Fuck. Jazz.” He tried to apologize but he couldn’t find the words within the unfolding spiral of warmth. She was everywhere. On his tongue, behind his eyes, in his hands. In his ears every time her drums cut through their songs to make them hers.

And then she was coming too, her hands driving forward to embed in his hair as she pulled him against her, her legs winding around him to bring him more fully into her clenching heat. His own release spun out, wringing him dry. He gripped her thigh and pressed his cheek to her belly, wondering if the floor was really trembling or if that was just him.

“Oh my God, the earth actually moved. That’s an actual thing. Holy fuck.” Her dazed laughter made him raise his head to give her a smile. At least he hoped it was a smile. His muscles felt like they’d gone numb.

“Guess so.” He hauled in a breath and eased back enough to look down at the mess he’d caused. Technically, she’d caused it.

Though he hadn’t used for all that long, he’d heard plenty of jokes about the side effects. Jere had regaled him with them the other night. Not being able to get hard, not being able to get off. But if tonight was any indication, Jazz could combat any substance.

He hadn’t come on his lap without being touched since…ever. He’d never come that fast before, even back in high school.

“Yeah, this is fucking embarrassing.” He shook his head in disgust. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Noticing the direction of his glance, she scrambled up and peered over the side of the bed. She let out a laugh. “Oh, oops.”

“Yeah. Oops. All your fault.” He yanked on her hair, dragging her closer for a hard kiss. Instead of shying away from her taste, she chased his tongue, drawing it into her mouth with a long, slow suck that made his spent cock give a halfhearted salute. “Jesus. You’re going to kill me.”

“Let me make it all better first.” Smacking her lips together, she slid to the floor in such a sensual move that he had to grab his dick again. “Uh-uh,” she chided. “That’s mine.”

She licked her way up his thigh, catching every stray drop before treating the other one to the same treatment. By the time she finished, his balls were in knots again and the head of his cock had swelled painfully. She swiped her tongue over the tip, making an appreciative hum that might’ve rolled his eyes back had he not been fixated on her as if his life depended on it.

He wouldn’t miss a minute of this.

She rolled her tongue down the side, traveling down to take teasing swipes over his sac. Her lashes dipped as she drew one of his balls into her mouth, sucking lightly while he fisted his hands in his hair and tried not to force her to take his length inside. She would get there. He might die first, but he’d let her find her own rhythm.

Her nails scraped up the outside of his leg and she applied the barest suction to his balls, one then the other, before she curled her super-strong fingers around the base of his dick and lapped at the head like she was in a champion ice cream eating contest.

Holy hell.

Her hair fell down around her face, hiding her features except for her reddened lips and smoky eyes. She could’ve been anyone. A sultry anonymous blonde. From this angle, she didn’t look like his bright best friend. This woman had seduction down to an art. Then she smiled up at him, and the jagged puzzle pieces inside him shifted into place.

This was Jazz. His Jazz.

Unable to wait another second, he grabbed her elbows and pulled her up, clamping his mouth on hers. “I need you.”

“Yes, yes. Please.” Her tongue whipped over his, heightening his urgency. “Condom’s too far.”

“Fuck them. I want you like this.”

He waited for her to balk. This was stupid. So stupid. She’d been on the Pill forever—when you lived with someone, you discovered those details about them whether or not you wanted to—but that didn’t mean they should take risks. Right now he couldn’t remember exactly why. His head felt deliciously light, and all the reasons for not doing what the hell he wanted seemed insignificant.

“Yeah. Me too.” She panted into his mouth. “Have to have you now.”

She straddled his lap, digging her knees into the carpet on either side of his thighs. Without another word, she impaled herself on him, sinking down to the root in a long, slow glide.

“God, yes,” he groaned, losing his breath at the feel of her vising around him. Slick and hot, her pussy gloved his cock, enfolding him in a blast of heat that scalded him from his feet to the top of his head. Her piercing scraped him, adding a zing of pleasure that traveled straight through to the base of his spine. Something this amazing couldn’t last long.

Neither would he.

Fluid and sleek, she rose above him, hands fisting in his hair as her mouth ghosted over his. “God, Gray. So fucking good,” she gasped.

“Can’t wait. Need more.” He wound his arms around her, slamming her breasts into his chest, and still it wasn’t close enough. He hauled her up in his arms and jockeyed her in his hold, stopping beside the bed to take her mouth. Her panting breaths echoed his, an unforgettable symphony.

Finally, they were together. All the way together.

She rode him wantonly, taking him deep as he rocketed upward. Goddamn, that piercing. She weighed next to nothing and with only a few adjustments, he managed to lock his arms under her thighs so he could surge into her again and again, rubbing over the crystals with each thrust. She took every bit of him, her sweet pink flesh swallowing his cock.

Riveted to the view between her legs, he tipped her backward, desperate to see more. She cried out and dropped her head back, exposing the long line of her throat for him to bite and kiss. Perspiration clung to her flushed skin, adding a faint sheen of dampness that he ached to taste. He couldn’t kiss enough places. He wanted to be everywhere at once. Licking her, fucking her, touching each inch of her flawless skin.

More than anything, he wanted to own her the same way she’d owned him since he was sixteen.

Her pussy clamped around him, so wet and tight he couldn’t see through the haze of his hunger, and he bent her backward, dangling her in the air while he hammered into her hard and fast. She held on for all she was worth, her moans escaping her along with her breath. As she started to spasm, he turned and dropped her onto the bed, climbing over her to drag her leg over his shoulder. He rubbed her clit and stroked into her, sinking in and holding while he slanted his mouth over hers. He whispered her name, the mystery and beauty of it, unable to hear anything anymore but the relentless beat of her heartbeat matching his.

That was the only music he needed. The only one that still made sense.

He linked his fingers with hers, gripping her hand next to her head on the bed. Swiveling his hips, he found a new spot inside her, sliding over it until she gasped and bowed up, her eyes going wide as she came undone. Her hot wetness gushed over him and he groaned and buried his face in her hair, his thumb still a blur on her clit, his hips still pounding. The song in his head wouldn’t stop. All Jazz.

“Gray,” she gasped, digging her nails into his back. “Oh God. It’s too much. I’m so dizzy.”

“Close your eyes. Feel.” He nudged her chin up and kissed his way down her throat, pressing his lips to the wild throb of her pulse caged in by her delicate collarbone. “Feel me.”

“I do. I can’t stop.” She clenched his hand and matched him stroke for stroke, her pelvis slapping against his with the force of his thrusts. Her slick heat spurred him on, driving him to fuck her so violently that his balls collided with her ass on every pass. And he still needed more.

“I can’t get deep enough. Jesus. Get on top of me.”

He switched their positions, pulling her over him, and latched his teeth on her swollen nipple, tugging on it without finesse. Crying out, she braced her fists on either side of his head and grinded on his cock, torturing them both with her piercing as she circled her hips in a frantic figure-eight. Goddamn, she was soaked. She bit her lip and moved faster, pushing more of her breast in his mouth. He grabbed her ass, yanking her down on him so powerfully that she whimpered. Such a delicious sound. He did it again, adding a twist of his hips, offering the counterpoint to her circling, and her whimpers increased.

“Don’t you hold back on me,” he growled.

“No. Can’t. I’m coming again.” She moaned the words as she fisted around him, squeezing so tight that he couldn’t stave off his own impending orgasm another second.

“Yes. God, yes.” He plunged one last time, grasping the full curves of her ass. He clung to her, his hands damp with sweat, while his release pulsed deep into her pussy. She shuddered over him, around him, finally collapsing on his chest.

But he still couldn’t stop fucking her, his well-used cock seeking her hot slit without his conscious help. He’d probably die fucking her. And he’d die happy.

A few minutes later, he sank his hands into her hair and lifted her head, chuckling at the weak flutter of her lashes. “You okay?” He swallowed over the gravel in his throat. “Did I hurt you?”

“Yes.” Finally opening her eyes, she flashed him a grin that was pure mischief. “It was absolutely glorious.”

He laughed again and wrapped his arms around her waist. Now her watermelon scent brought him peace rather than pain. Her hair smelled of wildflowers, just as it always had, and that too only sweetened the moment. “I’m glad you think so.”

“Oh yes. Give me five and I’ll show you what else I think,” she teased.

When she dropped back down to his chest, he caressed her cheek, her jaw, her shoulder. He couldn’t stop touching her. Maybe if he kept touching her he could stave off the morning that had to come. It always did. “This meant everything to me,” he said, voice ragged.

“Me too.” She lifted her head. Tears brimmed on her lashes, nearly spilling over. “All I wanted was this. Just this.”

Framing her face in his hands, he tipped his forehead to hers. “Yeah.” He smudged his thumb under her eye, catching one of her tears. “You deserve so much more than me. But God, how am I supposed to give you up now?”

“You’re not,” she said fiercely. “Understand me? We’ve both given up too much for too long.” She snatched one of his hands and held it between her breasts. “You and me, we’re a team. Nothing can hurt us again.”

There were so many reasons that wasn’t true. But he went with the easy one, the one she wouldn’t hate him for. “Lila—”

“Fuck Lila. This isn’t about the band. This is about us. We were us before Oblivion existed. And we’ll be us long after they don’t.”

He glanced away, wanting that to be true so badly that he couldn’t speak. Until she said the rest.

“This isn’t just a one-time thing. We’re together now. Get that, Duffy? No going back. Tonight we made a promise to each other.”

As much as he hated having to argue, he couldn’t let this go. She needed to know what she was getting into. What he’d brought her into, willingly, because he wasn’t strong enough to keep her out. “Baby, you don’t understand—”

“Shh.” She closed his lips with her fingers and kissed the cleft in his chin. “I understand you’re mine. And I’m yours. Isn’t that right?” she demanded, almost daring him to fight the point.

But he couldn’t. Wouldn’t. How could he fight something he’d craved for so long?

He exhaled, his self-loathing growing with every passing moment. “Yes.”

“And we’re overdue on proving that to each other.” She shifted over him, rocking along his swiftly rousing cock. “I hope you took your vitamins today.”

Worlds lived behind her glittering blue eyes, ones he wanted nothing more than to explore. With her. Nothing made sense when she wasn’t at his side. The music had stopped, and right now, he didn’t need it. She was his melody. His breath and his heartbeat.

His very life, and the reason he still wanted to live it.

“Ditto.” He snagged his hand in her hair and flipped her over onto her back. Her giggle flowed over him, warm and precious and worth every sacrifice. “Better get ready, because I’m about to make up for a hell of a lot of lost time.”

* * *

Jazz woke to a softly strumming guitar. Still half-asleep, she smiled and burrowed deeper into pillows that smelled like the man she loved. She’d know the sage and cedarwood scent of his aftershave anywhere. The slightest hint of sweet smoke layered over it, a reminder of what had occurred the night before.

As if she’d ever forget the best night of her life.

Gray started to sing, his voice still husky from sleep. But his fingers were magic, like always. She grinned at the double meaning of that—oh so true—and opened her eyes, unable to wait even a second longer to look into the eyes she adored so much.

He sat cross-legged beside her, his beat-up guitar held in a loose grip. He played with such grace that she fixated on his hand for a good minute before she realized he was singing Van Morrison’s “Brown-Eyed Girl”, except he’d changed the lyrics to fit the eye color of the girl in his bed.

She was in his bed.

She hugged that blissful reality to her chest, closing her eyes to allow it to fully sink in. He continued to sing, his deep voice caressing the words as deftly as the instrument he coaxed to life in his hands. Somehow he knew every word, though she’d never heard him play that song. When it ended, he slid effortlessly into his rendition of the Stones’ “Brown Sugar”. She tried to stifle her laughter but she failed.

“Okay. The first one I got. Lovely lyric change, by the way. I love it.” She popped up on one elbow. “But ‘Brown Sugar’?”

“You’re awake.” He sounded so pleased by that fact that she almost forgot her question until his smile turned wicked. “Sure you want to know why I picked that one?”

Now she wanted to know more than ever. “Yes. Tell me.”

He set aside his guitar and leaned forward, brushing his mouth over her ear. “You smell like burnt sugar. Taste like it too. Sweet and sticky all over my tongue. I’m going to write a song.” He licked the side of her neck and she shuddered. “But in the meantime, ‘Brown Sugar’ works.”

“You’re a dirty boy.” Another laugh bubbled up in the middle of all the goosebumps. “I like it.”

Expression playful, he sank his teeth into her bottom lip. “Oh honey, you have no idea.”

“But I’m ready to find out.”

“We’ll see about that.” The corner of his lip curled into that naughty smile she’d wanted to kiss since she’d first laid eyes on him. Now she could.

She could do anything she wanted with him. To him.

Accurately reading her thoughts, he tugged her on top of him, embedding his hand in her hair while the other coasted down her back to her ass. He cupped one cheek, hoisting her leg higher so that her slit flirted with the head of his prominent morning wood.

“Good morning to me,” she teased, dipping her tongue into the laugh lines beside his mouth.

“Mmm-hmm. And I’m about to have breakfast.”

He hoisted her up his body, making her squeal. He clamped his mouth between her legs, his tongue arrowing along where she’d already grown hot and damp. Just kissing him and crawling around on his body were enough to get her motor humming. But his teeth scraping lightly over her hood piercing represented a surefire booking pass to orgasm central.

She fisted his hands in his hair and wobbled as he pressed the tip of his tongue inside, scooping up her wetness and swallowing with such audible appreciation that she couldn’t fight a blush. God, this man. How could she love him this much and not just shatter from it?

Everything seemed possible with hazy morning sunshine just beginning to trickle into the room, bathing the space in a romantic pink glow. Strong hands held her still, forcing her to take every bit of the pleasure he offered. He slid one hand around to part her folds, holding them open to lash her piercing and her clit with such focused attention that she scrambled backward and caught hold of his thighs to maintain her balance.

Bent backward, on the verge of a moan or a laugh—maybe both—she looked down to find that stormy gaze caressing her naked body. Suddenly she saw herself the way he must. Breasts lifted, nipples beaded and pink. Stomach quivering with every erotic kiss.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.

She feathered her fingers through his hair, slipping her hand down until it skimmed his mouth. Until her fingers trailed over his on her flesh. He kissed the tip of her thumb, sucking on it so slowly that a shudder rolled through her. “Oh God. I’m going to—”

Her cell went off, playing the Top Chef theme song that was Harper’s ringtone.

“Jesus. What the hell is that?”

“Oh shit, oh fuck, I forgot. It’s morning.” She tried to scuttle backward along Gray’s torso, but he wasn’t having it. He locked his arms around her thighs and did some kind of roll with his tongue that set off tingles all the way down to her G-spot. “Harper,” she wailed as the phone went off and immediately started again.

“We’re busy. She can wait.”

“But I have her catering truck—”

“And I have your pussy, and I’m not done with it yet. So shh before you make me get rough.” The teasing glint in his eyes accompanied his finger flick on her clit piercing.

Then he slipped his tongue inside her again, and she couldn’t hold back her scream as he rotated her piercing in time with his excruciatingly slow mouth-fucking. He hummed in his throat and pressed on while Harper called a third time, clearly frantic.

Jazz was frantic too, for a whole other reason.

She snatched a handful of his thick, silky long hair and pulled, bearing down on his mouth without shame. He used his free hand to knead her ass, encouraging her to ride his face with abandon. There was no way she could stop now. She slipped her other hand over her breasts, tweaking her nipples as the liquid sensation in her belly turned to drowning heat.

“God, keep going.” She squeezed her knees beside his head, rocking for all she was worth. “I’m so close.” Moving over him faster, she closed her eyes and threw her head back, twisting her nipple. Almost at the crescendo. She cried out as her core contracted and scalding waves of pleasure suffused her body, going on way past the point of insanity.

And he still didn’t stop.

“Oh, no, I can’t.”

“You can. You are.” His words rumbled against her drenched slit, amplifying the endless aftershocks. “On my fingers this time.”

They slid inside her with ease, two and then three, working in concert with the same skill he employed on the guitar. He worked her hard, sliding in and out in a rhythm designed to cause her to lose her mind. Again. His lips closed over her piercing, tugging gently.

Gasping, she climaxed once more, her thighs vising to his ears as she flooded his mouth. He drank her down eagerly, licking up every bit of what she gave him.

When she was still shaking, still barely coherent, he scooped her up and flipped her on her back beneath him. “Fucking Gray sounds like an excellent idea,” he breathed, slanting his mouth over hers.

Tasting herself on his lips had to be the gateway to heaven. “Yes. I want you.”

He grabbed her thigh, pushing her leg straight up in the air. The tip of his erection nudged her where she still quivered and she moaned, already arching toward him.

A knock sounded at the door and he stilled, a mischievous light appearing in his eyes. He held his finger to his lips, indicating she should remain quiet, and shifted his hips, easing the broad head of his cock into her extremely sensitive entrance. She let out a whimper and he caught it with his mouth, swiveling his hips again to push in deeper.

“Dude, you ever coming out of there? It’s almost fucking eight. We have music to make or else Dragon Lady will be up our ass.”

Nick had to be the only rocker who didn’t believe in sleeping away the day. Unless he was just being super-dickish.

“Gimme five,” Gray called back, raising his torso and plunging farther inside her clutching pussy. “I’ll be right out.”

“Sure thing. Wouldn’t want to interrupt you.” Nick hit or kicked the door before letting out an audible curse. She might’ve been able to discern what that curse was if Gray hadn’t picked that moment to suck her eager nipple between his teeth. Her attention blinked out to everything except the fullness of the cock inside her, shoving her wide open to accept his invasion.

He rubbed over her G-spot with each pass, traveling so deep that he grunted against her breast every time he bottomed out. The flashes of pain, the exquisite burn, only increased the pressure fisting in her belly, building so swiftly that she didn’t have a chance of holding on.

“Oh fuck. You’re coming again already,” he rasped. From the bliss contorting his features, he wasn’t far behind.

“Yes. Oh yes.” Rolling her hips up to meet his strokes, she watched the storm break over his face. His jaw locked, his gorgeous eyes shuttered. And her name spilled out on the shout he muffled against her hair.

Nothing could ever be better than hearing him call out to her while he came. Nothing.

He continued fucking her, his movements languid now. Somehow they tripped the tangled wires inside her even faster than his rapid strokes had. God, she couldn’t come again. She didn’t even have enough breath left to cry out. Her hips flailed, trapped beneath his as the tension gave way. So deliciously trapped.

“That’s it, baby.” He nuzzled her neck, lifting his torso to plunge into her one more time. “Give me everything.”

She reached up to cradle his head as the final punch of pleasure swept through her system and left her quaking beneath him. She bit her lip to stifle her whimpers, realizing once he eased back to give her a dazed grin that she tasted blood.

“Holy shit.” She lifted her hand to her mouth. “I think I bit through my lip.”

He bent to kiss the cut, so gently that her racing heart turned over before going still for a breathless moment while their gazes clung. She stroked the side of his face, shocked that for once, she didn’t have to look for something to say after sex.

Between them, words weren’t necessary. They had long looks and longer kisses. They’d have longer everything from now on.

This was just the beginning, and oh God, maybe even waiting had been worth it if she could get to feel like this.

“I have to go,” she whispered as the phone started again. Guilt kicked hard in her chest. Poor Harper. She was going to kill her and rightly so.

“I know. When are you coming back to me?”

She threaded her fingers through his hair, marveling at the darkness against her pale skin. “As soon as I can.”

“Not soon enough.” He pulled out of her, causing them both to moan, and bent to grab her clothes. “No underwear? I sort of vaguely remember that but…no underwear?”

“No.” She grinned. “I couldn’t take any chances.”

“Guess not. Though I would find you sexy in a parka and snow pants.” He held up her dress and lifted an eyebrow. “I’m supposed to let you leave in this? Where’d you park anyway?”

“Two blocks down, behind some bushes.”

“Damn, total spy mode. You walked two blocks in those boots?”

“I would’ve crawled on glass to get to you. Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited?”

He shifted toward her with her dress bunched in his hands. “Unless it’s the better part of a decade, you’re going to lose this contest.”

“It is. Why did we waste so much time?”

From the way he set his mouth, she didn’t get the feeling they’d be going down that road anytime soon. Maybe it was just as well. The future was what mattered now, not the past.

Swallowing deeply, she brushed her fingers over his jaw and tried again. “It’s always been you for me. Always, since long before—before he—”

The melting warmth in his expression turned glacial. “Don’t say his name. I don’t want any part of that fucker to touch us here.”

She turned her face away, hating that she’d brought even an instant of sadness into what had been such a wonderful night and morning-after. The sadness existed entirely on her part. She would never forgive herself for having any part in driving a wedge between them. From him, she felt only cold rage. “He’s your brother.”

“I don’t have a brother anymore.” He pitched what he held across the room, nailing the top of the still-open window. Her dress fluttered to the ground.

“Gray.” She cupped his shoulder. “I’m okay. I swear. He didn’t hurt me.”

“Yes, he did. I heard you screaming. I hear it in my nightmares.”

Tears filled her eyes, but not for her. His anguish ripped her open. “It was so long ago.”

“Goddammit, no.” He shoved to his feet. “It’s like it happened yesterday for me. I don’t care how many years pass, I’ll kill that bastard if he ever looks at you again.” He walked to the window and picked up her dress, clutching it to his chest before turning back and giving her a half-smile that didn’t begin to mitigate the fury vibrating off his body. “Sure you have to go?”

His rapid mood shift knocked her off-kilter but she tried to return his smile. She wouldn’t let anything ruin this, especially Brent. They’d fought too hard to get here. “Unfortunately, yes.” She rolled off the bed and winced at the first step. “Ow. Ouch. Someone broke me.”

That brought his grin back in full force. “Someone will make you better later,” he promised, returning to her side to tug her dress over her head.

“I just bet.” She yanked on her boots and zipped them up, then she grabbed her phone. “What am I forgetting?”

“This.” He hooked a finger in the bodice of her dress and hauled her close.

His tongue slipped in to tangle with hers, and damn if she didn’t still taste herself in his kiss. The thrill tingled from her nipples to between her legs, and she moaned, already halfway gone again. He grinned and kissed her harder, making her grin back even as their mouths moved together in perfect harmony.

Loving Gray was the easiest—and hardest—thing she’d ever done. But today it was easier than breathing. More right than anything she’d ever known.

Finally he eased away and nudged her toward the window. Must be the door to the deck didn’t work or something. “Tell Harper I’m sorry too.”

“Okay.” Still dizzy, she started to climb over the windowsill then smiled dopily over her shoulder. “Same time tonight?”

“I’ll be waiting for you.” He leaned his forearm on the casing and drew his fingertip from her mouth to her jaw. “Think I’m going to write your song today. All that sugar on my tongue, I can taste it now…” He sang softly, making her flush and screech as she darted out the window.

His laughter followed her off the deck.