We’ve settled into a routine of sorts. While Heath is at work, I go stir-crazy in his apartment with nothing to do except read, watch TV, and cook.

Except today, Frances took me shopping along Fifth Avenue. I didn’t buy anything, but we had a lot of fun trying on outlandish outfits neither of us would ever actually wear. We both laughed a lot and had a fabulous time.

When I get home, Heath is already there.

“Hey,” he says as I walk through the door.

“Hey, how was your day?”

“Nothing special. Went over to Grant’s and shot the shit over pizza and beer. How was yours? Have you eaten?”

“Mine was a lot of fun, and yes, I’ve eaten. Your mom took me for dinner at a burger place in Rockefeller Center.”

Smiling, he holds his hand out to me. “Let’s watch Netflix and chill.”

I laugh. “I know the code.”

He ushers me to the sofa and pulls me into his lap, then flicks on the TV. “What would you like to watch?”

“I get to choose? Anything I want?”

“Anything,” he says as he hands me the remote.

I flick through Heath’s list, because I know there are shows there we’ll both enjoy. I settle on an action comedy.

While the film is playing, Heath’s hands never stop moving over my body. His fingers trailing up and down my arms, his hands cupping my breasts, caressing my belly, my legs. He lays lines of gentle kisses along the curve of my neck, and I lean my head back on his shoulder.

“Ready for bed?” he whispers in my ear.

Nodding, I turn off the TV and climb out of his lap. He takes my hand and kisses the back of it, before leading me to our bedroom.

When he releases my hand, I look up at him, not daring to ask questions.

Cupping my cheek, he leans down and kisses me.

It’s not one of those hungry, demanding kisses he usually gives. This is tender. The sort of kiss I’d imagine a lover would give.

He pulls back enough for our gazes to lock. “I want you.”

I nod, because there is something in this moment that feels special, and I’m terrified if I were to speak, it would be dissipate like mist on a sunny morning.

Lifting the hem of my t-shirt, he tugs it up over my head and drops it on the floor. I immediately wish I’d forsaken the white cotton bra for something sexier.

“Don’t,” he says. “Don’t think, just feel.”

With a practiced move, he deftly unfastens my bra with one hand and slides it off my arms. My nipples are hard and achy, and he leans in and flicks the tip of his tongue over each one, making me moan. Gentle isn’t something I’ve come to expect from Heath, and it throws me off kilter.

His tongue continues to tease my nipples as he unfastens my jeans and slides them, along with my underwear, down my thighs. Grasping my bare ass with both hands, he walks me backward until my knees bump up against the side of the bed and I sink down onto the mattress. He sinks to his knees, sliding my jeans and underwear the rest of the way off. He tosses them in the general direction of my discarded shirt and pushes my knees apart, exposing me to him fully.

“Beautiful. So beautiful and wet for me.”

He slowly kisses his way up the inside of my thigh and I’m lost. I don’t know how to deal with this side of him. Then his teeth graze my clit. The sensation is entirely foreign to me. I’ve had guys who knew their way around a clit, but nobody had ever used teeth on me. I shift slightly to get a better view of the action.

He pulls back and looks up at me. “Lay back, Georgia. I need room to work here, and only one of us needs to be able to see what I’m doing. I told you before, I want you to feel.”

I lay back and close my eyes as he returns to his spot between my legs. This time, he slides two fingers deep inside me while he works my clit over with his tongue and lips and teeth. It’s not long before I feel the first flutterings of an orgasm. When a soft mewling sound escapes my lips, he turns up the intensity. He sucks harder, his fingers move faster, and I let out a long, low wail as my world explodes into wave after wave of pleasure.

I open my eyes as he moves out from between my legs. He’s stripping, and I grin, making no effort to hide my ogling. He grins back. “All for you, Georgia.”

It’s a good thing, too, because I can be a greedy bitch.

Stepping back between my legs, he slides a finger through my slick folds. “Scootch up a little,” he says. I put my heels on the edge of the mattress and push myself backward to make space. He climbs onto the bed and spreads my legs wide with his knees, then leans forward and takes my nipple between his lips and sucks hard while he gently pinches the other one sending sparks straight to some place deep in my pussy. He switches sides, and I tilt my hips in search of his cock, but he shifts out of reach.

Somehow, I think any other time, doing that might earn me a punishment. And I like that idea.

For some other time.

He releases my nipples and slides up my body until he’s kissing me again, in the same slow, languid way he did earlier.

He positions himself at my entrance and slowly pushes a little way in, then almost out, then back in a little farther. All the while, kissing me like I’m precious. His gentleness is going to break me. And even though I find the thought terrifying, I welcome it.

When he’s fully inside me, drops his head into the crook of my neck and holds himself still. I can feel his cock pulsing and when I give an experimental squeeze, he groans. “Georgia, don’t,” he murmurs into my neck. I do it again, because that groan of his made me feel powerful.

He lifts his head and shakes it slightly. He has a stern look, but his eyes are twinkling. “I’m trying to exercise some self-control and you are not helping.”

I squeeze again, and he takes my hand and maneuvers it between us, until it’s between my legs. “Thanks to your impressive muscle control, I’m not going to be able to hold on much longer, so if you want to come again, you’re going to have to help yourself along.”

I’m torn. I’ve never made myself come in front of anyone before, and I’m nervous, but I want to please this man who I’ve come to like more than I really want to admit.

As he pumps into me, I rub my clit with my fingers in just the way that gets me off the fastest. “I can’t hold on,” he says as his thrusts get shorter and quicker, making him bang hard against my fingers, giving me that little extra something. His hips jerk erratically has he follows me over the cliff into oblivion.

We lay there for a few minute breathing hard against each other’s skin. He kisses my neck. “Stay right here. I’m just going to get a warm cloth. I’ll be right back.”

I’m boneless and couldn’t move if I tried. When he comes back he cleans me up and helps me under the covers, then pulls me tight against his side.

“Georgia, I want you in my bed every night. I want to be able to kiss you whenever the mood strikes me. I want more than sex.”

God help me. “Me too.”