In a haze of desire, Ronan and I kissed our way to the master suite, where he turned the lights to a low setting, before resting me on my feet and smoothly unzipping my dress, which fell to my feet in a shimmering pile of red fabric, leaving me standing in my lacy black underthings and four-inch heels.

“Fuck, Ava,” he said as his heated gaze swept over my body, consuming me with its single-minded intensity, before he took me in his arms and kissed me within an inch of my life. His strong hands roved over my body, teasing and exploring, and when he delved a hand into my panties and ran a finger over my swollen folds, I shuddered with arousal, wet with need for him and what we were about to do.

He raised his hand to his lips, licked the taste of me off his finger, and looked into my eyes. “You taste like heaven, Ava. Even sweeter than I’d imagined. I can’t wait to sink my mouth between your legs.”

I’d never wanted anything as badly as I wanted him right now, and as my last shred of resistance evaporated into lust-fueled oblivion, we quickly shed the remainder of our clothing. Nothing existed but the two of us and our overwhelming need to satisfy our desire for each other.

Naked, we fell onto the bed together and kissed deeply. When we came up for air, Ronan pulled back and gave me a scorching look, before nibbling his way down my torso, dipping his dark head between my thighs and tracing my throbbing sex with his tongue.

I released a little moan, my breath coming in gasps, as my universe went electric. Under Ronan’s mouth, every nerve in my body was on fire, every inch of my body charged with need. As his tongue alternated between long, lazy strokes and delicate, teasing flicks against my clit, waves of arousal built within me, rising toward orgasm with the inevitability of an approaching tsunami.

When my release washed over me, its force shattered me. Pleasure ripped through my body, and I cried out as whiteness filled my vision, blinding me. At twenty-seven, I was hardly new to sex, but I’d never come so hard in my life. I hadn’t known it was possible.

“Oh my God,” I said, clutching Ronan’s shoulders against my still-trembling body. “That was amazing. You’re amazing.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” he said, with a hint of satisfaction in his deep voice. “That was just an appetizer.”

He kissed me, and when I tasted myself on his lips, a fresh hunger ignited within me. I wanted to touch him, to taste him, to explore every flavor of his body as he had mine.

But Ronan had other ideas. He moved to my side, and I heard the sound of a foil packet tearing. When he turned back to me, his thick erection was encased in a condom.

“Ready for the next course?” he said, quirking an eyebrow at me.

I ran my hand over his broad chest, exploring his defined muscles. “Mmmm. I can’t wait.”

“That makes two of us,” he said. “I’ve been fantasizing about this for days.”

I wrapped my arm around his waist. “Really?”

“I’ve done a lot of thinking about exactly what I want to do to you,” he said with a mischievous grin. “It’s been keeping me up at night.”

I laughed. “Seriously?”

“Seriously,” he said. “But tonight, that kiss made me realize we both wanted the same thing.”

I ran my fingers through his thick, dark hair. “So here we are—keeping you up at night again.”

“Sleep can wait,” he said, dipping his head to bite my left nipple and then my right, before brushing his cock against my folds, teasing my sensitive, dampened flesh with its tip. Then his fingers filled me, sliding in and out, as he circled my clit with his thumb, reigniting my desire.

Shivering with want, I met his intense blue gaze, now darkened by a lust equal to my own. “I need you now. I need you inside me.”

I was so wet, so ready, that when he slid into me, I nearly came again. For a long moment, he didn’t move—he just looked at me, with an unmistakable hunger that erased any lingering doubts about my desirability to him. He wanted me as badly as I wanted him.

But when Ronan began to move, there was nothing tentative about it. He was as commanding, as masterful with my body as he was with everything else in his life. With slow, deliberate thrusts, he drove waves of sensation through me, and I joined his rhythm with thrusts of my own, my blood thrumming in my ears and my skin tingling, supercharged, as my arousal built.

When his thrusts quickened, I was already close. My world shrank to a pinpoint and then exploded as fireworks of sensation laced through me. My body bowed against his as we came together, screaming our pleasure into the dimly lit bedroom.

My heart pounding in my ears, I collapsed back onto the bed and released a sigh as my world slowly tilted back into focus.

Ronan turned away briefly to dispose of his condom, before stretching out beside me and reaching for my hand.

It was the first time I’d taken a long look at him unclothed, but I hadn’t guessed wrong about the body beneath his expensive suits. His shoulders were broad, his arms corded with thick muscle. His powerful chest was dusted with dark hair that trailed down to firm six-pack abs. His torso tapered into narrow hips and long, beautifully muscled thighs. His cock, now at half-mast, was thick and as beautifully formed as the rest of him.

And his ass? If I’d been the poetry-writing type—which I wasn’t—I could have written a poem on that subject. Many guys just worked on their upper bodies, but Ronan clearly wasn’t one of those guys. He had the kind of tight, rounded butt that was worthy of a porn calendar.

“You have the most gorgeous ass,” I said, running my hand over it appreciatively.

He gazed into my eyes. “And you’ve been hiding a banging body behind the loose blouses and jeans you usually wear.”

“Work clothes aren’t supposed to be sexy,” I said. “Although I’ve always had a weakness for a man in a well-fitted suit.”

He gave me a humorous look. “Want me to put mine back on? I will, if you ask nicely, and offer up an appropriate bribe.”

I laughed. “As it turns out, I like you naked even better—although I’m still not sure it’s wise for us to be doing this. As much as I enjoyed being with you just now, it’s way outside our arrangement.”

“Let’s table that discussion until tomorrow morning,” he said. “Right now, I’d much rather make love to you again.”

And when I smiled my agreement, he did.