Cai was quiet on the way back to the hotel, and that in and of itself wasn’t necessarily unusual, but my gut told me that this was different. This had more to do with the handsome young man we’d left back in El Paso than it did with personality. I wanted to ask him about it, but despite everything that’d happened between us, I didn’t think we were at a point in our…whatever this was…for it to be okay for me to get involved.

I could, however, make sure that he knew I was here if he needed me.

As we walked into the lobby, a rather nervous-looking man approached. “Dr. Hunter, I’m glad I caught you.”

Even though he’d only spoken to Cai, I stopped as well.

“Is something wrong?”

“Yes, sir.” He looked like he would’ve been wringing his hands if it wouldn’t have been unprofessional. “I’m afraid there’s a problem with your room.”

I’d completely forgotten that he’d booked his own room since he’d barely spent any time in it.

“A pipe burst. Your luggage, fortunately, wasn’t anywhere near it, but you won’t be able to stay there tonight.”

“As long as there wasn’t any damage to anything, there’s no problem,” Cai said. “We’re leaving tomorrow. I can move to another room for the night.”

“That’s just it, Dr. Hunter. We don’t have any additional rooms available. We usually keep two rooms reserved for emergencies, but one of those was also affected by the burst pipe, and the other was taken about an hour before the incident.”

This was something I could help him with. “It’s okay,” I said with a smile. “We can share a room.”

The man’s cheeks flushed, and I wondered how long he’d been working here. If he became that embarrassed when there was no reason for him to think I was anything other than a colleague offering some space on the floor or in a chair, he’d never be able to survive the moment when a sixty-year-old man came in with a twenty-five-year-old prostitute.

“She’s right,” Cai said quickly. “We can share. Do you have the things from my room?”

“Yes, sir. Would you like me to have them brought up to the young lady’s room?”

Cai shook his head. “I’ll take them.”

“Yes, sir.” He scurried off, looking, in my mind, very much like the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland.

“‘I’m late for a very important date,’” I murmured.

He gave me a funny look. “What was that?”

“Doesn’t he remind you of the White Rabbit?”

It took Cai a moment to get it, but when he did, he laughed, and I felt some of the tension in him ease. He brushed off the apologies the manager offered, giving the man a polite smile before taking his things and walking with me to the elevator.

When the doors closed, Cai glanced down at me. “I’ll call down for an extra pillow and blanket.”

I was genuinely surprised. “Why?”

“They’ll make the chair more comfortable.”

“You don’t have to sleep in the chair,” I said, hoping my voice sounded more casual to Cai than it did to me.

“Addison,” he said slowly, “what are you saying?”

I reached over and took his hand. “We’re going home tomorrow, and whatever this is between us…with work…with our separate lives…let’s give ourselves tonight. No thinking about the future, or what this means. Just tonight.”

For a moment, I thought he’d refuse, tell me that this had been a huge mistake. Then the doors opened, and he leaned down to brush a kiss across the top of my head.

“I’d like that very much.”

* * *

I let out a sigh of relief as I pulled the bobby pins out of my hair. My curls tended to get a little wild, but I’d wanted them to look a little sleeker than usual for our dinner, so I’d taken the time to pin them. Now, I shook them out, letting them tumble over my shoulders, then rubbed my fingers against my scalp.

“Why didn’t you wear your hair like that tonight?”

I gasped, my hand going to my chest. “You startled me.”

“Sorry,” Cai said with a smile. He came into the bathroom, stopping behind me. He met my eyes in the mirror. “You have beautiful hair.”

I flushed. “Thank you.”

He reached out and let a curl coil around his finger. “Maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t wear it down.” He stepped closer. “Don’t misunderstand me. You were beautiful in that dress and with your hair, but I don’t think I would have liked it very much if Slade had gotten to see you like this.”

A thrill went through me at what he said, how he said it. He had a great voice normally, but when we were like this, it dropped to something that felt like warm honey coating my skin…but without the uncomfortable stickiness.

“When you said that we could have tonight,” he continued, “I don’t want to make any assumption about what you meant.”

“Then let me make myself clear.” I leaned back against his chest. “I want whatever you’re willing to give me tonight.”

His eyes darkened, the intensity of those blue depths making my knees weak. “You don’t know what you’re asking, Little Red.”

He was one of the few people who could call me ‘little’ and not be ironic about it. I liked it.

I smiled at him as I reached over to the side zipper of my dress. I unzipped it without looking away from him, waiting until it was down all the way until I spoke again. “I know exactly what I’m asking for…Sir.”

He growled and grabbed my hair, yanking my head back and twisting it so he could claim my mouth. And that’s what it felt like. Claiming. His tongue sweeping between my lips to explore. Teeth biting my bottom lip, then the top, before pulling it into his mouth to soothe it with lips and tongue.

He wasn’t touching me anywhere except my hair and my mouth, but my body hummed nonetheless. It was a deep, thorough kiss, and by the time he broke contact, my breathing was ragged, and my panties were wet.

“Tell me,” he demanded. “Tell me what you want me to do to you.”

“Fuck me,” I answered without any hesitation. “I want you to fuck me.”

He smiled, but it was a dangerous sort of smile. One to which I could easily become addicted.

“Oh, I’m going to do that.” He hooked his fingers under the straps of my dress. “Tell me more.”

Butterflies took flight in my stomach. I trusted him, but the thought of sharing fantasies, desires, that I’d never told anyone else about, made me more nervous than I’d ever been before.

He put his mouth next to my ear. “What is it that you’re holding back?” He slipped the straps off my shoulders and let the dress fall to the floor. “Tell me.”

The air was cool against my flushed skin, but that wasn’t the reason I shivered. I was going to tell him the truth. “That night at the club, I trusted Codie’s assessment of you, but as soon as I saw you, something in my gut told me that you could be trusted. And every moment since then I’ve trusted you.”

He swept my hair over my shoulder and kissed the place where shoulder met neck. “Ask me. Whatever it is you want, ask me.”

“I want you to fuck me…bare.” As the last word came out, I sought his expression in the mirror. “I’ve been on the pill for years, and you know I’m clean. If you tell me you are too, I trust you.”

“Addison,” he breathed my name as he leaned around me. His hand caught my chin, turning me until my mouth met his.

I pushed back against him, feeling his cock hardening against my ass. I slid my tongue along his, telling myself that I needed to remember every moment, that no one would ever be able to measure up to Cai.

He pulled his mouth away but rested his forehead against mine, his hand curling around my neck. “Little Red, what are you doing to me?”

I grabbed his shirt, tugging it up until I could get my hands under it and feel the tight muscles against my palms. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I feel it too.”

He pulled back so suddenly that I was afraid I’d said something wrong, but then he took off his shirt and desire replaced fear. He kicked his pants aside and gestured to me.

“Off.”

My bra and panties joined my dress, and then he was behind me, his hands sliding over my hips and up my ribcage, then forward until his hands covered my breasts.

“Safe word?”

“Watson,” I replied promptly.

“That’s a good girl,” he said as he kissed the side of my neck. “Don’t hesitate to use it if you want me to stop.”

I nodded. “What do I say if I want you to start?”

He chuckled, then pinched my nipples between fingers and thumbs. “Easy, Little Red, or I may need to punish you for defiance.”

I smiled up at him. “If you think this is defiance, I may need to show you what that word truly means.”

Cai went completely still. “That mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble.”

“Maybe I need something in it.”

The smack on my ass caught me off guard, and I let out a startled yelp.

“I’m going to fuck you,” he said. “And then we’re going to get in the shower, and you’re going to clean off my cock with your mouth.”

“Yes, please,” I said, putting my hands on the sink to brace myself.

He used his knee to nudge my legs apart, and a moment later, his cock was pushing inside me. He eased his way in, allowing me to savor how it felt to have skin against skin, nothing between us. We weren’t in a relationship, but it somehow felt right that this man shared another one of my firsts, this intimate moment that required so much trust.

I groaned as he bottomed out, every thick inch of him sheathed inside me. My eyes closed, and my head fell forward, but he wasn’t having that. He used my hair to yank my head up.

“Open your eyes,” he ordered. “Watch us. Watch your face as I make you come.”

He kept a grip on my hair as he slid almost all the way out, then slammed his hips forward, making me cry out. He repeated the process twice and then upped his pace. Each thrust drove the air from my lungs and made spots dance in front of my eyes. This wasn’t a slow build-up, or a carefully kindled flame. No, this was an assault of pleasure, taking over my nerves and cells until every inch of me felt like it was on fire.

I came without warning, screaming his name even as my legs buckled. He caught me around the waist, continuing to move in and out of me even as my muscles convulsed around his cock. Finally, as I feared I couldn’t take one second more, he buried himself inside me and allowed me to come.

He clung to me as our breathing slowed and pulses returned to normal. We’d shower next, and I had no doubt he’d hold me to what he’d said. I didn’t mind though. I’d gladly go to my knees in front of him if it meant I’d finally get to taste him, feel the weight of him on my tongue. I wanted nothing more than the chance to make him feel as good as he’d made me feel, and the strength of that desire should have scared me. It would scare me…when I allowed myself to think about it. For right now, I was going to be content with where I was, and what I had.