I’m back in my room, sipping whiskey from the mini-bar after all. Alone. Though hopefully not for long.

Soon after the no-contest contest, the ladies began to wind down. Some over-eager swains in the crowd offered themselves as consolation prizes, but no takers. When the bride-to-be began to doze off over the last of the ice in her margarita, Sara declared the rumpus over.

As a group, the women poured themselves into the hotel elevator, and I had just enough time to sidle up to Sara.

Leaning in as though to kiss her a gentlemanly goodnight peck on the cheek, I whispered instead, “Come to my room.”

She didn’t look at me, just tilted her head as she watched her drunk friends’ shenanigans, trying to figure out the buttons on the elevator.

For a moment I didn’t think she was going to answer. And then she spoke without moving her lips. “Room number?”

I slipped my hand to the small of her back as she stepped into the elevator, told her the number. She inclined her head in a mock salute as she joined her friends. Not confirming. Not refusing.

“Everybody say night night to Clark,” she told them, smiling sweetly at me.

A chorus of drunk “Night night, Clark”s, and then the doors closed.

It’s been forty-five minutes. I should be tired. I’m not. If I have another whiskey, I might start to feel it, but I’m waiting to see if she shows.

Behind me I left the terrace doors open. I can hear the quarter still alive with people not far below. You couldn’t pay me to get a room overlooking Bourbon Street—the noise would wake the dead—but I’m still close to the action on a quiet street in the Quarter. It’s a thick, hot night in New Orleans. My terrace overlooks the azaleas and vine-draped iron balconies, and there are just enough people moving through the streets even this late at night to keep the tension there. Sexy. A little dangerous. Perfect night to meet someone elusive and beautiful in the dark.

And there’s the knock at the door I’ve been waiting for.

It’s Sara. She ducks her head, almost shy, when I let her in. She’s still in that dress that knocked me out, the red heels. A little touched up lipstick, which I like.

“Everybody get to bed?”

She laughs. “It was like putting drunk six-year-olds to sleep. Everyone needed to go to the bathroom and get bottles of water at the same time.”

“You did very well tonight.”

“I try to be a responsible big sister.”

“Not much fun for you, though. Whiskey?”

“Yeah, please. I’m off duty now.”

“You deserve one,” I say, and hand her a tumbler.

She takes it neat. Our eyes meet when I hand her the glass, but then she skitters away. The sexy confidence she had in the bar is still there, but there’s an underlying nervousness.

I settle into one of the deep wingback chairs and pour myself another. Sara’s prowling the room, deciding if she wants to stay. I don’t mind—I like the way she moves in the dress. Her legs are a sight in those heels.

I lean back in the chair and sip the whiskey, feeling the fine burn down my throat. I’m fighting an instinct to go over to her and get things going. But I want to let her decide.

“You don’t do this very often, do you.”

She presses her lips together. “I’m that obvious?”

I’m tracking her as she walks around the suite, trailing her fingers over things. After a while, she stops her circuit and notices me watching her. Quiet and deliberate, she places her purse on the desk, drops back and leans against the edge, watching me now.

“What usually happens?”

“I’m sorry?”

“When you . . . when you’re out of town and you meet someone.”

“Like now?” I prompt her.

“Yeah.”

“You take your time. Relax. Have fun.”

“And then you just . . . do it?” She seems like she’s teasing, but also asking me what to do next.

I set my glass on the table beside me and stand up. She doesn’t move.

“Only if you want,” I tell her and start across the floor. “It’s not a done deal.”

When I get to her, she drops her head back and downs the whiskey. It’s a smooth and sexy move. I take the tumbler from her and lean in close as I set the glass behind us. She grips the edge of the table, but her body is tilted toward me and I catch her scent again. It goes straight to my head, better than liquor.

I lean in, my arms on either side of her. She doesn’t retreat, just lets me get close. I hover close to her lips, and my cock twitches when I think about the kiss in the bar.

She’s thinking about it too. “You put on quite a show down there.”

“Were you really going to watch me kiss all your friends?”

She brushes her lips against me, looks up through her hair. The tease is light and sweet, not enough to tip things just yet. Her eyes crinkle on a smile. “I think you broke some hearts.”

“They had plenty of fun for one night. Your turn.”

She chuckles at that. “My reward for being such a good girl. A night in bed with a handsome stranger?” She makes a show of looking around at the desk. “Well, I suppose we’re not in bed yet.”

“Yet.” I steal her move and brush her lips with mine this time. She hums a little note, her eyes half-closing. I can feel a little tension still coming from her, deciding. But all the body signs are there. “If that’s what you want.”

“’What I want,’ she repeats, stretching back, looking up at the ceiling. Her neck is exposed, and if I drop my eyes I get a mouth-watering peek down her dress. Her breasts are lush and high. Playing the game too, I lean in without touching, but close so I know she can feel my breath along her neck, her collar bone. The muscles in my stomach clench. It’s taking every inch of control not to taste her skin.

She bends her left knee then, pulling it up along my leg, hooking around my hip. Not pulling me into her, but rubbing the inside of her thigh against me. I catch the bend in her knee then, tug her forward on the desk, just enough to inch further between her thighs. Her eyes get wide and dark and she bites her lip.

I nudge her chin back up, trail along her jawline. “Why don’t I make it easy for you to decide? No last names. No questions. I’ll take care of you tonight and then you can slip out of here in the morning and I won’t tell anyone just how bad a girl you were after all.”

“Ok,” she says, and smiles. But then she looks down. “There’s something you should know, though.”

“Yes?” Uh oh.

“You’re my first . . .” she drags the last word out for a bit, and alarm bells go off in my head.

“. . . tourist.”

“Excuse me?”

She grins. “I’m from New Orleans. I’ve seen my share of one-nighters go down in this city. I’ve managed to abstain this long. You’re going to break my streak.”

It takes a second for me to realize she’s fucking with me.

I go for her ribs first. She fends off the tickling until I get to a spot on the inside of her knee. “Uncle uncle!”

“Ok, smartass.” I take her ass in my hands then, and pull her the rest of the way forward on the desk, so she can feel the full hardness of my erection nudge her pussy. She cries out at the contact, a short quick sound. “I’m about to break your streak to little tiny quivering bits.”

She laughs. “Oooh. Cocky, you are. I like it.”

“You will.”

“And then I really just crawl out of your bed in the morning without a goodbye? I won’t even know your last name?”

I take her head in my hands, look her in the eye. “You’ll remember me in other ways.”

Her eyes spark with new challenge. “Ok then.”

That’s the yes I’ve been waiting for.

I start at her cheek because she’s not expecting it, this time making contact as I slide my lips along her jaw to her ear and neck. Her breath hitches and she cuddles closer, even though her hands still grip the table. I don’t mind. I take advantage of the position and press my cock into her again.

Her head drops back as I keep going, her legs planting on either side of me as she lets me have my way. I slide my hands up her body on both sides, crushing her to my chest as I burrow into the soft spot between her shoulder and neck. She makes a mewling sound in the back of her throat, her thighs closing on either side of me. We’re both breathing harder now.

One strap of her dress falls off her shoulder. I take advantage and press my face into her cleavage. She lifts one hand up off the desk and slides it into my hair to pull me closer. It’s all the encouragement I need to keep rubbing, pushing her dress down until the fabric is low enough to see the aureole of her breasts. I lick and suck at her skin while she urges me on.

I still haven’t kissed her lips, but I feel and hear her breath at my ear as she curls up and around me. She slides her legs back up, locking around my hips this time. My erection notches perfectly between her legs and I can feel her heat even through the fabric of my slacks. She urges me to her breasts, pulling me into her, grinding through our clothes.

I take one of her nipples into my mouth and she jolts like something goes off inside her. Her grip is bordering on pain now. I like it. Something inside me is switching on, too, answering the aggression. Her nipples are hard and sensitive.

Sara’s grip gets tighter and she pulls at me until I lift my face to hers—our lips at last align. I kiss her and I can taste the whiskey on her mouth, the silky flutter of her tongue. Then I drop back to her left breast. I can feel the spike heel dig into the back of my pants leg. The dress slides high on her thighs and when I pull back to look down her body, I can see the flash of silk red panties.

Open like this, she’s both dirty and completely delicious with her tits popped up and over the top of the slinky black dress, while the hem rides high on her creamy smooth thighs. I’m trying to decide what I want to rip off her first when she drops a hand between us and strokes my cock through my pants.

Her eyebrows lift as she strokes the full length. She’s not the first woman to have that reaction—not trying to be arrogant, but I’m not a small guy. She leans up and runs her tongue along my bottom lip, still stroking me. “Is all this for me?”

“If you want it, I’m more than happy to oblige.” My erection is fully hard, bordering on pain as she palms the length, and in my head I’m planning on fucking her until she screams. For now, I’ll bide my time. Not an easy feat when she slides her hand further down and cups my balls, then slides her palm all the way back up.

Turnabout is fair play, so I put my hand between her thighs, brush my fingertips over her mound through her panties. She gives a small, tight gasp and goes completely still when I tease her there. I can feel how wet her pussy is through the fabric.

“Right here, baby.” I press the pad of my thumb just over her clit, still rubbing through the satin She gives another little cry. “That’s what you like.” Her lips part when I slip back down to her nipples, tonguing one and then the other. I match the rhythm of my fingers with the flick of my tongue on her nipples, and I’m rewarded with the first bite of her fingernails in my shoulders. She watches my mouth at her breasts the whole time, her pupils dark and dazed. Her breath is coming hard now, and I’m fascinated watching and feeling her body react to just the teasing of my mouth and fingertips. There’s another warm pulse under my fingers, an answering hum when I move to her other nipple.

Everything so far has been more or less over our clothes. I break the seal when I slip one finger, then two, past her panties into a honey pot of silky wet heat. She jerks hard then and I push my tongue into her mouth while I stroke her pussy as she whimpers and clings to me.

I feel her nails digging into my shoulders, gripping. The kiss is getting wild as she responds to the light stroke on her clit. But when my fingers sink deep into her pussy, her eyes finally drop closed and her mouth drops to a perfect little ‘o’. I feel the pulse around my fingers— instinct tells me she must be close to coming. Her response is incredible. The way she’s going wild with just my fingers inside her, I’m so turned on I want to fuck her right here. I stroke deeper, a little faster, when suddenly she breaks the kiss.

“Stop.” She says the word on a hard breath.

I do, instantly. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, no . . . you didn’t.” She’s breathing hard, hiding her eyes from me.

I move one hand back up to her hip and stroke her hair out of her face with the other, trying to see her. “Why did we stop?”

“I don’t know. It’s so much. I need a sec.”

“It’s ok.” It’s killing me to do it, but I pull away a little to give her space. “Do you need me to let go?”

“No.” She says the word fast, hanging on. She leans in to kiss me, fast and starved, her tongue tangling with mine. In less than a second I’m responding to her again, tugging her head back by her hair so I can drag my tongue up her neck. Her reaction, the strength in her grip, is the sexiest response I’ve ever felt in a woman. When her hands drop back down to my dick and she strokes the length again like she’s hungry for it, it’s all I can do to keep from dragging her to the floor.

We need a little more room to work, I think, and lift her up into my arms, kissing her all the way to the bed.

Getting her clothes off, and mine, is a game of distraction: a piece comes off and one of us is distracted. I leave the lights low and on because I want to see her, a decision that does not disappoint. Her tits bounce in the most delicious way when she falls back on the bed, and she smiles and drapes a leg over my shoulder as I pull those fuck me pumps off her pretty feet. She’s fucking gorgeous.

I follow her down on the bed and she curls up into me immediately, palming my cock. A drop of pre-cum beads at the tip, and she takes it onto her fingertip and licks it off in front of me. That almost sets me off right there, and she doesn’t make it easier when she puts her hand back and starts stroking. I push into her grip, and she rolls the flat of her thumb over the head. Her palm clicks as she expertly grips and slides over me.

“Not fair you get to touch and I don’t,” I say, and dip my hand between her thighs. She’s dripping wet, and my mouth waters. Her hand stills on my cock when I touch her and there’s a quick surge on my chest. Again, I’m in awe of how responsive she is, how much she clearly seems to enjoy everything I’m doing to her.

She lies back when my fingers sink into her again, and she’s so wet, I have to taste her. Have to.

Her legs come up and try to close around my head but I’m too quick, my mouth is on her fast. Ambrosia. She’s so wet, she tastes like sweet syrup. And her reaction is immediate and intense: she calls out in surprise and then moans hard, grinding up against my mouth, holding the back of my head to her. I nuzzle between the soft, puffy lips and then drag the flat of my tongue up the center of her pink slit, dipping into the wet heat of her pussy, then up to drive her clit, testing different strokes and rhythms, trying to learn what she likes. She responds to all of it, gripping my hair, calling out. The answering flick of her hips when I start to play at her clit is a clue. I know I have her right where I want her when I close my lips around the sensitive bud and lightly suck while I drive her with the tip of my tongue. She bucks, harder than before. I use my body leverage to hold her thighs open and down, and her fingers clench in my hair. I press her down, holding her legs open for my tongue. And then I feel it again, the pulses starting to build in her.

“Stop. Stop.”

I do, the second she says it, but I’m not certain why.

“Are you ok?”

“Yes. I’m sorry. Yes.”

I pull myself up next to her. “Don’t apologize. Did I do something wrong?”

She covers her face with her hands. “No, you didn’t. I swear it’s not you.”

“Shh. Hey. Look at me.” She stays tight to herself, contained, her arms rigid.

I stroke her hair for a bit. This isn’t something I’m used to doing, really, but the strands are silky soft. I don’t want to make her do anything she doesn’t want to. Not that guy. But at the same time, I don’t think that’s the problem. For one, she’s still lying on the bed, not leaving.

“I’m going to touch you. Just touch. Is that ok?”

She nods behind her hands, but doesn’t move them.

I decide on her hip, her side, stroking. Down the length of her body, I see her pretty toes flex and point. Her body is long and tan, the very lightest, creamy coffee color. Wandering further I stroke down her thigh and her knee rises on the bed, her body moving in a small wave under my hand. After a few more seconds of this, she doesn’t resist when I tug gently at her hands.

“Let me see you. I want to see your face when I touch you. “

Her hands come down to her sides now, but her eyes are squinched closed. Her forehead is still creased as though she’s waiting for something to happen. It’s actually so cute, I kiss her forehead, right at that crease. Then the tip of her nose.

Her eyes flutter open then and she looks up at me, surprised. Her lips part as I lean in to kiss them, opening for me. I feel her hip rise under my palm, and so I stroke her there again, too. I dip my fingers between her silky soft thighs and I feel the tremor in the muscle.

She’s the one who deepens the kiss, licking, dueling with my tongue. Her breath is fast and I pull back to see those perfect breasts and the raspberry nipples. I stroke one.

“Was it too much? The sensation?”

She nods.

“Were you going to come?”

She nods again.

“I want you to.” I nibble the corner of her lips, lick the whorl of her ear. “So fucking gorgeous. The sexiest response I have ever seen. You don’t have to fight it.”

She shakes her head and burrows closer.

“Don’t hide. I want you to come for me.”

Sara sits up suddenly and throws a leg over, climbs on top of me. And proceeds to try to distract me with kisses.

“Hey,” I say, breaking the kiss. I try to take her hands in mine. She pulls them free and puts them back on my chest, stroking, trailing lower, her lips back on mine. “Not going to work.”

She sinks her teeth in my shoulder in response, not hard, but the little aggression is back. I sit up and take one of her nipples into my mouth. She retaliates with a hand back on my cock, expertly stroking, intentionally driving me nuts. She ignores me when I redirect her hands, so I go back to her nipples. I suck one of the little buds deep into my mouth. She counters by straddling me, and I feel her wet, hot heat hovering right over my dick, tantalizing. I move to her other breast and flick her nipple with my tongue, determined not to let her break my concentration. I know I’m winning when she moans and starts to grind down on my cock. She’s still so wet. At some point the head grazes her pussy and we both get completely still.

Impasse. Holding back is painful. Just a slight shift and I could be pushing up inside her. Condoms are less than a foot away on the night stand, but I have two hands on her ass and I couldn’t let go if you put a gun on me. The moment drags out and the longer I think about it, the more I’m aching to just push into her. Just feeling her start to come on my fingers was hot as hell. Imagining the slide of her bare pussy and feeling her start to go off…

Regardless of the danger, Sara grinds again. We both moan then, and the only satisfaction I have is knowing she wants it as much as I do.

“Move like that again, baby, see what happens. If I get inside you, I won’t be able to stop.”

“Oh yeah?” Sara pulls back, a hot look on her face. And despite my warning, I feel her pussy lips and the wet slide between them as she grinds down one more time.

“I told you . . .”

I’m pretty strong, so it’s easy to lift her up above me on the bed, and then slide down between her legs so her pussy is positioned right above my mouth. With her thighs on either side of my face, I pull down on her hips and at the same time bury my face up into her.

Just like before, she grabs my head, only this time grinds down on my mouth, controlling the pace. I flick her clit, driving the sensitive nub until I feel her start to mewl and shake. Her hips lift and buck, but I pull her down to me, nuzzling her pussy lips and then guiding her so I can run my tongue from her clit all the way to her ass. She cries out, gasps, and if I wasn’t holding her down, she’d lift off my mouth. I tickle her ass with my tongue and I hear her exhale a shocked, “Oh my god!” Her breath is ragged..

And then I feel her start to come, that tell-tale beginning that she fights so hard. But this is part of my plan. Hovering over my mouth like this, riding my face, she controls the stroke and rhythm so nothing is over-sensitive while I learn what she likes. But I don’t let her rest even a second, keeping my mouth locked to her pussy so she has to ride it out.

I look up and it’s like watching a goddess on her knees in this position, the pleasure on her face, her nipples hard and tight as it starts for her.

“I’m going to—” she starts to cry out and then stops herself, lifting. I follow with my mouth, relentless, until she lowers back on my tongue and grinds more. I can feel her fighting it, fighting herself.

Sometimes a little bit of pain opens the door to what feels good. I slide my hand back behind her hip and to her ass and press a finger at her tight little opening. Her body jolts like she’s been hit with lightning.

“What are you—oh!” I feel the tight resistance and then she cries out when my finger pops into her. In the meantime, her pussy contracts on my mouth. I’m filling up on the way she tastes, wet and hot on my tongue before I move my attention back to her clit and focus there, licking and sucking while I drive my finger deeper.

Between the shock of my finger and the flick of my tongue she’s overwhelmed and that’s when she finally, finally lets go. She fists the top of my head and grinds down on my mouth as the orgasm hits her, her head thrown back. My cock jerks in response as I hear and see and taste when she comes on my mouth. I wasn’t lying; Sara coming is the most incredible, sexiest response I have ever seen.

And we’re only just getting started. I’m not nearly done with Sara. It’s going to be a very long, pleasurable night.

The aftershocks are strong and I can feel her spasm as they hit, her body listing. I swirl my tongue around her clit gently and she shudders before I let her fall to the side and back into the pillows. While she’s recovering I reach for the condoms, slip one on.

Her eyes are soft, her arms limp, but she still reaches for me as I position on top of her. Her legs are open for me, and I feel her curl up around me. I put the head of my cock to her entrance and kiss her, let her taste herself on my mouth. And then finally, finally I push into her.

Her head immediately shoots back into the pillows, her back arching when my cock sinks in deep. I almost do the same—the fit, the feel of her body around me was worth every minute of teasing and build up tonight. She’s like warm butter, but even as wet as she is, she’s a tight fit and I feel every ripple as she takes me in and I fill her pussy completely.

And then she rears up like a she-cat and bites me

Like I said, pain. And pleasure. The love bite on my neck combined with the warm pull of her pussy is exactly what it takes for me to lose control. I’m like a wild man now, pumping into her, driving hard and deep. I know my cock is big and she’s tight around me, but still she takes it all, fucking me back, flicking her hips every time I sink into her.

She’s panting, matching me stroke for stroke when I feel her dig in again, retreating. I recognize the signs now.

Rearing up on my hands, I pump into her deep. “I know you’re fighting it.”

Her eyes are closed, turning from me. Her back arches up. Even as she’s trying to hold back, I can feel her body taking everything, fucking me back.

“Clark, it’s so much. I can’t stop it.”

“Then don’t. Don’t stop it. You came on my mouth. You’re going to come right here on my cock, aren’t you baby?”

She tosses her head back again and I know exactly what to do. I pull her with me as I lean and sit back on my thighs, lifting her so her hips and ass are up high in my hands while her shoulders and upper back are still pressed into the bed while I continue to fuck her. She grabs a pillow for leverage, and I watch her gorgeous tits bounce for me as I lift her just enough to ride my cock high inside her, stroking hard and deep and fast, never breaking the pace.

She loses it. Sara grabs my forearms, her nails sinking deep, grinding out another orgasm, even stronger than her first one, right on my cock. I don’t have even a second to congratulate myself on the slick move because the combination of fucking her, feeling her come, and seeing her go off triggers me. The orgasm that rips through me takes even me by surprise. It’s almost violent. I’m like an animal, forcing her legs even wider apart for me while pump each warm kick of come into her. And it doesn’t stop for a long, long time. Forever.

A long time later, I’m in a haze and I hardly register what’s happening when I feel warm kisses on my neck, my shoulder, my face. I lift my head to look around. I realize that I threw myself over her at the end, and now Sara’s wrapped around me, bringing me through the last of it.

I press my lips to her collarbone and try to figure out how to breathe again. Her body is soft and pillowy, crushed under me. I roll to the side, not breaking contact with her body, but moving so we both can breathe.

She tries to hide her eyes again, but I’m not having it. I pull her head back by her hair and latch onto her neck, talk lazy and slow against her skin.

“None of that. No hiding. Certainly not now.”

I feel her body shake as she laughs and then settles down, focusing on breathing too.

I push the hair from her face and look into her eyes. “You’re incredible. So fucking beautiful. Especially when you come.”

Sara closes her eyes, but she’s smiling. I drag my thumb along her lower lip, and she dips her chin, gently sucks the tip into her mouth. Bites down.

Goddamn. I just came harder than I ever have in my life and my brain is too scrambled to wrap my mind around starting again. But my body has other ideas. Ideas that include seeing her lips wrapped around something else tonight. And soon.

My cock twitches inside her. Sara’s eyes pop open, then narrow and darken.

“You’re an animal.”

“Something in the water, maybe? Kind of a surprise for me too.”

“Uh huh,” she says, not believing me.

I’m happy to let her think whatever she wants, but I’m dead serious. I’m not a slouch in that department at all but I’ve never been to bed with a woman as warm and responsive as her. Certainly never responded in kind like this.

No thought at all, just pure instinct set my hands roving over her again, pulling her thigh higher on mine, so I can press deep. I know I need to get up and get rid of the condom—at least switch it out—but I don’t want to pull out of her just yet. Not when I feel her hips start to move with me, her leg hooking at the base of my spine to pull me closer into her.

She lifts her chin and I leave a line of kisses down the column of her throat.

“Not bad for a tourist?” I ask. Sara smiles and play bites me. I cup her cheek. “How you feeling about that streak just now?”

She giggles then. I love the sound. And the words get lost when I get busy trying to set a different kind of record entirely.