I kissed my way down his neck, unbuttoning his shirt so I could move my hands and my mouth down his chest. He was so strong, and it made me feel so safe, as though he could have fought off any threat that might have come near us, drawn himself up and taken care of me no matter what. But tonight, I wanted to take care of him and wanted to show him I saw the pain from his past and rejected it completely.

I slid down his body until I was between his legs, my fingers shaking a little as I went to undo the zipper of his jeans. He had put so much effort into this night, and the least I could do was return that favor. His eyes were burning as he watched me, reaching out to brush a strand of hair back from my face. His fingertips against my skin left trails of electricity behind, tingling my nerve endings wherever they touched.

Finally, I managed to pull his jeans off, followed by his underwear. He looked so hot like that, naked but for that shirt pulled open over his torso, and I leaned back to take him in.

“Like what you see?” he teased, and I raised my eyebrows.

“Let me show you how much I do,” I assured him, and I leaned forward, wrapped my hand around his cock, and took him into my mouth.

I sealed my lips around the head of his cock and swirled my tongue around him for a moment, lapping at him hungrily, tasting the hint of precum already oozing from his erection. He groaned and let his head sink back into the couch while I focused my attention on lavishing him with pleasure, showing him I appreciated all he’d done for me tonight and wanted to return the favor. I closed my eyes and began to take more of him, inching down slowly until I’d taken nearly his full length into my mouth. So many of the guys I had been with before, they would push back, thrust up into me before I was ready to get me to gag on their dick, but he was different. He let me set the pace, take control, and even though I was the one between his legs servicing him, I felt utterly at ease.

I worked my tongue up the underside of his cock as I slid my mouth languidly up and down his full length, wrapping my fingers around the base to hold him steady as I did so. His body tensed, his breath coming a little faster than it had before, and I knew I was doing a good job. It wasn’t exactly something I could stick on my resumé, but I had always known I was good at giving head—and Holden didn’t seem in any rush to dissuade me of that notion.

“Look at me,” he breathed, and I lifted my eyes to meet his. Something about that connection, the acknowledgment of what we were doing and that it was seriously getting him off, sent a shiver of desire through my body. I slipped my hand down between my legs, popping open my jeans awkwardly and pushing my fingers into my panties to play with my clit. I was grinding against my hand as I went down on him, my own pleasure as important as his, and I began to suck softly on his dick, applying that gentle pressure I knew would push him closer to the edge.

“Fuck,” he groaned, and I looked up at him once more, meeting his gaze, staring into his eyes and watching every single reaction he had to me, every single twitch, every single rush of tension, every single time his lips parted as though he was trying to express a pleasure he couldn’t put a name to yet. I worked him with my mouth, going fast and then slow, hard and then soft, switching it up so neither of us got bored. I loved this. I could have done this all day. The mixture of the power of having him in my mouth and the pleasure of my fingers against my clit was an intoxicating mix that I could never imagine getting enough of.

Suddenly, he leaned down and lifted me up to face him, so I was on his lap once more. He kissed me hard, his teeth catching on my lip, his tongue meeting mine in a moment. I groaned and started to kick off my jeans and my underwear, letting him help me.

“I need to be inside you right now,” he panted into my ear, and I squirmed against me.

“Anything you want,” I replied sweetly, acting as though I was doing this for him and not because I was getting off on this just as much.

He grabbed a condom and returned, sheathing himself swiftly and tossing his shirt aside. Sliding down on top of me in one swift movement, he pushed my legs apart. The couch was soft and comfortable, his body hard and needy, and the combination of the two sent desperate shivers all through my system. I spread my legs and lifted my hips to him, my mouth parting into a gasp as I watched him move into me for the first time.

“Oh, God,” I moaned, tipping my head back and closing my eyes, my body taking every inch of him in one smooth motion as he thrust up and into me. He worked in long, slow strokes at first, burying himself all the way inside of me, his mouth on my neck, his breath hot on my skin, his hands quick as they moved over every inch of my body like he was charting me, making a map of me, learning my contours and curves.

And then he began to move faster, pushing harder as our hips came together with more purpose. I lifted myself off the couch and started to push back against him, drawing him deeper into me so hard and so fast, my entire body began to tremble. I hadn’t realized how much I needed this, but I was close to coming already, my body teetering on the edge of this delicious precipice that I was perfectly happy hanging out on for a while.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous, Autumn,” he murmured into my ear, and his voice was as layered with lust as it had been the first time we’d done this. I had wondered, somewhere in the back of my mind, if he wouldn’t be as interested in me once we had consummated the relationship, but he was proving to me every way he could that he wanted me as much as he did then. I wrapped my arms around him, sinking my fingers into his back, tracing lines with my nails, unable to vocalize what I needed to say but telling it to him anyway.

He moved relentlessly inside of me, and I shifted so I could play with my clit once more. I needed both of us to come, and I had to come soon or else I’d explode. I closed my eyes, letting the sounds and the sensations take me over, listening to his breath as it tore from his lungs, listening to the slight creak of the couch below us as he moved hard into me, taking in the long washes of pleasure that seemed to consume me as he fucked me roughly, his body owning mine, my entire being wrapped up in this moment.

“Ah!” I cried out as the orgasm hit me, tossing me over the edge of that cliff once and for all where there would be no going back, the pleasure exploding through me, running from between my legs and out, fire tearing through my very being. I pressed against him, needing to feel his body on mine, his skin next to my own. He thrust twice more, the last time holding himself still as my clenching pussy massaged his cock, and then he came.

“Fuck,” he growled against me, right in my ear, the sound of the word as it came out of his mouth instantly burning itself into my memory. There was nothing better in the world than knowing that the person you were with had been so helpless to you that they’d come. I let my eyes stay shut as I ran my hands gently over his body, reminding him I was here, that I wasn’t going anywhere. He kissed my collarbone and my neck, telling me the same thing.

After a moment, he pulled out of me and went to dispose of the condom. My eyes eventually fluttered open to find him offering me a fresh glass of wine.

“Why, thank you.” I laughed. “But you don’t have to get me tipsy now, right?”

“Trust me, if you think I’m done with you, you’re totally wrong.” His eyes flashed playfully at me, and I shifted in my seat. I grabbed my panties and slipped them back on, tucking my legs up and underneath me. He grabbed his boxers and flopped down on the couch, nearly naked, his chest still rising and falling sharply as he caught his breath.

I reached out to run my fingers over his chest. I could feel his heart beating fast. He closed his eyes and shifted his head so he could lay it against the couch like he had done before, and the two of us sat like that in that moment of silence.

It all began to click into place for me, the reason he had worked so hard, had thrown himself into his job to the detriment of practically everything but his son. He had been trying to prove himself to a woman who had never wanted him, who hadn’t even stuck around long enough to help him raise their son. And my heart ached for him. Nobody deserved to be treated that way, and maybe I was biased, but Holden was certainly at the bottom of the list of people who had earned the title of “loser.” It made sense why he’d been so keen to show off his lifestyle to me, to prove he was a wealthy, successful man. He wanted to show me what he was capable of, to escape that name once more.

When he opened his eyes, he smiled gently at me and then reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

“You all right?” he asked, and I cleared those thoughts from my head, not wanting them to get in the way of the rest of the night we had ahead of us. I knew the truth about Hunter’s mother, and that was all I could ask for.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied.

“Just fine?” He cocked an eyebrow playfully. “Let’s see what we can do to make that better, huh?”