We had a show that night in a country town in Victoria.

The venue was small, but it had a good layout with the bar along the side, a small stage at one end, and a large open area filling the rest of the space. There was no barrier between the crowd and us, and the stage itself only came up to my waist as I stood looking up at it. Intimate shows like this one were fast becoming my favorite. I didn’t know how those huge stadium bands did it, to be honest. They were so separated from the people who’d come to see them, making it feel at least a little alienating.

Playing at a place like this was like playing with everyone, not playing at them. It was the way I liked it.

I found I enjoyed going out into the venue afterward and talking to people. I couldn’t pinpoint the moment my attitude had changed, but I didn’t want it to change back. After so long hiding away, I felt like I was coming up for fresh air. Dee helped me, but Will had sealed the deal, and the way he treated me made me feel amazing. He really had been telling the truth when he said he’d do anything for me. As each hour passed, I didn’t know why I’d been so afraid. Still, it was early days, and the honeymoon period was still well underway, and I hoped it would never end. The happy ever afters didn’t, and I wanted this to be one of those.

Once I’d let go of my fear, Will had consumed me so fast it took my breath away. I couldn’t fathom how it was possible but it was. This was reality. My past was gone, and only my future remained.

I never understood when people said they couldn’t stop looking at their partners. How the whole world dropped away and only they existed. I could never see it, but right now, I got it. I stood in the middle of the venue, watching as Will leaned over the bar, talking to the owner of the place. I wondered if the guys were annoyed at me for ignoring them so much. It wasn’t like I meant to do it. I couldn’t help it.

“Do you need a tissue to wipe up the drool on your chin?” Dee whispered in my ear, making me jump.

“He really does have a nice ass, don’t you think?”

To my amusement, he almost choked. “Ugh, Zoe. I’m straight. I don’t look at other guys’ asses.” He feigned throwing up but stopped suddenly and elbowed me sharply. “Uh-oh.”

“Uh-oh, what?” I frowned.

“Blonde shorty shorts zeroing in on your man.”

While Will waited for the bartender to pour his drinks, I watched the girl Dee had noticed sidle up toward him. My eyes narrowed as jealousy flared up inside me. She was a typical young woman and one of the ones he would have flirted with before me. Even though he’d said he’d done it to make me jealous, it was still his type. I wasn’t his type, but I broke the mold.

“Well, if this isn’t a test, I don’t know what is,” Dee said, waiting beside me.

She started talking to Will, leaning toward him and obviously flirting. When he smiled at her, I felt the jealous beast inside me rear her ugly head. Dee threaded his arm through mine, stopping me from going over and doing something stupid. It reminded me of that night at the pub in the middle of nowhere when Will had almost gotten himself into a fight over some guy trying to chat me up at the bar. I’d ripped strips off him for doing it, so if I ran over there now, how much of a hypocrite would I be?

He leaned away slightly and said something, and her expression seemed to fall. Picking up the drinks the bartender set in front of him, he turned away and walked back toward us.

“That’s all the confirmation you need, hot legs.” Dee planted a kiss on my forehead and wandered off.

Will strode across the room, aiming straight for me, a hungry smile on his face.

“She looked disappointed.” I smirked as he handed me my drink.

“Too bad,” he said, wrapping an arm around my waist. “I’m taken by this tough tattooed rock goddess.”

“Really? Do I know her?”

“Shut up.” He laughed, kissing me lightly on the lips.

“I understand now,” I said and took a sip of my drink.

“Understand what?”

“When you almost thumped that guy who was trying to crack onto me.”

His eyes narrowed, but his lips twitched, signaling he was finding this funny. “You’d protect me from aggressive groupies?”

“Will.”

“You told me off. Big time. Should I be doing the same?”

“I wasn’t yours then,” I said, threading my fingers through his. “But now you’re mine.”

“Oh, I see how it is.” Leaning down, he caught my lips in a kiss, teasing me with the tip of his tongue.

“Mine,” I said as he pulled away.

With a smirk, he let his lips trail along my flushed cheek, stepping into me.

“What do I keep telling you guys about public places?” Dee exclaimed, pretending to stick his fingers down his throat.

With a laugh, I downed the rest of my drink and murmured into Will’s ear, “Wanna blow this popcorn stand?”

He grinned wickedly at me and replied, “Thought you’d never ask.”

* * *

We were staying in a motel at the edge of town near the highway.

It wasn’t the Ritz, and it smelled a little of old mothballs, but it was nice enough for a night. We had a separate room with a queen bed, which was just two king-sized singles pushed together, and a lovely floral doona that matched the curtains, a tiny bathroom, and the stock standard electric kettle with the cheap no-name tea bags.

As the door closed behind him, Will sighed, sliding his thumbs into the belt loops of my jeans. “Alone at last,” he murmured, tugging me toward him.

My arms snaked around his neck.

“That was a great gig tonight,” he murmured.

“It was okay,” I said, lying through my teeth. It had been an amazing gig.

“Only okay?”

“Well, I can think of better things.”

“Like what?” His lips brushed against mine, teasing.

“This is up there.”

“Really?”

He walked me backward until my back hit the wall, and his lips crashed into mine. His hard-on pressed into my stomach and the going slow business we’d talked about the other night seemed insane. It took more strength to stop than it did to keep going, and after witnessing him brush off that girl for me, I really wanted to keep going.

Will buried his hands in my hair, holding me steady as he kissed me with such consuming passion I let out a deep moan into his mouth. I wanted all of him. Now.

He pulled back, gazing into my eyes, breathing heavily. “God, Zoe. You set me on fire.”

I didn’t reply. Instead, I pushed up his T-shirt, wanting to feel his skin.

“I thought you wanted to take it slow?” he asked.

I shook my head, biting my lower lip.

His jaw tensed, and I knew he was struggling with what to do next. He was afraid of pushing me after that day we’d spent at the pool. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

It was all he needed to hear. He pressed against me, pushing the length of my body against the wall, and ran a hand up my neck and into my hair, his lips hard against my jaw.

“Take it off,” I ordered, pulling at his T-shirt.

Without pausing, he grabbed the back of it, pulling the annoying material over his head and messing up his hair. How could we go slow when he was just as turned on as I was? I could feel the evidence pressing into me through his jeans, and I moved against him, receiving a deep moan for my effort.

I ran a hand up his chest and traced the edges of the tattoo that was etched there, sliding a thumb around his nipple. When he drew in a sharp breath, I bit my bottom lip, arching myself forward.

He undid each button of my shirt slowly, climbing steadily until he reached the top, and the material parted, exposing my skin underneath. Easing it from my shoulders, it dropped to the floor, his fingers skimming the straps of the black pinstriped bra I’d decided to wear that day and knocked one from my shoulder.

Will didn’t utter one word. The only sound was our labored breathing as we slowly undressed each other. Pushing off the wall, I raised a hand behind my back and undid the clasp of my bra, letting the material fall to the floor.

His gaze left mine and raked across my chest, his thumbs brushing underneath the soft curve of my breasts before finding their way toward my already hard nipples. When he pinched them tightly, his mouth covered mine, stifling a sharp gasp.

“Zoe,” he murmured.

I reached for the button on his jeans, hooking a thumb underneath the waistband, but he had other ideas. Turning me around, he held me back against the length of his body as his hands ran down my stomach, into my own jeans, and then underneath my underwear. His other hand flipped open the button, and the zipper opened allowing better access.

When his fingers brushed against my clit and down between my legs, a strangled gasp escaped my lips.

“Fuck,” he groaned into my ear, his breath hot against my neck. “You’re so wet.”

“For you,” I whispered, my hand sliding over his, pushing his palm harder against my clit, but he pulled back, leaving me hanging.

“Not yet.” He pushed my jeans down. They fell to my knees along with my underwear, and I kicked them off. I was totally naked, but it felt right. Everything about this felt right.

Turning around, I unbuttoned his dark gray jeans, shoving my hands down the back and over his ass, pulling them off and freeing him.

His nose skimmed down my neck, and he trailed soft kisses along my shoulder, his hand pressing into my back and holding my body against his. We were skin on skin, our hands feeling every part of one another, exploring and learning in tender touches.

Will walked me backward toward the bed until my legs hit the edge, and then I was falling until I hit the mattress. His gaze ran the entire length of my body as if he was committing every inch to memory before pressing his weight into me.

“When I first saw you, I wanted to know you,” he murmured, sucking my nipple into his mouth. “When you first spoke to me, I wanted to kiss you.” He dragged his teeth against the sensitive skin, earning himself a gasp. “When you first touched me, I wanted you to be mine.” He pressed his hard length against my clit, making me squirm against him.

“Will,” I moaned, rolling my hips up into his, wanting to sate the ache deep inside me.

“Tell me what you want,” he said, his lips against my neck.

I was suddenly shy despite the position we were currently in. No one had ever asked what I wanted during sex before. I wasn’t sure what to say.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and opened myself to him fully, my hands pressing into his ass. I ground against him, wanting him inside me.

“You have to tell me.” He dragged his teeth against the skin of my neck.

I had nothing to lose right now, other than the one thing I wanted most. “I want to know you. I want to kiss you. I want to touch you. I want to feel you inside me. All of you. Only you.”

A tortured moan escaped his lips, and his eyes met mine. “Shit, Zoe. You can’t say stuff like that to me.”

“Why not?”

“Because I won’t last two seconds, and I want to make love to you all night.”

A shiver ran down my spine. He felt it and moved against me. “Will.”

“Don’t worry.” He reached over to the bedside table where he’d flung his bag. “I want to be in the same place.”

Easing up on his knees, he rolled on a condom, and I watched his every move enraptured. Hovering over my opening, he slid just inside, and it was consuming. My fingernails pressed into his back, and he thrust forward, burying himself deep.

“Fuck, Zoe,” he said with a gasp, resting his forehead against mine.

It was taking all my strength to be still. “When I stand on stage tomorrow night, I want to feel where you’ve been.”

His eyes betrayed the effect my words had on him, and he pulled back until his tip was the only thing left, then slammed back into me, making me cry out.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said, my voice wavering. “Again.”

Right then, he would have done anything I asked him, and I would have done anything he wanted. He pulled out and thrust again. This time, setting up a rhythm, quick but encompassing. Every time he pushed in, he buried deep, pressing hard against my clit.

His forearms rested on either side of my head, and his gaze never left mine. He wanted to see what he did to me, and I wanted to see his expression when he came undone inside me. I wanted the most intimate part of him. I wanted to take it whether he wanted to give it to me or not.

He pushed hard into me and stopped, flexing and swirling his hips, sending a sharp bolt of desire through me. It was too much, and I let out a loud groan, my fingernails biting into his skin.

“I want to be on top,” I said. “I want to watch you.”

Will moaned against my lips before rolling us over, and cool air kissed my back. Pulling my body away, I felt the angle deepen him inside me, and a shiver splintered through my body. I tightened around him, and he moaned, his hands grasping my hips. As I began to move, he helped, grinding up to meet me.

“You’re so deep.” I gasped, throwing my head back.

Reaching up, he covered my breasts with his hands, kneading and pinching, my entire body prickling with the building orgasm inside me.

“I’m close.” I panted, my hands over his.

Suddenly, I was on my back again, and he was over me, eyes wild. That was all the warning he gave me before he let go of the last shred of his control and began pounding into me, hard and fast.

“Yes,” I cried as the promise of what was coming swelled with each thrust of his hips.

I tightened around him, my muscles clenching as the most mind-splitting orgasm I’d ever had in my entire life crashed over me. It kept going and going as he fucked me harder until he came inside me, prolonging the euphoric feeling.

I was hardly aware that I’d called out his name over and over, gasping for air and clawing at his skin as sweat rolled off our bodies. It didn’t matter one bit. The only thing that did was that we were together, that it was Will who had given me this feeling of bliss.

He collapsed against me, breathing hard, his hot, sticky skin against mine as he captured my lips in a soft, wet kiss. What I’d just felt was complete and consuming, my eyes drooped, and my hands fell away from his back.

“God, Zoe.” Will moaned and pulled out.

It didn’t register when he rolled away and went into the bathroom, but when he came back, he pulled me against him, cupping a tender breast with a shaking hand.

Turning my head, I gazed into his eyes, committing to memory every little fleck of gray and every hue of blue.

“Zoe? Say something. You’re making me nervous.”

There was only one thing I could think of to say right then. “I just had the most amazing orgasm of my life.”

His lips curved into a wicked grin. “You say all the right things.”