Alice swiped her card over the reader and opened the door, holding it for him to follow her inside, then leaned against it as he stood several feet away with his back to her and his hands on his hips. The only things she could hear were the pitter-patter of rain outside, the thunder of her heartbeat in her ears, and the lightning-quick panting of her breath.

Without turning around, Carlos toed off his sneakers, first the left, then the right. Resting the back of her head against the hotel room door and unable to look away, she traced the movement of his arms as he dropped his fingers to the edge of his T-shirt. Slowly, so that every muscle on his beautiful back rippled in slow, controlled waves, he raised the white cotton over his head and threw it to the floor.

Blisteringly aware of what was about to happen between them, she stared at the smooth, caramel-color skin of his back, balling her hands into fists at her sides as her lower lip slipped between her teeth.

Pivoting on one socked foot, he turned around and approached her, his careful, deliberate movements lionlike, stalking her from where she stood. Without dropping her eyes for a moment, he reached for her hands and unfurled her fingers, then pinned her arms over her head, holding her wrists against the door with one hand while the other landed on her waist.

“Fast or slow?” he asked, dropping his lips to the exposed skin just over her sports bra.

“Both,” she panted.

“Good answer,” he said, dragging his lips over her flesh, his tongue darting out to lick drops of rain.

“Hard or soft?” he asked, reaching for the zipper between her breasts and pulling it down slowly, the sound of each tooth it opened echoing in the chaos of her mind.

“Both,” she answered breathlessly.

“Sí, mi amor,” he said as the zipper cleared the bottom and he separated the sides, baring her naked breasts to him, “both.”

Bending his head, he nuzzled the valley between her breasts, cradling the left in the palm of his hand as he licked the nipple of her right with one long, broad-tongued stroke.

She whimpered, bowing her back, fighting lightly against the way her wrists were pinned over her head but stopping when his grip tightened.

His lips latched onto the throbbing bud he’d just licked, and he sucked strongly as his thumb massaged its twin. Alice moaned loudly, arching into his mouth as his tongue laved the sensitive skin. He slid is lips between the swells of flesh and tongued her other nipple in slow, wet circles. Taking the rigid skin between his lips, he suckled on her flesh, making her already damp panties flood with moisture. She cried out, the sound animalistic and sharp, a combination of satiety and hunger.

Releasing her nipple with a kissing noise, Carlos lifted his head to look up at her, loosening his grip on her wrists and lowering her arms.

“Allie?”

She was breathless and dizzy as her bra slipped down her arms and fell to the floor. “Mm?”

“I’m takin’ you to bed.”

“Mm-hm,” she said, ready to follow him around the world if he told her that’s where they were going.

Holding one of her hands, he led her over to the bed and sat down on the edge, reaching for her hips. Staring deeply into her eyes, he hooked his fingers into the waistband of her shorts and panties and yanked. He took the hand he was holding and put in on his shoulder, then leaned forward and guided her clothing down to her ankles.

The tight black coils of his hair rested against the brown curly hair over her clit, and she felt her body flush at the incredibly erotic image of his face so close to her sex.

“Hold on to me,” he growled, and she curled her fingers onto his shoulder.

Picking up one of her feet, he unlaced her sneaker, then slipped her shoe, sock, and half of her shorts off. He picked up the other foot and did the same, throwing her shorts and panties well out of reaching distance and leaving her naked before him.

Lifting his head slowly, she felt the light pressure of his skull sliding upward, his hair tickling her belly as wide, dark eyes looked up at her. One hand slipped behind her and rested flat on her ass as he pushed her closer to him. The other flattened over her clit, the heel if his hand pressing insistently against her.

“You’re soaked for me.”

Alice’s previous lovers had never spoken in such graphic, erotic terms, and her breath caught as she looked down at him, unable to speak, only nodding slightly as her cheeks flared with heat.

“I’m dying to taste you, Allie.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she nodded again.

His lips quirked up, and he licked them. “I wasn’t asking for permission, baby. You’re mine. Remember?”

She bit her bottom lip, a rare feeling of vulnerability changing the nature of her persona. She was no longer a business owner with the weight of the world on her shoulders; she was a woman. Hot blooded and aching. Just a woman who was desperately in love with a man who made her feel hot and needy, safe and desired, protected and wanted. Her smile answered his as she stepped closer to him, between his outstretched legs where his erection tented the flimsy material of his running shorts.

“You’re the boss at the office, Allie. But here?” He stood up, then reached for her hips, turning her so that they traded places and the backs of her knees touched the bed. “I’m in charge.”

She could barely breathe, his words so commanding, so certain, she couldn’t do anything but nod again.

“Understand?” he asked.

“Yes,” she murmured, her clit throbbing for his promised touch.

“Lie down.”

She sat down on the bed, holding his eyes as she edged back on her elbows.

“All the way back.”

She reached back with her hands, then slid her body back and laid her head on the pillows at the head of the bed.

“Bend your knees, baby.”

She bent them.

“Now spread them.”

She gulped, widening the space between her legs as she heard the sound of him shucking off his shorts and dropping them to the tiled floor. His weight depressed the bed as he knelt down on the mattress.

“Close your eyes, mi amor.”

Slowly she closed them, giving over the last of any control to him as she felt the warmth of his hot breath against her skin. With her eyes closed, every touch was heightened, and when his lips dropped to the inside of her thigh, she whimpered.

“Allie…Allie…Allie…” he groaned, spreading the lips of her sex and bathing her with his tongue—one long, slow lick from the opening of her sex to the hood of her clit.

“Oh, my God,” she moaned.

He pushed his hands under each cheek of her ass and held her against his mouth, teasing her by sliding his tongue into the slick grooves on either side of her throbbing bud. Alice cried out softly, holding her breath, then releasing it as he circled her clit before licking it with broad, rhythmic strokes.

Her hips tried to buck, but he held her firmly, feasting on her pulsing, trembling flesh until the buildup was so strong, every muscle was straining, coiled within an inch of exploding. Suddenly his tongue was gone.

“Wh-What? Why?” she murmured.

“Allie,” he said, his voice low and taut, “open your eyes.”

She opened them instantly, licking her dry lips as her eyes slammed into his.

“I love you,” he said, staring so intensely into her eyes, it felt like he was gazing at the very fabric of her soul.

Then he dropped his head, his lips latched onto her clit, and she felt the touch of his teeth on the straining, vibrating nub of skin.

She screamed, her body falling into anarchy as ribbons of perfect pleasure unfurled like tendrils of white-hot lightning from her sex to her toes, her fingertips, and every place in between. His tongue bathed her gently as she climaxed, as fireworks detonated behind her eyelids and spasms of delight made her body jerk and tremble in endless waves. Her fingers, curled into the comforter beneath her, twisted the fabric, and her toes pointed until her heels lifted from the bed.

It took several minutes for her to realize that he was resting his head on her stomach, the bristles of his black hair soft against her skin. Sliding her hands from the comforter to his head, she rested her fingers on her beloved and wept.

***

Carlos could feel her crying.

It had taken him a moment to distinguish between the last ripples of her orgasm and tears, but when he had, he hadn’t forced her to speak. Instead he rolled to her side and pulled her against his chest spoon-style, her back pressed against him, his arm under her breasts holding her tightly. His erection pressed insistently into her back, pulsing with his own need, but he would wait for his own satisfaction until they had sorted out the reason for her sadness. Maybe he’d said “I love you” too soon, but he’d felt it so strongly in that moment, with the woman of his dreams trusting him implicitly, completely, without words or rules or reservations, he hadn’t been able to hold the words inside.

“Are you okay, Allie?” he asked, pressing his lips to the back of her neck.

She sobbed softly, reaching up to hold the arm beneath her breasts. “I will be.”

“Was it too much?”

“It was perfect,” she whispered, the words breaking.

“Too soon, then, to say—”

“No!” she insisted. “Not too soon.”

“I love you, querida. I do. I’ve loved you for so long now.”

“Since when?”

He grinned, kissing her neck again. “Since you stood on a desk and asked an office full of idiots if they were sick of kissing your father’s ass.”

She giggled in his arms, then sniffled.

“You have no idea what it felt like to stand there on the floor, looking up at you. This may sound foolish, but you looked like the Statue of Liberty almost, offering every person in that office a chance for a better life. I was…astonished by you.”

She scoffed. “You were the only one.”

“I’d follow you to the ends of the earth, mi amor.”

She was silent for a moment, breathing deeply, her lungs compressing and filling more rhythmically now. “You would?”

“I’d follow you into hell,” he said softly, kissing her neck again.

“I love you too,” she whispered, so softly he almost could have imagined it.

His eyes burned suddenly, and he closed them, understanding with perfect clarity why Alice was crying: because when you’ve waited years for the words, with little hope of ever hearing them, the moment when you do is…is…overwhelming.

“You do?”

She nodded, her hair tickling his nose as she sniffled again. “Completely. I don’t know who I am anymore—”

“—without you,” they finished together.

Gently, as though he handled the most priceless treasure on God’s earth, he turned her in his arms, looking into her eyes.

“Say it again,” he murmured.

“I love you,” she said, the words soft but certain.

“I love you too.”

Her lips quivered, and she blinked at him.

“It makes you cry to hear it?” he asked tenderly, holding her body close to his with one arm wound around her waist and the other pillowed under his head.

A tear slid from her eye, over her nose, dropping with a tiny patter on the sheets between their faces. “I’ve heard it very little in my life. Those words.”

He flinched when she said this. He couldn’t help it. There was so much raw yearning yet no self-pity in her voice. It was a fact of her life. One that he intended to remedy.

“I love you,” he said again. “I loved you yesterday. I love you today. I will love you tomorrow.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. “I love you, Alice.”

She gulped, her eyes searching his, her voice barely audible when she sobbed his name. “Carlos.”

“I’m going to say it so much, it won’t make you cry anymore. It’ll just be a truth. Something that belongs to you like your business or your sisters. Me. I’ll belong to you. And my love will belong to you.”

She bowed her head, tucking it under his chin, and he held her tighter, knowing that she needed to feel safe, that she needed the strength of his body to reinforce the rawness of his feelings.

“Where do we go from here?” she finally asked.

“Mi amor, as long as we’re together, we go wherever we want.” She tipped her head up to look at him, and he kissed her, long and hard, swallowing her soft moan of satisfaction. “Te amo. Te quiero. Quiero hacerte el amor.”

“What does that mean?”

“I love you,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose.

“I want you,” he said, rolling her onto her back and spreading her legs so his fit between them.

“I want to make love to you,” he said, surging forward so that his hard cock slipped between her folds and rubbed her clit.

“Ahhhh,” she moaned. “I want that too.”

His erection pulsed with need, and he thrust forward again. “Are you on the pill?”

“Y-Yes,” she sighed, her eyes closed and her mouth open.

“Allie, look at me.” She opened her eyes, but they were heavy and dazed. Fuck, but he needed to be inside her. His breath shuddered with want. “I’ve been careful.”

“C-Careful?”

“I’ve never…I’ve never had sex without a condom,” he said, his voice breathless as he slid between her slick folds again, the tip of his cock kissing her clit. “I’ve never wanted to. I’ve never been in love with anyone…except you.”

Her eyes brightened. “I’ve never been in love with anyone except you.”

 

Oh, Allie. His heart clenched with how lonely she must have been, how starved for love. And he was only too glad to give her all of his. It already belonged to her anyway.

“Have you been…safe, mi amor?”

“I always…ahhh…” Her words trailed off as she sighed. He was thrusting rhythmically between her lips now, massaging her clit with every stroke. “I always insist on a condom. Unless I’m…with…someone.”

“You’re with me now,” he said, cradling her head in his hands as he held his weight above her.

“Mm-hm,” she hummed, flexing her hips in tandem with him, her eyes half-lidded as she stared up at him, need etched on every beloved feature of her face. “I’m yours. Please, Carlos. I need you.”

He pulled his hips back and lined up his cock at the opening of her sex. It was wet and hot against the top of his cock, and he groaned, his eyes rolling back in his head as he surged forward. Moving slowly—so slowly—he felt every ridge of her hidden skin, every ripple of her muscles. They pulled forward into the heaven of her sheath until he was fully embedded there.

“Aaaaah-leeeese,” he groaned, leaning down to find her lips, kissing her madly as he drew back, then slid forward again, faster this time, their fit so tight, so perfect, he was having trouble going slow.

She whimpered beneath him, raising her legs and locking them around his upper thighs as he rocked into her, relentlessly, hungrily, their moans and groans colliding, her whimpers blending with his cries until she screamed his name, “Carlos!” and he thrust forward one final time, emptying himself into her body in hot, potent streams of bliss and vowing to love her forevermore.

***

Eight hours later, with a delicious aching between her thighs, Alice sat beside Carlos in the four-passenger chartered plane bound for Ponce, Puerto Rico, her fingers entwined through his as she looked out the window at the impossibly blue Caribbean below and relived every detail of their amazing afternoon together.

They’d made love so many times she’d lost count, passionately violating every surface of her hotel room: the bathroom sink where she’d braced her hands while he’d taken her from behind, the shower where he’d knelt between her legs and licked water from her pussy, the sofa in the small sitting room where she’d straddled him, the ottoman where he’d impaled her on his lap. There had been others too, because his cock had been in her mouth at least twice, the silken skin taut over the pulsing muscle, but she couldn’t remember where, and it didn’t matter. While it rained outside, their day together had blended into hours of hot orgasms and sweet I love yous and catnaps where he held her close before sliding into her once again.

It was love that had made today possible, she realized, because nothing else would have tempted her to stray from the straight and narrow path she’d been walking for so long. Love was the deepest yearning in her heart, the most profound longing of her soul, and Carlos loved her. The truth of it made her eyes burn even now, and she squeezed his fingers tighter. No matter what, she wouldn’t give him up. Not now. Not ever.

But his words, his sweet, earnest words—Mi amor, as long as we’re together, we go wherever we want—were naïve. She could deal with their age difference, especially since he had a precedent for it in his life. She could deal with their difference in background, because, as he’d so aptly noted, they had been sharing the same world for years now. If they intended to remain together, they’d need to discuss a timeline for marriage and children sooner or later, but she wasn’t worried. She sensed that Carlos’ willingness to settle down would translate to flexibility on starting a family.

But the still-unavoidable hurdle? Work. And firing him—making him pay the price of their love—wasn’t fair.

So what were her options?

The only one that made sense was to offer Shane the position of interim CEO and take an indefinite leave of absence so that Carlos could remain on staff.

She winced as she thought about actually doing this. Alice had risked everything to start SST: her money, her reputation, her sanity. She’d given birth to that company and raised it into a profitable, formidable trading entity. The thought of walking away from it—even for the love of her life—scared and saddened her. And would she end up blaming him for having to choose? For having to give up her ambition in order to hold onto her love?

She sighed as the captain announced their descent.

“Already?” she asked Carlos, her voice raised over the loud propeller motor.

“The islands are side by side!” he shouted back, raising her hand to his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she mouthed, leaning forward to kiss him and vowing that she would figure out a way to keep him forever.