“Okay, everyone. This amazing night is coming to a close, but I’m going to play one more slow song for you. Let’s get everyone out on the dance floor with our bride and groom,” the DJ said into the microphone.

Ryan and Ben were sitting at her table with Jace, Aly, Gabe, and . . . dammit! Ryan still hadn’t caught Gabe’s date’s name. Ryan watched the other couples stand and then noticed Ben doing the same.

“May I have this dance?” he asked.

She smiled and put her hand in his outstretched one. They made it to the dance floor as James Arthur’s “Say You Won’t Let Go” began playing. “I love this song,” Ryan said as Ben drew her closer.

“Me too,” he whispered against her hair as they began to sway together.

The words of the song infused every fiber of Ryan’s soul. When he sang about how the woman he met made him feel like he was enough, Ryan closed her eyes and let the words become her truth. Because Ben had made her feel that way from the beginning. He’d never made her feel less than because he thought she was an escort. Ryan was pretty sure he actually thought more highly of her than he should.

The words talked about the man pulling the woman closer, and Ben’s arms hugged Ryan tighter. It made her feel safe and wanted.

The song continued to say the words Ryan was afraid to give her own voice to. How the singer loved the girl, but he was too afraid to show her, afraid of what letting go would mean for him. How he needed her, but he couldn’t let her know how deep his desires ran.

Ryan had been running from these feelings for weeks. She’d known they were there, but had actively tried to avoid thinking about them. Because thinking about them would make her acknowledge them, and acknowledging them would make it all real. But what they had wasn’t real. Was it?

As the beautiful voice filled the room, asking his beloved to never let him go, Ryan looked up at Ben. Even in the dim room, she could see the way his eyes blazed. There was no missing the intent look on his face as he stared at her. She moved her hand to cup the back of his neck and rubbed soft circles there with her thumb.

He then brought a hand up to touch her cheek. And as the singer sang about wanting to be with the woman he loved until they were old and gray, Ben pulled Ryan into a kiss that said everything they hadn’t been able to. It was gentle yet unyielding, passionate but with a clear intent. This kiss was a promise—a promise that there could be more. That their story didn’t have to only be about a hockey player and an escort. It could be about Ben and Ryan. And that would be more than enough. It would, in fact, be everything.

They kissed until the song ended and the lights grew brighter. Everyone else had fallen away, and it was only them, still swaying to music only they could hear.

A clatter of dishes brought them back to themselves, and they slowly pulled apart though Ryan kept her eyes closed. Because if she was dreaming, she didn’t want to wake up.

“I think the wedding is over.” Ben’s breath ghosted over her sensitive lips as he spoke, and she had to bite back a moan. “We should probably go back to our room.”

That idea had Ryan’s eyes shooting open. “Yes, we should definitely do that. Right now.” Her entire body was aroused as goose bumps spread over her skin. She could feel the wetness between her legs, and the thought of Ben touching her there made her shiver.

Ben didn’t respond. Instead, he grabbed Ryan’s hand and pulled her toward the exit.

“Shouldn’t we say goodbye to your friends and family?” she asked.

Ben released what sounded like a growl before pulling her over to his brother and parents, where they said such a quick goodbye Ryan nearly got whiplash.

“That was kind of rude,” Ryan whispered when Ben led her away.

Ben stopped abruptly and turned around, causing Ryan to bump into him. And the impressive bulge in his pants. His voice was husky when he spoke in her ear. “Do you feel what you do to me?”

She nodded, too breathless to respond.

“Then you understand why I have no intention of having a long conversation with anyone right now.”

“Yeah, I think I get it,” she murmured as her eyes locked onto his lips and she ran her tongue over the bottom one of hers.

Ben groaned. “If you don’t knock that off, we’re not going to make it upstairs before I’m inside of you.”

“Jesus Christ,” she whimpered as he again began pulling her toward the exit. They all but ran onto an elevator, where they were stuck with some of Ben’s extended family who must have somehow missed the sexual desperation that was radiating from them because they insisted on making small talk on the way up. Finally, Ben and Ryan arrived at their floor, and Ben grunted a goodbye before leading her into the hallway and to their room.

Ben fumbled with the keycard, but once he got it open, he hustled her in, threw the keycard in the general direction of a table, and then pinned her against the door. “I can’t . . . I don’t . . .” He took a deep breath and started over. “I need you.”

Ryan let a smirk slowly roll onto her face. “You’ve got me.”

* * *

Ben felt like he was going to ignite into flames. Part of it was probably the way the fabric of his tux felt against his raging hard-on as he walked to the room, but most of it was because Ryan was under his skin. Like she’d burrowed there and made herself at home. It was a feeling he was surprised to find he loved. And it made him want to protect her, support her, claim her.

He let the entire length of his body press hers into the door so she could feel all of him. “I’m not going to be able to be patient,” he told her as he nipped and licked at her jaw.

“Good,” she replied, panting.

He moved down to suck on the soft skin on her neck. “I’m not going to be able to be gentle either.”

She moaned as he sucked. “Don’t want you to be.”

His hands moved to her breasts and massaged them roughly over her dress as his mouth moved to her shoulder and sucked hard enough to leave a mark. Her hands brushed over his hair and tugged as she arched at the contact.

Moving his hands to her back, he dragged the zipper on her dress down and let it fall to the floor. He also made short work of her bra and thong, finding himself supremely turned on at her being naked while he was still fully clothed. His fingers drifted down her body until they found her ass, and he kneaded the toned flesh there for a second before hoisting her up.

She wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the bed. He dropped her onto it before whipping off his jacket and then sprawling on top of her. Grinding against her, he didn’t move to free his aching cock from his pants. Ben needed something from her first.

“Please,” she moaned. “Oh, Ben, please.”

That was what he needed. Needed her to be as hot for him as he was for her. Needed her to want him as badly as he wanted her. And then maybe, just maybe, he could convince her to keep him.

He kissed down her body slowly, untying his bow tie along the way. When he reached the apex of her thighs, he popped open the top few buttons of his shirt. He didn’t want anything restricting him.

When he licked over her clit, she nearly bucked off the bed. Her fingers found their way to her nipples, pinching them as he continued to flick at the most sensitive part of her. Ben could taste her arousal on his tongue, and he reveled in it, dove in deeper get more of her in his mouth.

He let one hand drift down to his cock, and he palmed it through the zipper before working to free himself. Jerking himself slowly, he continued to tongue fuck her with abandon.

“Oh my God,” Ryan moaned as her body constricted. He felt her convulse around his tongue, her entire body seeming to clench in on itself before relaxing again. Her heavy breaths made her chest rise and fall rapidly.

Ben stood and watched her spread beautifully for him on the bed as he stripped out of his clothes, grabbed a condom, and rolled it on. Climbing on top of her, he kissed her deeply before lining himself up and pushing into her. He held himself up on his forearms, his face hovering directly above hers.

Her fingernails scored down his back as he pumped wildly. His release had been within reach since they’d walked in the room, but now he was torn between hurtling toward it as fast as possible and dragging this out, because this was by far the best sex he’d ever had and he didn’t want it to be over.

The walls of her pussy were wet and tight after her orgasm, and Ben found his thrusts stuttering. It felt too good for him to hold off. He consoled himself with the knowledge that they could have this again and again. Because he was sure as fuck not letting her go.

Sweat trickled down his brow as he felt a tingle travel up his spine. Then, suddenly, the tingle turned into lightning, and he was coming, pumping into her as she quaked under him from a second orgasm. He snapped his hips a few more times, letting his cock wring itself dry. Then he lowered himself down so he could kiss her again, not yet wanting to pull out of her and lose the connection they’d shared.

They kissed lazily as the exhaustion of the day caught up with them. He finally dragged himself away from her long enough to get something to clean them up with. Then he climbed into bed and pulled her to him.

She settled against him and sighed happily. It was then that he realized that they’d shared virtually no words since they’d found their way to the bed. Ben knew they had things to say, but for now, the actions had been enough. There’d be time to talk tomorrow.