All the way home, all I can think of is kissing him. Not throwing him on his bed and ravaging him, not fucking like orgasm-starved savages until we’re both boneless and spent.

Just…kissing.

His mouth on mine, his hands on my face, my fingers in his hair, our lips confessing with a touch all the things they’re too afraid to speak out loud.

Things like…you’re special. You’re the person I didn’t think I would ever find. You’re my unicorn sighting, my portal at the back of the wardrobe. You are all the magical things I didn’t believe existed, but better, because you’re real.

And you’re mine.

Or close to being mine. Closer than anyone has been in a long, long time.

After Rafe shuts off the engine, neither of us says a word. We simply melt into each other. We kiss up the stairs to his apartment and through the darkened living room to his bedroom door, where he sweeps me into his arms.

“I’ve never been carried to bed before,” I whisper.

“What kind of losers have you been dating, woman?”

“The skinny, artistic kind who don’t weigh much more than I do.”

He smiles as he kisses me, making our teeth bump together through our lips. “Good. I like knowing I can kick your exes’ asses if needed.”

“Not needed,” I say as he lays me down on his soft quilt, sending a shiver of anticipation dancing across my skin. “They’re mostly friends now. Or glad to be rid of me. Or both.”

“Idiots.” Rafe slowly, deliberately lengthens himself on top of me, nudging my thighs apart so he can settle between them, making my nerve endings hum. “But their loss is my gain. Is it cheesy to admit that I’m pretty fucking excited about you being my girl?”

“No.” I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his hips, chest going tight. “It’s sweet, and I love it.”

And I think I could love you. Maybe a part of me already does, I add silently because I know it’s too soon.

Way too soon.

But it’s true. This isn’t infatuation or a rebound or a fling, and it doesn’t matter that we’ve only been seeing each other a few weeks. I’ve dated men for months and never felt as close to them as I do to Rafe right now, with him holding my gaze as he rocks against me through our clothes, letting me feel how much he wants me.

My lips part in a gasp and his eyes darken, but neither of us looks away.

“I could come just from this,” he says, grinding against me with long, languid thrusts. “That’s how hot you get me, Caroline.”

“Me, too.” I lift my hips to meet his, a heavy ache spreading through my core. “I’m already so close.”

“Don’t come,” he says in a commanding tone that makes my breath catch. “Not until I tell you to. Can you do that for me, Trouble?”

I arch a brow. “You want to be the boss tonight?”

“I want to steer,” he says in a husky voice. “I want to know you trust me to take you to the edge. Do you trust me that much, baby?”

I nod, heart slamming against my ribs even as uneasiness flutters through my chest. “But what if I can’t stop myself? Seriously, I’m so close I can taste how good it’s going to feel.”

“You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.” He reaches for the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head, revealing his sculpted chest with the dusting of dark hair and that sexy full-sleeve tattoo that has become one of my favorite sights in the world. “Now take off your shirt and your bra,” he orders softly. “I want to play with your nipples while I fuck your pussy with my mouth.”

“Oh, well, that’ll make it easy not to come,” I huff as I roll my eyes, but I’m already tugging his fleece and my tee over my head and reaching for the clasp on my bra.

“Beautiful. Now touch yourself,” Rafe murmurs as he disposes of my jeans and panties and scoots lower on the bed, his fingers curling around my thighs, spreading them wider.

The sight of his darker, utterly masculine hands against my softer, paler skin is so erotic my nipples are already tingling, even before I cup my breasts in my palms and brush my fingers across the sensitized tips. I suck in a gasp at the same moment Rafe groans.

“Yes, just like that.” He presses a reverent kiss to my thigh before shifting his gaze back to my breasts. “Now roll them for me. Make them tighter.”

I obey, and he rewards me with a kiss between my legs, where I’m already hot and getting hotter with every passing second. And then his tongue finds my clit, circling me with a slow, insistent rhythm that would take me over the edge in a heartbeat if I let it.

“Please,” I beg, fingers stilling as I fight the heaviness tugging sharply between my hips, demanding I come apart beneath his mouth. “I can’t.”

“You can,” he insists, plunging his tongue deep inside me, making my pussy clench. “Keep going, Trouble. Do what I tell you to do, and I’m going to make you come like you’ve never come before.”

Holding his gaze, I force my hands back to my breasts. After a beat, he resumes his work, staring deep into my eyes as he fucks me with his mouth, and it is by far the most intimate thing that’s ever happened to me in bed. Even more intense than our sex by the beach, when every touch, every kiss carried the message that he wanted more than fucking, more than casual, making me dare to think it was okay for me to want it, too.

He brings me to the edge, again and again, taking me so close I’m gasping for breath and trembling, certain I’m going to lose control. But each time, he eases away seconds before I tumble over, leaving me lost and aching and strung so tight it feels like I’m going to spontaneously combust.

By the time he finally surges over me, claiming my mouth as he guides his cock to my entrance, I’m sobbing with relief and shaking all over. And when he whispers, “Now,” into my ear as he drives inside me, I ignite.

I dig my nails into his shoulders, arch my back, and come with an intensity that’s blinding. I forget who I am, where I am, what I am, only returning to my body as he brings me over again, seconds before his own release.

“Oh yes, yes,” I gasp as I lock my ankles behind his ass, holding him close as he comes inside me, his pleasure making mine even sweeter.

Long moments later, he rolls onto his back, drawing me with him until I’m splayed on top of him like a very limp, sated piece of sushi atop a dollop of rice. “Damn, woman, you’re beautiful. I love fucking you so much.”

I hum in agreement and smile, too wasted to make rational conversation. Maybe too wasted to do anything but sleep for the foreseeable future…

I’m nearly out, floating into rosy, warm oblivion when Rafe says, “I’ve been thinking about your ex.”

“Hmmm…why would you do that?” I ask, my words slurred with exhaustion. “Don’t think about him. He’s the worst.”

“He is, and that’s why he needs to get out of your life and stay out.” He skims his fingertips down my spine to the curve of my ass. “Do you think you could get him to meet you somewhere? Pretend you want to talk things through, get his guard down, get him talking?”

Suddenly wide awake, I lift my head, propping my arms on his chest and resting my chin on top. “I probably could. What are you thinking? Because beating the crap out of him is not an option, no matter how much I would like to smack him around a little. I haven’t done anything wrong yet, and I don’t want to start. I don’t believe in using physical violence unless there’s literally no other way to ensure your own personal safety.”

“No, of course not,” Rafe agrees. “I’m not a complete Cro-Magnon person, you know. I have layers.”

I grin, threading my fingers through his crisp chest hair. “Yes, you do. And I wouldn’t say you were a Cro-Magnon at all. I just understand that Jordan inspires insanity in otherwise reasonable people.”

“But he’s the crazy one,” Rafe says, brushing my hair over my shoulder. “Either crazy or a compulsive liar. Either way, he’s bound to contradict himself on tape. You make him feel comfortable enough, he might even confess why he staged this attack on you in the first place.”

Nibbling my lip, I ask, “But any video I obtained like that wouldn’t stand up in court, would it? Something I sneakily recorded without his knowledge?”

“I’m not sure, but you don’t need it to stand up in court, you just need to turn the tide, introduce enough doubt into people’s minds that they stop cancelling your speaking engagements and keep buying your books.”

I blink, thoughts racing. “And if I introduce enough doubt, Jordan might decide this isn’t worth his time or effort and move on to his next evil scheme, hopefully with his reputation sufficiently damaged to make it harder for him to do this to someone else.”

His lips curve as he studies me in the dim light, staying silent for so long I start to feel twitchy. “What?” I ask, nose wrinkling. “You’re staring at me.”

“You’re nice to stare at. And I like that you want to keep this from happening to someone else. You’re a softer touch than you let on, Trouble.”

“Yeah, well don’t tell anyone,” I grumble. “Usually only family gets the soft stuff.”

His smile drops away, replaced by an expression so intense it makes it hard to breathe. “Thanks for telling me the things you did. For letting me in.”

“Ditto.” I lean in to press a kiss to his lips before pulling back to gaze into his soft eyes with a smile. “Now tell me more about this scheme of yours. When and where, and am I wearing a wire because I’ve always wanted to wear a wire.”

He scoffs. “They make cameras smaller than the tip of your pinkie finger these days, Haverford. Get with the times.”

“No, I refuse,” I say, grinning. “There’s a reason I don’t have a smartphone and stay off the Internet as much as possible. The times are exhausting. That’s why technology doesn’t work in any of my books. It is the enemy.”

“Not this time.” He rolls me beneath him as he kisses my neck. “This time it’s going to be your friend.”

He starts to detail his plan, but soon one kiss becomes two, and then three, and then he’s moving inside me again, making me see stars brighter than anything visible in the sky. Afterward, we grab water in the kitchen and start the oven to warm up a frozen pizza, sleep banished by sex and scheming.

As we sit at his table, burning our fingertips and tongues on molten cheese, I feel happier than I have in ages. Even if our plan fails, and I can’t get Jordan off my case without going to court, I have so many things to look forward to. I have days, weeks, months of getting to know this man, uncovering his mysteries, relishing his company, discovering his secrets… Finishing the job of falling in love with him because what else can I do?

Even if it’s crazy, he makes me believe the fall is real.

Real, and completely worth the risk.