The doorbell rang a third time. I stood there, frozen in my dining slash weight room, unable to make a move for the door. It wasn’t until my phone rang on the table a few feet away that I was able to run and answer it, and even then it was only to silence the noise so whoever was at the door wouldn’t realize there was someone home.

“I’m going to need you to answer the door. And when you do, I need you to not act surprised, or pissed, or any of those other emotions you like to throw at me on any given day. I need you to act happy to see me.”

Dino? What was he doing here? Cautiously I opened the door and smiled, even though I wasn’t sure what I was smiling about. He was a vision of masculinity as per the norm. His eyes though, they were intense, blazing with golden fire and something else, urgency?

“Don’t say anything, don’t look around and for God’s sake don’t push me away. I need you to roll with it, just kiss me back.”

I didn’t even have time to think, wait what, before he swooped in and captured my mouth with his, lips pressing against mine while his busy tongue urged them open. Spearmint and sugar, that was the taste he left in my mouth as one hand snaked behind my back, touching bare skin because I had been planning on hitting the heavy bag in just my sports bra and leggings. Somehow though, I felt completely exposed as he walked me back into my apartment. He didn’t stop kissing me even after I heard the door shut and the lock click. I lost myself completely in his searching mouth and didn’t even think to question him until I heard the distinctive sound of zipper teeth and broke apart just in time to swat his hand right before he reached the halfway point of getting my bra undone.

“What the hell are you doing?” I was panting but I was hoping he would think it was anger and not because I had been really into what he’d been doing.

Because I had been.

Into it.

That smug asshole was completely composed as he leaned against my closed front door and looked down at me through hooded eyes. “I kind of wanted to see how far you would let me go,” he said with a grin. Then a wistful sigh as he added, “Not far enough but I’ll take it.”

More shaken by that kiss than I wanted to admit, I didn’t want to make a bigger deal of it than I needed to because inside my body was on fire. I had thought about what it would be like to kiss Dino, dreamed about it even, but it didn’t even come close to mimicking the real thing. That fresh minty taste that lingered in my mouth. I licked my lips without thinking about it, trying to recapture the flavor and I bit my lip when I realized what I had done. Dino saw though, his eyes followed my every move.

“I thought you were doing some secret agent shit, you horse’s ass,” I said before I swatted him in the shoulder. Mostly to break the tension of the moment but also kind of to get him to stop looking at my mouth like he wanted to try for round two. His eyes traveled lower and I realized that I was still standing about two inches in front of him with my sports bra half unzipped and I quickly stepped away from him. He stayed in his leaning position against the door though. The position was relaxed but there was something about him that screamed tension, as every muscle in his body was flexed and ready to explode. His light brown eyes still raged with intensity and I wondered again, not for the last time I was sure, what the hell he was doing here.

“Dino. What is with the act? Who are you right now?” I might have been imagining the flash of pain that crossed his face, it was there and gone so quickly, but then the normal mocking grin was back, and he was moving away from the door and further into my condo, even though I had not invited him to do so.

“You know, it’s funny, Jeanette, normally you call me a knee-breaking thug, or a wiseguy or some mean-spirited shit like that.” Dino wandered through the open floor plan of my condo, peeking into the few small rooms before eyeing the heavy bag on the frame in my dining room and grinning in appreciation. “But today, you said secret agent shit. Is your opinion of me changing?”

No, my opinion of him wasn’t changing, he just kissed me stupid and in my addled state I forgot about our normal pick - until one of us is emotionally bleeding -relationship. There was something weird about him right now, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was just…off. Was I actually worried about Dino? Maybe.

“Dino, I know you are more than what you claim to be. You forget I’ve worked with you and Gabe before. I know you have a history with the FBI. I may not know what it is, but you don’t just flip your middle finger to the government payroll to work small time for a hood like Chaz Malone. It’s below your pay grade. I just give you a hard time because you give me a hard time, and you always do whatever the hell you want to do anyhow. I wish I had that kind of freedom.”

I’m not sure what exact part of what I said tripped his trigger, but Dino looked sad for the first time in all the years that I had made his acquaintance, and I felt a deep sense of grief over the loss of his cocky smile. But it was fleeting. His frown and my grief, because suddenly Dino wasn’t standing next to the heavy bag anymore, he was approximately one inch in front of me and I found myself with my back and legs pressed against the wall with nowhere to go.

I should have been terrified. If it had been anyone else, they would have had my knee in their groin and the heel of my hand firmly shoved up under their chin with every ounce of strength I possessed because that is what I had been training for the last few years for. That I wouldn’t let anyone ever put me against a wall or have that kind of power over me again. If it had been anyone else they would have been howling in pain on the ground, but this wasn’t anyone else. This was Dino, and damn it if I didn’t want him to come just a little bit closer.

He didn’t though. Just stayed that one inch in front of me, looking down with that sexy as sin half smirk that never failed to get my panties damp even though I always acted like I hated it. I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted to trace the outline of those way too sensual full lips with my tongue and taste that spearmint and sugar again. I was fire, he was ice. I wanted to make some steam.

“The part of me that is always in character wants to tell you that I wish you would let me give you a hard time, Jeanette, but I don’t feel like being funny right now. I don’t get to do what I want. Ever. If I had that kind of freedom I would have been buried inside of you already. I would have imprinted the feel of your smart mouth on mine into my brain to remember for always, I would have acted on the urge that I have had so many times to rip off those snobby little business suits you wear and run my hands over every inch of skin that’s under it. I have held myself back from doing all those things, Jeanette, because I have to, and I hate it, and just once I wish I could let go and have something that I want for a change.”

I was trying to remember all the reasons why I wasn’t allowed to touch Dino but fuck me I couldn’t think of a single one. All I could think of was that his body was right in front of mine, and he had just admitted to wanting me – me – and the amount of self-control he had to exert to keep from touching me.

Fuck self-control.

The top of his plain black button-down dress shirt was undone, like it always was. And like always I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the smooth tan skin of his neck. How just a bit of his collarbone was showing, and my hand was there before I could blink, or tell myself not to do it. My fingertips just barely touching what was showing through that open collar, skimming the surface. Light touches. Feather touches. Just a little.

Dino froze. Every part of him so still the air around our bodies didn’t even move. I didn’t want him still. I wanted him to touch me back but the only part of him moving was his Adam’s apple while he swallowed down something, probably his desire. Because he did desire me, I knew that, he had just said as much. So why was he not fucking touching me?

“Dino,” I whispered, afraid to break whatever moment we were having. “If you are waiting for some kind of permission, this is it. There are a thousand reasons why I shouldn’t be doing this with you, and I want to be able to tell you every one and I can’t. But if you want to have me in any kind of capacity, I’m giving myself to you now. Whatever you want, take it, because this moment may be all that we have.” I wasn’t going to cry, but it would have been appropriate if I did. The lies, this moment, everything I said was true. At a moment’s notice I might have to run, and I would never see him again. There was something about Dino’s urgency that made me ache, and suddenly there was nothing more important in the entire universe than getting his hands on me. I would need this good memory, I just knew it.

“I’m afraid if I kiss you, and you find out my secrets, you will never let me touch you again.” Both of his hands were on the wall above my head, like he needed to brace them there to keep from putting them on me. His head bowed low over mine, so low I could feel his breath on my forehead and in my hair.

“Then touch me and keep your secrets,” I whispered, before I took matters into my own hands, and my feathery touches turned more impatient as I skimmed the front of his shirt and pulled, as hard as I could. The satisfying pop of buttons spurred me on, because I only got it half undone, but one more tug and he was free of the confines of that piece of cloth, and I was able to run my hands up under his white undershirt, feeling the smoothness of the skin underneath.

I’d missed my workout. I had energy to spare.

It was like the thread of his self-control had been connected to the buttons of his shirt, because once I ripped that off of him he was galvanized into action, taking my mouth again with a fierceness that I welcomed. For the first time in years I was blind with lust, and I barely recognized the voice as my own but couldn’t be shocked at my words because I felt them with my entire body and soul.

“Touch me, Dino.”

His answering groan was an aphrodisiac, music to my libido as I moved my hands lower, to the zipper of his dark jeans. Now it was me taking liberties as I hurried to free that part of him that I wanted inside of me desperately. His hands on mine stilled me, just for a moment.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he murmured against the skin of my neck. Hurt me? No one in my entire life had ever worried about that before, and I would think about the implication of his words later, tomorrow, next year. But right now, I wanted him to bite the skin of my neck that he was breathing on. Lick it, suck it into his mouth and leave a mark so I would remember. But I didn’t say that. Instead, I moved his hands out of the way, reached inside of his jeans and holy shit there was nothing under them but skin, grabbed his cock and stroked it hard, probably harder than I should have.

“Then make it count.”

There were no more words then, just the sound of the zipper on my bra as Dino made quick work of sliding it down my arms. With a shake of my shoulders it hit the floor and I was standing there in nothing but my workout leggings, which were going to be fun to get out of considering they were pretty tight, as workout leggings are supposed to be. I didn’t need to worry. If I had thought that Dino would stop to touch my breasts once they were bare I was wrong, because he continued his downward motion with his hands and peeled those suckers straight down, never stopping until he reached the ground, even kneeling on the floor to do so. He took my panties with my pants and all I had to do was lift my feet one by one and I was laid completely bare. I hadn’t been wearing much to start with but was still impressed by the speed at which he disrobed me, the man was on a mission – and in a hurry apparently.

I had given him permission, and those words that I had whispered so boldly were all that he needed, but before I could do more than grab the sides of his head to steady myself he slid one finger between my already swollen folds to test my desire and then buried his tongue deep inside. No teasing nibbles, no soft touches. Dino was starving for me, and he went right for the feast.

And God it was so good.

I couldn’t stop the sounds of pleasure being ripped from my throat; it had been so long since I had been touched – at all – in any way. My own choice of course, but still, it was magic. And Dino liked hearing me too. I could tell by the way he changed intensity in response to my moans, like he was listening to me, to my wants. To be loved in such a way, by this hot man’s mouth was something I had never experienced and before long that splintering feeling began in my thighs, spreading like electricity to my fingertips and toes. I screamed my release into the air above his head, fisting my hands in his hair, trying not to fall as my legs quivered through the orgasm.

And still he didn’t stop.

It wasn’t fair. Dino was here, on his knees and touching me, and I couldn’t reach anything below his shoulders. I wanted, no I needed more of him under my hands, and I tugged mercilessly at his hair to get him to stop his ministrations. Reluctantly he raised his head, and looking at me with passion-glazed eyes that accused me of taking his prize from him, he grunted. I kissed him then, a purely animalistic act considering I was essentially smearing myself all over his face, but I didn’t care, he didn’t care. We were animals right now, held back from what our bodies had craved for far too long, trying to cram years’ worth of sexual tension in one frantic encounter. There wasn’t time for gentle caresses, there wasn’t time for tender loving – I wanted him inside of me.

Now.

Those caramel eyes glowed, lighting a fuse inside me body that threatened to explode if I didn’t do something, anything to ease the ache I was feeling. I had minutes, maybe seconds before my world ended if I didn’t get Dino inside of me. I had been waiting years for this, imagined having him take me a hundred different ways to satisfaction. That’s what happens when you have nothing but your imagination to go on. But I couldn’t draw on that now, my instincts were telling me to take. Take from him while he was here, even if I had no idea why that was.

Dino hummed then, a low sound, and because I must have hesitated too long stuck in the beams of his hot stare he began moving again and licked my lower stomach lazily. Just once, but before he could return to what he had been doing previously I pressed down on his shoulders. Not hard, just enough to let him know that I wanted him to move. He took my rudimentary instruction very well and laid on his back on the floor, his slow grin spreading on his face as he rested his hands behind his head, waiting to see what I would do.

Any other time there could have been foreplay, I would take my time touching his body, tasting it as he had just done mine, but I couldn’t. The last few years between Dino and I had been foreplay, and my world was falling apart in a matter of days. I was greedy, I wanted to get as much as I could before he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Before I disappeared. I took advantage of his already aroused state and came down on him hard, surprising him so much that his eyes widened and he barely had time to grab the sides of my hips before I was moving again, sliding up and down, our bodies already slick with need.

“Holy shit, Jeanette, too fast,” Dino panted, fingers digging into my thighs to slow me down.

“Fast is all I have, Dino, give me what I need. What we both need.” I’d never held back from giving attitude to Dino, and I wasn’t going to hold back now. I was telling him what I needed from him, like all men claimed they wanted a woman to do in the bedroom. Or dining room floor. Whatever.

So he did. I rose up and he pulled down, fast, faster. I could see the muscles in his abdomen flex with the effort, and the cords on his neck standing out as he fought to keep my grueling pace and give me what I needed. I came so hard and fast it took me by surprise and I almost didn’t know what was happening. Of course, I had orgasmed before, I was a grown woman, but twice in a row? Never. Dino was close though, and I wanted to watch his face as I gave him that pleasure, so I switched the pressure just a little bit and heard just how much he liked that from the rumble that started in his chest.

Without warning I was flipped onto my back and Dino pulled out, letting the warmth of his release slide onto my stomach and thighs. After a moment he braced himself on his forearms and his worried face loomed above mine. Worried? Why is Dino worried? I couldn’t think of a single thing that was wrong, I couldn’t think of much at all actually, my brain was mush.

“Jeanette, we didn’t use a condom. I’m so sorry for pulling out so rough but I didn’t think until the last minute and…well I’m not an animal, Jeanette.” Dino leaned down and kissed me on the lips softly. He thought he could have gotten me pregnant. It was oddly…endearing. He couldn’t know that he needn’t have worried. That wasn’t something that could happen to me anymore.

“At least one of us was thinking properly,” I murmured as he used the shirt I had ripped off of him to gently clean him from my body. His pants were down around his ankles still and his white undershirt was still on but pulled up front where I had brutally yanked it so I could touch his heated skin. Jesus, I was a barbarian.

“Thinking? Fuck, Jeanette, I don’t think I’ve had a thought in my head since I kissed you when you opened the door. This is not what I came over here for, holy shit.” Dino ran his hands through his tousled dark hair, and for the first time since I met him, Dino looked at a loss for words. Like he didn’t really know what to do next.

Alarm bells went off in my head then, and even though I was still completely naked and vulnerable, I heard the ice in my voice. “Just what did you come over for, Dino?”