Something was different.

Something changed. In a good way. Gone was Ryder’s indifference. All of it. His barriers. He wasn’t holding anything back, and Sophia trembled at the significance of it all.

He was letting her in. She wasn’t even sure if he realized it. But, God, what a gift. And she was determined to reward him in kind.

Running her hands up his body, she thrust them into his hair and slowly drew his mouth down to hers, tasting his lips with lazy, lingering passes. This elicited a groan from him. His hands slid down her sides to grip her hips and draw her close as he took over the kiss, devouring her strength with amazing speed.

She released his head to work the buttons on his shirt, brushing his hot skin with her thumb, paying special attention to his abs, loving how he quivered under her touch. He didn’t keep still either. His hands skimmed up her back, where his fingers brushed her neck and spine as he slowly tugged her zipper down.

Needing to free his incredible expanse of muscles and ridges, she pushed at his shirt in an attempt to remove it, but her fingers trembled too much to be effective. Hell, her whole body trembled.

He broke the kiss and sucked in air. “I’ll get it,” he said, voice gruff as he shrugged out of his shirt.

Damn, she was a lucky woman.

Her mouth watered, and her shaky hands itched to explore his hard ridges. But first, she stepped back, letting her loosened dress slip to the floor, leaving her in her sling-back sandals, and pale blue lacy bra and panties.

He sucked in a ragged breath. “God, Sophia. Look at you.”

The intense longing in his eyes made her physically ache, and her nipples hardened behind the lace. Wanting to give him more—give him everything—she stepped out of her dress and reached behind her to unhook her bra.

“No.” He shook his head and moved closer. “Let me.”

Heat from his body washed into her as he hooked his fingers under her bra straps and slowly pulled them down her arms until she sprang free. “Perfect. So perfect.” He dipped down to kiss the curve of her breast, and flicked his tongue over her nipple before sucking it hard into his mouth.

Moaning, she closed her eyes and arched into him, feeling his tongue rasp over her nipple, while his hands slid to her back and unhooked her bra, releasing her only long enough to let it drop to the floor. An instant later, he has his mouth on her other nipple, sucking on it until she moaned and clutched his arms.

“So soft,” he muttered against her skin as he dragged his mouth up her chest, throat, and jaw, his hands making their way up her back and into her hair. “I can’t get enough of you.”

His voice was so low and sexy, she felt she could come from the sound alone.

“Me, too.” Wrapping her arms around his shoulder blades, she pressed against him, lost in the feel of his hard strength as his arms banded around her, and his mouth finally found hers.

He tasted warm and intoxicating, and she loved the ragged groan she wrenched from his chest when she rocked against him. Without breaking the kiss, he lifted her up and set her on the bed, following her down on the mattress.

She felt deliciously naughty in her panties and sandals, while he still wore his jeans and work boots. Deciding to do something about it, while he continued to kiss her slow and deep, zapping her brain cells, she reached between them to unhook his jeans.

When they broke for air, he stared down at her. His eyes were dark and very, very hot.

“Not, yet.” He kissed a path along her collarbone and down between her breasts, his tongue taking a detour over her pebbled peak while he ground against her.

Need shot out in all directions. She clutched his arms and arched up, but he moved south, dragging his mouth over her ribs, stopping to swirl his tongue into her belly button. His touch was different. Like he was grounded. Stronger. Sure. He nipped at her hip, then kissed her low on her belly, and air shuddered out of her when he hooked his fingers in her panties and tugged them down her legs, his mouth following in hot pursuit.

“So sweet,” he murmured against her ankle as he pulled the lace completely off, then removed her sandals and stood to quickly strip out of the rest of his clothes, and set a condom on the bed.

The sight of him staring down at her, eyes blazing with intense need, made her breath catch. His fingers encircled her ankles and tugged them apart. “You’re so damn beautiful.”

While she melted, he kissed her shin, her knee, then inner thigh, his broad shoulders nudging her wide. His breath was warm on her sensitized skin as he stopped to look his fill.

“Ryder.” She squirmed.

“But…if you could just see…” He bent and kissed an inner thigh, and she thought, higher. He was so close. Then he gently stroked her, and she closed her eyes, lost in his touch. He groaned and placed his mouth on her, teasing her with his tongue.

She moaned and fisted his comforter, writhing beneath him, silently urging him to continue.

“I love how you taste,” he murmured, cupping her ass cheeks to hold her in place during his ministrations. His attention to detail was a gift, because he was hitting spots she didn’t know existed. Quicker than she expected, he had her quivering on the edge.

Then he stopped.

But before she could catch her breath, or complain, he shifted higher, kissing her breast, tugging her nipple into his mouth as his finger unexpectedly stroked her center, then slipped inside.

She cried out, and he sucked in a breath.

“So wet.” He lifted his head and stared down at her, his gaze smoldering and intent. Leaning on his elbow, he continued to watch her as he slowly slid his finger all the way out in an upward angle, then back down.

“Mmm…yes,” she muttered, arching up.

Doing it again, he slid up in a mind-numbingly long stroke, then down in an equally long stroke, then her added another finger.

“Ryder…” Breath caught in her throat. “Love that…”

As if knowing what she wanted—what she needed—before she did, he upped the pace, building the tension until she was ready to snap.

“Sophia. Look at me,” he ordered in a strained, hoarse tone she felt all the way to her throbbing core.

She managed to open her eyes halfway. “Don’t stop.”

He didn’t. The intuitive man brushed his thumb over her center between strokes and that sent her spiraling over the edge.

Crying out his name, she gripped his wrists and bucked into his touch, all while holding his gaze. When she slowed her hips, he slowed his strokes, prolonging her orgasm until she was spent.

When he released her, he bent down to kiss her lips, his gaze still glued to hers. Satisfaction and heat blazed in his blue depths, increasing the quivering in her belly. “That was amazing.”

“No, you were amazing,” she said, kissing him harder. Deeper. Never wanting to let him go.

***

Ryder was ready to burst.

The amazing woman…his amazing woman was hot and willing, and writhing beneath him. If she kept that up, he wasn’t going to last. Groaning, he broke the kiss. “Hold that thought.”

Reaching for the foil packet, he used the time to get his breathing under control. And his body. He wanted to savor the incredible feel of being inside her, not lose it like some damn teenager.

He removed the condom and was rolling it on when her hand joined in and he swore she was trying to make him lose his mind. Her lingering strokes were exquisite, but he wasn’t that strong.

In fact, he was putty in her hands, and proved it when he rocked into her touch, as if he had no control.

Because he fucking didn’t.

Not with her.