They didn’t have sex in Evan’s car, because a charge of public indecency wouldn’t do anyone any good. But as they entered the building, as they climbed the stairs, Evan couldn’t keep his hands off Ruth. She half-ran to stay ahead of him, pushing him away with a laugh every time he reached for her.

When they got to his door, she slid off her shoe and produced the key he’d given her. Evan arched a brow. “Seriously?”

“This is where I keep keys,” she said primly. “When I don’t have pockets, I mean.”

“Of course it is.” He’d already found her phone shoved down her waistband, before she pushed his hands away. Evan shook his head, laughter light in his chest even as lust tightened his core, hardened his cock.

Feelings weren’t as straight forward and binary as he’d once assumed; around Ruth, he could feel fifty things at once.

She dragged him into his own flat and slammed the door behind them. Then she pushed him up against it, and he had the most delicious sense of déjà vu.

Ruth grabbed his face, her fingers tight around his jaw. “Come here,” she ordered. Her eyes seemed darker than usual, pupils blown into each deep brown iris.

He bent down, just enough to bring his mouth within reach of hers. She rose up, too, and then her lips were slanting over his, soft as the tulip clutched between his fingers.

She caught his lower lip between her teeth and bit gently, and Evan found himself moaning against her mouth. Ruth dragged more noise out of him than anyone he’d ever been with. He didn’t mind at all.

With a grunt, Evan picked her up. She released his lip and gave a soft, little laugh. “You can’t just pick me up whenever you feel like it.”

“Why the hell not?” He carried her through the house, pausing to put his flower on a side table. “Isn’t that the point of you being so little?”

“You keep saying that,” Ruth muttered, “but I’m exactly average height.”

Evan paused, actually surprised. “Are you?”

“I’m 5 foot 3,” she sniffed.

“Are you?” He considered that for a moment. “You seem smaller.”

“You are incredibly ill-mannered.”

“That’s hilarious, coming from you.” He winked. “And, however tall you are, I like carrying you.”

“You don’t think I’m heavy?”

He felt his lips tip up at the suspicion in her voice. “Evidently not.”

“Right. And why are we in the bathroom?”

“Because we’re taking a shower.” He put her down gently, and then he slid his hands beneath the hem of her T-shirt. “Take this off.”

She licked her lips, her eyes trailing over his body. “Yes, Sir.”

They undressed each other, in the end, her hands dragging at his clothes with an eagerness he’d longed for. All he’d ever wanted was for her to say yes. And when she tugged his T-shirt over his head with a laugh, when she squeezed his erection through his jeans before unzipping them, that was all he heard. Over and over again, with every hurried touch. Yes.

They stepped under the shower’s hot spray in a tangle of bodies, Ruth’s legs wrapped around his waist, her hands gripping his shoulders like a lifeline. He shoved her against the tiles and she moaned, grabbing his hair and hauling him closer. Kissing him. Giving him everything. Yes.

He palmed her breast and she moaned into his mouth. He pinched the nipple and she bit at his lip. He could feel the slick heat of her pussy against his shaft, and he had to remind himself that he couldn’t just sink into her. No condom.

Then she reached between their bodies and grasped his cock, wet skin against wet skin, and the burning desire for pressure receded because she, this, whatever she chose to give him, would always be exactly what he needed.

Ruth pulled her lips from his and tipped her head back, water streaming over her face. She looked like a goddess. She felt like a goddess, her hand sliding over his cock faster and faster, eliciting sensations that had to be divine.

“Stop,” he rasped out. “I’m trying to last.”

She opened her eyes slightly, water collecting on her lashes, a wicked grin on her lips. “For what?”

He kissed her again. And then, because two could play at that game, he reached between them and slid a finger inside her. She released a drawn-out moan, her grip on his cock faltering. When he brushed his thumb over her clit, she swore.

“I’ll race you,” she panted out.

“Race me?”

“I bet I can make you come first.”

Evan laughed. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

“Why not? Don’t think you can win?”

He rubbed the pad of his thumb firmly over her swollen clit, and she jerked sharply, her breath catching. With a grin, he pressed her harder against the tiles, using his body to pin her there. “I think I can win,” he said. “Even though you’ve had a head start.” Even though you keep me on the edge constantly, even though a look from you is enough to turn me on.

She arched her back, water glistening over her brown skin, little droplets clinging to the stiff, dark tips of her nipples. Fuck.

“Alright,” she breathed, a knowing smile curving her lips. “Let’s do it.”

Evan lost by a second or two. He enjoyed it thoroughly.