Thomas arrives at my place right on time in casual sweatpants and a T-shirt. With his hair sort of disheveled like he’s just gotten out of the shower and finger combed it, and a touch of five o’clock shadow . . . it’s honestly the sexiest look he’s ever had.

“Hey,” I greet him, pulling him inside before kissing him softly. Tonight will end up with us in bed unless someone sets off a hand grenade . . . but that’s still hours away, and I want him to see this side of me more. “How was your post-work workout?”

“Light,” Thomas reassures me. After watching him limp for a day or two, it’s nice to hear he does know how to throttle it back a notch. I didn’t ask him what had triggered him to punish himself so much, but I’ve made a few assumptions and trusted him the rest of the way. “So, what’s on the agenda?”

“TERA,” I tell him, leading him over to the couch. “I’ve already got an account ready to go for you. You just need to pick your character name and we’ll walk through the rest.”

I turn on my TV and show him the basics of the world, what the deal is behind the game, and all the other stuff he needs to know. It’ll be hours before he really gets it, but as he listens and flips through the various options, I can see him nodding in understanding.

“Uhh, what type of character do you use?” Thomas asks, and I grin as I open another window and show him my current favorite character. “You’re one sexy elf,” he says with a cheesy bite of his lip.

“Thank you. Just remember I can shoot the hairs off your ears at half a mile,” I tease him. “You’re going to need a lot of leveling up to get anywhere near my skills.”

“Well then, since this is just for fun, how about . . . Castanic?”

I grin, the two of us deciding on a Castanic Brawler, his massive fists encased in the ‘power gloves’ of the game. It’s a character and role that’ll let him have fun while releasing some tension for sure.

I especially like how Thomas picks facial features that, while not exactly mirroring his own, certainly suggest the handsome man I’ve got seated next to me.

Thomas picks up the controller while I guide him through playing. Unfortunately, TERA isn’t a game where we can both be onscreen at the same time, but that’s okay. I enjoy coaching him through the basics.

We decide to swap the controller back and forth, Thomas watching as I hit a few button combinations and show him how to trigger the skills he’s starting out with. Still, as he plays, I can see he’s tense.

“What’s on your mind? The game isn’t the kind that you need to grit your teeth. I mean, you’re beating up a mushroom right now. Not even Mario gets this tense.”

“Sorry,” Thomas says, rubbing his hands together. “Just trying to play well, but there’s a helper in my head telling me that I’m going to crash and burn. Can you even do that in this game?”

I nod slowly. “Yeah, but you’re safe here in this area. It’s a learning and training ground. Just relax. This is supposed to be fun.”

Thomas nods and takes the controller back when the pizza comes. I grab the large extra pepperoni pizza and bring it back, surprised when I see Thomas jamming buttons, his face flushed and his lips drawn back in a sneer.

“Tommy, what—” I ask just as another player turns him into a pile of goo. He’d attacked a high-level player outright?

Thomas growls and slams the controller into the cushion of my couch. Thankfully, I’ve nerd-raged a few times myself, and my wireless controller is strong enough to take it. I’ve learned that one from experience.

“Dammit!” Thomas growls while I come around, setting the pizza down on the table.

“You fought a guy twenty-six levels above you. There’s no possible chance to win that.”

“I should be able to.” He pouts.

I climb into his lap, and he shuts up, his eyes still sparking with anger. “There’s a method to the madness, steps and progress to take along the levels. You can’t skip stuff. Just like in life, you’ve got to explore everything.”

My sexy tone is melting his anger, turning it into molten lust before my very eyes. “Explore. Every. Thing?” he says darkly.

“Mmmhmm. Every emotion, every nook and cranny, every bit of it so that you’re ready for the next level.”

I see a flush wash over Tommy’s face, and then he whispers hotly in my ear, “And are you ready for the next level, Mia?”

I could take his words as flirtation, because they most definitely are. But there’s something underneath the sexy tone, a longing, a plea from this beast of a man, and I look into his eyes, wondering what would bring him to the point of begging. And I know.

He can’t be the first to say it. He’s simply not able to make that leap first and needs me to lead him there. But I can do that. That’s what partners do, take turns leading each other sometimes, walk side by side sometimes, and even carry each other when one needs help.

So I press his palm to my chest over my heart. “Thomas Goldstone, you have let me into your heart and into your life, trusting me when every bit of life experience has told you not to. You may be a ruthless bastard to others, but to me, you’re a brave man, beautiful on the inside, scars and all. I love you.”

I can see the relief wash through him, the light filling him. I think I even see a glassy shine to his eyes, but I can’t be sure because he pulls me down, kissing me hard and taking my breath away. I don’t need it, but still my heart leaps when he breaks our kiss, whispering in my ear, “I love you too.” And I feel the last wall crumbling between us, exposing even more of us to one another.

I grin like the cat that got the cream, so happy I could burst, and then I laugh out loud, the jiggles of my body rubbing me along Thomas’s cock.

“What’s so funny?” he demands, but I can see that he’s not worried, just curious.

I try to sober but barely get the words out. “It’s like Grand Theft . . . coronary. You stole my heart.”

He blinks, and I think he doesn’t get the reference to the popular video game, a crime against gaming everywhere, but then he busts out laughing too. “God, that’s corny. It’s a good thing you’re cute.”

I fake offense, swatting him with a throw pillow, and he smiles back. It feels good, like we said this really big thing, but we’re still us.

And as us, the heat returns in an instant when Thomas kneads my ass, grinding himself against my pussy.

“I’m all yours, Tommy,” I promise him as I swirl my hips, feeling him grow harder in his sweatpants. “Take it . . . all of it.”

“You know what that means, right?” he asks, and I nod, grinning.

Thomas reaches under my legs, and standing up feels like a thrill ride in itself it’s so smooth and powerful. He carries me down the short hallway to my bedroom, where he lays me down on my bed before stepping back, pulling his shirt off.

My heart hammers in my chest, watching his perfectly sculpted body flex with power and strength that’s understated but fills the room. His muscles flow and bunch with organic grace as he unbuttons his jeans and slides them down his hips, pausing just before his cock pops out.

“This isn’t all on me,” he says, using his chin to gesture at my still-clothed body.

I grin, biting my lip naughtily as I sit up and pull my top off, my nipples tightening and my chest flushing as his eyes drink me in. “You’re so beautiful, Mia. And so . . . mine. I love you.”

The words come easily this time, but I return them anyway, wanting to reward him for the gift.

“I love you too.”

I lift my hips and shimmy my pants down in time with him until he stands before me, a hulking, powerful god of love and sex, his cock standing thick and hard from his body.

“Spread your legs,” he commands.

I do, stretching myself as wide as I can and letting him watch me, my legs as straight as possible before running my fingertips up the insides of my thighs, stroking my pussy softly for him to watch.

“So fucking hot,” Thomas growls, reaching down and wrapping his fist around his cock as I keep rubbing until the warmth reaches its sexy tendrils down the insides of my thighs. I spread myself open for him, his fist slowly pumping his cock as we tease each other, our eyes glued on each other.

His cock is perfect. Even his massive fist can’t make it look small as he squeezes it before he strokes back, pumping in and out of his hand. A clear drop of precum oozes out to hang on the tip of his cock like a jewel of morning dew before sliding down and off, a thread of delicious light gleaming in the bedside lamplight.

“I’m thirsty,” Thomas says, dropping to his knees, his eyes fixed on my stroking fingers. “I’m going to suck your pussy dry until you come all over my face, but I want you to do something for me. Get your favorite toy for me?”

I nod and reach over with my free hand to open my bedside table. I take out my vibrator and the small bottle of lube just in case, setting them on the bed next to my hip. Thomas picks up the vibrator and inspects it, finding the switch and turning it on.

I blush, and he smirks knowingly as he picks up the bottle of lube. “This . . . this, we’ll use later.”

He lowers himself slowly, teasing and tantalizing me, his mouth just hovering over my pussy until I can’t wait any longer, and I lift myself up, offering myself to him. The first touch of his tongue on my pussy is a dam breaking, and the sound he makes as he sucks on my tender lips is ravenous, starving, animalistic in its intensity.

He consumes me lovingly, his tongue stiffening to drive deep inside me before he scoops out my juices, sucking and drinking me like I’m a fountain for him.

“Mmm, that’s it, Beautiful,” he says as I toss my head side to side, somehow overwhelmed even though I knew what was coming—namely, me. “Give it all to me . . . and I’ll give you more. Make this sweet pussy gush for me.”

His tongue strokes my clit, and in the dim, sex-addled recesses of my mind, I hear the sound of my lube being opened. Thomas scoops under my ass to lift me before tucking a pillow under my lower back, and I look down blearily at him as he smiles between my legs, a conqueror ready to truly show me what he can do.

I gasp as his slick finger finds my ass, the breathless sound turning into a deep moan as he sucks on my clit, pleasure and trepidation teasing me as he massages the ring of muscle in time to his strokes.

I know we talked about it in Japan, and his tongue was wonderful, but can I really take him there? I open my mouth to say something when his finger pushes into me at the same time he licks my clit hard, and I cry out, instantly coming around his finger while his mouth sucks on my pussy, literally drinking and draining me of everything.

I don’t know how long I writhe, but his free hand holds me still, trapped as his finger starts to probe deeper, slipping all the way into my ass before pulling back as he slowly finger fucks my backside.

“Mmm . . . I can read your eyes, Beautiful,” Thomas growls, scooting up my body so that he’s reaching between my legs to keep his finger moving against my clit, massaging it at the same time as he slowly slips in and out of my ass. “You think you can’t take my big cock in that tight, heart-shaped ass of yours?”

I nod, whimpering as he lowers his mouth to my left nipple and sucks, my fingers twisting in his hair as he bites down lightly, keeping me trembling on the edge of pain and pleasure. My ass is starting to relax, and a deep feeling of accomplishment and wanton lust flood me as I feel him slip another finger inside me, stretching me more.

“Oh, fuck, you’ll split me in half,” I whimper as he speeds up. It feels so good now, my body taken in a new way while my clit slips and slides against his hand. “But I trust you.”

“Then you’ll love this,” Thomas says, withdrawing his fingers from my ass. I squirm. The suddenly empty feeling has me trembling in need and he knows it.

He grabs my vibrator and holds it up, covering it with slick lube before teasing my asshole with it while at the same time kissing me deeply. I feel his smile and know it’s a warning, one last chance to stop this, but I want it. I want it all. He swallows my cry as he pushes, the vibrator sliding into my ass and sending me over the edge.

I cry out, bucking against him as my clit throbs, the vibrator lodged deep inside me as I come around it and Thomas holds me close, his tongue invading me.

“Mmmhmm, one more . . . for now,” Thomas says when I come down, limp and almost unable to move. “Trust me, Mia. I love you.”

His repeated declaration of his love is what I need, and I nod, lifting my knees up as he gets between my legs. I think he’s going to take the vibrator out to replace it with his cock, but instead, he reaches down, twisting it a little as he searches for the switch, but when he does . . .

“Oh, fuck  . . . I can’t, you’ll drive me insane.”

I’ve never tried this before . . . but each second, my body is pummeled with sensation as the vibrator turns my ass into a center of pleasure that I’ve never thought it could be. It’s like he’s pushing my limits, taking me, and cherishing me all at the same time, and as the tingles start to spread again, a new type of heat fills my body.

He grins, his cock long and proud as he grabs the lube again, rubbing it over himself  . . . and I realize what he’s going to do.

“You make me insane every time you look at me. Every time you kiss me, you drive me wild. I’m just giving you a taste of what I feel.”

His cock gleams as he wraps his hands around my thighs and pulls me into him. I feel his thickness press against my pussy, but there’s no way he’ll fit. My body’s already being taken over again from the vibrator and—

“Now!” Thomas grunts, driving his cock balls-deep into me in one savage, powerful stroke. I cry out, tears springing to my eyes even as my body comes again, my pussy clamping around his slick cock as he holds me paralyzed with pleasure and pain from the dual intrusions.

So full. I’ve never been this full.

My heart freezes, the air steel in my chest as Thomas doesn’t stop, pulling back before stroking in slowly this time, drawing it out. My mind’s exploding, my neck aching as I toss my head back and forth, but I don’t know what I’m denying.

Is it that I can’t take any more? That I want more? That I’m overwhelmed by what I’m feeling? That I can’t believe what he’s doing to me?

Yes. Yes and yes and all that and more. He presses into me, my pussy tightly clenching around his huge cock. Thomas presses me into the bed, letting go of my thighs to plant his arms on each side of my head, using all of his massive strength to drive his cock hard and deep into my exhausted, quivering body.

I’ve heard of this type of never-ending climax. I mean, what nerd hasn’t? Wave upon wave of pleasure crashes through me, my body shaking and my muscles losing all sense of control. I’m helpless, pinned underneath him and barely able to feel anything except the constant barrage of white-hot explosions with each stroke of his cock. It’s a fairy tale, it’s a fantasy, but it’s real and it’s happening to me.

“That’s it, honey . . . take my cock, cream deep all over me, and I’ll fuck you over and over. I’ll pound you, I’ll hammer you . . . but I won’t break you,” Thomas rasps between thrusts. “I love you.”

“I love you too!” I scream with the last conscious thought in my mind, and he howls, his cock swelling as he thrusts as deep as he can one last time. Liquid heat flows through me, pure release, but no sound escapes my lips. I can’t even breathe anymore. Instead, I let the darkness take me because I know that in the darkness, there will be my Thomas . . . and I’ll be safe in his arms.