This was so much better than that kiss against her car, and that was saying something because that kiss had been hot. Somehow, this kiss was even hotter.

It was like she and Luke were battling for power. Anna tugged on his hair, and he did the same to her, drawing her head back so that his lips could find the pulse beneath her jawline. She locked her legs around his hips, and he drew her closer with a hand to the top of her butt and a heartfelt groan when his erection fit snugly against the apex of her thighs.

“I want to feel your skin,” he muttered as he plucked at her stockings.

Anna smirked. “Impatient, are you?”

His hard, green eyes lifted to her face. “I’d say I’m not the only one feeling impatient. You’ve been trying to get me into bed for weeks now.”

Her smirk disappeared as a red flush swept over her cheeks. “I have not,” she argued fruitlessly, wholly aware of the wobble in her voice. She couldn’t help it—he’d started removing her stilettos, throwing one and then the other over his shoulder. He looked like a Viking ready to plunder his new treasure. A king ready to take what was his.

Then he ruined the image by fumbling with the toes of her stockings, giving short, quick tugs at the seams as he tried to remove them.

His annoyance shouldn’t have been such a turn-on. It shouldn’t have made her want to giggle, as he failed to budge the stockings at all. She studied him, noting the matching ticks in his jaw and by his hairline. As hard as his body was, as rugged as his features were, his mouth was as soft as cream as he dipped his head and captured her lips with his.

“Your stockings are cock-blocking my efforts,” he grunted, giving another useless tug at the fabric by her toes. “Did you wear them on purpose?”

Well, there was no use lying to him. “Yes.”

“Yeah?” He fell back a step when she pushed at his chest so she could jump down from the couch. “Ah, I see.” Nodding, he added, “You wanted me to work for my participation ribbon, hmm? Ruthless, sweetheart. Utterly ruthless.”

“I figured they’d be too much of a hassle to remove, even in the face of temptation.”

“Are you saying I’m temptation?” He sounded pleased.

“I’m saying that I was doing my best to avoid sleeping with you.”

The pleasure in his tone segued back to annoyance. “And now?”

With confidence she hadn’t even known she’d possessed, Anna met his gaze, lifted the hem of her favorite dress to just below her lady parts and hooked her fingers beneath the waistband of her stockings. Feigning uncertainty, she rested her weight on one stockinged foot and gently balanced the toes of her right foot on the toes of her left. Finally, she said, “I’m debating.”

“On what?”

Anna teased him, dragging the hem of her dress up another inch. “On?” She met his gaze boldly. “Or off?” She repeated the question, fingering the hem of her dress and dragging it up before letting it fall loose around her thighs again. “What do you think?”

Luke’s green eyes darkened with lust to black. “Off,” he barked, ever the soldier. “Off now.”

She skipped out of his grasp when he reached out to do the job himself. Wagging her finger at him—who was she?—Anna sidled over to the couch, turned her back to him, and drew her dress up and over her head.

Who are you and what have you done with boy-shy Anna Bryce?

Locked her up in the closet, ball-and-chain and all. She needed to learn to live in the moment—once-in-a-lifetime moments like stripping for Luke O’Connor.

She heard the hitch in his already rough breathing when her dress landed on the floor with a whoosh of the fabric.

If there were ever a time to be wearing sexy lingerie from La Parisienne, this was it. Thank God, she’d decided to take a few minutes at the end of the day to pick out something nice. Actually, her blush bra was better than nice, considering its three-figure price tag. Little jewels had been sewn in a color-gradient pattern, and Anna couldn’t remember a time when she’d worn anything more beautiful.

Better still, she felt beautiful.

She swept her hands over the curve of her backside, secretly delighting in Luke’s responsive groan. “You’re killing me, Blondie.”

Anna didn’t reward him by turning around, but she did slowly begin to peel off the stockings. The left leg and then the right—her weight teetered. No, no, no! She would not go out like this, to be taken down by a rogue stocking.

Luke was there, his hands curling possessively around her waist, before she went tumbling over. “I see through you, sweetheart,” he murmured, “pretend to fall—damsel-in-distress style. Oldest play in the book.”

“I wanted to see if you’d catch me,” she fibbed. They both knew that she’d been five seconds away from face-planting on the floor. “You passed the trust test.”

“Good to know.” One masculine hand inched down, settling on the curve of her butt like it belonged to him. “Where’s my participation ribbon?”

“There’ll be no participation ribbons here—” The words trailed off as Anna let out a gasp. His fingers danced over her hip to the triangle of cloth at the juncture of her thighs, and she was hit with a new wash of want for him. “I was wrong,” she choked out, “you’re earning your ribbon even as we speak.”

“I’m aiming for a trophy.” The words were softly uttered, but the intention was clear. Unless she told him that this wasn’t happening, they’d be in bed soon enough.

In response to his unspoken question, Anna threw her inhibitions out the window and latched a hand onto Luke’s wrist. He didn’t put up a fight when she led him exactly where she wanted him.

His finger pressed down on her clit through the damp fabric, and Anna nearly burst apart right there. It was heaven. “A trophy,” she babbled incoherently, “yes, yes, oh my God, keep doing that.”

Luke didn’t stop. He knuckled her panties out of the way, and used her own wetness to coat his fingers. “Drop the stockings, sweetheart.” A pause. “And the underwear. Might as well go for broke and get rid of the bra, too.”

If there was a getting-naked record to be beat, Anna sailed past it with flying colors. Her bra landed somewhere on the floor and her stockings tangled with the cushions on the couch. Her silk underwear, which she removed last, was flicked over her shoulder with a casual vibe that enthused I’ve got this.

She stood before him naked. And it was liberating.

Luke’s mouth fell open and Anna did him a favor and tapped her finger to his chin. His teeth rattled when his jaw clamped shut and he gave a little shake of his head. “You’re more beautiful than I could have possibly imagined.”

“I’m taking that as a compliment.”

“It was meant to be one.”

Anna pointed to his sweats, somewhat surprised to find that he hadn’t mentioned his cane once. “Will you join me?”

“In your nakedness?”

She nodded.

“I thought you’d never ask.” In less than thirty seconds, his sweatpants had landed across the TV and he sank to the couch, dragging her over to him with his fingers on her wrists. “Climb on top of me, Blondie.”

The nerves were back. She’d never done it in this position before. Really, she hadn’t done much in any position before. Luke had joked about her preferring missionary, but she’d never tried anything else.

And to climb on top of him when they were both unclothed . . .

It was both a dream come true and also fodder for so much awkwardness.

He must have caught her slight hesitation because he balanced his hands on her waist and guided her onto his lap so that she straddled him. “Don’t be nervous,” he said gently.

Might as well fess up now before he found out. She fixed her attention on the wall beyond his head. “This is the first time I’m going to be on top.”

Now it was his turn to look nervous. He coughed into his hand. “You mean, ever?”

Anna punched him lightly in the bicep. “Can you stop looking so revolted?”

“What if I said this was my resting bitch face?”

Rolling her eyes to the ceiling, Anna sucked in a deep breath. “If it helps, I’m not a virgin.”

His chuckle was low and sexy. “I never would have guessed.”

“It’s just that I haven’t really done”—she lifted a hand from his shoulder to gesture between them—“this.”

“This?”

Her eyes narrowed at his purposely-obtuse tone. “Sex,” she grumbled good-naturedly. “Hanky-panky. The horizontal tango. The in-and-out. The—”

He burst into laughter, drawing her forward to plant a quick kiss on her mouth. “Jesus, sweetheart, how many names do you have for it?”

“If you gave me some time, an endless list.”

“Anna—” Shaking his head, he offered up a soft grin that spoke to her soul. His hands drifted to the back of her head, which he cupped gently. “You don’t have to apologize to me.”

Her gaze dropped to his body, and it was on the tip of her tongue to say that he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. Seeing him like this, sprawled out on the couch with his hard chest on display and his even harder cock thrust up against his ribbed abdomen, made her mouth water. Her knees tightened alongside his. Could she do this? Could she have sex with Luke and not worry about the after?

“What are you thinking about?”

She went for honesty: “That I don’t want you to regret having sex with me, when you’re so much more experienced than I am.”

There. She’d said it.

She braced herself for the worst, knowing that she’d never been more vulnerable than in this moment, naked and perched on his lap. Her body was exposed, her emotions equally so.

When he finally spoke, Luke’s voice was dark, insistent. “C’mere, sweetheart.” He urged her to lean into him with a palm to the center of her spine. The backs of her thighs scraped across the tops of his, and they both groaned when his erection brushed the most sensitive part of her. “Hold on,” he said raggedly, “wait.”

“Why?”

Green eyes met blue. “I just want you to know that having you in my arms would never be a letdown or a disappointment. Never.”

After that, there was no more talking. It was as if a light switched off and the only thing they understood was need. A need for more. A need to taste. Their lips crashed together in a tangle of tongue and teeth, and Anna’s hands landed on Luke’s shoulders to steady her weight.

But she wanted more.

Her hips slid forward, until she could feel the entire length of him against her clit—she couldn’t help it. She undulated against him, smiling against his mouth when he cursed and clutched her hips and demanded that she do it again. So, she did. Again and again, until his grip switched its pressure and he was no longer pulling her closer but pushing her away.

“You’re going to make me come and I’m not even inside of you yet. You gotta—hell, we need to slow down.” He sounded winded, like he’d just run a marathon.

Anna moved back into place. “I don’t want to slow down.”

He dropped his head against the back of the couch. “You’re going to kill me.”

She fluttered her lashes theatrically. “Isn’t that why the French call orgasms ‘le petit morte’—the ‘little death’? Seems like a relatively good way to go to me.”

Dark brows furrowing, he slowly asked, “Is that a theory you want to test?”

“Umm . . .” She had no words. Not a single one. Did she want to try an orgasm game? Absolutely. Did she want to say so? Embarrassment tied her tongue and kept her mouth shut.

Luke studied her, watching until he nodded once to himself and said, “Yep, we’re doing this.” He patted her hip. “Lift your foot—here. Put it on my shoulder.”

Put her foot on his shoulder? “I’m not athletic. My leg is not going to”—she waved her hand at him—“just lift like that.”

Another pat to her hip, though this one veered closer to her butt. “That’s why you’ve got to stand up. Do it, sweetheart. You won’t regret it, I promise.”

What did she have to lose? Hadn’t she wanted everything that he had to give her? What would she think of herself if she told him no? Bolstered by this, Anna climbed to her feet on the couch, her heels sinking into the soft cushions, as she settled one knee on the back of the couch. Her crotch was eye level with his face, and she swallowed. Heat swept up her chest, over her shoulders, and across her face. If she’d felt exposed before . . . it was nothing compared to now.

Nothing like having your girl parts on open display for a hot, experienced soldier.

The look on Luke’s face when she’d did as he told her, though, was . . . reverent. His palms landed low on her belly, and then he looked up at her, his green eyes dark with desire. “You’re fucking gorgeous, Anna. I can’t wait to taste you.”

She gathered her courage to murmur, “Then what are you waiting for?”

His gaze flashed with surprise, then satisfaction, and he hooked one hand around her knee and spread her wider. His first touch wasn’t where she wanted him. He laid a kiss on the inside of her upraised thigh, on the curve of her other knee. A shiver worked its way down her spine. The need to beg him to get to the main course nearly overwhelmed her.

Don’t.

Wasn’t that the point of the way she’d been living her life? Always ready for the next great thing, whether it was a TV deal or a spread in a new magazine or the latest shipment of lingerie apparel. Did she ever stop to just enjoy? No, she didn’t.

But at the first touch of his lips to her clit, Anna’s need to go slow and steady went straight out the window along with her pride. She clutched his head, his name a litany on her lips, as he nibbled, sucked, and licked with expert precision. Dampness flooded between her legs, and she cried out when he slid a finger into her heat, and then another, and pumped in tandem with his tongue flicking out against her.

It was lovely and it was hot, and the masculine groan he released when she came against his mouth was a sound she would never forget for as long as she lived.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered in a daze.

Luke gave one last lick down her center before he pulled back. “If you can still speak, then I didn’t do a good enough job.”

“You did,” Anna said bluntly. “You really, really did.”

Smugness turned his lips up into a smirk. “Yeah?”

“Don’t let it get to your head.”

They both glanced down at where his “head” bobbed against his stomach. “Might be too late,” he said, and then wrapped a hand around his erection. He pumped his fist once, twice, and a bead of come coated the thick top. “There’s a condom in my wallet, in the pocket of my jeans—will you get it?”

She read between the request to the strained lines of his face. He wasn’t sure his hip would make it. Without a word, she did as he asked, sticking her hand into the back pocket of his jeans and retrieving his wallet. Condom packet in hand, she returned to him on the couch and straddled his lap.

“Give it here.”

“Nope.” She eased the rejection with a wink, and then tore open the wrapper and tossed it over her shoulder. “I’ve always wanted to do this for a guy.” Anna waited until his gaze met hers before rolling the latex down his rigid length. “Now I can tick that box off.”

He bit out, “you’re about to check another box off right now,” and then guided her so that she was poised over him. He met her gaze, and she nodded, once. With an indrawn breath, he clutched her hips and thrust upward into her. Oh. Oh. It was a tight fit, tighter than she’d expected. Tighter maybe then he’d expected, because one of his favorite curse words exploded from his mouth and he dug his fingers into her side.

“Good?” she worked out, hating the thought that maybe she wasn’t meant to like sex. It was uncomfortable, the same way it had always been when she’d been eighteen and hooking up with Julian’s father, and the same way five years ago during her last sexual encounter.

“Fuck, yeah, it’s good,” Luke grunted, his voice thick like he’d drunk one too many whiskeys. “You feel amazing, sweetheart, so goddamn amazing. Like I’m walking on clouds. Cotton candy. Fuck, I don’t even know except that I never want you to leave.”

Anna shifted and barely withheld a wince. “That’s . . . good.”

God, she was such a failure. A failure who didn’t like sex, no matter how many times she gave it a go.

“Anna?”

“Yes?”

“Is it good for you?”

“I . . . It’s—you’re big.”

“Just what every guy likes to hear,” he said wryly. “Give me the ‘but’ that I already know is coming.”

Well, he’d asked for it. “You might be too big, if such a thing exists. Or maybe I’m too small. I don’t really know. It’s just that it kind of hurts, and it doesn’t really feel that great right now, and I’m pretty sure you are regretting everything and I am so, so sorry.”

He didn’t even pause. “What’d we say about apologizing?”

Her hair fell in front of her face. She didn’t bother to move it. “Well, I know, but still—”

Luke made a bzzzt sound. “Wrong answer. Trust me, sweetheart. I’m not too big—though I thank you for telling me so—and you’re not too small either. We fit perfectly, me and you.”

“It doesn’t really feel that way right now.”

“Trust test,” he said, throwing her words back in her face from earlier in the night. “I dare you to trust me.”

She studied him, noting the earnest look in his beautiful green eyes and the tick in his jaw that signaled that he was doing his damn best to hold back. “Okay.”

He rewarded her with a brilliant grin, then twisted their bodies so that she sat on top of him with her back to his chest. She felt his cock nudge at her entrance again, and this time she didn’t wait for him to lead the way. Anna sank down on him, taking him all the way to the hilt, and sucked in a breath. His low groan was music to her ears.

With an arm wrapped around her stomach like a band and the other guiding her hips, he slowly began to move her up and down his length. It was . . . interesting.

Then Luke tugged her back, bringing them flush together, so that her back collided with his slick chest, while his palm drifted over her belly button and down, down, down. To there. Oh, God. He applied pressure, circling his finger in tight motions—moved his hand away to play with her breasts, before heading back south to tease her again.

All the while, his hips pistoned in and out of her, and yes, yes, there was that spine-tingling sensation. It started in her toes, which she curled into the hardwood floor. Worked its way up her legs, to the apex between her thighs. Was this it? Was it—?

He did something with his fingers, and Anna didn’t even have time to think about the ramifications of what sex with Luke might mean before her eyes squeezed shut and the light burst behind her eyelids.

She came shuddering in his arms, his name her favorite prayer.

His fingers didn’t stop teasing her clit until the spasms stopped. Then, he gripped her hips, leaned forward and nipped her shoulder, and pumped two hard times into her before erupting with a groan and a curse.

Then, in the silence, he said one more word: “Hooah.”