The entire ride back to my apartment, my heart is playing a drum solo so loud it echoes in my throat and my ears. Esteban is quiet, and I keep wondering why he hasn’t kissed me yet, so I start asking him about his dream restaurant.

“If you had it your way, what kind of restaurant would you like to open?”

He keeps his eyes on the road, but he smiles when he says, “A place like the one we just ate at.”

“That makes sense. The food was amazing, and I love the space. It was very romantic, and the company wasn’t bad either,” I tease.

“Is that so?” His smile is playful when he turns in my direction, waiting for me to tell him the rest.

“It was the best night out I’ve had in a long time,” I tell him, relaxing against the headrest, trying hard to keep my voice steady.

“I’m glad.”

“I don’t want it to end,” I tell him when we reach a stoplight, hoping he gets my gist, since he just reminded me hours ago that I could have made the first move.

He doesn’t say anything, but his lips are parted, and his hungry eyes are fixed on me, cautious, as if looking for permission to touch me, permission to kiss me, permission to fuck me.

Yes, yes, and yes.

The light turns green and someone honks behind us.

It’s only then that we break eye contact and Esteban puts his foot on the gas pedal, raising one hand to apologize to the driver behind us.

I laugh quietly to myself, trying to look ahead at the road, but constantly stealing glances his way.

“By the way, didn’t you say that Vida Dulce had two owners? We met Cyrus, but where was the other? Was he not there? Shouldn’t the owner be present during a soft opening?”

He chuckles and lets out a breath. “You’re looking at him.”

My eyes go wide. “You’re one of the owners? You’re the other owner?” I ask, almost screeching.

“Yeah.” He exhales a breath and smiles. “Why are you so surprised?”

“For one, you could have said something earlier, and two…damn, dude. No wonder I didn’t see you for weeks. You’re a busy man!”

He smiles and shrugs. “I like staying busy…usually. This month, however, was one I’d like not to repeat.”

“How are you going to manage all the restaurants and the new one?”

“I’ll just have to rely on my employees at the other locations and focus on Vida Dulce for the time being. That was another reason why I had to make sure to check on things in Santa Fe. I can’t afford for things to be left hanging, especially with the opening just a few days away.”

“Now I feel like an idiot. You obviously knew the menu inside out, and the place…and all night you acted like it was all new to you.”

He laughs again, and I love the sound of it so much, I can’t wait for him to laugh, closer to me. I can’t wait to hear his laugh reverberate through his chest, under my ear.

“It was all new to me. It was all new to me because I was there with you. It was a brand-new experience, because I got to see it through your eyes.”

He says the words so easily, so naturally, that my chest at this point is molten lava, and something is going to have to happen or the rest of my body will turn into embers.

“The playlist! You knew! Oh, you chose the damn songs, you liar!” I tell him playfully as we pull up in front of Lupe’s store, and he puts the truck in park. He’s laughing lightheartedly, and as I keep piling up humorous insults at his expense, his eyes are lit with happiness, and he takes my hand in his, kissing it, while I’m still shaking my head at him.

His soft lips on my skin distract me from everything else, and I exhale a shallow breath. I’m about to get closer to kiss him already, when a couple of cars zoom past the parked truck, and their bright lights blind us.

“Let me walk you to your door,” he says, and my heart sinks in my stomach.

I don’t want him to go anywhere. I need a little—or a lot—more of him.

He opens the door and offers me his hand. We walk hand in hand, my fingers rubbing against the calloused skin of his palm. I was surprised to find out and I’m still so shocked that Vida Dulce is his restaurant. I’m amazed by his passion and the fact that he’s someone who goes after what he wants. It’s admirable and terribly sexy.

When we get to the stairs, he walks up the stair behind me, keeping his distance. At the door, he remains on the top step as if he’s trying to give me space.

I don’t want space. I want Esteban all over me. Being a gentleman right now won’t cut it. I open the door and turn on a small table light. I turn around leaning to the side, against the frame. He gets closer, and his hands touch the frame of the door above my head. He looks at me, biting down on his lip, and I can read the uncertainty in his eyes.

“You should. You know you want to,” I whisper sounding sure of myself despite my dry mouth, my heart bracing for the feel of his lips. “I want you to know that, in case I haven’t dropped enough hints tonight,” I add with a smile and he laughs.

“Should what?” he teases, angling his face toward me. His mouth is so close. His breath washes over me, the faint scent of the rosehip cordial we drank a while ago filling the space between us.

“You should kiss me already.” I feign annoyance, but it doesn’t last long, because his lips crash into mine and his arms are around my waist in a second. My hands fly into his hair, and my body is flush against his.

His lips on mine are just as heavenly as I remember. The caress of his tongue is just as deliberate and sensual. But whereas the kiss from a few weeks ago was laced with hesitation, this one is charged with abandon. His fingers run up my torso, barely grazing my chest, all the way up to my face. The feather-like touch of his fingertips sets my skin ablaze.

His hands cup my face, and then he pulls back. My eyes are still closed, and I don’t have to guess he’s staring at me. “Don’t stop,” I mumble, incoherently, and he chuckles against my lips. My chest is on fire, and the stirring in my lower belly is making me crazy. My whole body is heavy and wired, but my eyes, my heavy, lust-filled eyes must have stars in them, because the look he gives me when I open my eyes is reverent and full of adoration.

He brushes my hair aside and caresses my face.

“God, Ines. You are so beautiful.”

More, please.

I close my eyes again and smile, electrified by his words. I pull on his shirt gently. I want him and there’s no way I’m letting him leave now.

“You can’t look at me like that and then try to leave.”

“Are you sure?”

I’m sure about you. Sure in a way that I’ve never been.

“Come in, Esteban.”

“I don’t think I should.”

“I say you should.” My voice is low and raspy; my tone is serious. After one more hesitant glance, he makes up his mind and closes the door behind him, locking it.

It’s a bit hot in the apartment, so I open the floor-to-ceiling window, making sure the mosquito net is pulled across. I relish the evening breeze, something you can almost always count on here in Albuquerque.

I turn back to Esteban and catch him staring at me. I reach for his hand, and then run my hand up his arm, brushing my fingertips along his muscular bicep, feeling the fabric of his linen shirt under my touch.

My hands rest at his collarbone, my fingers on the first button of his shirt. I glance up at him, and his chest rises and falls as I unfasten it. Eyes fixed on him, I unfasten the second, and third, and the fourth, until his shirt is wide open. I run my hands over his taut abs and his pecs. I’d imagined how his smooth caramel-colored skin felt against my hand. I brush softly over the light patch of hair on the middle of his chest.

“Ines,” he says, his voice almost trembling. The way he says my name spurs me and makes me weak in the knees at the same time.

“You’re beautiful, Esteban, and I want you…so badly,” I tell him, kissing his chest first reverently, and then stretching up to reach for his lips, kissing him as if it’s the first time all over again. When I deepen the kiss, his hands are no longer idle, and they begin exploring my body the way I want them to.

They run down my back and cup my ass and squeeze, bringing me closer to him. His hips connect with mine, showing me just how much he wants me. A muffled moan escapes my lips and he breaks the kiss, reaching for the hem of my dress, pulling it up enough to touch me between my legs.

I’m soaking wet for him and there’s no way to hide it, not that I’m ashamed. I want him to feel how much I desire him.

His fingers make it past the tassel of my panties and are immediately soaked in my essence, teasing my already swollen center. He lets out a low growl and starts placing kisses on my neck. His fingers begin rubbing my clit and my knees buckle.

Esteban has to support me with his other hand behind my back, his fingers teasing me relentlessly, circling over and over my center, until I’m close to the edge. I feel his eyes on me and when I open mine, there they are, enraptured.

“You are so fucking beautiful.” His whispered, hungry words are my undoing. I try to hold back, but the orgasm erupts through me as he keeps pressing harder on my clit. A not-so-strangled moan escapes my lips and his big, soft lips start grazing my neck.

He reaches to undo the strap of my dress, freeing one of my breasts from the material.

“What’s this sorcery?” he jokes, and I laugh softly. “No bra? You smart, smart woman.”

He leans down, taking my nipple in his mouth, his tongue swirling around it and biting it gently so that it’s even perkier than a minute ago. How can I stop from shivering under his touch when he seems to have a fast-pass to make me lose all control? My throat is dry and I’m so lightheaded I need to remind myself to breathe. I want his mouth everywhere, but I need to touch him and kiss him too. I pull his shirt off his shoulders, and when I have it in my hands I try to throw it somewhere on the bed. A gust of cool air makes my skin pebble, but it’s nice. My body is burning for Esteban, impatient to have him inside me.

I take in the sight of his naked torso now that I can ogle him deliberately. He’s so damn good-looking. His body is lean, but he has slightly defined muscles in all the right places, probably thanks to a combination of swimming and his daily manual labor in the kitchen. I run my fingers down his wide shoulders, I trace his pec and tease one of his nipples as his breathing becomes shallow. I kiss his chest, over and over, his smooth skin embedded with a faint scent of sandalwood.

“I love this dress, but it must go,” he mutters, smiling deviously.

“I agree,” I whisper. He kisses me again, this time just a soft peck, and he pulls up the hem, lifting the dress over my head. He takes it in his hands and folds it neatly in half. My eyes fall on the massive bulge in his pants as he turns sideways to place the dress on the back of my chair.

I kick off my shoes and notice the difference in height now that I’m a couple inches shorter. When his focus is back on me, his eyes travel down my mostly naked body. He brings me closer, pressing me to him, and then cups one of my breasts with his hand, massaging it gently as I hook my fingers in the waistband of his jeans. He covers my lips with his, his hands traveling down my back, cupping my ass. He’s on a mission to touch every inch of my skin, and I can’t blame him. I’m suffering from the same kind of frenzy. I walk us backward to the bed. I sit down and unbuckle his belt, staring at him, watching him breathe deeply, almost nervously, for he knows—or maybe he just hopes—what’s coming next.

I unzip his jeans, and I free his beautiful erect cock from his boxer briefs. I give it a gentle stroke, and it releases a bead of natural lubricant. Esteban sucks in a breath and then closes his eyes as I lean down and wrap my mouth around it and start sucking him.

He’s hard and beautiful, his skin smooth velvet, and thank heavens he tastes just as delicious as the rest of him. I caress the skin of his lower belly as his breathing becomes labored and I internally rejoice at the sound of it.

His hands go in my hair, caressing me gently.

“Ines.” My name is the sweetest chant on his lips, and he looks so beautiful, staring at me through long lashes, completely surrendered to me. He’s mine. All mine. There’s a tenderness in his eyes I haven’t seen before, his starry-eyed gaze making me feel like I’m the only one who can give him so much pleasure. He hardens in my mouth, and I understand he’s about to come when he says, “Stop. I want, I need to be inside of you.”

He pulls back and watches me get on the bed, as he takes off his jeans, boots, and underwear. When he takes a condom out of his pocket, I ogle the beautiful lines of his body, his strong back and his glorious ass. He rolls the condom on and kneels in front of me. Leaning in closer, cupping my jaw, he kisses me softly once again, the taste of him still on my lips.

“Do you know how beautiful you are?”

I shake my head. I want him to tell me.

“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.” His voice is so soft, and his expression is so earnest, I almost tear up.

Careful, I tell myself. This might be just sex to him, but both my body and my heart have this deep conviction that it’s so much more. He hasn’t even been inside of me and this already feels like one of the most profound experiences of my entire life.

His fingers skim along the waistband of my panties and then hook in them, bringing them down my legs, slowly, until they’re all the way down to my ankles.

His hand parts my legs and explores my wet center once more.

“I want you,” I plead against his lips, needy.

“I know,” he says with a smug smile I can’t help finding charming. I smile back at him and he places another wet kiss on my mouth. I can’t stop touching his body, any inch of his skin I can get access to, but I lie still and shiver, anticipating what’s about to come when he gently pushes me until my back is against the mattress. I don’t miss a beat when he climbs in bed with me, parting my legs wider to make room for him. Esteban’s eyes travel all over my body like I’m the eighth wonder and he can’t wait to touch and explore more than he already has. His hands are teasing and tantalizing my skin, and yet there’s such sweetness behind every gesture that my chest is as tight as a tightrope.

I’m not used to meaningful one-night stands with sexy acquaintances.

I watch him roll the condom down his hard cock and we exchange another look before he places himself between my legs and fills me, thrusting slowly at first, going deeper thrust after thrust.

He stills for a second, making sure I’m okay, but to be honest…I couldn’t be better. One-night stands are tricky. I had a few in my college days, and they were nothing more than semi-drunken encounters between two young people with very little experience. And sometimes things just didn’t “fit” from the beginning. But Esteban feels like he’s made entirely for me. I have to exhale and take a deep breath in an attempt to slow down the beat of my heart, going as fast as a high-speed train. I can feel the blood rush through my veins and the rapid rise of levels of dopamine and epinephrine in my blood are making me feel already ecstatic.

“You can move, Esteban,” I tell him, caressing his face and smiling reassuringly, reeling from the feel of him, and he exhales a breath of relief. He smiles, but underneath seems a little tense, even though he has no reason to be. As he moves slowly, rocking his hips against me, I’m even more convinced that he belongs inside of me, and I can’t wait for him to bring me to the brink of pleasure.

I want to tell him to fuck me, but for some reason, it doesn’t feel like the right thing to say right now. “Make love to me,” I tell him, caressing his face, unafraid of the words I’m using. A few seconds later, he starts rocking his hips against me faster, wrapping my legs around his body, finding the perfect angle that will surely make us both lose our mind.

He’s so deep inside of me, I feel all of him as I inch closer and closer to the climax. My breasts bounce in a slow, drawn-out rhythm, as he plunges into me time after time. When he lifts my ankles up on his shoulders, his big cock moves deeper inside of me, and it’s then that I lose it. I explode, crying his name, the orgasm ripping through my body in waves, my heart racing in my chest. I’m delirious, already aching for more as Esteban thrusts one more time inside of me, eyes closed, whispering my name, following with his orgasm. We both still for a few seconds as we regain our breath. The intensity of all this is unexpected.

When he opens his eyes, I’m hit by a multitude of emotions I don’t always associate with sex.

I reach for Esteban as he’s leaning down to kiss me, and I tug on the hair on his neck a little, surprised by how much I still need to touch him everywhere, and how I know it will never, ever be enough.

“Where have you been all my life, Esteban Garcia?” I give him a peck as I feel a slow rumble erupt from his chest. He pulls back and looks at me, tugs a lock of hair behind my ear and then gets all serious.

“Here, waiting for you,” he responds in the softest, sweetest tone.

He kisses me softly, then parts my lips and tastes my tongue, as if he’s not ready to let go either. An ache spreads in my chest at the thought that he might want or need to leave. I don’t want him to go. Just the thought of it makes me frantic. Possessiveness is not something I’m used to. Why do I feel so crazy when it comes to Esteban?

“Do you…do you want to stay?” I ask him, hesitant.

He kisses my cheek, then kisses the hollow of my neck and down to my collarbone before saying against my skin, “I’d love to stay, if you want me to.”

I give him a silent nod and sigh, relieved, as he gets up to dispose of the condom in the bathroom. He walks back to the bed, slips in beside me, caressing my thighs, all the way up to my waist, his eyes never leaving mine. I shiver, and he pulls the sheet up to cover us both.

“Are you cold? We could close the window.”

“No. I like it. The air is cool, but you’re warm. Everything is perfect,” I say.

“It really is,” he repeats absentmindedly, looking at me in a way that makes me realize he’s not just talking about the weather.

He stretches his arms out to me and pulls me in a hug, kissing the top of my head, and the emotions that bubble up in my chest threaten to come out as tears. My eyes prickle, starting to produce the tears, and I blink them away. It’s been such a long time since I’ve felt this cherished. I know it’s stupid to even think this, but I have the feeling that Esteban understands me.

To prove that point, he catches on my mood immediately.

I breathe in and out, trying to calm down.

“What is it?”

The word “nothing” is right on the tip of my tongue, but I know he wouldn’t believe me if I said that.

“Esteban.”

“Yes?”

I take a deep breath and straighten a little to look at him, even if it’s more difficult to say what I want when the look in his eyes makes me lose my train of thought. How did a man like him end up in my bed?

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been with a man who wasn’t…you know,” I let out, refusing to say his name. “I didn’t expect it to feel this good. I didn’t expect things to be this…good.”

“Can you keep a secret?” he teases.

“I think I can.” I laugh against his chest before kissing his skin, glancing at him.

“I haven’t been with someone in a while either. But more than anything, it has never felt this…right.” He sounds a bit hesitant, as if he’s measuring his words. “Right is not the right word, Ines. I’m not sure which one could best describe what it was like for me,” he says with a look so intense, my lower belly stirs in exultation.

I raise myself up on my elbows and look at him with curiosity, mostly wanting to call his bluff. But his dreamy expression when he stares at me tells me he’s not lying.

He leans in to give me a sweet kiss and I keep staring at him.

“This is going to sound crazy…but I can’t wait to have you inside me all over again.”

“It doesn’t sound crazy at all, and I have very good news for you. Me being inside you again can easily be arranged,” he teases, taking one of my hands and kissing my knuckles.

“Please and thank you,” I say, and he laughs softly against my skin. I catch a glimpse of his amused eyes, sparkling like stars. “I’m serious. My body is telling me I have to get to know every single inch of your skin and that I need to have you over…and over,” I tell him, kissing his chest. It’s true, but what my body is also telling me right now is that Esteban is mine and I shouldn’t let him go. Ever. My body is obviously in shock from nearly overdosing on oxytocin and endorphins.

I’m delirious. My heart is still racing, my chest is warm and fuzzy as if the man in my bed is responsible for freeing me from a bad spell.

“What else are you thinking about?” Esteban asks, tugging a lock of hair behind my ear.

“You and me,” I admit.

“Are you worried?”

“No, not really. I’ve thought about this for a while now,” I say in a low voice, throwing a shy glance in his direction. He smiles, delighted. He runs his finger along my arm, then down to my breast.

“You have, huh?” he jokes. I roll my eyes and he pulls me closer to him. “It’s not like I can deny I’ve been thinking about this for the last few weeks too.” He grins, and then pulls my mouth in a slow, passionate kiss. Yes, I’m obsessed with needing more of his body, but I’m also puzzled because I don’t understand why I feel the way I do about Esteban. Turned on. Crazy in love. ’Til-death-do-us-part possessive.

“Like I told you, I’ve wanted to know more about you since I met you,” he says, running a finger down my cheek. “And now that I know you feel the same way about me…you can rest easy. There’s nothing you should worry about. I really like you, Ines. I want you…” He hesitates, and I can see he’s holding back his words as his gaze dances between my eyes and my mouth.

“What?” I ask.

He scoots closer to me and his hips press against my thigh. His hard cock presses against me sending a shiver down my spine, and my nipples pebble. My heart somersaults. I lick my lips and smile at him. His grin stretches across his face, reaching his eyes, and it feels like it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

“I’m ready for you. If you want me again.”

“Oh. I do. I most certainly do.” I smile before pressing my lips against his, reaching down under the sheet to make him mine again.