I was a little drunk. But I felt good. No, I felt great.

Dinner with his parents had been a nightmare, but the moment we left the house, the night had improved exponentially. And now, with just the two of us in this gorgeous hotel room—with its one bed—I was starting to think that things might get even better.

I kept expecting Jax to make a move. I knew he was thinking about it—I caught him watching me with that smoldering look in his eyes—but he had yet to try anything.

Maybe he was waiting for me.

“Truth or dare?” he asked, with a flirtatious smirk.

This was my chance. “Dare,” I told him.

I felt bold. Sexy. Brazen. I loved the way I felt. And from the way Jax’s eyes widened and his grin grew, I could tell that he was loving it as well.

“I dare you . . .” Jax thought for a moment. “I dare you to show me one of your secret skills.”

“My secret skills?” I was disappointed. I had hoped he would have said something like “I dare you to strip naked and ravish me.”

“Everyone has one or two,” he said, still teasing. “What’s yours?”

I thought for a moment. “I don’t think I have one,” I said, disappointed. “Choose another dare.”

But Jax shook his head. “You have to have one,” he insisted.

“Well.” I thought hard. “Paige always told me I could hold my breath for an obscenely long time.” I glanced around the room. “You want me to show you that?”

Jax nodded.

“I guess there’s the bathroom and bathtub,” I said, feeling confused. This wasn’t sexy at all.

But Jax stood and took my hand. His eyes flashed suggestively. “I’ve got a better idea.”

“You call breaking into the hotel’s pool a better idea?”

“Shh.” Jax checked the hallway, then ducked through the open door. It was dark and quiet, but the pool itself was beautiful, lit with underwater lights and gleaming an eerie blue in the empty, echoing spa.

“We’re going to get in trouble,” I whispered as we tiptoed closer.

“And?” Jax shot me a wicked smile, as if he didn’t care that we might get caught. It shouldn’t have turned me on, but it did.

A lot.

I reached the edge of the pool and realized that there was another problem.

“I don’t have a swimsuit,” I whispered.

“You’ve never gone skinny dipping?” Jax asked, that wicked smile still curving his lips.

“No!”

“It’s fun,” he told me.

“Then you do it,” I shot back.

He gave me a look, and then, without another word, began stripping.

My heart stopped.

He wasn’t . . . was he?

He was.

First Jax kicked off his shoes, followed by his socks, which were flung halfway across the room. Then, his long, deft fingers went to the buttons of his shirt, undoing each slowly and methodically. Too slow to be anything but a show.

And I was a captive audience. Sure, I could have left any time I chose, but come on: Jax Hawthorne in the flesh?

I wasn’t going anywhere.

I glanced upward, at his face, and found him watching me with a seductive grin. He knew I was enjoying this. And I was. Especially as each button revealed more and more skin. I’d seen him without his shirt before—on screen and in real life. But this was different. Because this time he was doing it for me. And only for me.

When the shirt was completely unbuttoned, he shrugged out of it and tossed it at me. Automatically my hands went up to catch it, and I caught the scent of him as well. I was expecting some expensive cologne, but instead, all I smelled was fresh grass and something that was intrinsically Jax. Something that reminded me of our winter on the pier. Popcorn and the ocean and pinball. It was the best part of my childhood, captured in a single deep inhale.

Jax’s hands went to the snap of his jeans, and my breath caught in my throat. This was further then we had gone before, but just as he undid the top button, he paused.

Waiting for me to decide.

Even in the heat of the moment, he was a gentleman.

And maybe if I’d been completely sober, I would have played at being a lady, but the tequila was warming my blood, dropping all my inhibitions to the floor along with his clothing.

I arched an eyebrow at him. “Is that it?” I asked, cheekily.

Jax’s grin grew and he unbuttoned his jeans. The sound his zipper made as it was lowered seemed to echo in the quiet of the room. Neither of us seemed to be breathing. Then, in one smooth movement, Jax pushed his jeans and underwear down his hips and off onto the floor.

Now I definitely wasn’t breathing.

“Oh. My. God,” I said, before I could stop myself.

Because seeing Jax in all his glory was damn near a religious experience. He was gorgeous. Beyond gorgeous. And not just that. He was big.

My mouth watered. I had never been the kind of girl who thought much about oral sex— giving or receiving—but for the first time, I was ready to get on my knees and worship Jax in that way. I wanted to taste him. All of him.

And from the look of things, he was more than ready for me.

He took a step towards me, and my heart pounded in my ears.

But instead of reaching for me, he strode right past me. I heard a splash, and whirled around to find that he had cannonballed into the pool. Completely naked.

Well, I had basically dared him to. It would have been foolish to think that this would have ended any other way.

“Come on,” he said, beckoning to me as he splashed around. “The water’s great.”

It wasn’t just the water that was great. My view wasn’t as clear through the ripples on the surface, but I could still see enough of his powerful body to know that if I didn’t take advantage of this situation, I would officially be the world’s dumbest girl.

Be adventurous, Penny.

I was naked under my robe, so I took a deep breath and quickly slipped it off. Before I could take it back, I set off in a running leap for the pool. I barely registered Jax’s grinning face as I sailed over his head and landed with a splash in the water next to him.

The water was cool, but not icy. It closed around me in a rush, and I came up sputtering, my heart racing with glee. I couldn’t believe I just did that! He had been right: the water was great, the perfect temperature, though it immediately seemed to get warmer as Jax swam over towards me, his long gliding strokes eating up the distance between us. Before I knew it, I was pressed up against the side of the pool, his hard, wet chest leaning into me.

“Hey,” he said, his voice low and sexy.

“Hey,” I squeaked, my voice neither low nor sexy.

But he didn’t seem to mind. Instead, his eyes dropped from my face to my body. Even though he had seen me naked before, this felt different. More intimate. I felt exposed.

Luckily, the heat in his eyes did a lot to soothe my insecurities. And then, when he lowered his head and put his hot mouth to my neck, licking at the water droplets there, all of those insecurities flew right out the window.

“You taste amazing,” Jax murmured against my shoulder, his mouth moving from there across my collarbone.

His hands were bracketed on either side of me, hanging onto the side of the pool, but one of them decided to explore. First it swept my wet hair aside, so Jax could place more kisses on my shoulder. His mouth moved upward—to my throat and then to the place behind my ear—while his hand moved downward, tracing the curve of my hip.

I moaned. I couldn’t help it.

“Jax,” I begged, needing more. Needing him.

He raised his head, his eyes finding mine.

“Yes?” he asked, his grin devilish.

“Touch me,” I panted, my legs parted underneath the water.

He smiled wider and then captured my mouth with his. He kissed me long and deep as his hand made its way across my stomach. I could barely touch the bottom, standing on my tiptoes, my stance wide and ready for him.

Finally—finally—he touched me, his fingers sliding downward to stroke me.

I gasped as the pad of his finger touched me. It was barely a caress—the slightest hint of his hand against me.

“Jax,” I moaned, hearing the desperation in my voice. The raw need.

He heard it, too, because he smiled against my neck and nipped at my earlobe. Then he touched me. Really touched me.

His long, talented fingers stroked me just right, sliding against the seam of my body, touching me where I was wet and aching for him. Even though we were submerged in water, he must have felt the heat from my body—how the wetness there was different than what surrounded us.

“You’re so fucking hot,” he murmured against my ear, his thumb finding my clit.

I bit my lip, squirming against his hand. It felt so good, and something coiled tight and deep in my belly as he stroked me with one finger and then two.

“I want to fuck you so badly,” Jax groaned as I tilted my hips towards him. “I want to feel you tighten around me and come on my cock.”

I was about to come on his hand if he kept talking to me like that. It was raunchy and raw and I fucking loved it. No one had ever spoken to me this way. No one had ever wanted me the way that Jax did.

I could feel his cock, hard and throbbing, against my hip, and I wanted exactly what he wanted. But I couldn’t say that—couldn’t say anything—because he was stroking me with his fingers, harder and faster. Pleasure rippled through my body as he teased me, rubbing his fingers against my clit. It was so good, but it wasn’t enough.

Then Jax slid his fingers inside of me. I cried out in ecstasy, but the sound was captured by Jax’s mouth against mine. I was out of control, riding his fingers, my hips wild as he fucked me with his hand, his thumb making tantalizing circles against my clit. Pleasure built inside of me as he filled me with his fingers. Water lapped against the side of the pool as my body moved to match the rhythm he set.

My orgasm hit me hard, my body collapsing against his, jagged shivers running through me as Jax held me up in the water. My skin felt burning hot, and I half expected the pool to be boiling around us. Instead, the only thing that was hot was the look in Jax’s eyes. His hard cock was still pressed against me, and this time I was ready to finish what we had started.

“Still want to make me come on your cock?” I asked, the raunchy words out of my mouth before I could second guess them.

The look in Jax’s eyes was practically combustible. With one graceful gesture, he had pulled himself out of the pool and was offering his hand. I took it, and was hauled out of the water as if I weighed nothing. Jax practically threw my robe at me, and gathered his clothes while shoving his wet legs into jeans, sans underwear. He didn’t even bother to put on a shirt as we ran out of the pool room and towards the elevator.

I was still giddy and high from my own orgasm, but already my skin hummed for more. I reached for Jax the moment the elevator door closed, and he kissed me fiercely.

“You’re mine,” he whispered as the elevator headed towards our floor. “For the whole night. You’re all mine.”