Miami was hot. That was what I was chalking up this sudden warmth curling inside of me to as I watched a shirtless Rowan pace our hotel suite. He’d been on the phone for thirty minutes, talking to someone back in New York, and while I would have loved to say I was just being nosey, listening in on his conversation, the truth was that I couldn’t stop staring. He’d mentioned he hadn’t been going up state as often as he’d liked, therefore, not rowing, but his body was insane. Maybe it was an athlete thing. Maybe their bodies just stayed intact while the rest of us went to shit if we didn’t work out twenty-four-seven, which . . . who had time for that? But damn, the way the planes of his back stretched and his stomach remained flat and cut, and his arms . . . and his broad shoulders . . . and just everything. I made myself look away. He exhaled heavily as he hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bed beside me. The suite had one bedroom, one large living room, and a small kitchen. He said he’d take the couch if I insisted, which I had. Him sleeping beside me would lead to very, very bad things. Bad things that would probably end in mind-blowing orgasms . . . plural.

“Everything okay?”

“I leave for one day and everyone decides that they can’t handle simple shit,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “How hard can it be to follow directions? They’re fucking written in our contract. The delivery address is on the goddamn box. I swear to god . . .” He exhaled again, pacing. “And to top it off, the delivery was supposed to be made yesterday, and they ran late because they couldn’t find the box to begin with. I just—”

“Ro.”

He stopped pacing and turned to me, still looking troubled.

“Can you stop worrying about the company for two seconds?” I asked. “You’re in a gorgeous suite in Miami. I’m sure Sam can take care of whatever mishap happened. It’s after work hours on a Friday. Go downstairs and have a drink, go to a club, do something that has nothing to do with work for five minutes.”

My words seemed to sink in slowly, but I could see when they hit him because his blue eyes glimmered with something much darker than amusement and deeper than lust, something that had the power to draw me in and keep me forever if I let him. He strode toward me, making me incredibly aware that I was sitting in bed wearing nothing more than a plush white robe and a string bikini beneath. He stood beside me. Close, but not close enough. I needed him to stay at a distance. I was still reeling from seeing Camryn and everything she said. I didn’t believe her, I knew better than that. Rowan may have his faults, but he had never once lied to me.

“You think I’m going to go downstairs and have a drink, go to a club, or do something else without you?”

“It doesn’t matter to me.” I shrugged. “I’m perfectly content—”

He sat beside me. I sat up and crossed my legs, bunching the material of the robe between my legs. The robe opened to expose my bikini top. His gaze landed there automatically. I kept my eyes on his throat, the way it moved when he swallowed thickly. His hand moved to my lap, and then my arm. His eyes met mine.

“Whatever you’re doing, I’m doing,” he said. The way he looked at me made me want to believe he meant more than in just that moment. I couldn’t trust myself to believe that.

“I saw Camryn today.”

He took his hand back and closed it into a fist over his bent leg. “Where?”

“The juice bar.”

“Why didn’t you tell me when you got home?”

“I was compartmentalizing.” It was the second time I’d used that on him and with the way his expression seemed to fall a bit, I almost wished I hadn’t. “She said you’re having marital issues, but that this too shall pass. Marriage is hard. I believe those were her exact words.”

“Marital issues.” He let out a forced chuckle. “I served her divorce papers over a month ago. She hasn’t signed them, but she knows it’s inevitable. We aren’t . . .” He exhaled, closing his eyes briefly. He pinned me with them when he opened them once more. “We are not together. We will never be together. I’m not saying this to you as a kid who’s in high school or fresh out of college, Tessa. I’m saying this to you as a man who would give up his left arm to be with you.”

My throat tightened. “What are you saying?”

He slid off the bed and knelt beside me, putting his hand up like an offering. I placed mine in his and tilted slightly to face him, heart pounding, waiting.

“I’m saying that I can’t take back the last four years of my life, but that doesn’t mean I can’t change the way things will be going forward,” he said. “I’m saying that I want to be in your life and Miles’s life, not just as a co-parent, but as more if you’ll have me.”

“Rowan.” I felt the tears building in my eyes before I could stop them.

“I love you, Tessa Monte. I bleed for you.”

I closed my eyes. I had to because I couldn’t bear to see the raw look in his eyes. Tears slid down my face. How long had I wanted to hear those words from him? My entire life. There hadn’t been a single moment in which this hadn’t been a dream of mine and it had just become a reality. The man I had thought was emotionless had proven me wrong and I couldn’t even keep my eyes open long enough to acknowledge the words and say them back.

“I know you probably don’t love me anymore or that you can’t say the words back. I fucked up. I know I did, but I don’t want to spend another moment in your presence without letting you know how I feel.” He brought my hands up to his lips and kissed one and then the other. I opened my eyes, took my hands from him, and wiped my tears.

“Silly, stupid man,” I whispered. “You think love is something that fades with time?”

“I don’t know a thing about love. I only know what I feel for you.” His lips twitched slightly. “You still love me?”

“I told you I loved you before and it changed nothing then. What makes you think it’ll change something now?”

“The time that passed, the things that have happened, the son you gave birth to,” he said. “Want more?”

“You still have Camryn. We can move mountains all day, but as long as we have that cloud above us, we’ll never find enough light to grow.”

“I’m trying to get rid of her, I swear it.”

“Try harder.”

“I will.”

“Good.”

“Whatever she told you is a lie,” he said. “I’m not going to sit here and promise you that things will be perfect. I travel a lot and your job is demanding, but it’ll be better than it would have been four years ago, I can promise you that. I wasn’t ready before, but I’m ready for you now if you’ll have me.”

“And Miles,” I said.

“And Miles.” His lips moved into a small smile that faltered before it fully formed. “What if I put too much pressure on Miles and he grows to resent me? What if—”

I reached out and ran my fingers through his soft hair. He shut his mouth and closed his eyes, taking a long, deep breath.

“You are more than that,” I said. “You are more than your stupid money and your company. More than your last name and your reputation. You are more, Rowan Hawthorne, and Miles will see that.”

A smirk tugged at his lips as he opened his eyes. “I don’t think he likes me. I mean, he likes me when you aren’t around, but the moment you step into the room, he looks at me like I’m trying to move in on his woman. I’ll admit that it makes me kind of proud, but since I am trying to move in on his woman, I kind of need him on board.”

I laughed. “He’s very protective of me.”

“I noticed.”

“But he likes you. I promise.”

“Good.” He smiled up at me. “You want to go to that pool party or would you rather me order room service and skip it?” I tugged on his hair, and he bit his bottom lip and let out a little growl, his expression heating. “You may want to reconsider the things you’re doing to me while you’re sitting on a bed, barely clothed, with that expression on your face.”

“I could say the same thing to you.”

He let out a grating chuckle. “Don’t go offering things like that to a starving man.”

I tugged his hair harder, motioning him up to me. He shifted, coming face to face with me and then following me as I lay back onto the bed.

“You’re gonna have to take the lead here,” he whispered as he braced his hands on either side of me.

I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck, pulling him closer until the tips of our noses were touching.

“I don’t want to push too far.”

“You aren’t pushing,” I whispered against his lips. “I’m pulling.”

It was all he needed before he brought his mouth to mine, licking the seam of my lips slowly, nipping the length of my bottom lip as I angled my head, urging him to give me more. His lips were soft against mine, his tongue moving slowly alongside mine in an unrushed kiss that spread like fire through my veins. His hand slid down the length of my body to the loose knot holding my robe closed. The fabric fell open and he pulled back, eyes hazy as he moved to straddle my legs and set me up so he could slide the fabric off my shoulders and pull it free. Bringing his hand back, he caressed the side of my face, the tops of my breasts, the slopes of my hips.

“I pictured you every night,” he whispered, following the trail his hand made over me with his eyes. “Yet, no amount of imagination could come close to reality.”

He moved off me, but his hand continued to make its way down my stomach, stopping just above the line of my bikini bottom. He hadn’t even really touched me yet and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. The anticipation was akin to torture.

“Rowan.”

“Give me a moment, Sprite.”

“A moment for what?” I gasped. He brought both hands to the tops of my thighs, squeezing, kneading. I arched. “Rowan, please.”

“In a moment.”

“I think I’m going to die,” I said, my voice a pant. He chuckled.

“If you don’t give me a moment, I’m going to explode and this will be no fun.”

He said it at the same moment that his thumbs swept up my inner thighs, stealing whatever protest I was about to make. I groaned and watched without taking a single breath as he leaned forward, bit the tail of the bow on my hip, and pulled back until the knot gave way. He held my gaze, heated and full of promises, as he repeated the move on the other side.

Then he reached up and untied the top as well—this time with fingers instead of teeth—and tossed them both aside to join my discarded robe and effectively leave me stark naked beneath him. Leaning forward, he placed a kiss on either side of my jaw, dragging his mouth down to my chest, dropping open-mouthed kisses as he made his way to my right breast, circling my nipple with his tongue before pulling it into his mouth before doing the same on the other side. He tweaked one nipple with the tips of his fingers and sucked on the other. I bucked beneath him, groaning his name, pleading. He took pity on me by pulling back and continuing his slow torture down the center of my stomach, licking, nipping, placing wet kisses on me. When he finally reached my mound, he stopped and looked up. Our gazes met and held.

“I’m not sure I can take it,” I whispered.

“I’m not sure I can either.” His tongue swiped over my clit. My eyes shut as my entire body shook. “Eyes on me, Sprite.”

I gave him what he wanted and my heart beat out of my chest as he lowered his mouth onto me again, giving another long lick. He groaned against me.

“I missed this so fucking much,” he said.

Those were the last words he spoke before his mouth really started moving against me, licking, sucking my clit into his mouth, making sounds of pleasure that rivaled the ones coming out of my mouth. My hands sank into his hair, pulling as he feasted on me.

When he’d said he was a starving man, I hadn’t taken his word at face value, but feeling him and hearing the sounds he was making while I unraveled made me believe him. With one last swipe over my clit, I came undone, pulsing and shouting his name over and over. He nipped at the insides of my thighs as I continued to shake in the aftermath of the orgasm and then made his way back up completely. I’d let go of his hair at some point and was holding on to his muscular shoulders, gripping them as he moved over me. His mouth came back to my neck, sucking there as I dragged my hands down his torso, pressing into each etched muscle, until I reached his board shorts. I pulled them off and he kicked them aside quickly, coming right back to me like he couldn’t bear being away from my skin for too long. Our eyes met again.

“I’m clean,” he said. “But I’ll get a condom, considering . . .” He chuckled mildly.

“I have an IUD, because . . . you know.”

A devious smile spread across his lips as he spread my legs farther apart and settled between them, keeping his eyes locked on mine as he pressed the tip of his cock against me. I held my breath, spread my legs farther, tried to stop psyching myself out. I couldn’t seem to relax. Rowan noticed and reached to push my still-damp hair out of my face.

“I love you, Sprite,” he said, pressing his forehead against mine as he pushed inside me. My breath hitched as he fully entered me. I arched my back. My hands gripped his biceps. “I should’ve told you years ago.” He pulled out excruciatingly slowly. I whimpered. He thrust back in fast. Hard. I gasped, arching once more, my nails digging into his biceps. “I’m sorry I didn’t.” He pulled out again. Slowly.

“Fuck,” I cried. “Stop pulling out like that.”

He pushed back in. Hard. Fast. Tears sprung up in my eyes. He brought his mouth to my cheek, my neck, my forehead, breathing out. “Fuck. I missed you so damn much.”

He pulled out again. Slowly. The emotion built inside my chest, closing and gripping and pulsating the way my core was. Rowan pushed back in, letting me feel his length, making me squeeze around his girth. He groaned deeply, breathing choppily. He began to thrust without pausing, faster, deeper, pulling me closer and tucking his large hands underneath me to lift me, squeezing my ass with each thrust. He let go of one side and brought a hand between us, circling my clit with his thumb as he continued to thrust. I felt my eyes roll back as he continued the sweet torture. The build got stronger, squeezing my core so tight I was sure I’d explode.

“Look at me, Sprite.”

I did and then I started to convulse around him. He thrust a few more times before he followed, grunting out my name.