Town may have been busy, but this stretch of beach was empty. Rob walked half a step in front of me. His stride was enormous but even. And the set of his broad shoulders in his rumpled Oxford shirt—

Not five minutes into our date, and I was soaking through my underwear. I sent up a silent prayer of thanks that I’d gone with the black lace thong tonight instead of my usual white cotton panties. Although I had a feeling I wouldn’t be wearing it for much longer.

Rob stopped to toe off his sneakers. I bent my legs to loosen the straps of my sandals. The sand was cool on my bare feet. Soft. To our left, the sea lapped quietly at the shore. Small, breathy waves that tinged the air with the smells of salt and sun. A breeze, warm but not at all humid, skated across the water and ruffled Rob’s hair. The moon was almost full in a clear sky. It put off just enough light for me to see him. Robert. In all his tall, determined glory.

He turned to me and began unbuttoning his shirt. The tanned skin of chest peeked through, along with a smattering of pale, wiry hair that caught the light of the moon.

I licked my lips.

“Like what you see?” he said, smirking.

“Very much.” I grinned. “I’d like to see more.”

Rob nodded at my clothes. “So would I.”

My insides clenched. I loved it when he looked at me like that—hungrily, shamelessly.

I didn’t even glance around. Didn’t double check to make sure no one was watching. I didn’t care. All I cared about was getting naked with Rob in the water. Part of me still couldn’t believe he’d changed his mind.

I still couldn’t believe that he and I were going to try to be together. We were going to try for the exclusive, I-really-like-you relationship thing. This was the playboy prince we were talking about. In the past, he’d let me down. He’d screwed up. He’d never even been in a real relationship before. Was I an idiot for trying to have one with him?

I didn’t have the answer to that question. Only time would tell. But right now, I was in. I liked Rob. So much. He wasn’t perfect. The circumstances that brought us together weren’t perfect.

But that didn’t mean we couldn’t work, right? That didn’t mean we couldn’t enjoy the time we had—tonight, tomorrow. Beyond that…we’d see.

I tugged my tank top out of my skirt and worked it over my head, tossing it aside. Even in the darkness I could see Rob’s eyes light up when they fell on my strapless bra. Reaching around, I unhooked it.

His lips parted. Fingers went still on the last button of his shirt. My nipples puckered to hard points, reveling in the attention.

His eyes meeting mine—God, that hunger—he shrugged out of the shirt. I nearly laughed. He was physical perfection. Just the right amount of cut. Muscles peeked against the smooth skin of his chest and torso. The v of his hips disappeared into the low-slung waist of his shorts.

My heart stuttered at the dark blond happy trail that formed a well-defined arrow from his navel to his groin. I loved that he didn’t shave it. He didn’t shave anything—not his chest or his scruff.

I fucking loved it.

Rob was unbuttoning his shorts now. I unzipped my skirt. Let it fall to my ankles.

“Jesus Christ,” he said when his eyes fell on my thong.

Stepping forward, he hooked his finger into the strap at my hip. He played with it for a moment. Then he gave it a solid tug, so that it fell down my legs, a whisper of lace and arousal.

His hand moved back to my hip, bare now. I was bare, my need throbbing between my legs. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my neck at the same moment he slipped a finger between the lips of my sex. He explored my wetness. The swollen need I had for him. It was a slow, almost lazy caress, the pad of his finger slipping and circling against my flesh. My breath caught.

“Sweetheart,” he said, voice dipping.

I arched my back, my nipples meeting with his bare chest. His erection was hard against my belly. I wanted to reach for him. But I stopped myself. If this went any further, we were going to fuck right then and there. I wanted to draw this out a little. Make it last. And I still needed to pop that skinny dipping cherry.

“Soon. I promise. But right now…” I straightened. Tilted my head toward the sea. “Last one in’s a chicken.”

Then I took off at a sprint. His laughter filled the night behind me. The water hit my legs, warm and calm. I could make out the lights of the Siren in the distance. It looked like a floating hotel from here, all lit up.

Closing my eyes, I dove into a wave. The world went quiet around me. The water soothed my skin, the parts of my body that burned. Before I even surfaced, Rob’s hands found my waist. He was pulling me up. Pulling me against him.

My knee swiped his hip. His naked hip.

He’d taken off his underwear, too.

The need between my legs blared. I broke the surface, blinking away the salt water. Rob was watching me, a smirk playing at his lips.

“Didn’t think I’d let you get away that easy, did you?”

I looped my arms around his neck. “You’re still the chicken.”

“Only because you had a head start.” He was smiling now. A smile so wicked I put my hands on his shoulders and dunked him. I laughed. He popped right back up, laughing too and giving his head a good shake so that droplets of water landed on my face and mouth. His hair was whisked off to the side like he’d tugged at it, hard, and it’d stayed there.

“Hey!” he said.

I grinned, reaching up and smoothing it back. “Hey what?”

“That wasn’t very nice.”

“You want me to be nice?” I said, wrapping my legs around his waist. His cock hit me right in the center. He sucked a breath through his teeth. I rolled my hips, once, his head pressing against me. “Or not so nice?”

His eyes locked on mine. He wiggled his hips, guiding himself against my belly. I guess he wanted to draw this out, too. “I want you to be whatever you feel like being,” he said, locking an arm around my middle. His skin felt slick underwater. Slick and smooth and warm.

My heart was beating loud and strong inside my chest. I felt his beating, too. Felt his arm tighten around me, like he couldn’t quite get me close enough. His mouth was full, and his eyes were on me. The water lapped and pooled quietly around us; the darkness was airy above, cocooning us inside itself.

It was like we were the only people on Earth.

A sense of overwhelming happiness washed through me. The moment was kinda perfect. Kinda, because nothing was guaranteed.

I’d lived my adult life in a constant state of hunger—I was always hungry for one more thing. Just one more accomplishment or milestone or box checked off, and then—in my mind at least—I was sure I’d be happy.

But I was never satisfied. Because as soon as I checked off one box, I was on to the next box. And the next. I never stopped.

But right now, I was satisfied. I felt sated. Happy. Deliciously so.

It hit me that maybe I’d been starving myself all this time. Life would never be perfect. I’d never live up to my ridiculous expectations. No one could. I’d tortured myself over what I’d fucked up instead of celebrating what I’d gotten right. I’d lived for some theoretically perfect future while ignoring all the little things—the big ones, too—that made the present pretty damn great.

I’d been focusing on the wrong things.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” Rob said. “I see your wheels turning.”

I swallowed. “You said you liked who you were when you were with me. I get that, Robert. Because I feel the same way. You make me…stop, I guess. Smell the roses, as cliché as that sounds.” I scoffed. “I’d moved halfway across the world to London, but I hadn’t taken so much as an afternoon to enjoy it until I met you.”

“Well, my timing was also pretty good,” he said. “You were just finishing up your transition to CEO of a company when we started talking. Really talking. Not fucking. You had a decent excuse to live at your office for a while there.”

“Thanks for recognizing that—taking the reins has definitely been intense.” Sighing, I settled into his grip. He moved his hands so that he was gripping my ass. One of his thumbs played with the crease between my cheeks. He knew how much I liked it when he did that. Heat spiked through me. “I’m sorry. For the stupid rules. The no talking, I mean.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mind it more. I should have. I was just so wrapped up in stuff, you know? In my own bullshit.”

I scoffed. “I know the feeling. I was, too.”

My hair floated around me, tickling my shoulders. Rob looked at me. I looked at him. That feeling was there again—that tidal wave of happy warmth. My heart felt like it was everywhere. In my chest, my throat, in his hands as they moved over me.

The things he made me feel were so good and so overwhelming I wanted to cry.

Taking his face in my hands, I ducked my head and closed my eyes and kissed him. That’s all we could really do, right? Close our eyes and hope for the best as we took the leap.

Still holding me at his waist, Rob began to walk toward shore. God he was a good kisser. One of those guys you could make out with for five hours and still feel like it wasn’t long enough. He tilted his head a little. Every once in a while his kiss moved to my jaw, my neck. My chest. His lips were soft and so patient. He kissed me the way I ate an ice cream cone—savoring every bite, tongue moving with mine in long, slow, languorous strokes. He pulled at my mouth. Stroked with his tongue. We were breathing hard.

When he hit the beach, he laid me down in the sand and stood.

“Sweetheart. I want you. Bare.”

I looked at him. This was a big deal for Rob. Now I understood why he’d always been so careful—why he’d always used condoms. He hadn’t wanted to repeat Alexander’s mistakes.

“I’m clean,” he continued. “I got tested just last week, and I haven’t…I haven’t been with anyone else since we were together last time.”

I rolled my tongue between my teeth. “I’m clean, too. And I’m on the pill. I’m okay with it if you are.”

Twining my fingers in his, he got down on his knees between my legs. The heat there pulsed. I was desperate for him.

He reached down. Parted my legs with a soft touch to the inside of my thigh. I shivered. He ran his first two fingers up my slit. Back down. Slow and confident. Possessive.

Above me, the stars blurred.

My hips bucked when he hit my clit.

Still holding my hand, he flicked my nipple with his thumb.

“Please,” I asked. “I need to come. It’s been way too fucking long.”

Dipping a finger inside me, he murmured, “You really think I could ever say no to you, sweetheart?”

Tears pricked my eyes. God. God. He was killing me.

He pressed his palm to my clit. Pressed harder. Ducked down and took my nipple in his mouth now.

I spiraled higher. My hips rolled against his touch. I was whimpering.

He bit down. My eyes snapped shut. Need coiled between my legs. I felt strung tight. Too tight. This hurt. Why’d he have to touch me like he owned me? Like he knew what I wanted before I did? I hated him for being so good at me.

The wave inside me crested. I came, the release blinding. I fell, the sensation terrifying, but then Rob was there, enveloping me in his weight and his heat. He ran his hand up the side of my leg, guiding it against my chest. Opening me wide. The night air felt cool on my pulsing clit.

I was still coming when he guided himself to my center. Still coming when he lowered himself on top of me and covered my mouth with his. Still coming when he swiveled his hips and surged inside me in one deep, rolling stroke.

The intensity of it—the delicious shock of doing this raw for the first time—was the sweetest thing. I felt the ground giving way beneath me. Rob kissed me, kissed my neck, and I moved my body in time to his strokes. His movements were athletic but measured. I wanted to revel in the strength of his body. Run my hands up his torso and arms.

But I was too overwhelmed. I felt too much. All I could do was let him hold me, let the feelings wash through me, each one more powerful. Sweeter.

Painfully sweet.

“Aly,” he pleaded against my mouth.

Something loosened inside me then. Broke. Because Rob was feeling it, too. The sweetness.

This wasn’t a fuck. It wasn’t even sex.

This was something so much better and deeper.