The owner wasn’t lying when he said this club was making a comeback. By the looks of the crowd, the pulse of the room, the beat of the music, and the general vibe, it wasn’t making a comeback, it had arrived and was here to stay.

I had promised the owner we would come check it out and consider featuring it on our show…only if it was worth a shit. Looking around the place, it was already a hit and the decision to do a segment for it wasn’t even a question. It was just a matter of planning it out with Daphne and Adam. Speaking of which, Daphne was already here.

But this time it didn’t bug me at all that she had arrived before me.

Not even one bit, because it afforded me the opportunity to watch her from afar without her knowing at all. It was one thing to look straight into those big brown doe-eyes of hers and not get sucked in. But it was quite another to look at her when she thought no one was watching. Her guard was down. Her body language was more relaxed.

I had seen her dressed up when she went out many times before tonight. Hell, when I thought back on it, I had been watching her from afar long before we were partners or whatever we were now. And I could honestly say that I had never seen her look more beautiful than she did at that exact moment. Her black, skin tight, off the shoulder crop top showcased so much of her luscious skin that I could almost taste it. And with her hair up in a high ponytail, the long column of her neck was ripe for the taking. She had on a jean mini skirt that hung low on her hips and left little to the imagination. At least to everyone else, because in my mind, I was imagining how wet I could make her again if she would let me. She looked comfortable and confident in her skin and something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on that simply radiated from the inside out. It made her stand out in a crowd.

And fucking hell was this place crowded.

Because even though Daphne was standing off to the side of the enormous dance floor full of writhing bodies, I was able to pick her out in a matter of seconds. That’s how fucking gorgeous she was. She put everyone and everything around her to shame.

Without waiting another second, I started making my way over to her. With each step that brought me closer to her, my heart picked up its pace and my palms started to sweat. It reminded me so much of what it was like to hit up a girl at a fucking dance back in junior high school. Because God knows by the time I was in high school, the girls were coming to me in more ways than one. In a weird way, the nervousness Daphne stirred in me only fueled my desire to get to her faster.

Once I was within a few feet of her, Daphne’s gaze found mine and when our eyes met…I fucking felt it. This yearning I had been having for her since our elevator rendezvous, since the bathroom interlude, since way before all of that when we were sworn enemies; it was pulling me towards her like a goddamn beacon in the night. Like a fire burning low in the pit of my stomach, I knew that something special was going to happen tonight between us.

And then I was right there, standing in front of her, close enough to feel the heat coming off her in waves. Close enough to smell whatever the fuck that perfume was that she wore that drove me absolutely crazy. Close enough to see that her breathing was already erratic and I hadn’t even laid a fucking finger on her yet. Close enough to know that I affected her as much as she was affecting me. Close enough to forget about all the fucking people around us and where we were. Close enough to reach up and take her face in my hands, tilt her chin up higher so that I could run open mouthed small kisses along her jawline and hear a surprised sigh get caught in her throat. Close enough to feel her hands on my stomach and wrench my shirt in her hands as if she had to grab a hold of something to keep her tethered to this moment and me. And finally, close enough to press my mouth to hers, first lightly and teasingly so I could savor her lips, her tongue, and her taste.

All at once, her body relaxed and melted into mine. This turned me on to no end because it told me in no uncertain terms that she trusted me, that she wanted me, and she wanted this to happen. I let my hands roam from her neck down to around her waist where her skin was exposed and hot to the touch. Moving them further down, I grabbed her ass and pressed her closer to me so she could feel exactly how crazy she was making me. Daphne moaned into my mouth as I sucked her tongue into mine. And if my dick wasn’t already hard as fucking nails, it got even harder; hard enough to hammer fucking nails with at this point and definitely harder than it had ever been in my entire life before her.

“Jesus, guys, get a room!” was yelled over the crowd, among other things, right then.

It was enough to break the spell and break the kiss.

My arm was around her waist while the other was loosely holding her chin up to look at me. I waited for those perfect dark brown eyes to open but she kept them closed.

“Hey,” I whispered. “Open your eyes.”

I was so close that I saw her eyelashes flutter for a beat or two just before she finally opened them. Once I held her gaze with mine, I felt like I was being sucked into something bigger than the both of us. As if a fucking tractor beam was grabbing hold of every single fiber of my being and dragging me further and further down the rabbit hole that was Daphne. And I fucking loved it.

“Hi.”

A ghost of a smile was on her lips when she answered me. “Hi.”

Licking my lips, her focus slipped and moved to my mouth before coming back to my eyes. If at all possible, my cock got even harder.

And something told me she liked it.

A lot.

She liked the idea of driving me fucking crazy with lust. She liked that I wanted her so badly I was willing to sell my soul to the lowest bidder. That’s right, the lowest bidder, because I wanted Daphne so badly that I was willing to drop all pretenses and get on with whatever was going to happen right then and there at whatever the cost.

Tilting her chin up a little higher, I leaned down and ran my nose up her neck until reaching her ear. Then, I ghosted my lips along the shell of her ear and asked her, “Do you trust me?”

Daphne nodded.

“Do you have any idea how much I want you right now?”

She nodded again. But this time it wasn’t enough; I wanted the words. I needed the validation more than I thought.

“Say it,” I quietly demanded, taking her earlobe in-between my teeth. “Tell me how you know.”

Daphne’s hand slid slowly from around my neck, down my chest and stomach, until reaching my belt buckle. My breath got stuck in my throat as I held her gaze in mine waiting for what she would do next. I heard the click of her nails against the brass of the buckle and almost came in my fucking pants as she shyly bit her lower lip. And when her hand slid further down and traced the outline of my cock over my jeans for all of a few precious seconds before grabbing a fistful of my shirt again, I thought I might die if I didn’t get relief soon. I didn’t give a fuck if it was by my own hand and she watched or….

Fuuck, that was a good visual.

My brain—fuck that, my dick mostly—had zeroed in on this idea and that was it. I couldn’t think of anything else other than Daphne watching me rub one out. Somehow, someway, I needed to make this happen.

“You’re driving me crazy. Do you know that?”

She answered by inching herself closer, pressing her perfect curves against me to the point that I didn’t know where I ended and she began. Hooking her arms around my waist, she reached up on her tiptoes and took my mouth in a searing kiss that made my fucking head spin. Then, she looked me dead in the eye and asked, “Can we go somewhere?”

I was running through every possible scenario that would get us back to my place in record time and knew that it would be impossible. My apartment was a good fifteen-minute drive from this club and that was too fucking long. But, I had a feeling she may be up to letting me push her comfort zone a little.

“Come with me,” I told her and took her hands from around my waist.

Holding them in mine, I turned and started walking around the perimeter of the dance floor with Daphne behind me. We reached a metal spiral staircase at the far corner of the nightclub that no bouncer was stationed at. I quickly looked around as well to ensure nobody caught us. And if they did, I honestly couldn’t give a shit. Because I needed to get this woman alone if it was the last thing I ever did on this Earth.

Over my shoulder, I said, “Just a little bit farther.”

I hoped, at least. I’d never been here before and had no fucking clue where the stairs led. But miracle of miracles, once we reached the landing and then walked out onto the balcony of the second floor, it was empty. Nothing around except the spectacular view of the club below us pulsing with raw energy. The bass line was thumping more up here than on the actual dance floor. And the music itself was louder, thanks to the giant speakers mounted on the wall at the end of the walkway of the balcony.

I still held Daphne’s hand in mine and guided her to what looked like dead space between the stairs and the start of the walkway. It was fairly dark and in the shadows from the rest of the balcony. And to my surprise, she never balked. Not once. This only spurred me on even more.

Turning to face her, I spun her around so my back was to the crowd underneath the balcony. I moved in closer to her and rested one hand over her shoulder on the wall. Leaning in, I pressed a quick kiss to her lips before ducking my head to her ear.

“Sorry, it’s not a bed or anything fancy, or what you deserve,” I said to her over the loud music and ran the pad of my thumb along her bottom lip and back again, slowly, methodically, gauging her reaction. Her pulse picked up, as did her breathing. Fanfuckingtastic. Perfect reaction. “But, I promise that if you feel uncomfortable at any point and want me to stop, just say the word. We’ll stop and get out of here, okay?”

“Okay,” she answered, her breathing shaky, more labored than before. “Max?”

Pressing a kiss to the tiny spot in between her jaw and her earlobe, she sighed as I hummed my “yes” right into her skin. Daphne’s hands threaded into the back of my hair and my dick twitched in my pants.

“I want you to feel good, too. Last time, we didn’t get to—”

My mouth was on hers before she could blink; much less finish that fucking sentence. Because that was exactly what I had hoped would be happening. Daphne didn’t need to say another word. I knew from her body language and her kiss that we had reached the point of no return.

My tongue searched for hers, eager that we weren’t moving fast enough. She moaned into my mouth, and fuck if that wasn’t one of the sexiest things I had ever experienced. That is, until she broke off the kiss and, with both of us breathing like we had just run a marathon, her hands dove down in between us to my stomach. She picked up my shirt and ran her fingernails down my bare stomach so slowly, and with a little sexy smirk playing at the corners of her mouth, that I thought I might lose my fucking mind.

And then, with no preamble, no buildup, Daphne went straight for my belt buckle. With ease, she undid the belt and unbuckled my jeans. All the while, her heavy-lidded eyes were on me trying to gauge my reaction. As she wrapped her hands once again around my waist, I leaned forward and started kissing her neck. While I was dragging my lips up and down, my hand reached around and wrapped her ponytail around my fist. Pulling it down to expose more of her neck to me, my tongue licked a trail from the base of her throat until I was at her lips once more.

With my mouth a breath away from hers, my other hand slid down her neck and down the front of her body. When I reached her tits, she arched her back a little, which was the best fucking reaction. “You’re perfect, Daphne,” I breathed into her mouth. “Tell me, what you want right now.”

“I want you,” she answered quickly, her bottom lip brushing against mine. I caught it between my teeth, and she hissed. “Please, Max.”

“Do you want my hands?” I asked. Letting my hands roam further down, I pulled her skirt up around her waist, but didn’t dare touch her pussy yet. “Or do you want my mouth?” I asked, and she dug her fingernails into my shoulders, as if on cue. I took her mouth and then plunged my tongue deep inside. Searching and stroking hers with mine to a chaotic rhythm that matched the heat that was building between us.

Daphne broke off the kiss roughly. This woman was full of surprises, and I loved that about her because the next thing I knew, her hand dove into my open jeans. My eyes went into the back of my skull somewhere as she slowly stroked my cock over my boxer briefs. And goddamn, I was going to come fast, like it was my first time with a girl, if she kept doing that.

“I want this, Max. I want you. Inside of me.”

I wasn’t sure if I had ever heard a more magical set of sentences in my fucking life. Until she kept on talking.

“Later, I’ll take your hands and your mouth, too. But right now, I want this,” she said and gave my dick a big squeeze that almost had me speaking in tongues. “Please,” she added as if she even had to beg or ask me twice.

As much as I hated it, I had to stop her hand from rubbing my dick. So, I gripped her wrist and pulled her hand out of my jeans.

“Your wish is my command,” I told her while I lightly kicked her legs open a little more so they were as wide as they could get standing up. Leaning forward, and moving into the space between them, I pressed my mouth to the shell of her ear again. “How wet are you right now? Because I bet you’re fucking soaked. Should I check?”

“Yes.”

I didn’t make her or me wait to find out. My hand was pulling her panties to the side and shoving two fingers inside her pussy so fucking fast that she barely had time to react. Daphne’s moan was loud and long. And when I hooked my fingers inside of her and pumped them in and out while my thumb started rubbing her clit, her head fell back against the wall and her mouth opened wide in a silent cry.

“Fuck, Daphne, you’re so wet I might come in my pants just touching your pussy.” I wasn’t kidding. My dick wasn’t going to be able to stand it much longer. It was dying to dive into all of her wetness and warmth. I had to slow down my movements because she was dripping with excitement. And being the greedy bastard that I was, I wanted to feel her pulse around my dick the first time I made her come tonight. “Are you ready for my cock now?”

Daphne nodded and gave me a breathy yes. God, the fact that she could hardly say even one word made me crazy. And what made it better was that she chose right then and there to show me just how much she wanted me inside of her. Impatiently, with the sexy look of determination on her face, she shoved my jeans and boxer briefs just past my hips and took my dick in her hands, pumping it up and down and up and down, until my brain was mush and I was putty in her hands. It took an insurmountable amount of effort on my part to keep myself from blowing my load embarrassingly early, and, thankfully, I didn’t. But I did have enough brainpower left to reach down and tear the tiny scrap of lace fabric that Daphne called underwear.

“We won’t be needing these anymore.”

She squealed a little in surprise, but I couldn’t care less about them. They were in the fucking way of the motherland…a sacrifice had to be made. Stuffing it into my shirt pocket, I told her, “I’ll buy you more in every fucking color if you want. Because I’m going to be tearing those off of you every single time. So get used to it, sweetheart.”

The next few moments were fast and chaotic. In seconds, I got a rubber out of my wallet and put it on my dick. Hell, I might have beaten the world’s record for condom application. Daphne tried wrapping one of her legs around my waist to anchor herself to me, but I reached behind both her thighs and hiked her up so that my dick was lined up perfectly to where it needed to be. Taking some time to adjust herself, she then wrapped herself around me like a coiled snake, moaning my name as I began to rub myself unapologetically all around her warmth. It felt like too much yet not enough, and fuck if I wanted to stop anytime soon. It was amazing just like this, without even being inside her yet. But Daphne had other ideas.

She grabbed a hold of my hair and yanked hard.

Bringing her mouth to within a breath of mine, she was seething. “Stop fucking around and fuck me already, Max.”

My answer to her command was to push just the head of my cock inside of her. Daphne whimpered against my lips.

“Shhh,” I said trying to soothe her impatience. “Do you feel that, Daphne?”

“Yes.”

I pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth. “Do you want more?”

“Yes,” she whispered eagerly into my kiss.

With her legs securely wrapped around me, I inched forward until my cock was completely sheathed. And in that first moment of being fully seated inside of her slick heat, I knew that I was a fucking goner. This was it. That was all it took for me to know that I was ruined for any other woman; this right here…this moment with Daphne meant more to me than I had expected it to. And it wasn’t because I was finally fucking her. What I was experiencing as I pulled myself out and pushed myself back in, inch by inch, was something beyond physical, something that connected and grounded me to her and this moment more than with any woman before her.

I knew that Daphne was different. But she was more than that…she was a game changer.

Time seemed to slow and come to a stop. The music pumping around us, the crowd beneath us, the strobe lights that flickered on and off, all of it couldn’t compare to the electricity we created between us.

Leaning forward, I rested my forehead against Daphne’s, feeling slightly overwhelmed by everything that led up to this inevitable moment. Both of us were breathing heavy and shakily. “Jesus fucking Christ, Daphne, you feel so goddamn good.”

Her hands reached up and looped around my neck, pulling me down closer to her, tighter, as if I would ever leave. And then, after a few staggering breaths, barely brushing my lips, she said, “Kiss me, Max.”

Cradling her palm, I pressed my lips to hers. Slowly stoking the fire we were building while I slid all the way out of her and back in. Fuuuck, in my head I was trying to think of something that would keep me from blowing it before she came. But it was so good, so wet, and so fucking warm. Daphne was going to kill me. But hell, if it wasn’t going to be the sweetest death ever.

Sliding in and out a few more times at an excruciatingly slow pace, she mewled in protest right into our kiss. Impatiently, her tongue sought mine while her hips started to move erratically, meeting mine stroke for stroke and grinding hard as hell on my cock. She was making me see fucking stars. I sucked hard on her tongue, eliciting a moan so deep and guttural from Daphne that I almost came right there. Obviously, it was time to pick up the pace. So, I started to move my cock in and out, deep and at a steady speed, but once again, she had other plans.

“Faster. Harder,” she cried into my mouth after breaking from the kiss. She dropped her head back, hitting the wall behind her hard. And with her eyes closed, she cried, “My god, Max, I’m almost there. Hurry.”

Keeping my eyes on her face, her neck, and her chest, I saw a blush bloom just underneath her tan skin while I built up her pleasure. And at the moment, watching Daphne’s expression as I fucked her hard and fast, I was convinced that she was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Words failed me in more ways than one. I was balls deep inside of this woman that I had hated and wanted for so long and, fuck, it was amazing. But the realization that it was Daphne, and watching her reaction to me and my movements, it heightened up everything.

“Yes! Please, don’t stop, Max!” she yelled.

Bringing my head a little closer, I licked a trail from her collarbone to her neck, and finally to her ear. “Are you close, sweetheart?”

She nodded and through her heavy breathing, said, “So close.”

“Fuck, your pussy is so wet, Daphne. I bet it’s never been this wet before.”

“Just shut up and fuck me, Max.”

“You little liar, you like it when I talk dirty to you.” Chuckling into her neck, I told her, “Do you know how I know?”

She shook her head in response. “Because your pussy gets tight and squeezes the living shit out of my cock whenever I say something dirty. The filthier I get, the harder you squeeze my dick. So…” I pushed my dick as hard and deep inside of her as I could and then stilled my movements. Making her dangle like a fish on a hook. “I’m going to keep on fucking you until you come so hard you won’t be able to see straight.”

Slowly, I started pumping my hips again. I let my gaze dip down to where we were connected and almost came at the sight. “Look at us. Watch my cock moving in and out of your hot, wet pussy.”

I made sure to move my hips back and forth while Daphne’s head dipped down to look for herself. She moaned, “Oh my god, Max.”

It was easily the most erotic sight I had seen. And it didn’t help me one bit to keep my orgasm from barreling down on me. Luckily, Daphne was right there with me. Thank God.

Her breath was uneven and thick, matching my own. She gripped my shoulders, scoring her fingernails deep enough for me to feel them through my shirt while I picked up the pace again. In my arms, I could feel her body beginning to tense. That familiar tingling sensation began trickling its way down my spine, to the pit of my stomach and then my balls.

And then, she was there…moaning my name like a prayer on her lips over and over and over again. Possibly the greatest sound I had ever heard. Her pussy pulsed and her body contracted like a hiccup all around me. Fuck it if that was all it took for me come right along with her. With a low grunt, I pushed into her once, twice, three more times and held it, coming long and hard and overcome with a relief so big my body shook with the force of falling over that edge with her.

Careful not to disturb where and how we were still connected, because at the end of the day, I was still a selfish prick and being inside Daphne felt incredible. But, we also couldn’t stay up here hidden in the shadows. Dropping Daphne’s legs carefully onto the floor, holding her close to me while we both tried to get our breathing back to normal. I knew without a doubt my world had been turned upside down and sideways. Everything had changed for me, for us. The game we had been playing was done. She won. Or, we won. I didn’t want her to leave me. And that’s how I knew the game had changed. Not once, not ever had I wanted to stick around after getting off.

This overwhelming feeling of wanting to not only stick around, but also somehow convince Daphne to come home with me, was something I had never experienced before. It scared me to death. What if she said no? What if she wasn’t feeling this thing between us now that she got that fuck out of her system?

“Max?” Daphne asked, startling me and breaking the silence of my deafening thoughts.

Pulling back a little to look at her, I held her face in my hands and kissed her lightly. Her hands held onto my wrists as if she were trying to anchor herself to me or this moment that was quickly becoming a memory.

“What happens now?”

I pressed a kiss to her cheeks, her forehead, the tip of her nose, her lips, and lifted my gaze to Daphne’s big brown eyes as she waited for my answer.

“What happens now is that you come home with me tonight and when tomorrow comes, we’ll wake up and figure the rest of this out together.” A ghost of a smile was on her lips. “So, sweetheart, the question is, are you in?”

That faint smile of hers turned up a notch or two, her eyes searched my face for a second like she wasn’t sure if I was fucking with her or not. I wasn’t. I desperately wanted her to come home with me.

Daphne’s fingers ran through my hair then, her nails scratching my head softly, her smile widening by the second.

“I’m all in, Max. What about you?”

“Daph,” I said and rubbed the apple of her cheeks with my thumbs, “I’m so fucking into you it’s scary. So, yeah, I’m in. I’m all in.”

Looking into my eyes for a beat, she reached up on her toes and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. Then she said the magic words.

“Take me home, Max.”