“It’s everything.” Wisps of gold coil away from Ciro’s forehead and slide back as he leans into the couch. “If there’s no chemistry in bed, how can you expect chemistry in life? What do you think happens when lovers fight and there’s no reprieve in meeting skin to skin, when their apologies aren’t genuine and can’t launch each other into ecstasy? Their relationship flat-lines and dies.”

His eyes move calmly over me as he speaks. I’m in the crook of his arm, the length of his body against my own. I miss the hands that now rest above his head, finding the wall instead of me.

“You’ve thought a lot about this,” I mumble.

I feel him shift, turning his face fully toward me. The bridge of his nose glides up my cheek in a slow caress. “Yeah. I’ve made so many mistakes, Savannah, and I’ve learned my lesson. People trust each other’s body language, even prefer them to words from the get-go. That’s odd when bodies so easily lie.”

“Come on, now. Bodies are pretty straightforward.” Mine is.

“You’d be surprised.”

“If I lean against you and sigh, then that would be a good sign, right?” I say. “Because I sure as heck feel like it is.”

“Yes, is it. Because you just used your words and told me so.” His lips curl upward. “But I’ve been with women where that meant they were faking arousal, that they wanted me to get it over with so they could move on to the next thing. Once, I was with someone who used it as a coping mechanism. By leaning in and sighing, she eased her own fears, but it didn’t mean I’d made her feel good.”

“You’ve seen it all, haven’t you?”

“Yes.”

Just that, a simple yes, and jealousy squirms at the pit of my stomach.

“Where are your spots? Where do you love to be touched? I want to know what makes your eyes fall closed.”

Ciro twists on his side, leaving me lower on his arm. Gentle fingers brush the hair away from my face and trail down my shoulder. Tentative, he presses them into my upper arm, kneading. It feels so good when he turns my arm so he can touch the tender skin on the inside too. I blink slowly.

I shiver. “Can’t we just try?”

Aqua eyes remain open and reading me. My sternum feels flushed from his scrutiny, but even so, I’m not uncomfortable. His spotlight has been on me since I came here, and guess what, a girl can get used to his attention.

“Is shivering a good sign for you?”

“I guess…”

“Then the inside of your arm is a love spot.”

“Love spot...” I repeat his expression like it’s music.

He travels down to the inside of my forearms too, and my hands seem to lift on their own, fingers straightening and stretching.

“Hmm.” My nipples pebble to his voice as I let myself sense every second of his caresses. “You have an erogenous zone that reaches all the way down your arms, especially where the sun doesn’t reach.”

“Okay.” I exhale.

“Do you like dirty talk?”

“Hush. I wish you didn’t talk at all.”

“So no dirty talk?” Playful, he collects the tip of my nose between his index and middle finger. “You won’t like it if I tell you how you feel under my hands? Beneath me? On top of me? How much I like being inside of you?”

I hide my face in the crook of his neck, blushing because in the right moment, that is hot as hell. He laughs softly, hand moving down my hip and to the inside of my thigh. Instinctively, I open.

“Is it a good sign,” he murmurs, “when your legs fall apart when I touch you? Does it mean it’s time, that I can move on? That you’re getting a little bit... horny for me?” He’s testing out the word on me, and that in itself is so damn sexy I gasp. On impulse, my hips rock toward him, wanting us closer. It’s all he needs.

Suddenly, he’s on his back with me on top of him. His grasp is firm now, eyes heated as he pulls me down. With one arm, he presses me against his erection, and with the other, he holds my head against him, kissing me. Oh that erection is so—Much!

Jesus, it almost hurts as he rubs against my stomach. I arch wanting more of him, heat pooling in my abdomen and flowing downward.

He groans. “I’ve wanted you for so long. Savannah, you’re going to squirm on my cock. I’ll take you so. Good.” He holds me up from him for a second, expertly whipping both boobs out of the bra. “These nipples.”

I hear him suckle like he’s never tasted anything better. It shoots desire straight to my lips, making me moan his name.

Just a small jerk. He makes my body jump a little on top of him, and I moan again when he’s got my sweetest spot hitting his member. “You like that.” I’m glad it’s not a question. He bounces me again, meeting me with all this fabric between us, his slacks and my skirt—wait—he bundles it up. It’s just sheer panties between me and his slacks now—

A zipper.

I lose my breath. Am I ready for this? I open my eyes, fear and anticipation widening them. Is he going to...?

He twists me, sure hands lying me on my back—

“Shouldn’t we go somewhere private?”

“This is private. Mrs. Brandt won’t be coming back. Lift your hips, baby.”

Breathless, I watch him roll pink lace down my legs. His stare scorches as it meets mine and drops my panties to the floor. I laugh. If only it didn’t sound like a hiccup. “I don’t know if I...”

“If you want this?” His voice is so soft, so understanding.

“Mhm.”

“Do you not want it?”

“I… don’t know.”

His kisses are light and hot and trace the inside of my thigh. My legs straighten. They part, and Ciro’s lashes tickle, making me shiver again.

“I think you do want it. See how smart it is to communicate first?”

“Uh-huh!” I squeak.

He licks my skin, sucks, trails higher. I’m so bare down there. It makes me more shy, knowing he’s so well versed in women. He’s seen it all. I close my eyes again when he finds me, all tongue and mouth, licking, enjoying, groans of contentment emitting from him. “I love eating pussy.”

Oh geez.

“Yours is exquisite.” He dives in again, clutching my legs tighter and causing me to bend off the couch toward him. “I love the taste of you, baby. It’s intoxicating.”

“Ahh.”

“I forgot to ask,” he hums, “if you like having your pussy eaten.”

I’m too busy struggling to get enough oxygen into my lungs to answer.

“Never mind now.” He steadies my wild hips with both hands, keeping me under control like I’m some bucking animal. His mouth parts my cleft, allowing his tongue, long and insistent, to stroke over my lips, my clit, and finding the holiest where he delves in. For a moment, he lets go to send me a mischievous smirk. “Let’s get you off.”

I squeal, trying to push his head away, but he’s heavy, and there’s no way in hell I can get him to ease up on this sweet pleasure. “Stop… I can’t do this now. Let’s… wait.”

I’m panting with the effort. Really, I don’t want to finish this way. I want us to last. I want to feel him inside of me. I want to see him come apart and not be over it myself by the time that happens. I’ve never talked about these things before, so it’s odd even to have a plan in my head.

He sits up on his knees, hands on his thighs. Then he studies me, reading between lines I’m having trouble uttering.

“Are you a single-orgasm woman?”

Jesus.

“Are you always this straight forward?”

Ciro’s brows rise. “I guess I am. Are you? Is this about saving your orgasm until I’m inside of you?”

I think there are times when sensuality disappears with too much talk. I wish I could say this was one of those times, but his voice is so silky—deep—delicious, it almost matches the pleasure from his tongue. I’m about to combust. I try to keep myself from writhing.

“Yeah.”

“Have you ever had multiple orgasms?” He takes a hold of his shirt and pulls it over his head onehanded. I swallow at the sight of him. Mentally, I check off two truths: going to the gym really, really works for him, and his filming in the Caribbean must have happened under a sunny sky.

“What?” I manage, clearing my throat, because while his hands return to my knees, massaging my upper thighs, my stare draws to his zipper. Which is unapologetically gaping, outlining a monster of a boner that’s hitting the lining on his boxer briefs.

“I said, ‘Have you ever had multiple orgasms?’” he repeats patiently.

“Mm, I don’t think so.”

“You’d remember if you had.”

“Okay, no, I haven’t.” I try to cover my face with the back of my hand.

He peels his pants off, boxers going with them. His beast bobs from the movement. Freaking bobs. What am I supposed to do? It can’t possibly fit.

“Okay.” He lowers himself over me, elbows hitting the pillows beneath my shoulders. A sigh escapes him before he finds my mouth and kisses me gently. All I can think about is his smooth, warm extension rubbing against my bare stomach, how he lowers himself a little so part of it brushes over my cleft. “I won’t be challenging your orgasms tonight—there’s plenty of time for that later—because I want you to feel comfortable. I want you to get pleased out of your mind without being worried.”

I feel lightheaded.

“I’m worried though,” I croak out as he rubs us together, his cock moving precariously close to my opening when he sinks in our rhythm.

“Why, baby? Don’t be afraid. Yeah, he’s big, but trust me; I know how to do this. We’ll take it slow, ease him inside of you. You’ll be surprised at how you’ll stretch to take me and how good you will feel.”

Oh geez. I like dirty-talk. I do, I do when it comes from him in that deep, silky voice that can drive a girl crazy. And that was scary and dirty, which apparently is even hotter to my suddenly deranged brain.

A small keening noise slips out of me. I’m afraid Ciro will rear back on his haunches, asking me more details about how I like it. Instead, he remains with me, warm, alive, hard, close. I cling to him, bringing him closer.

Gentle but insistent, he reaches between us, feeling me, entering me with a finger, then two. I keen again, not a sound one does on purpose. It’s an out-of-control thing, and he’s being so deliberate. My heart storms. My abdomen, my—

I’m on storm watch!

“Shhh. You’ll be okay,” he coaxes at my ear. “You like me close like this? Skin against skin?” He embraces me, and the scent of him is heady.

A tremble rushes through me. “Yes, always… I like close.”

“See?” he whispers. “How hard was that to say? She likes it close. She wants me close.” The last part he sings a little. “Oh you’ll have me all over, so close.”

“Ah…” For each word I say, he packs sentences and meaning into his reply. I like everything about him, every-, everything.

Ciro cups my neck, meeting my lips while he rips a condom open behind my head. I let out a displeased sound when he removes the hard shield of his body from mine to sheath himself in a three-second rush. So fast, so smooth. God, I can’t think about how many times he’s done this before. He told me he’s had a lot of girlfriends. Guys have more girlfriends than girls have boyfriends though. I think.

He slides against me, and I’m too close to my orgasm. I try to protest, but my words have disappeared. There are only sounds left. Without removing his nearness, he unbuttons my shirt and leaves me heated and shivering. It takes him one second to grasp the mechanism of my bra, undo it, and suddenly it’s just us—us—

All man sinks down, covering every inch of me. I feel his weight pressing me into the cushion, contented groans hitting my ear as he wraps his arms around my body. God, we work in sync. No need to talk. His bulb presses against my opening, and there’s nothing I want more in this world.

“Is this okay?” he exhales, breaching me. I moan out how okay it is. So, so okay. I tense, hips jutting upward as he enters me a little bit more. Oh he fills me, and my heart just sets off running. I can’t run. I don’t want to run.

“Still okay, baby girl?”

Crazy okay. Can’t talk.

When he starts to pull out, I’m scared he won’t continue. Without thinking, I clutch his waist with both hands and hold on desperately.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he soothes me, finding my mouth and drinking my moan from it. “We just need to get you used to me.” I love, love so hard that his voice breaks.

“You like this?” My words—I’m brave and chockfull of want for him.

He laughs softly. The pressure of him intensifies, widens me. My legs are brave too, suddenly scissoring his butt and drawing him in. “Oh yes, I do. Even through the condom, I feel your heat around me. I can’t wait to go balls deep in you.”

“I’m ready.” My voice shakes.

“Be patient. I don’t want to take any chances. We’re going slow.” He moves again, but I’m ravenous now, wanting what he wants... balls deep. Crude, real, honest. All of him. For each miniature thrust, he enters me more. It’s unbelievable—

“You’re so in control of this!” I whine. I’m rubbing against him, shameless, making us one person with every inch of skin touching and caressing as we move. He doesn’t laugh. There’s a sweet stab going off in my uterus as I realize that he’s as affected as me.

“Don’t. I’m losing it, baby girl. Don’t say anymore.”

“Come to me.”

“Savannah,” he warns. “There’s more left...”

“Give me all of you.”

He stops. For just a moment, he stops on top of me. I feel his cock jerk once before it settles again in its rock-hard form. Ciro shakes his head against my temple. A whispered chuckle. “I can’t believe I have to stop myself from fucking coming in you. We haven’t even started yet. You make me crazy.”

I contract around him, an involuntary reaction.

“Don’t. Do that.”

“I know, sorry,” I moan. “You just feel so good.”

“You’re ready? Really?” He sounds hopeful. “Are you sure? I shouldn’t yet.”

“Shut up, trust me. I’m begging here.”

“Begging to get thoroughly fucked,” he hums.

Shit. He can’t talk like that now.

“Less talk, more action.” I swallow and try to think of glaciers and polar bears. It’s not working.

“Yeah?” How does he make even yeah sound sexy as fuck?

“Yes, dammit.”

With a groan, he jabs me, all the way, to the bottom, until there’s nowhere inside of me that he’s not. I’m so full of him, I squeal. I see him scrunch his eyes shut with pleasure, but then they widen, and he holds still, cupping my face with his hands. My body arches upward on its own, spasming.

There’s no way to hold back this orgasm. It’s so intense, I don’t know what to do. It goes on and on, and he’s not even moving. My brain is in mutiny, scared to death of the pleasure, of the pain inside of me. Oh I don’t know how I have room for all of him, how it can be this delicious and so painful at once!

“Too much?” he whispers. “Do you want me to pull out?” His gaze burns, sucking up my orgasm, reveling in it and storing it in his Savannah archive of sex.

“No!”

He kisses me, tongue deep and stroking mine as I return to earth. I’m panting. My heart jackhammers. Adrenaline, endorphins. I blink up at him, and a glorious smile spreads on his face.

“That was crazy,” I manage. “Time to move.”

“Out of you?”

“Hell no. Now it’s your turn.”

“Our turn.”

“Yeah, I’m still having my turn,” I admit with the aftershocks clenching my vagina.

He starts to move then. Slowly at first. In. Out. In. Out. His hips undulate a little and it’s like he massages me inside, finding secret spots to stroke me in there. I’m so receptive right now. He feels deep even when most of him isn’t inside, but miraculously it feels even better when he’s so close that trimmed pubic hair grinds with mine.

Short puffs of pleasure come from him. He holds my face, making me meet his stare. Aqua eyes dark with the moment. Lips ravenous, kissing me, never stopping. “Close, like this. You like us close?”

“God, yes...” This isn’t happening. He’s relentless, a languorous steady rhythm, building me again. He’s the center of my senses, at my core, in my core, and my desire for him laps outward through my stomach and into every cell until I am liquid with it.

He speeds up so gradually I don’t notice the change at first. But then my hips meet his at a faster pace, and he’s entering me with more insistence, searching my face. “Let them out.”

“What?” I breathe.

“The moans. I want every. One. Of. Your moans.”

I squeak as he rams deep. I’m not a wild-ride girl, but he escalates us in an intoxicating, merciless climb, and then I’m in this frenzy—I’m clawed into his shoulders and hooked around his body, absorbing the shock of every fast stroke.

He comes with the most exquisite groan. It rumbles in his throat, and I’m lucid enough to watch his face contract with ecstasy. “Ah Savannah.”

And suddenly I’m off the ledge again, freefalling into a shivering second climax for the first time in my life.

Crazy. So crazy. Where the hell do we go from here?