Justin opened the door for Cora, letting her slip past him into the house.

“That restaurant was worth the drive.” She kicked her heels off her feet and left them laying by the door.

She felt his arms come around her after he shut the door. Cora sank back into him, tilting her head as his mouth traveled over the skin of her neck. She moaned and lifted her arms to run her hands through his hair.

It was surreal, being here with him. She couldn’t believe it was really happening. She’d made an appointment that morning with the therapist she’d seen years before. She’d realized lately that maybe she did have a few leftover issues from her childhood. She’d be damned if she was going to let any of her hang-ups get in the way of this working out.

He ran his hands down her arms and his fingers caught her hand and pulled her behind him to the couch. When he sat, he settled her across his lap, bringing his mouth to hers again.

His eyes seemed darker somehow, as he broke the kiss and looked at her. When he spoke, his voice had the low timbre of heat and need.

“I’m so damned glad I stopped being a dumbass.”

Cora couldn’t help it. She tipped her head back and laughed. “I’m pretty happy about that, too.”

Then he was kissing her again and her thoughts turned to mush as pure feeling and sensation took over. Every part of her seemed to tingle and vibrate with pleasure.

When his hands slid down her back, her hands slid up his torso to his chest. It wasn’t enough. She wanted more.

She tugged at his shirt, on fire with the need to feel him without clothes or barriers between them.

When he pulled his shirt over his head, Cora sat back and absorbed the sight of him. He was incredible. Tanned skin with a smattering of blond hair on his chest. Muscles tight with what she hoped was sexual tension and not stress of some other kind.

She ran a finger down his chest to his abs, letting it trail over all the dips and valleys of the cut muscles.

He hissed a response when she dawdled at the hem of his pants. “You’re killing me, Cora.”

She looked up, meeting his eyes. “I want you.”

With a groan, he wrapped her tight in his arms, pulling her body to meet his, capturing her mouth again.

“Please,” she whispered. No, whimpered. She was a pleading mess now.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

Justin stood, lifting her with him and walking back toward the bedrooms. She’d never seen more than the living room and kitchen of his house, but when he entered a bedroom, she knew at once that it was his.

Dark burgundy and navy bed linens stood out against pale gray walls. There were black and white photos on the walls. Later, she would look at them and see that they were taken in all the places he’d traveled around the world. Some showed famous monuments, but most showed things you wouldn’t find in a commercial print. The doorway of a church or the slanted crumpling roof of an old cottage.

Anticipation swirled deep in her belly. There was, without a doubt, toe curling happening.

Justin laid her on the bed, coming down over her. His hands and mouth worked in tandem as he stripped her bare. She wriggled, wanting to cover herself from him, but when she looked in his eyes, she saw nothing but a very distinctive male pride.

He stood, holding her gaze as he unbuttoned his pants, and she realized, she was all but drooling. Her mouth watered at the sight of him shucking his pants and boxers.

Warm flesh met hers when he crawled over her. “I want you to know, Cora, there was never a time when I didn’t want this, want you. From the minute I saw you, I wanted you.”

She was helpless to answer. She couldn’t have formed words in that moment for anything.

His mouth moved from one breast to the other, kissing and licking between his words.

“But, this, Cora. I never could have imagined this.”

She ran her nails lightly up his back, lifting her hips to urge him closer to her.

He broke away from her and she felt his absence keenly. But then he shifted to the nightstand and opened a drawer, and she processed what he was doing. A condom.

It was a good thing one of them was thinking right now.

He lay on his back to roll the condom on, and she couldn’t resist. She nipped his shoulder with her teeth, then soothed the spot with her tongue.

He growled and shot her a warning look, but she just laughed. She felt completely free with him. She thought she’d be nervous, but maybe it was the fact they’d been friends for years. Maybe it was that she knew him and trusted him. Maybe it was that she knew there was no way what they were about to do could let her down. What they were about to do would be nothing short of magical.

He eased into her slowly, a fierce look of concentration on his face. She pressed her hips up again, not wanting him to go slowly. She wanted all of him. Now.

“God,” he breathed, then buried his head in her neck and held perfectly still.

She ran her hands over his back, just reveling in the feel of him inside her. She wanted to tell him how this felt. Wanted to let him know how perfect this was for her.

She couldn’t find the words. With another moan, she began to circle her hips. It wasn’t even a conscious decision to move. Her body needed it, demanded it.

“Christ, Cora,” he swore but he pulled out of her before plunging back in, deep long strokes that drew her panting to a frenzy.

They didn’t last long. Her orgasm was crashing over her, through her, in waves and he joined her, plunging deeper, harder.

They lay in a tangled heap, trying to catch their breath. She was doing more than that. She was trying to catch her breath, her heart, her everything.

When their breathing had returned to normal, Justin slid from the bed and went to the bathroom. She assumed he was taking care of the condom.

She closed her eyes, a smile still playing across her lips. She’d be smiling for a long time to come, she thought.

The mattress shifted and she opened her eyes to see Justin grinning at her. She liked seeing him smile so much. It was a good change.

He pulled open the bed stand drawer again and pulled out the small pad she’d used to write his bucket list.

Cora watched as he took a pen and wrote something then crossed it out.

He handed it to her.

He’d written, make love to Cora on the pad, then crossed it off.