“Stop stopping.” I whine as Jesse pulls his mouth away. God, I want him. Need to feel him there. I’m needy and impatient and I don’t care that my voice is whiny. We’ve been kissing and touching and teasing for over half an hour. Not that I’m complaining—I’ve never been this turned on before—but I’m ready for the main event. Especially since all of my previous sex sessions lasted no more than fifteen minutes each.

“Ry,” he whispers, as he brushes a kiss against each of my cheeks. “You’re so beautiful.”

I grind my hips against him, encouraging him, taunting him, hoping that the ironclad grip that he has on his self-control will break. Soon.

“Fuck, Ry.” He drops his head into the crook of my neck, and I reward him with another slow grind. “Don’t.” He sinks his teeth into my flesh and bites hard. Harder than I expect him to. But the tiny slice of pain mixes with desire and causes me to arch into him more.

“I need you.” My hands drag across his bare skin, and his perfectly sculpted back muscles contract and release beneath my fingers. “Please. Don’t make me beg.”

He withdraws, yanks me up to straddle his lap. “You never have to beg. Anything you want, anything I have, Ry, it’s yours.” His hands cradle my face. “All yours.”

Unable to make my request while looking into his eyes, I lean in, bring my lips close to his ear and whisper what I want most in this moment. “I want to feel you inside me. I want you to own me.”

“I do own you.” His grip tightens on my upper arms, the pressure almost bruising. “You’ve always been mine…you just didn’t realize it until now.”

My hand slides down to where our bodies are pressed together and circle the hard flesh, the obvious proof of how turned on he is. This is all for me.

His hiss of approval makes me bolder than I ever imagined I could be. “Prove it.”

Within seconds I’m naked on my back, legs spread wide. He’s stripped bare, and for a moment I simply stare and wonder how I missed this. How I missed him for so long.

He nestles himself between my legs, the fit so deliciously perfect that I mewl in delight, only slightly embarrassed by the noises I’m making yet can’t seem to control.

But I needn’t have worried, because Jesse wants to hear me. In fact, the louder I moan, the more he rewards me. A slow lick of his tongue across my breasts, a smooth drag of his nose along my collarbone, a teasing stroke of his finger between my legs.

Sensations explode in my body, the nerves firing so quickly that I cannot possibly process them all at once. This is Thanksgiving, Christmas, and my birthday all rolled into one. With a cherry on top.

My body bucks in protest as he pulls away and rests a knee on either side of my outstretched thighs. His eyes follow the slow pattern he traces across my belly for a few moments before he pins me with his gaze. “I don’t have a condom.” His voice isn’t strained or rushed, just matter of fact.

Mine, on the other hand, is breathy and wild. “I do.” I think I may even nod my head, I’m that eager. “In the nightstand, top drawer.” I lean to the side as my fingers grapple in the darkness for the box.

He captures my wrist, shakes his head once. “No.”

My breath stops short, eyes widen as understanding dawns.

He reaches for my right hand first, places a soft kiss in the palm before interlacing our fingers. He repeats the same motions on the left. “I don’t want anything between us. This is you and me. Only you and me.”

“Jesse…” My voice falters as my mind replays the memory that I keep hidden, locked, buried deep down. Suddenly, I’m not in my room anymore. I’m the scared nineteen-year-old girl staring at the pale pink plus sign on a dingy bathroom floor.

“No.” The word booms in my mind, but I don’t actually say it aloud. Still, I shake my head and close my eyes. I can’t go through that again. I learned from my mistake, never once agreed to sex without a condom even though I’m on birth control.

“I’m clean, Ry. I’ve never fucked without one.” His lips drag across my skin from my ear to my chin. “I need to feel you. Just you.” He places his hand over my heart as his eyes find mine. “I will never love anyone the way I love you.”

My eyes bore into his. Can I do this? Yes. Are we safe? As safe as we can be. I’m tested every year at my annual appointment, and I’ve taken my birth control pills religiously for over three years.

Think for a second, my brain scolds, this is serious. You know what happened last time. But last time I wasn’t on the pill. Last time wasn’t with someone I have known my entire life. Last time wasn’t with someone…I loved.

A split second image of me fat, with a swollen belly, pregnant with Jesse’s baby flashes through my mind, and I’m not filled with dread or panic. I’m filled with joy.

Decision made, I place my hand over his and interlace our fingers once again. “Yes.” My eyes, wide and honest, hold his. “Yes.”

A smile splits his face in two as he peppers me with playful, delicate kisses. Those kisses, however, turn much more aggressive as I shimmy my hips against his.

“Now, Jesse. Now.” I moan as his lips tease my breast, not quite reaching my nipple.

“Do you know how long I’ve wanted this, Ry?” His fingers dig into my hips, aligning my soft, wet center with his hardness. “I want this to last…all fucking night.”

“It can.” I pull his ass closer and his thick tip slips inside me. “Oh, God.” My voice breaks on the last word.

And with that one taste, it’s done. Game over. He flexes his hips, pushes a little farther inside as my tight walls stretch around him. “So goddamn tight.” His teeth graze my neck.

“More.” I encourage, lifting my hips to meet his shallow downward thrust.

“So greedy.” He nips my breast and I pulse around him. “And demanding.” He wraps his arms around my back, cradling me close. “I don’t want to hurt you. But Jesus Christ, Ry, I want to fuck you. Hard.”

“So hard.” My fingers latch onto his biceps and pinch. “Give me everything.”

One swift, quick thrust and he’s fully inside me.

Full. Stretched. Completely whole.

With closed eyes, he throws his head back, a look of pure joy etched across his face as he whispers my name, “Riley.”

And then he begins to move, powerful, rhythmic thrusts of his hips as he draws the pleasure out of me.

I keep my eyes open and focused, not wanting to miss a minute of my time with him. I watch as a bead of sweat forms at his brow, the way his eyes flutter open and closed, the soft sound of my name leaving his lips over and over. And when he brings his hand between us, settles his gaze on mine and demands that I come for him, I detonate, succumbing to the euphoria. His teeth latch onto my neck and bite, amplifying the tremors. Holy shit.

“Christ, Riley.” His pumps become more erratic, more forceful. “I can’t… I’m gonna come.”

“Yes,” I chant over and over, wanting nothing more than for him to fill me. “Please.”

And then he does, with a strangled, low groan as he empties inside me. It goes on forever and yet seems to pass in the blink of an eye. He collapses alongside me and pulls me into him, snuggling me close.

“God, I fucking love you, Ry. Please,” he says as he pulls me closer, “please, tell me you don’t regret this. I can’t go back to being just your friend.”

Shock passes through me and takes hold. Propping myself up on my elbows, I lean over him, letting my hair fall in a curtain around us. He lifts one hand and curls a few strands around his finger. “I regret...”

His expression clouds and he drops the tendril of hair.

“…that we didn’t do this sooner.”