“If you want to fuck, we’re going to fuck.”

She froze at the passion laced in his words. Why had he pulled off the freeway?

“What do you mean, your way?” A stupid question. The moment she’d asked, she wanted to take the words back.

“Only that I don’t like being teased.”

His tone frightened her, but beneath her fear, an unbridled excitement stirred. He was the only man who’d ever come close to heating her body. Would he be the one to push past her barriers? Or would her body collapse inward, growing cold and lifeless beneath his touch?

He drove them into a farmer’s field. Darkness enveloped them when he turned off the lights, but he kept the engine running, the car’s heater warming them against the winter chill.

She needed to prepare him for an inevitable disappointment. “Ash,” she began, “I don’t think…”

He said nothing as he unbuckled and climbed out of the rental. A gust of cold air swirled inside, and she shivered against the chill.

She leaned forward and turned up the temperature. “What are you doing?” she asked as he walked around the car.

“Getting ready to fuck you.”

For whatever reason, Ash’s foul mouth had her wet and wanting. Before she knew what was happening, he had her door open and the seat belt unbuckled. He grabbed her and pulled her from the vehicle.

His eyes glinted with purpose. “I warned you.” He pressed her against the side of the car, leaned forward, and kissed her with a rough and wild intensity.

Passion pulsed in the way he plundered her mouth, his tongue wrestling with hers in a quest for dominance. He cupped her face, and she found herself opening to him, unwilling to fight the inevitability of the moment. His licks turned to nips and then to teasing bites.

“Fuck,” he said.

“Our three days aren’t up.”

He growled and restrained her hands. His breath came in heavy pants. “As I remember, we threw the no-sex clause out during our conversation in the plane. You’ve teased me all day with your fuckable mouth. I’m done waiting. I want you.”

She gasped at the hard edge of his frustrated glare. Feral and determined, his lust could not be denied. His hot breath pulsed across her neck, raising the fine hairs at her nape, and the press of his cock between her legs shot electric pulsations straight to her core.

The cold barely registered. All she could feel was an escalating need as his touch engulfed her in flames.

“This is going to happen,” he said, “unless you say no right now.” He stared hard into her eyes.

Her skin prickled—not from the cold, but from desire and fear warring in her body. His touch drove her to consider the unthinkable. The hand gripping her wrists constricted and pinched her delicate skin, but she didn’t care. She needed more.

Saying yes would grant her consent. No would take it away. She didn’t have the strength to do either, hoping he would know when to stop because she sure as hell didn’t know when that might be.

His lips, warm and smooth, covered her mouth while his tongue toyed with hers. Their breaths mingled until his exhalations became her inhales. A twisted smile of victory appeared on his face. He released her wrists and lifted her legs around his waist.

“You’re mine.” A deep hum began in the back of his throat, the melody to “Insanity.”

He carried her to the back of the car, and opened the hatch. There, he put her down, and then slipped off her shoes and her clothing.

The light of the silvery moon peeked through scattered clouds, spilling through the windows and bathing them in an otherworldly glow. Her skin heated under his gaze. She scooted back while he kicked off his shoes and removed his pants, causing her heart to thunder in her chest.

He closed the back hatch, crawling over her, making her inch back. She was trying to get away, yet she was desperate for his touch.

“Condom,” she said with a squeak.

In their hormone-fueled lust, getting knocked up would be the icing on the proverbial wedding cake.

“Fuck,” Ash said with a growl. He fumbled and finally pulled one free. “You sure about this, babe?”

She ripped the pouch and slid the condom over his shaft, hoping that was enough of an answer because she didn’t have the energy for words.

He kissed her neck and toyed with her nipples before heading to her pussy, but she wanted none of that, knowing what would happen if he stimulated her there.

“No,” she said. “Please, just fuck me.”

A look of surprise flashed in the shadows of his face, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he positioned himself over her and lined the head of his cock against her pussy. Ever so slowly, he slid inside, burying himself deep, while her body came alive. The heat of his body blanketed her while he rocked a lazy but determined pace.

Despite his earlier urgency, Ash took his time. She crossed her ankles over his back, reveling in the sensations the glide of his cock elicited deep within her walls.

Before long, they were a melody of entwined limbs and desperate mouths, kissing and licking themselves into a frenzy.

He fucked gently but with purpose, and where she usually preferred Spencer to get in and out as quickly as possible, she enjoyed the erogenous slide of Ash’s cock against her inner walls. And, each time he thrust forward, their connection would grow until even their breaths pulsed in concert with each other. His cock stretched her with a glorious fullness, and his fingers gripped her hips as he moved, each movement harder and faster than the last.

The sound of sex swallowed the silence of the night, and her soft moans joined him in a synchronous melody, their combined breaths fogging the windows. The flush of her skin and the warmth of his body heated the interior of the car. He pressed against her, superheating her body, as she dug her fingers into his hair. He guided every movement, and took his time, as if he were savoring the friction building between them.

He changed the angle of his thrusts, pulling a startled gasp from her lips. Again and again, he concentrated on that spot, turning her mindless with the need to combust.

Then, she felt it—that inevitable pressure building to a crescendo within. She closed her eyes, fighting the flood of sensation, but with the approach of her climax, oily images of her foster father crowded her mind.

His dirty body had writhed over her juvenile flesh as he’d spilled his foul seed deep within her body. He’d stolen not only her innocence but drawn pleasure from conquering her will. She hadn’t had a choice; to refuse would mean more suffering.

Bile rose in her throat, and an icy tendril gripped her heart. From there, it spiraled outward.

The threat of pain—if not to her, then to Forest—had ensured she’d perform to the satisfaction of their foster father.

Memories resurfaced—the whippings, the electric shocks, and the icy submersions.

He’d forced her to choose—endure pleasure or see Forest punished for her failure.

The flood could not be stopped and had her panting between one breath and the next. But she wouldn’t let her past ruin this moment…

Except her shoulders hunched on their own, pressing up to her ears, as she tried to drown out her foster father’s voice. The memories wouldn’t stop. They never would. Orgasms would forever be tied to great cruelty.

Despite her desire to experience this moment with Ash, muscle memory took over.

And, while Ash made love, oblivious to her sudden change, her moans of pleasure transformed to whimpers of fear. The fire in her belly dampened, extinguished by a past she couldn’t escape, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

Ash’s body stilled. “Skye? What’s wrong? What happened? Open your eyes. Don’t disappear.” Desperation clung to his words, and his kisses fluttered over her eyelids.

He couldn’t reach her because her mind had slipped to a dark place while her body endured. She refused to open her eyes, praying only for Ash to finish quickly and let it be done.

His fingers brushed her cheeks. “Skye? Shit. Shit. Shit!”

She’d hoped things would be different, but she was horribly wrong.

“No. Don’t stop.”

She wrapped her hands around his neck and tightened her legs around his hips, but he was already backing away.

“We’re doing this together, babe, or not at all.” He rolled to the side, pulling her tight against him. “What happened?”

What could she say?

“I want to understand what I did wrong.”

His erection softened, drooping from his body, still heavy, if not nearly as engorged.

She ran a hand up and down her body, a vague gesture, and then did the same to his. “This…I can’t do this. I thought I could, but I can’t. When I get close…it gets complicated.”

“You can’t come?”

Oh, she could come. Under threat of bodily harm, hers and Forest’s, she’d been trained to respond to the commands of a madman.

A smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. “I’m pretty sure I can get you to come.”

“This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not laughing, Skye, but I think I know a thing or two about how to please a woman.”

There was nothing remotely humurous about her messed up sexual history.

“But that’s just it. Don’t try. Don’t make an issue of it. Just don’t.” She wanted to open up more, but to do so would invite the past into the present.

“Don’t you see?” He drew a heart on the foggy window, spearing it with an arrow. “You’ve bruised my rock-star image by freezing up like that. I’m not walking away from this, from you.” His words were meant as a joke but hurt nonetheless.

She tried pulling away, but he drew her back into his arms. “This is the most fucked up fuck in the book of fucks.” Her tears flowed freely now.

He ran his hand from her shoulder to her hip, caressing her skin and raising fine goose bumps along the way. “Don’t ever say that again, Skye. There’s nothing fucked up about us. We don’t have to rush this. I thought you wanted…I’ll never push you like that again.”

But that was the whole problem.

She’d never be ready—at least not for what Ash wanted. And he was a rock star with flocks of eager fans who could give him everything he desired.

She said nothing, letting her silence speak with thunderous intent.

“You’re absolutely amazing.” The timbre of his voice deepened as he pressed his lips to hers. “I don’t know what happened, but I’m going to spend the rest of my life undoing whatever that bastard did, starting with tonight.”

“But that’s just it.” She couldn’t keep silent anymore. “Don’t you understand? I don’t want to be fixed.” And wasn’t that the perfect lie?

Unlike Spencer, who had taken what he wanted, Ash wasn’t content to be a one-sided lover. He wouldn’t stop until he figured out her broken body, but she didn’t want Ash to see how damaged she was. She wanted the gentle rhythm they’d developed back in the cabin.

She’d rather keep her broken body locked down tight than relive her foster father’s abuse. As long as Ash didn’t force the issue, things would be fine. That strategy had worked well enough with Spencer.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever fix myself, and for the most part, I’m happy with who I am. I want to make you happy even if it doesn’t work for me.” She stroked his cock, glad to see him harden again.

He jerked at her touch. A low groan emanated from deep within his throat. “You want to fuck but don’t want me to do anything for you?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not right. What if that’s not what I want?”

She gripped the base of his shaft and stroked up toward the glans. “I can’t give you what you want.” She didn’t know how. “But I can give you this.”

His body shook as she moved her hand, pulling and twisting in a move she knew would drive him insane. His balls drew up into his body as she reached down to cup them.

A hiss escaped between his clenched teeth. “You’re killing me here.” He clamped his hand around her wrist. “I want to make this good for you, too.”

“Then, I want you back inside me,” she said. “You felt good, fucking me.”

He reached down and rolled the condom off. “No. We’re doing this together.” His hand skimmed her belly and cupped her sex. “Or we’re not doing it at all.”

He didn’t understand trauma. Some injuries took time to heal, and psychological scars sometimes never went away. If they were to have any sort of future together, he needed to accept her flaws.

She shook her head. “It’s not that easy.”

Despite what he’d said, this was the most fucked up fuck of them all. She shouldn’t have relaxed the no-sex clause. They’d been having fun until sex entered the equation. But she’d thought…she’d hoped that this time would be different.

She was wrong.

Extracting herself from his embrace, she reached for her clothes. “Maybe we should go find that motel you were talking about and get some rest?”

He shook his head. “I’m not willing to give this up. Let me explore your body.”

“I can’t…”

“Relax, Skye. It’s my wedding night. I plan on getting to know my bride.”

“We’re not married.”

“You don’t know that we’re not.”

“If we are, it’s a mistake.” One that Forest had sent their army of lawyers into fixing. He was a force to be reckoned with.

“Call it a fortunate misadventure instead of a mistake,” Ash insisted. He pushed her hands aside, and he circled a finger around her nipple. “It’s just you and me. Trust me not to hurt you, and when your mind starts heading in the wrong direction, I’ll bring you back. No one is ever going to hurt you again.”

He kissed her, tender and sweet, not demanding, not pushing. She took in a breath and opened herself to his touch. The rough callus of his finger dragged against her tender flesh. She gasped as he slipped his hand down, his finger slipping inside her folds. He stroked her from the inside out, but it was too much.

Her eyes closed while she accepted the inevitable. “You can’t fix me,” she said on a sigh. Carefully, she held his jaw and forced him to look at her. “I’m not broken, and I don’t need to be fixed. Please accept this.”

“I’m not trying to force anything.”

She placed her finger over his lips. “This has nothing to do with you or your skill as a lover.” She kissed him lightly on the lips. “Believe me, I wish I could give you that part of myself, and for the record, I’ve never gotten so close, but forcing me is only going to make it harder.”

She gripped his cock, still hard and heavy with need. An involuntary shudder rippled through his body as she stroked him.

“But I can give you what you need.”

He groaned as her fingers circled his glans. “Damn, don’t hate me, but I don’t want to say no.”

“Then, say yes.” She flicked under the head of his glans, eliciting another groan.

His cock jumped in her hands, stiffening even more.

She straddled him, determined to salvage the worst fuck of her life and probably his as well. “Do you mind if I take the top?”

He snapped his fingers. “Condom, please.”

She handed him a condom from the pack.

He ripped the foil pouch and covered himself. His hooded eyes regarded her with serious intent. “This means more to me than you know. I just wish you would let me—”

She kissed the tip of his nose. “There’s more to sex than an orgasm. I want to feel you inside me. I want you to take what you need.” She smiled at him. “Fuck me, Ash. You can still make me yours.”

He laughed and pulled her into position until her pussy hovered over his cock. “Someday, Skye Summers, you will be mine, all of you.”

She laughed. “Someday…” Probably never. She lowered herself onto his shaft, enjoying the sensation of him filling her with each excruciating inch. “Fuck me like a rock star.”

He kissed her and thrust upward. “With pleasure.”