The best part about going to clubs was there was no talking.

Leticia let the bass rumble up through the floor and through her body until she was shaking with it, vibrating, left with no choice but to dance along. She could feel her heart thumping in time with the beat, turning her very pulse into an extension of the music. This was what she was good at: the electric bang-bang-slide, the magnetic pull of bodies, the thrill of touching a stranger.

She moved through the crowd, grinding up against one person, then partnering with another. All week she’d waited for Friday to come. The tension had been building up in between her shoulder blades for days.

When she’d been approached about the promotion, her only thought had been excitement. Head curator for a leading museum? It was her dream. There were technicalities to deal with, especially since it had taken her so long to get her PhD, but the museum wanted to give her time to prepare… She’d been so excited that she hadn’t even thought about all the extra work it would be.

Now she knew, and she had to work this tension out. She’d been staying late all week, sometimes until ten at night. Sharon had already suggested that Leticia was overworking herself. Work hard, play hard—that had always been her motto. But now the work was outweighing the play and that simply wouldn’t do. Time to play until she forgot everything else, forgot everything except for the music and the feel of someone’s hands on her.

One song was just finishing and moving, slick and perfect, into another song, when she felt a new kind of vibration. Her phone was ringing.

Leticia sighed and fought her way off of the dance floor. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she saw Sharon’s name flash across the screen.

Ah, guilt. The feeling that makes the world go ‘round.

“Hey!” She yelled, grabbing a seat at the bar. “What’s shaking?”

“You, I presume,” Sharon replied. “I can barely hear you. Where are you?”

“A club. Where else?” Leticia replied.

It was difficult to hear anything over the pounding music, but she knew her best friend well enough to know by now when Sharon was sighing at her. “So Ross and I might be late for Melanie and Tom’s birthday tomorrow. I was hoping you could pick up the cake?”

“You couldn’t text me about this?”

“You’re terrible at answering texts when you’re at a club. You’ll sleep in way too late tomorrow, especially if you pick up a guy, and by the time you saw the text it’d be too late.”

“Fair point.” Speaking of finding a guy… Leticia scanned the crowd. There were plenty of gorgeous men out there tonight. She smiled to herself. “All right, send me the address and I’ll pick it up.”

“You’re the best. Thanks! Have fun and be safe. Don’t do anyone I wouldn’t do!”

“So, you want me to steal your husband. Gotcha.”

“Real funny. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you!”

“See you then. Love you, too!”

Leticia disconnected the call just as a man slid up to the bar. Her eyes widened a little and she swiveled around to get a better look at him.

Well, hello, gorgeous. Leticia bit her lip. Talk about your all-American male. Tall, well-built, and tan with blonde hair just long enough for her to muss up and tangle her fingers in.

She laid her fingertips on his arm. “’Scuse me,” she said. “Mind if I buy you a drink?”

The guy turned and smiled at her and Leticia melted just a little bit inside. He belonged on the cover of a magazine or something. His shirt was sticking to him a little from sweat, so she could see the outline of his muscles underneath. She wanted to climb him like a tree. “Isn’t that usually my line?” He asked.

“What can I say, I’m a bit of a rebel,” Leticia replied. She signaled the bartender.

“I probably shouldn’t drink, actually,” the guy admitted. “I’m here for my friend’s bachelor party and everyone’s already pretty smashed.”

“You playing designated driver?”

“Somebody’s got to make sure they don’t do anything stupid,” the man pointed out.

“That’s real responsible of you…” Leticia trailed off.

“Carter,” he replied. He held out his hand for her to shake.

It made her laugh, but she shook it anyway. “I’m Leticia.” His hand was warm around hers. “If you don’t want a drink, then, how about a dance?”

Carter glanced further down the bar, probably where his friends were. Leticia slid off the barstool and up against him, placing a hand on his chest. “C’mon,” she purred. She knew what that purr did to men. “They won’t burn the place down if you dance for a couple of songs, will they?”

“I suppose not,” Carter admitted.

Leticia winked at him, taking his hand and leading him out onto the dance floor.

It didn’t take her long to find a rhythm, and she rocked back into Carter, fitting her ass back against him. She felt him stiffen in surprise, but then he relaxed and put his hands at her hips. “You don’t get out much, do you?” She asked, leaning back against him so that he could hear her.

“Not really.” Then Carter slid an arm around her waist to pull her even closer and ducked his head down to nose at the side of her neck. “Doesn’t mean I don’t know how this works, though.”

Leticia let herself move into him more, the beat setting the pace. Soon they were moving together, Carter’s arm a heavy weight anchoring her, keeping her pinned to him. She moved her hips, circling them, shoving them back, until she could feel Carter start to harden behind her.

“Mm, looks like you do know how this works,” she told him.

She had no idea how long they danced like that. Carter kept an arm around her waist and his other hand at her thigh, high up enough to tease. Her head was back against his shoulder and she could feel every inch of him. She wanted his hand up higher, right between her legs, where she was getting wet. She wanted his mouth on hers. She wanted to feel his skin.

Fortunately, Leticia was never the type to not take what she wanted. She spun around to face front, then pressed herself all the way up against him.

Carter growled and hauled her up against him, sliding his thigh in between her legs. She ground down against him and the pressure sent heat ricocheting through her. Leticia moaned, doing it again, and again. She looped her arms around his neck and Carter hauled her up closer to him, bringing a hand down to cup her ass and skimming his lips over her throat.

“You look gorgeous like this,” Carter marveled, his mouth right at her ear. He jolted his thigh, rubbing the fabric of his jeans right up against her clit. Leticia gasped, her entire body giving a spasm at the pleasure. Carter gave a mischievous chuckle. “Did you like that?”

He did it again and Leticia moaned. Again, and again, until she felt dizzy and lightheaded.

“I wonder if you could come just like this,” Carter marveled, his voice sounding like he was in awe.

Leticia could feel him hard against her leg and laughed, tugging his mouth to hers. “Like you’re not dying yourself,” she replied, just before sealing her mouth over his.

Carter gave a groan that she could feel vibrating against her chest, his tongue sliding into her mouth. Leticia shuddered against him as he sucked and licked at her. His hands kept roaming her body, bunching up her dress, while his leg kept thrusting up against her. It would be so easy to get off like this, writhing on Carter’s leg until her body shook in ecstasy, but she didn’t want that. She’d done that plenty of times in clubs, but not for tonight. It was rare that she saw someone as handsome, someone she wanted as badly, as Carter. She wanted all of him. Not just rubbing one off together amongst a crowd.

Leticia slid her hand into his hair, tugging on the soft strands until she could tilt his head away from her mouth and get her lips to his ear. “There’s a back room,” she told him. “C’mon.”

She slid away from him, grabbing his hand to lead him. Carter seemed a little stunned but he let her lead him through the crowd. It wasn’t easy. Everywhere, bodies pressed up against them. But she’d done this before, many times, and she knew the way. It took far too long to get back to someone’s apartment. Besides, it never paid to be cautious—she didn’t exactly want a guy she didn’t know coming back to her place. Just in case.

The guy who owned the club had created a small back room for when he wanted a little privacy. Leticia had used it before, and had found it perfectly fitting for a little fun. She didn’t want to use it often in case the owner got mad, but she was on pretty good terms with him, and he had told her about the room, after all, so she figured—every once in a while, what’s the harm?

Leticia reached the back wall of the club, over to the side away from the DJ’s stage. There was a thick red curtain but no bouncer there. Good, that meant the owner, Jeremy, wasn’t using the room tonight.

Carter crowded up behind her, his hands falling to her hips. He pressed a few kisses up along the side of her neck and Leticia paused, her head falling back to give him better access. For someone who didn’t do this much, he was damn good at it.

“That’s not a bathroom or supply closet or something, is it?” Carter asked, his tone dry and humorous.

Leticia laughed. Once upon a time it would have been but, despite how much she loved going out, she wasn’t twenty-one anymore. “Nope. Just you wait.”

Carter made an impatient, growling noise against her neck and Leticia’s knees went a little weak. She forced herself to pull away before she did something regrettable, like take him right there on the dance floor in front of strangers. She’d seen other people doing that before, caught glimpses of it in clubs, but she was never the type for that. She didn’t like an audience.

She pulled aside the curtain, revealing a heavy door with a keypad. She grinned to herself and quickly dialed the four-digit code to swing the door open.

“You’re a regular deviant, aren’t you?” Carter said. He sounded equal parts concerned and delighted.

Leticia wasn’t sure what to do with someone who was like this—one half of him eager and ready to make her come on the dance floor, the other half hesitant and bewildered like he couldn’t quite believe this was happening. It was kind of adorable.

“I’m a lot of things,” she told him, leading him into the room and closing the door behind him. The door hadn’t been there originally, just the curtain, until one too many couples had gotten interrupted and the owner had installed the door. As far as Leticia knew, she was the only one in the club tonight who knew the code. She hadn’t seen any other regulars.

So much the better for her.

The inside of the room was simple. It had low lighting and was done up in red, with a sort of small stage in the middle, on which was a pole. That had been put in about two years ago after some crazy night that Jeremy still wouldn’t tell Leticia about, but it apparently involved a lot of tequila. Surrounding the stage were large, plush couches, also in red.

There really wasn’t any doubt about what this room was used for. Leticia ignored the pole—she’d always wanted to learn but still hadn’t found the time—and instead lay down on one of the couches. They were conveniently large enough for her to spread out on her back, like a bed.

She smiled up at Carter. The dark, heated look in his eyes made her shiver.

“It’s kind of hard to be a deviant alone,” Leticia told him, using that purr again. She stroked her fingers up her inner thigh as she said it, letting her legs spread.

Carter moved so fast she couldn’t even see it. One moment he was standing over her, and the next he was pinning her to the couch. His hands braced on either side of her head and he leveraged himself down, kissing her deeply. Leticia moaned. She’d always loved the feeling of a strong man pinning her down. She squirmed, letting him fall between her legs, just so she could feel how real the weight of him was above her, how much pressure he put on her body.

She wrapped her legs around him and arched against him. Carter groaned and ground down against her. It was like on the dance floor, but better, the full weight of him bearing down on her.

“I want you inside of me,” she admitted, sliding her hands up underneath his shirt to feel his hard muscles. They didn’t give when she pushed, solid and unyielding, and she shivered delightedly.

“You—” Carter started, and then cut himself off with a frustrated noise. “If you keep saying things like that, I’m not going to be held responsible for my actions.”

“Then don’t be,” Leticia replied, challenging him. She nipped at his jaw. “C’mon, I want to forget my own name.”

That was why she came to these places, after all: to dance and drink and fuck until she forgot all of the problems and worries her day job brought.

Carter gave her a sly smile and slid a hand down to cup her breast, his thumb swiping over one of her nipples. “I think I can manage that.”

He kissed her again and Leticia let him, her hands sliding all over him, trying to touch every party of him that she could reach. She felt greedy, but Carter definitely didn’t mind, judging by the pleased little growls that he made. His large hands moved down her body, pushing her dress up until he could touch her stomach and the underside of her breasts. Her dress might as well have been off, for all the covering it was doing.

“Nothing underneath?” Carter asked, sounding pleased and predatory.

Leticia shook her head. “Can’t wear a bra with this dress, I’ve never been comfortable dancing in a thong, and any other kind of underwear ruins the line of the dress.”

“Or, you’re just a little minx who knew what she was coming here for,” Carter pointed out.

Leticia laughed and winked at him. “That too.”

Carter moved his hands so they were at her ass and between her shoulder blades, and then Leticia felt him lifting her. She gave an instinctive little squeak, tightening her legs around him, as he rolled them and sat up, putting her firmly in his lap.

Leticia panted into his mouth, feeling him pressing up between her legs. She wanted him inside of her so badly, it felt like her brain was short-circuiting. “Please,” she gasped, pressing kisses into his face and neck.

“Patience is a virtue,” Carter said, but he undid his belt and jeans and shimmed them off as Leticia obligingly lifted her hips to give him the room.

She licked her lips. Part of her wanted to slide down to her knees and get her mouth on him for a little while, but she also didn’t know if she could wait that long.

Carter tugged down the top of her dress, exposing her breasts. Leticia realized what he was going to do just a second before he did it, and she only had time to tangle her fingers in his hair before he latched his mouth onto one of her nipples.

Heat shot through her, straight to her core, and she could feel herself getting even wetter. Carter scraped his teeth lightly along her skin and she keened, hips bucking. She wanted him to never stop, but she also wanted this madness to end. Writhing on his lap, he was almost inside of her—close, but not quite enough.

Carter’s hand came up to play with her other breast, his free hand still at her back, keeping her trapped on his lap. Leticia clawed at his back, the double sensation driving her insane. His shirt wasn’t even off and here she was, dress technically on but covering nothing, sobbing with frustration and arousal on his lap. God, she loved this.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” Carter whispered, finally pulling away. The hand at her breast slid down between her legs and she felt his thumb pressing, searching, until it found her clit. She jolted, pleasure spiking up in her, and she moaned helplessly.

“Please,” she begged. “Please, please—”

He rubbed at her for a minute, merciless, fast and just a little rough, exactly how she liked it. Her head fell forward onto his shoulder and she moaned over and over again, her hips jerking helplessly. She could feel Carter’s mouth at her neck, panting hotly in her ear and, she was so close to coming, she could taste it in the back of her throat.

“Tell me you have protection,” she gasped. “I want—I want you so bad, please, tell me you have something—”

“Hold on, beautiful,” Carter said, the hand at her back rubbing up and down soothingly. His hand slid away from her and she almost screamed in frustration, but then his fingers were at her lips.

“Go on,” he told her. “Suck.”

Leticia felt a gut-punch of arousal hit her and she took his fingers into her mouth, tasting herself on him. She moaned, both at the sensation and at the way Carter watched her, his pupils blown wide and his face tight with desire.

Then he ducked his head down. There was a rustling sound, and a moment later he sat straight back up again, condom in hand.

“These were for my friends,” Carter admitted. He sounded a little sheepish and Leticia bit down slightly on his fingers, teasing him. He rolled his eyes at her, but in a fond sort of way. “Deviant.”

He withdrew his fingers and Leticia quipped, “Takes one to know one.”

Carter laughed and, without any warning, slid a finger inside of her. Leticia gasped and shuddered. It was teasing but not enough, not nearly enough to fill her up the way that she wanted. “That’s it,” Carter said, adding a second finger. “Make those little noises for me.”

Leticia didn’t bother trying to hide the gasps and moans she made, and then he added a third finger and all she could do was make little ah, ah, ah, noises. It really wasn’t the best angle but she’d need to turn around for that and she couldn’t move if her life had depended on it. This was fine, this was good enough, teasing and rough.

“I’m ready,” she promised. “Please, I need it.”

Carter didn’t even have a quip to say to that. He just closed his eyes and let out a kind of helpless groan. His fingers moved out of her and Leticia couldn’t help but whimper a bit at the loss of them. But she raised her hips up obligingly and heard the rip of the condom wrapper. A moment later, Carter’s hands were at her hips.

“Go slow if you need to,” he told her. Then he was guiding her down onto him.

Leticia felt a scream get strangled at the back of her throat as she sank down onto his length. He wasn’t the longest she’d ever had but, by God, he just might be the thickest. It felt like he was stretching her impossibly wide and she loved it, ached for it, wriggling to take more of him inside of her. It gave her a pleasant burn, pleasure with a sharp edge of almost-pain.

Carter was breathing heavily, his eyes glued to the spot where they were joined, his jaw clenched. Leticia rolled her hips experimentally, testing how it felt, and Carter’s head fell back against the wall with a thunk.

“You like that?” Leticia asked, teasing, rolling her hips again.

Carter grit his teeth, his cock jerking inside of her. “You’re so tight, God—”

Leticia hummed, rolling her hips again, getting herself comfortable enough with him inside to start moving up and down on him. “You feel so good, filling me up like this,” she said. “I feel stretched so wide, it’s amazing. I want you to fuck me like this until I’m screaming, until I can’t even move, I just have to let you give it to me. Fuck me until I’m helpless.”

Carter grabbed her, hauling her even closer to him, and there. Leticia cried out, pressure back on her clit, and her entire body shuddered in pleasure. Carter got a determined look on his face. “Whatever you want,” he promised her, and then he started thrusting up into her.

He didn’t start slow or gentle, just set a rough, demanding pace that had her thighs trembling in no time. She clawed at his back, ecstasy getting pushed into her with every thrust. It felt like she was getting split wide open and she couldn’t get enough of it. She knew she was babbling, saying things like yes and Oh God, more, harder, but it all sounded dim and distant underneath the roaring in her ears.

She started thrusting down onto him, but it wasn’t long before her entire body was twitching and all she could do was drape herself over him and let him fuck hard and fast up into her. Her body felt like it was on fire, each thrust making her jerk and spasm. It was good, so good, and she knew she wasn’t even going to need any extra help to come.

Carter started making more aborted thrusts, losing his rhythm, and she knew he was close. Leticia turned her head, biting down lightly on his shoulder. “That’s it,” she gasped. “That’s it, fuck, come inside me, just like that!”

Carter tightened his grip on her and she felt his cock jerk inside of her as he came and oh, fuck, that was it, that was what she’d needed. She bit his shoulder again, harder this time, shaking uncontrollably as sparks flew behind her eyes. It felt almost like her orgasm was ripped out of her, pleasure tangled with just a hint of pain, robbing her of her breath.

“Oh no,” Carter panted. “I’m not done with you yet.”

He pulled out of her and she whimpered, but then she was being maneuvered to lie down on the couch. Carter spread her legs and she looked down at him. He gave her a wicked grin. “I want to hear you scream for me.”

Leticia all but melted at the sinful tone in his voice, and then he was ducking his head between her legs and licking at her and she really did melt. Her whole body went boneless and she gripped at the couch, trying to find purchase. Carter was relentless, running his tongue through her folds and then lapping at her clit. He wasn’t even giving her a chance to breathe. Her first orgasm wasn’t even truly finished and already she could feel the second one building up inside of her. It felt like drowning, gasping a breath only to be plunged underneath the water again. She loved it.

Then he added two fingers, crooking them up inside of her, and she started to scream.

“There it is,” Carter said, pulling away just long enough to press a kiss to her inner thigh before diving back in again.

He seemed to know right when she was about to come again, because he would pull away and stroke his hands down her legs, pressing soft, lingering kisses into the soft skin until she had calmed down a bit. He kept doing it, again and again, until Leticia thought she didn’t even know what time was anymore. Everything was gone, narrowed down just to her own pleasure, the orgasm she needed so badly.

“Please,” she choked out. Her voice felt rubbed raw from all of the screaming—and she had been screaming, and whimpering, and pleading, just like Carter had wanted.

Carter didn’t say anything. He just smiled at her. But that was all the answer she needed. When he ducked his head back down between her legs she was already anticipating it. He swirled his tongue around her and sucked, hard, his fingers crooking up deep inside of her, and she couldn’t have held it in if she tried.

Leticia could honestly say that she’d never come so hard in her life. She could feel tears starting to leak out of the corner of her eyes. It felt so good, so very, very, good. She couldn’t stop shaking, each tremor only sending more pleasure through her. It was equal parts exhausting and exhilarating.

By the time she started to become aware of her surroundings again, she didn’t think she could have moved even if she’d wanted to. Her limbs felt unbearably heavy. Her head felt like it was floating, detached from the rest of her.

“Holy fuck,” Carter said, his voice hoarse. “You’re making me wish I was ten years younger.”

Leticia tried to laugh, but it came out as a tired, sighing chuckle. “Best club hookup ever,” she admitted playfully.

“Oh good, I’d hate to be only second best,” Carter teased. He crawled up her body, finally pulling his shirt off. Leticia ran her hands over the broad, lightly tanned chest.

“What are you, a gym instructor or something?” She asked. Damn, the guy seemed to be made of solid muscle. Not that she was complaining.

Carter chuckled. “Nothing like that. I was a huge bookworm growing up, so to keep people from beating me up I started working out. So I could hold my own, y’know? And then I found that I liked it. It helps take my mind off the day.”

“See when I want to do that…” Leticia nipped at his lower lip. “I go to a club.”

“Ah, the continual struggle between introverts and extroverts,” Carter said with an exaggerated sigh.

Leticia thought for a moment. She didn’t want the night to end. She wanted to get Carter properly naked and to take her time with him. She didn’t normally invite men back to her place, but… if Carter was the kind of guy she should be concerned about, she had a feeling he’d be showing signs of it by now. Instead he just seemed like an oddly sweet guy who knew what he was doing in the bedroom.

And dammit, she’d just gotten a promotion. She deserved to treat herself.

“Would you like to go back to my place?” She asked.

Carter’s eyebrows rose up. He looked surprised. “Are you sure?”

“It’s not something I make a habit of,” Leticia admitted. “But I don’t like the idea of this evening ending so soon, do you?”

Carter looked a little conflicted, so she looped her arms around his waist and started kissing his chest. “Your friends will be fine. Isn’t the whole point of a bachelor party to have everyone do crazy things?”

“I suppose that’s fair.” Carter pulled her back up so they could lock eyes. “And I’m not done with you, either.”

Leticia shivered delightedly.

Carter found his friends and told them he’d be heading out while Leticia cleaned herself up and got her car from the valet. The ride back to her apartment was pretty quiet, but surprisingly not uncomfortable. That was another reason she’d always avoided bringing guys back to her place. She never knew what to say to them on the way there, and it just felt awkward. She was good with actions, not so much with words.

But this was nice. Carter kept his hand on her leg the whole time, tracing idle patterns with his fingers. The mood was anticipatory without being too jittery. Maybe it was the fact that she’d already orgasmed—twice.

She shivered again. Damn but that man knew how to touch a woman. She couldn’t wait to get him into a proper bed.

Leticia rather liked her apartment. It was a tiny studio that she’d gotten years ago, back when she’d first landed her job at the museum. Sharon had always been telling her that it was high time she moved into a nicer place, but Leticia hadn’t seen any reason to. Why would she when she was hardly ever home? She spent more time at the museum or at Sharon and Ross’s place than she did at her apartment anyway. She’d move when the time was really right, like when she was moving in with a guy.

Like that was ever going to happen at this rate, but whatever. She loved her job and so what if it hadn’t left her much room for dating? It meant she got to find guys like Carter.

“Home sweet home,” she announced, turning on the lights.

Carter looked around. There was the kitchenette and the door to the bathroom, both to the right of the front door. The bed was on the wall to the left of the door, and then the rest of it—all the rest of it—was art.

“Is your bedspread Starry Night?” Carter asked.

Leticia nodded, bouncing back onto it. “You like Van Gogh?”

“I like art,” Carter replied, closing the front door behind him. He shucked off his shirt and Leticia licked her lips. Yes, she was greatly appreciating being able to ogle Carter in proper lighting.

Carter suddenly huffed out a laugh, running his fingers through his hair. “What?” Leticia asked. He just shook his head. “What?” She asked again.

He sighed. “You’re about to think I’m the cheesiest ever.”

She nudged him with her foot. “You gave me two orgasms. I’ll give you a free pass.”

He climbed onto the bed so that he was hovering over her again. “I was going to say that I like art, like you.”

Leticia groaned. “As in, I’m a work of art? That is cheesy.”

“Hey, you said I got a free pass!”

“That I did.” She poked at him. “So, just what can all these muscles do, huh?”

“Are you asking me to show off for you?”

“A little.”

Carter gave her a wicked grin. “Take off your dress.”

Leticia shivered at his tone of voice and quickly took off her dress. Carter pulled off his pants and she could see that he was hard again—but not quite hard enough.

Before Carter could continue with whatever he had planned, Leticia slid to her knees and took him into her mouth. Carter made an honest-to-God choking noise, his hands flying to her hair to steady himself.

“Jesus Christ,” he stuttered.

Leticia swirled her tongue around the head and then pulled back. “Nope, just me.”

Carter laughed a little but then she slowly started feeding him back into her mouth and his laugh turned into a groan. Leticia had to work hard not to smile as she started working more and more of him into her mouth. She loved doing this, loved the musky, heady taste of him in her mouth and the weight of him on her tongue as he stretched her lips wide around him. He was thick enough that she didn’t think she’d be able to deep throat him, not without practice, but Carter certainly didn’t seem to be complaining. He cursed loudly and repeatedly, and she could feel his legs shaking as he tried to keep himself from thrusting into her mouth.

She took him down again and again, sliding her tongue up the underside and then tonguing the slit before bobbing back down. She could have done this for ages, but she could feel precum bursting over her tongue repeatedly and she knew that Carter was close—and she didn’t want it to end like this. She wanted to know what he’d had planned.

She pulled off and looked up at him through her lashes. “I think you said something about showing off for me?”

Carter growled, and then she was being hauled up into his arms. She gave a little scream and dug her nails into his shoulders as—Jesus Christ—he lifted her up and slammed her against the wall. Leticia wrapped her legs around him, feeling him pin her there by the hips. Fuck, he didn’t even need to use his hands. His legs and his body weight were holding her up all on their own.

“Oh my God,” she choked out. This was strong, this was unbelievably strong. This was going-to-touch-myself-to-this-for-ages levels of strong.

Carter gave her a mischievous grin. “You ready?”

Leticia nodded. She should still be pretty loose and ready from the last round. Sure enough, Carter slid in easily, just enough resistance there to give it that pleasant burn. He braced his hands on either side of her head and Leticia held on with both her arms and her legs.

For a moment they just breathed together. Their foreheads were touching and it was like they were in this tiny cocoon of space, just the two of them.

Then Carter started to move.

He was rough and fast, just like before, and Leticia couldn’t keep quiet. She silently apologized to any neighbors that might hear her because she couldn’t stop crying out. He was hitting that perfect spot inside of her and just the fact that he was holding her up like this, that he was strong enough to fuck her like an animal while holding her up against a wall—she was coming embarrassingly quickly, sobbing out Carter’s name.

He kept fucking her through it, until she went from orgasm to over sensitized, and then he was kissing her and thumbing at that spot just below her ear that made her melt and she was coming all over again, or having a second wave, or something, screaming into his mouth.

They collapsed on the bed, Carter half on top of her. Leticia’s chest was heaving and she had spots dancing in front of her eyes.

“I think my legs are numb,” Carter admitted.

“Sex against the wall was your idea,” she replied, laughing tiredly. “Would you like some water?”

“That’d be great.”

Stumbling to her feet, she walked on unsteady legs to the kitchenette. The one good thing about her tiny apartment: it didn’t take a lot of walking to get where you needed to go. And there was always a wall conveniently handy to lean on.

After they drank some water, Leticia was ready to tumble into bed. She needed a shower but she could do that in the morning before picking up the cake for the twins’ birthday party.

Carter, however, looked like he was getting ready to go.

“Do you want to use the shower or anything?” Leticia asked. She ignored the odd twinge in her stomach at the idea of Carter not spending the night. She hadn’t had a guy spend the night at her place in years. But waking up early for some lazy morning sex had seemed fun.

She mentally shook herself. This was a one-night stand. She did this kind of thing all the time. No reason to get sentimental. Carter obviously had places to be and she wasn’t going to get upset about it.

“I’m okay, I can shower at home.” Carter pulled his clothes back on. He pulled out his phone and Leticia saw him fire up Uber. “Sorry about just skipping out on you. I just have to be up early tomorrow.”

“No problem, I understand. Gotta check on your friends, too.”

Carter laughed. “Oh man, that too. I trust the groom will have found his way home okay. The others… I should probably double-check on them.”

“No problem.”

Carter finished doing up his belt and walked over to her. He placed his hands lightly on her elbows and gave her a soft kiss. “This was really fun. Thank you.”

“Of course.” Leticia found herself wrong-footed. Carter was being very sweet, and she had no idea how to react to it. “Anytime,” she added, going for flirtatious.

Carter winked at her and then opened the front door. “Have a good night!”

“You, too!”

Leticia stared at the closed door after he left. Was it really that odd to her that someone would thank her for sex? Surely other guys had thanked her.

Except… they hadn’t. She’d get off with them, at the club or at their apartment or whatever (or an alley, which when Sharon had found out had nearly given her a heart attack), and then she’d beat a hasty retreat and the men had always seemed fine with it. Now the man was the one retreating, since it was her place, and he was being more gracious about it than she’d ever been when she was slipping out the door.

Leticia shook herself, this time physically, and decided she’d take a shower that night after all. It would help ease any aches out of her muscles from that last round.

Maybe it was time to stop the one-night stands, she thought. She still didn’t think she had time for a proper relationship but she wasn’t getting any younger and if a guy behaving a little differently was throwing her off, it might be time to call it quits. Focus just on her job, and find a way to make more room in her schedule for when the right person came along. She’d just gotten this promotion, after all. That meant more responsibilities. And she had to train whoever they brought in to replace her. Focusing on her job would be just what she needed.

Leticia tumbled into bed and set her alarm so she’d wake up in time. Melanie might forgive her for forgetting to grab the cake but Tom wouldn’t, and Sharon especially wouldn’t.

She drifted off to sleep, trying not to think too much about Carter.