Friday came and Carter found that he was more nervous than he’d been in a long time. Well, it stood to reason, didn’t it? He hadn’t been on a date since Olivia died.

But at the same time—well, he wasn’t an idiot. He remembered well enough how dating went. Right? It was just like riding a bike. Or something. Right?

The point was, he should relatively know what he was doing on this. But it had been four years and—hell, actually, longer than that. He’d taken Olivia out on dates, of course. They’d made sure to take nights out for just the two of them. But this wasn’t a sure-thing date. This wasn’t a date with his wife or even a long-term girlfriend. This was a first date. And he hadn’t been on one of those in… shit. He didn’t even know how long. Not since he’d first asked Olivia out, anyway.

Even Molly could tell that something was up. When he’d said that her grandparents were going to come over and babysit her, she’d been pleased, especially when he’d suggested that if she kept behaving well for them he’d consider letting her go to sleepovers at her friends’ houses. But her joy had been tampered by the serious way she’d watched him moving around, as if she were taking mental notes about him.

He’d thought he was home clear, but then that morning Molly had asked him what was wrong. “Is there something big at work?” She’d asked. “An exhibition coming in?”

She’d known that he always got a bit nervous before a new exhibition was set to come in and be unveiled. It was nerve wracking, making sure everything was set up properly and that nothing was broken, keeping the artist happy, making sure the public knew about it, that the donors and the board were all satisfied… Opening an exhibition always made his blood pressure spike.

“No, it’s nothing like that,” he’d told her. “I’ve just got an important meeting today.”

“Okay.” Molly nodded. Perhaps it was her mother’s passing but, for all her childlike energy, she could also be rather serious and mature for her age. “I hope you do well, Daddy.”

“Thanks, love.”

Molly had been right though; he was terribly nervous. He felt like Leticia could pick up on it. He’d gotten her coffee as usual, Hal winking at him as she put in their order. He was pretty sure that Hal thought the two of them were already dating or something like that. When he’d handed the coffee over and they’d walked into work together, he’d felt normal. Like he could do this.

Then Leticia had spent all day being wrapped up in board meetings and he’d been running things on his end, mostly paperwork. It had meant that he hadn’t really seen Leticia all day and that he’d been cooped up in his office without any other human interaction, all of which meant he had nobody to stop his mind from listing all of the ways that he could mess this up.

This shouldn’t be such a hardship, right? He and Leticia had gotten along well so far. They’d been friendly and just barely flirting with one another, skirting the edge. He hadn’t dared for much more, given that they were coworkers and had to be professional. But she’d figured out the coffee, in time, and he was sure she could still vividly remember their one night together the way that he could.

Still, he couldn’t shake the fear that he was going to mess everything up, and that all that they’d been building towards would be ruined because he had forgotten how to properly date someone.

As it crept closer to the time they were supposed to head out, Carter forced himself to take a minute to make himself presentable. He’d brought an extra dress shirt and a tie and quickly freshened himself up in the restroom before changing. He was genuinely excited about where they were going. He hoped that Leticia felt the same.

Carter looked at himself in the mirror just before he emerged from the bathroom to go find Leticia. He looked good, he thought. More…formal than he liked to look. But this was a date, and Leticia was used to him looking formal. It was part of the job; you never knew when a board member or important donor was going to stop by the museum. Or when a tour guide would get sick and you’d have to give a tour at the last minute. All in all, he thought he looked nice.

Then he realized he had to get out of there before he started fiddling with his hair or something.

When he emerged from the bathroom, he saw that Leticia was just emerging from the women’s restroom on the other side of the hallway. He instinctively gripped the handle of the door, staring.

Leticia wasn’t wearing something as tight or revealing as the club, but it was still sexy. She was in a dress that had a flowing skirt, with a slit up the sides, revealing her stunning legs. The dress was a dark burgundy—it was the perfect fit for her personality and complemented her gorgeous skin color. The fabric draped over her top half, suggesting and following her curves without revealing too much, teasing him. Her hair was down in thick curls and her lipstick matched her dress.

She looked fabulous.

Carter felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He wanted to smear that lipstick. He wanted to see if she’d bruise the same color as her dress if he sucked hard enough at her pulse point. He wanted to slide his hands up her legs, part the fabric easily and make her wet, make her whimper.

He swallowed hard. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking about things like that. First off, they were still at work. Technically, the museum was closed and he doubted they’d be needed for anything but, it was still work. He couldn’t be doing anything inappropriate.

Second, he needed to focus if he was going to make it through the evening without tearing her clothes off. And he’d made a reservation and everything, so he wanted to get them to dinner on time.

Carter realized that Leticia hadn’t noticed him yet, so he cleared his throat.

She jumped a little, then turned and smiled at him. He saw her gaze rake up and down his form appreciatively, and he was reminded of her saucy, aggressive grin in the nightclub. “Hey you,” Leticia said, sauntering over—there was no word for it except ‘saunter’—her hips swaying and that flirtatious smile still on her face.

“You ready to go?” he asked, smiling helplessly. He loved that she was this willing to be flirty, even when he didn’t give her much back. His idea of flirting was just bringing her coffee and hoping for the best, for Christ’s sake.

“Definitely. You?” Leticia seemed to approve of his outfit, if her giving him a once-over was any indication.

“Great. Let’s lock up.”

They locked up their offices, made sure that security knew that they were leaving, and then headed out to their cars. “I’ll follow you there,” Leticia said, getting into her car. She threw him a wink, though, and Carter wondered how she managed to make something so innocuous sound so flirtatious.

He tried to keep the pounding of his heart to a minimum as he drove to the restaurant. They parked in a parking garage nearby. This was partially because he had a second destination planned for after dinner and he didn’t want Leticia to worry about having her car towed while he drove them to the next place, and partially because parking in a garage meant she still didn’t know where they were going.

“All right,” she said, emerging from her car next to him. “Time’s up, cowboy. Where are we going?”

Carter offered his arm for her to take, feeling a rush of protective pleasure when Leticia took it, threading her arm through his. They started to walk out of the parking structure and down the street, the sky around them slowly falling into darkness.

“So, we met at a club,” he said, “Which means I’m pretty sure you like dancing.”

Leticia laughed. “Yeah, I think that’s a pretty safe assumption.”

“And I was thinking, of course we’re hungry, so we want to eat,” Carter went on, nerves hitting him and threatening to make him ramble. “But I didn’t want to just do dinner. We’ve been getting lunch together when we can already. I want to shake things up. Make it special.”

Leticia looked up at him, her cheeks going a little pink. “Thank you,” she said, sounding surprised. Carter remembered what she had said about people just wanting to use her as a hookup. He felt a growl rise in his throat and had to swallow it down. Nobody deserved to be made to feel like they were only worth what their body could offer and nothing more. Especially not someone as vivacious and accomplished as Leticia.

Carter cleared his throat. “So I was thinking that we could get something to go along with our dinner. Like a show.”

He pointed up at the building they’d just stopped at.

It had taken a fair bit of internet searching, but he’d found this great place that was a salsa club and restaurant. There was open dancing after a certain time of night and dance classes on some nights of the week. But there was also a specific time when a show was put on by the professional dancers. The food was said to be great, too.

“I didn’t want to assume that you knew salsa or anything,” Carter added. “I didn’t think you’d know just because of your heritage or anything. I mean, I’m Irish and I can’t do Irish dancing to save my life. But I thought it would be fun to watch either way.”

“Oh my God,” Leticia blurted out. She turned to him, eyes shining and a huge smile on her face. “I love this. I haven’t done salsa dancing since I was—well, not for years. I’m awful. My cousins despair when I go home for Christmas.”

“Home?”

“Mexico. Well, they’re from Mexico. I was born here. But every year my parents would drag me and my siblings back—we’d bring Sharon with us, too. That was when we were in college, when she and her parents weren’t in the best place in their relationship. But look at this!” Leticia laughed and threw her hand up at the building. “C’mon!”

She seized his hand and all but dragged him inside, grinning wildly like a kid who’d been taken to Disneyland.

Carter managed to pull her back a little so that he could speak to the hostess and ask for their reservation. They were led to a table just off to the side of the dance floor, where they could watch the dancing but still get a little bit of privacy. The dance floor was lit but the tables had dimmed lighting, created mostly by candles hanging from blown glass chandeliers in the ceiling.

He’d never claimed to be an expert on romance, but he liked to think that this might count as romantic. He definitely hoped that it counted as special.

Leticia sat down, still craning her head around to see everything. “They have a live band!” She grinned at him, a little giddy. “This is going to be great, thank you!”

She squeezed his hand before taking her menu to look at it, and Carter felt his chest fill with warmth. He was glad that Leticia was happy.

They ordered a couple of drinks but, almost immediately after, the music started up from the band. Several dancers swept onto the dance floor, which was a foot above the tables, allowing for a clear separation without it turning too much into a stage. Leticia clapped enthusiastically and cheered, which led to the people at the other tables laughing and cheering.

The music paused momentarily, a tension-filled pause indicating the start of the show. Everyone held their breath—and then the music started up again and the dancers began to move.

Carter knew he should have been watching the dancers. And he was, glancing their way as they swirled around each other, hips rotating and feet tapping, but his eyes were drawn to Leticia. She was watching the dancers with rapt attention, her eyes a little wide in a happy way, like when Molly watched fireworks.

He liked the idea of doing this for Leticia again and again—well not this, specifically, but different things, anything that would make her happy and enraptured like this. She deserved it.

He’d seen how she stayed an hour late every night, even now that he was getting into the swing of things with his new job. She was the one who dealt with the board and donors, more than he did, and she was the one who took responsibility for everything. She had to make sure she coordinated with security, that the art was being properly taken care of, and that all the programs the museum ran were going smoothly. No wonder she’d convinced herself that she hadn’t found time for a proper relationship.

Carter disagreed. He thought that Leticia could still have a proper relationship with someone. That someone just needed to show her that she was worth a little extra effort. Someone who understood how hard she worked and didn’t pitch a fit at her schedule.

And, well… Why shouldn’t that person be him?

He wanted to be the one to show her that her life wasn’t too much for someone to handle. She didn’t have to wait until things died down or until she was working a less demanding job. He had plenty of demands on his time as well. He could certainly understand.

The waiter came up as they were watching the dancing, and they quickly ordered. The food was delicious, but the dancing was still going, so they didn’t talk about it much. The dance show ended about halfway through their meal and they finally got a chance to talk.

The music continued, lower this time, and a few couples got onto the dance floor. Now that the show was over, the restaurant was adjusting so that you weren’t being as forcefully directed to watch the dance floor. Carter turned to Leticia, waiting patiently as she slowly came back to herself.

She blinked at him, and then down at her food, which she’d sort of just been picking at. “Oh man. That was so much fun to watch. I almost wanted to join them.” She quickly wolfed down some of her food to make up for ignoring it before.

“I wish I could dance like that,” Carter said.

“You were pretty good at the club,” Leticia pointed out. “I’m sure I could teach you how to salsa, if you wanted.”

“You’ve got to be as good as those dancers, right?”

Leticia shook her head. “Not necessarily. My cousins are all really good at it, but they go out to that sort of dancing all the time. I’m much better at club dancing. They always tease me about it, because salsa actually originated in New York City. It was picked up by Mexico and other Latin countries after the fact. They say that, since I’m the American, I should know it better than they do.”

“I didn’t know that,” Carter said honestly. He’d had no idea.

“Yeah, most people think it originated somewhere in South or Central America, and I mean, the people who came up with it were Puerto Ricans so it’s an understandable assumption.”

“How many cousins do you have?” Carter asked.

“Oh man.” Leticia thought for a moment. Finally she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “I don’t even remember. My mom has four brothers, and my dad has two sisters and a brother, and each of them has at least three kids. And a couple of them have kids, since they’re all around my age. So, there’s a lot of us.” She shrugged. “Hispanic Catholics, what are you gonna do?”

“Irish Catholics,” Carter said, “Although my parents are really lazy about it. My mom’s side of the family is pretty much nonexistent at this point, but my dad has three brothers so I’ve got nine cousins on that side of the family.”

“Any siblings?” Leticia asked.

Carter shook his head. “Only child. Sometimes I was a little envious of the other kids. They always had someone on their side, y’know? I mean, half the time they seemed to hate their siblings but, if they were in a pinch, they had someone to spend time with or someone who’d have their back. But I also liked it. I got my parents’ full attention. And I was never lonely, exactly. I think it helped that I was a real bookworm.”

“I’ve got two younger brothers,” Leticia said. “Twins. One’s in law school and the other’s getting his medical degree. They’ve always been such overachievers.”

“Says the head curator for our museum.”

Leticia blushed a little. “Fair, I suppose, but they were always the ones who had these big dreams. I remember Julio wanted to be the president at one point. I just wanted to take care of art. My cousins aren’t lazy or uneducated, not at all, but we all like to tease the twins. They can get a bit too ambitious for their own good.”

“Sounds like you guys all get along pretty well.”

“Yeah, I was lucky. My parents and I have had our rough patches but it’s never been too bad.”

“My parents and I were always close. They’ve really been great and let me depend on them when I needed it, including emotionally.”

“Yeah, they’re great to turn to during those rough patches.”

Carter wanted to tell her—it was on the tip of his tongue—but habit made him hold back. This was only their first date. They’d gotten to know each other at work, sure, but it wasn’t the same thing as openly stating romantic interest.

And besides, how did one even say, “Oh yeah, one real rough patch was when my wife died”?

Instead, he swallowed his words and nodded along. There was plenty of time to tell her later, if this date went well and they became more serious. There was no need to rush things.

From there, the talk turned to art, and how they had each gotten into it.

“My mom was a volunteer tour guide,” Carter explained. “She would help with taking people around museums, usually groups of school kids. She didn’t have a formal education in the subject or anything, she just wanted to give back to the community and that seemed like a fun way to do it. Through that, she started watching documentaries on famous artists and buying books about them and stuff and, like I said, I was a bookworm. Those were the books around the house, so I read them, and I ended up falling in love with art.”

“I remember the moment it happened for me,” Leticia said. “We were going to the local museum for a school field trip and we attended this exhibit about how different religions, like say the Crusades, would obliterate each other’s art. And I remember standing there, hearing about how these precious works were destroyed and could never be replaced or recovered—and it just filled me with such anger. I think it amused my teacher. But from that moment, I knew I wanted to have a job to protect art so that would never happen again.”

Leticia gave a small laugh. “When I was a kid, of course, this meant I was going to become a high-end art thief. Obviously. Like some kind of art world version of Robin Hood. I was determined to find art that was lost or stolen or in the wrong hands and return it.”

“Oh man, where were you for the Steward Gardner Museum robbery?”

“It drives me nuts that those thieves are still at large!” Leticia exclaimed, leaning in. “They cut the pictures out of the frames. They irreparably damaged those priceless works of art! And for what? Those paintings aren’t worth as much if they’re damaged, they had to know that!”

Carter started laughing. He couldn’t help it—he was pissed about the theft too, and the fact that the thieves had never been caught and the paintings had been damaged was awful. But Leticia spoke with such righteous anger and conviction that he was charmed. He would love to sic her on some of the PTA moms at Molly’s school.

“Sorry,” he said, “I’m not laughing at you. I just—you’re so passionate. I love it.”

“I know, I’m a walking cliché,” Leticia replied. “The passionate Latina.”

“Hey, I’m not complaining.” Carter grinned. “I love it. I feel like so many of us have this pressure to be academic and all formal and stuff, when it’s okay to get passionate.”

“Get passionate, huh?” Leticia winked at him, slow and sly, and Carter could feel his skin heating up.

The waiter came by, checking on the food and asking if they wanted dessert, but Carter’s mind was already going to dirtier places. Like eating Leticia for dessert.

Some of what he was thinking must have shown on his face, because Leticia asked for dessert but gave him a smoldering look the moment the waiter disappeared. “I hope you don’t have any plans to go home early tonight.”

“Actually,” Carter said, “There’s something after dinner.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Leticia laughed. “I’m surprised, in a good way, but also I really want to yank that tie off of you.”

“Patience is a virtue,” Carter told her, even though he really liked the idea of taking her back to the parking garage and seeing how far back the seats on his car could go. But he wanted to show her the next bit of the evening—if it hadn’t gotten too late.

Fortunately, by the time they finished dessert, they still had time for his second activity. When he’d been looking up the restaurant-slash-dance club, and called them up to make a reservation, the hostess had informed him that it would be wise to arrive a little early if he wanted good parking.

“There’s an art fair opening that evening that goes through the weekend,” she’d explained. “It’s the anniversary of something or other in World War II and all of the work is by Jewish artists. It’s a big deal, so there might not be a lot of parking spaces left if you come later in the evening.”

Carter had thanked her for the tip, and that was how he’d figured out the second part of the evening.

Besides, maybe walking off some of that wine and massive enchilada was a good idea.

“I get the check this time,” he said, teasing about their usual argument over lunch about who was paying for whom this time.

Leticia sighed dramatically. “I suppose that’s acceptable, just this once.”

Afterwards, Carter offered her his arm again.

“I feel a little like I’m in a regency drama,” Leticia commented. “Not that I’m complaining or anything. But holding open doors, offering me your arm…”

“I know. I’m the last of a dying breed.” Carter grinned at her, then indicated the path ahead of them. “Would you like to take a short walk?”

“Sure…” Leticia said, suspicion in her voice. “Does this have anything to do with the second activity that’s keeping me from mind-blowing sex?”

Carter could feel himself getting flushed with embarrassment. He liked that Leticia was so forthright and honest about sex, that she was open about her desires and where she wanted the evening to go, but he was also unused to it. It had been a long time since anyone had openly stated how much they wanted him. It caught him off guard to remember that he could be seen as attractive, as someone sexual.

He’d gotten a taste of that in the club, of course, on their first night. But wasn’t nearly anyone attractive in the club? Even people who weren’t there for sex caught onto the vibe of it. Clubs were as much about sex as they were about alcohol and dancing. But Leticia was still flirting with him and still clearly wanted him, even in the light of day and not in some dark club with the bass thumping.

It made him respond in kind, made him want to slide his hands all over her and make her beg for him.

But first, the art fair.

He knew that Leticia would appreciate any art fair, of course, but after she’d admitted that she’d cried over the Nazi theft of all the art, he thought that she would especially appreciate a fair focusing on celebrating local Jewish artists.

Judging by the look on her face when she saw the sign at the entrance to the art fair, he’d guessed rightly.

Leticia let out a small “oh,” and turned to smile at him, eyes shining all over again. “Carter, seriously, this is super sweet.”

Carter shrugged, feeling self-conscious. He wanted her to feel special, he didn’t think that he should be the one getting attention. This was about giving Leticia a night that would make her happy.

“It’s really nothing,” he said, deflecting.

Leticia got up onto her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “It’s definitely not just nothing,” she said, smiling. “But thank you. Nobody’s ever made an effort like this for me.”

“Well it’s about time somebody did,” he told her, meaning it.

“And you’re getting properly rewarded for it later, no worries,” Leticia replied.

Carter had to swallow hard against the desire to slide his hand into her hair and kiss her obscenely, messily, right there in front of everybody. “You really shouldn’t say things like that,” he warned her.

“But why?” Leticia replied, her face and voice giving him the picture of innocence. “It makes you look so damn hot and your ears turn a lovely shade of pink.”

He growled low in his throat and used her arm, looped through his, to pull her flush against him. “Careful, missy, you’re playing with fire here.”

“Perfect.” Leticia leaned in, her gaze searching his. “I want to get burned.”

Then she yanked herself free and darted away from him, laughing, hurrying to wander through the art fair.

Carter had to jog a little to catch up with her, looping an arm around her shoulders like it was the most natural thing in the world. He didn’t even think about it until he’d already done it and he almost froze up. He’d often done the same thing with Olivia, dropping an arm around her shoulders and tucking her into his side. He had just dropped back into that habit with Leticia, when she might not welcome constant physical contact. She might not want such an overly romantic gesture.

But Leticia just snuggled up into his side and guided him through the fair. Mostly she did this by pointing at whatever booth she wanted to investigate next. She would talk with all of the stall owners animatedly and tuck their business cards and flyers into her purse. And she was constantly sighing over this or that art piece that she wanted to buy but couldn’t.

“If I bought every piece of art that I wanted to, I’d be broke within a week,” she announced. “And I can’t buy anything right now. I’m not making you lug it around for the night and I’ve got a different goal in mind for this evening.”

“I wonder what that goal could possibly be,” Carter replied, “Seeing as you’ve been so coy with me all evening about what you want.”

Leticia giggled. “Hey, I wouldn’t have gotten far in life if I hadn’t learned how to state my intentions and ask for what I want.”

“Fair enough. And for the record, I like it.”

Leticia bit her lip. “Really?” She asked. “It’s not—I’m not too… aggressive?”

“I think I can handle whatever you throw at me,” Carter replied.

“You can handle me anytime,” Leticia promised.

“And besides, it’s flattering,” he admitted. “I haven’t dated in a while. It’s nice to be reminded that people find me attractive.”

“Trust me, I’m not the only one who finds you attractive, I’m sure,” Leticia assured him. She paused, looking around them at the booths. “I love this, but this fair is supposed to be here all weekend and I’m very impatient.”

“Whatever for?” Carter asked. “It’s not like we’ve been hinting at sex all night or anything.”

Leticia playfully glared at him. “Just for that, I’m going to make you race me to my apartment.”

Carter nodded. “Challenge accepted.”

They walked back to their cars, where Leticia gave him the address and they got into their cars at the same time. Then, they raced.

Or as much as anyone can race in two cars while also obeying all traffic laws and not speeding.

Leticia got there first, undoubtedly because she knew shortcuts to her apartment and didn’t have to rely on a map app on her phone like Carter did. But he was certain that she’d only beaten him by a minute at the most.

He pressed the button to ring for her apartment. “Who is it?” Leticia asked, her voice floating teasingly over the line.

Carter leaned in and lowered his voice. If she could be a little aggressive, then so could he. “Unlock this door so I can come upstairs and make you scream,” he told her, all but growling the words.

He could have been mistaken, given the crappy quality of the intercom, but he thought he heard an aroused gasp from the other end of the line. A second later, the door buzzed to indicate that it was unlocked, and he flung it open. He took the steps two at a time, not even bothering with the elevator, too busy thrumming with energy.

When he reached Leticia’s floor, he took a moment to catch his breath, think of what he was going to do, what the plan was. Then he straightened himself up, crossed the last few feet to her door, and knocked.

Leticia—who had taken advantage of her head start to change, apparently—opened the door almost immediately. She was now wearing a thin periwinkle nightgown that barely covered her ass and thighs, clinging to her curves. He could see her nipples pushing out against the thin fabric and the tops of her breasts moving with her harsh, anticipatory breaths.

He’d liked the dress she was wearing but this—this was unbearable. A man only had so much patience when there was a barely-wrapped present like this waiting for him, within arm’s reach.

Leticia raked her gaze over him. “Well?” She asked, her voice soft but challenging. “I thought you were going to make me scream.”

He gave a sound that he couldn’t even name, half growl and half something else, maybe even a snarl, and then he was striding into the apartment and closing the door behind him.

Leticia stood firm, her lips parting on a sharp intake of breath as he grabbed her and hauled her against him. He slid a thigh between her legs and palmed her ass, remembering how it had felt to dance with her like this at the club.

“Oh God,” Leticia gave a little gasp, her hands coming up to clutch at his chest. “Carter, please—”

“Are you wet already?” He asked, jolting his thigh and making Leticia moan a little. “You are, aren’t you?”

She nodded, biting her lip as he jolted his thigh again. He moved one of his hands up to her waist to haul her closer to him and kiss the life out of her.

Leticia melted against him, her hands tightening in the fabric of his shirt and opening up for him easily. He slid his tongue into her mouth over and over again, deep and filthy, while he guided her into grinding down onto his leg with his hand on her ass.

“That’s it,” he commanded, kissing along her throat. “Get yourself good and wet for me.”

Leticia all but writhed on his leg at that, making a desperate noise. Carter grinned. “Does that mean you like dirty talk? Would you like it if I told you to work yourself faster?”

“Y-yes,” Leticia stuttered.

“What else do you like?” He asked, lightly pinching her nipple through the fabric of her negligee.

“I—keep talking dirty to me, tell me what you want to do to me.”

He kissed her again, quick and dirty, then yanked her negligee up over her head and tossed it aside. He liked that she was naked now and he was still clothed, at least for now. “You want me to tell you about how I’m going to pin you down to this bed and finger you until you’re begging for me?” He asked.

Leticia looked like her knees almost buckled at that. She lunged for him, kissing him frantically and yanking at his tie and shirt until she was nearly popping buttons off. Carter pulled away a little to help her, chuckling at how quickly he could get her frantic. He was feeling a little frantic himself, desperate to get inside of her, but he wanted to drive her insane first. He wanted her to beg him to slide inside of her and fuck her senseless.

Maybe it just the fact that it had been a while since he’d slept with anyone, but he couldn’t recall ever being so desperate for another person. He wanted to watch as Leticia screamed her climax, he wanted his hands and mouth on every inch of her, and he wanted her hands and mouth all over him in turn.

Leticia kissed her way down his chest, sinking to her knees, derailing any other thought. “Been wanting to taste you for so long,” she whispered, her voice husky, as she undid his belt.

Carter shivered as she yanked down his pants and took him into her hand, sighing as she felt him go from half hard to fully hard. Carter tried to keep his hips from thrusting into her touch. It never felt as good when he did this himself—he loved the feel of a smaller, softer hand on him, and Leticia was very, very good at this.

Then she started licking at the head, and Carter swore loudly. Leticia laughed low in her throat, and then she was licking a long wet stripe up the underside of him.

Carter slid his hands into her hair, shaking a little with the effort of keeping himself still as Leticia took him fully into her mouth. She worked her way further and further down onto him, until he could feel himself almost hitting the back of her throat. He groaned, shuddering as Leticia fluttered her tongue around the head and added just the fainted scrape of teeth.

“Good girl,” he mumbled, almost subconsciously. “You’ll take it all eventually, won’t you?”

Leticia shuddered at that, and Carter saw her knead one of her own breasts, lightly flicking the nipple. He grinned. “Oh, you like praise, do you? Want me to tell you how good you are sucking my cock? How it feels like you were made for it?”

She groaned around him, the vibrations making him swear and tighten his fingers in her hair.

Leticia whined and abruptly slid a hand between her legs, pressing hard at her clit. Carter tugged hard on her hair. “Nuh-uh. You don’t get to touch yourself. I do. You’re a good girl and you’ll do whatever I want you to do, isn’t that right?”

Leticia moaned around him but pulled her hand away, obeying him. “Good girl.”

He tightened his grip on her hair and pulled her off of him, ignoring the annoyed look that she sent him.

“Now, now, I still have to make good on my promise, don’t I?” He smiled down at her, half wondering where this confidence had come from and half turned on out of his mind with the image before him: Leticia on her knees, precum slicking up her lips, her hair messy, panting desperately for him.

He helped her to her feet and kissed her, licking the taste of himself from her mouth. He flexed his fingers into her hips and Leticia ground up against him, arching her back like a cat in heat.

Abruptly he turned her around, placing a palm between her shoulder blades to gently push her down onto the bed. “Spread your legs.”

Leticia did as he asked, visibly shivering.

“Good,” he crooned, bracing himself over her. “Such a good girl for me

“Please,” Leticia said, arching up towards him. “Touch me, please, please—”

Well, who was he to argue when she begged so prettily?

Carter stepped out of his pants and then slid an arm around her middle, pulling her back flush to his chest. Then he slid a hand between her legs and slowly began to bear his weight down on her, until she was almost completely pressed down into the mattress.

His first touch to her clit had Leticia moaning again, her nails digging into the sheets. He didn’t waste a moment, working her hard and fast—quick, dirty circles until she was making little gasping noises and grinding down into his hand.

“That’s it, work yourself on it, so desperate for it like this,” he gasped, so incredibly turned on. He slid a finger inside of her and Leticia sobbed, her hips thrusting desperately. “You want it so badly, don’t you? Such a good girl, fucking yourself on my fingers.”

“More,” Leticia begged. “More, I want more, please—”

“More?” Carter slowed down a little and Leticia let out a cry of frustration. “Greedy little thing, aren’t you? You want me to let you fuck my fingers until you come?”

“Yes,” Leticia gasped.

“And why is that? Why do you want me to let you do that?”

“Because—because I’m a good girl,” Leticia admitted, sounding incredibly turned on to say such a thing out loud. “Because I want it.”

Carter groaned, painfully hard. “That’s right,” he told her, sliding in another finger as a reward. “Good girl.”

He started fingering her harder, no longer teasing, just doing his best to drive her crazy. Leticia was leaning her full weight against his arm now, her hips thrusting impatiently as she chased her orgasm. Carter let her, slipping in another finger, working her until she was good and wet and almost out of control.

Then he slid his fingers out of her and, with no warning, began rubbing furiously at her clit with two of his fingers. Leticia screamed, her body jerking frantically, Carter’s hand and wrist becoming slick with her juices as she came, thrashing in his arms.

“Good girl,” he murmured, kissing her just behind her ear. God, he couldn’t wait to get inside of her.

“Get inside me,” Leticia begged. She twisted around, her hands grabbing for him wildly, trying to pull him to her. “Oh my God, fuck, please, get inside me and fuck me, Carter!”

Well, he wasn’t about to say no to that.

He crawled on top of her and pressed her down into the mattress, using his knee to kick her leg wide. Leticia pushed herself up onto her elbows and grabbed him by the shoulders, drawing him down to her. She kissed all over his chest and shoulders, frantic, mumbling out little begging phrases in between like, “please,” and “you’ll feel so good, I’ll make it so good,” and “I need it so bad.”

Carter grabbed a condom out of his wallet where he’d stashed it this morning and slicked himself up, squeezing himself hard at the base of his cock so that he wouldn’t come too soon. Leticia was still grabbing at him impatiently, so he started to enter her—slowly, just in case. He didn’t want to hurt her and it was better safe than sorry until he got used to all the particular quirks of Leticia’s body.

Leticia didn’t appreciate this too much, and she quickly made that fact known by hooking one leg over his shoulder and then grabbing the other and pulling it up until her leg was folded flat against her chest.

Carter nearly choked on his own spit and his hips stuttered, sliding him the rest of the way in. Leticia moaned in appreciation, thrusting up a little to meet him.

Holy shit. Carter hadn’t been with anyone this flexible since his high school girlfriend, who’d also been on the gymnastics team. “Jesus Christ,” he blurted out, tucking his face into the crook of Leticia’s neck and trying desperately to remember how to breathe. She was so hot and tight around him and he was shaking with the effort of holding back and letting her adjust to him.

After a moment or two, Leticia started to grind against him, trying to thrust properly but unable to because of her current position. Carter kissed her quickly on the neck to show that he understood and began to drive into her, hard and desperate, unable to be slow or careful any longer. Leticia, thank God, seemed to like it, gasping and doing her best to meet him thrust for thrust even when she could do little more than writhe.

“That’s it,” he gasped, as Leticia wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and started whimpering. He was so close, but he didn’t want to finish without Leticia coming a second time. He took her hand, which was digging into his arm, and guided it down between her legs.

“Make yourself come for me,” he ordered, his voice hoarse. “C’mon, I want to see you one more time, I want to see your face.”

Leticia started fingering herself desperately. She pried her eyes open and looked down between them and let out a little moan. Carter looked down as well and saw what she was looking at: the sight of his cock sliding in and out of her.

He had to slam his eyes closed and bite his tongue hard not to come right away at the sight of that. He increased his pace even more and leaned down to kiss Leticia, stealing the breath right from her mouth.

She cried out into the kiss and he felt her fingers pause as she clenched madly around him and came. That was more than he could handle and he stiffened, shuddering as he came so hard he almost collapsed on top of her.

Carter slid out of her and fell onto his side, narrowly avoiding falling on her. He had felt that orgasm all the way down to his fingertips. Next to him, Leticia seemed to be gasping to get her breath back, her body shaking slightly.

He reached over, pushing her hair out of her face and gently stroking her cheek. “You were beautiful,” he told her, and he meant it. He leaned in and kissed her quickly on the lips before settling back.

Leticia smiled at him, looking a little dazed but also a little surprised.

“What is it?” He asked. He propped himself up on his elbow to look down at her.

Leticia shrugged, letting him continue to stroke her skin but looking down and away from him. “It’s just—I’m a little kinky in bed, in case you can’t tell. For most guys, that translates to—I don’t know. Like, they think that just because I like things a certain way during sex, I’m going to want to be treated like nothing once we’re done, when that’s not it at all. And they just, y’know, thank me and leave.”

Carter felt a quick punch of guilt—because he did have to leave soon. He couldn’t spend the night, not when his parents were expecting him. If he stayed away all night, Molly would be sure to notice, and he didn’t know how to explain to her yet. How could he explain to a seven-year-old what ‘casual dating’ was? No, he’d have to wait until he was more serious with Leticia, if he ever got serious with Leticia, to talk to Molly about it.

But he didn’t want Leticia to think that he was abandoning her.

“Well, sounds like you had some crappy guys,” he said. “No offense meant towards your taste or anything.”

Leticia shrugged. “I know. Anyway. You’re very sweet. I appreciate that.” She laughed ruefully. “And you’re also kinky, who knew?”

“I hardly call a little dirty talk all that kinky,” Carter pointed out.

“True, you should hear some of the stuff my friend Sharon and her husband get up to.”

“I’m not sure I want to hear. Unless you’re offering suggestions for next time.”

Leticia looked up at him and for the first time, she actually looked shy. She was blushing slightly as she looked up at him through her lashes. “You’d like for there to be a next time?”

“Sure.” Carter frowned. “Unless you don’t want there to be.”

“No, I do want.” Leticia rolled onto her side and smiled brightly at him. “In that case, there are a few suggestions that I have.”

Carter laughed tiredly. Smiling, he said, “Of course, this woman has stipulations… I can’t wait to hear them.” Just so long as she didn’t send them to him in a work email or something like that. He didn’t know if he’d be able to stand that, thinking about fucking Leticia while she was only one room away and completely untouchable because, you know, professionalism.

And now… came the awkward part.

He stroked down Leticia’s back until she was relaxed and her eyes were obviously heavy, her blinks getting slower and lazier as time went on. Then he carefully got out of bed and padded over to the bathroom. There was a washcloth on the side of the sink. He grabbed it, got it under warm water, and then returned, carefully wiping Leticia down and disposing of the condom in the trash.

As he started to get his clothes back on, Leticia stirred from her post-orgasm dozing.

“You’re leaving?” Leticia asked. She sounded confused. Carter couldn’t really blame her for it.

“Unfortunately.” He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “I’ve got an early morning tomorrow, sorry.”

It was the same excuse he’d given her last week, if he remembered correctly. He wondered how long he could use that until she started to get suspicious.

“Okay,” Leticia said. She still sounded confused and not completely satisfied with his answer, but she didn’t push him on it.

“Sleep well, okay?” He finished pulling his shirt on and leaned over to kiss her one last time. This time the kiss was soft, one of those slow pulling kisses—the kind that he’d only had with long-term girlfriends.

He tried not to think about that too much. Instead he just pushed her hair back out of her face and dropped a last kiss to her cheek before slipping out the door.

It didn’t help that a part of him really did want to stay. Post-sex Leticia was all pliant, heavy limbs and sweet laziness, a huge difference from her usual self. Not that he didn’t like her normal bluntness and exuberance, but he liked this other side of her, too. He wanted to get to know it better. And what better way than to stay, wrap her up in his arms, see what she was like in the morning? He knew that he’d enjoy waking up with her, making her pancakes and orange juice and maybe getting in some relaxing, fun shower sex or something before he headed out.

But that wasn’t possible. His parents were waiting for him and he couldn’t expect them to stay up too late, not at their age, and Molly—he couldn’t change things up on Molly too suddenly.

He only hoped that Leticia’s confusion wouldn’t morph into unhappiness. He didn’t know how he could begin to explain his life to her. Not when things were so new. And he couldn’t risk Molly getting hurt.

Carter decided that he would deal with all of this if Leticia brought it up. In the meantime, he was going to go home, thank his parents, and hug his little girl and put her to bed.

This thing with Leticia though… Carter grinned as he got into his car.

Damn. Sexy as hell, a little bit kinky, honest and intelligent, and for some reason totally into him.

He wasn’t sure what he’d done to land such a catch but he was damn sure going to do what he could to see where this was going.