Suddenly, her hand was gone from between her thighs and being held in Derek’s shaking grip.

“Enough.”

Ginger tried to pull her hand free, her breath shuddering in and out. She started to call him every filthy name in the book, but the words died on her lips when she perceived the raw agony on his face. Jaw clenched tight, eyes bright and glazed. His harsh breaths matched hers, echoing through the car’s interior.

Her hooded eyes dropped to his lap, widening at the thick erection pressed against his dress pants. The sight of his arousal made her pulse kick even higher. She reached for him, but his grip on her wrist tightened almost painfully.

“No. If you touch me there, we won’t make it. I’ll have to pull over and f**k you on the hood of the car.”

Ginger nearly begged him to do it. As out of control as she felt, roadside sex seemed perfectly reasonable.

The light changed and Derek burned rubber through another intersection, taking a left turn onto their street once he reached the end of the block. Their building came into view on the right.

He pulled into a parking space behind the structure, threw the car in park, and rounded the car before she’d even removed her seat belt. Ginger’s door was flung open. Brusquely, Derek reached in the car to adjust her dress until she once again appeared decent, then grasped her around the waist and pulled her out with little effort. Her heels clicked as she landed on the concrete.

He placed a firm hand on her back, propelling her toward the building. “Walk.”

“Derek, wait.”

He tensed, but didn’t stop walking. They’d reached the second floor and stood just outside his apartment door before she found her voice. “She can’t hear us. My sister. Please, Derek.”

His hand froze in the act of unlocking the door before it resumed turning the key. With a curt nod of acknowledgment, he pushed the door open and scooped her in his arms.

“What are you doing?” she whispered. “I can walk.”

“Your heels will make too much noise on the wood floor.”

“Oh. Why don’t I just take them off?”

“I want them on.”

Ginger felt a delicious tightening in her stomach and she clung tighter to his shoulders. He marched them through the dark apartment and into his bedroom, then kicked the door shut behind them. Her nerves threatened to reach the surface, but she blocked them out. She wanted this. Wanted him.

Derek strode into the en suite bathroom, set her down just inside the door, then pushed her up against it. Ginger looked up into his face and for once, forgot to hide her emotions. He’d adhered to her request without a moment’s hesitation, simply because she’d asked. He would never know how much the small gesture meant to her. No one would hear them in the tiled room tucked in the back of the apartment. He was too busy undressing to acknowledge her gratitude, however.

As he untucked the white dress shirt from his pants, she caught a glimpse of his ridged abdomen before he let it drop. Her breathing roughened when he removed his shirt, exposing his stomach, arms, and chest. Derek had the kind of body that looked capable of inflicting pain and pleasure equally. His scattered tattoos made him look like a barroom brawler who bloodies half the men in the room but still has enough stamina afterward to satisfy two women in bed. His muscles shifted with every breath, like they could break free of his skin at any moment. He intimidated and aroused.

“Strip,” he said.

His tone warned her not to protest. She didn’t want to. Before she lost her courage, Ginger reached around and unzipped the dress, letting it slide down over her hips to pool at her feet, completely exposing her body to him. She pressed her palms against the door behind her so she wouldn’t be tempted to cover herself.

Derek paused in the act of unbuckling his belt, his green eyes darkening until they appeared almost black. Her body readied further under his starved look. “Christ. I wish I had enough self-control to taste every inch of you.”

He pushed his pants and boxer briefs down his legs, stepped out of them, and moved toward Ginger so fast, she gasped. Back pressed against the door, she let her gaze drop to the hand gripping his heavy erection, stroking it from root to head.

“Are you wet enough for me, Ginger?”

Before she could answer, he guided his c**k between her slightly parted thighs and through her cleft, dragging the head achingly slow through her wetness. He growled near the top of her head, circling her clitoris with the engorged head. But he pulled himself away just as quickly, making Ginger whimper in protest.

He produced a condom and slid it down his imposing length. Then he dropped his hands to Ginger’s ass and lifted her against him, lodging her between his body and the door. “Wrap your legs around my waist.”

He groaned when Ginger did as he asked, cradling his erection with her softness. “The first time is going to be hard and fast. Do you understand? This is what you do to me.”

Then he pushed inside her with such force, the door behind her shook on its hinges. Tears sprang to Ginger’s eyes and she cried out, the sound mingling with Derek’s strangled groan. Pain sliced through her, sharp and quick. Clinging to his shoulders, she prayed for the discomfort to subside as their harsh breathing echoed through the still bathroom.

Derek froze against her, chest heaving. His eyes held the unspoken question. Completely stripped of her defenses, she couldn’t hide the answer.

Regret washed over his features. “Oh baby, no.”

“Please,” she gasped. “I don’t want you to stop.”

His voice sounded strangled. “Do you really think I could now, even if I wanted to?”

His already-stiff muscles bunched under her fingers as she stroked his neck and shoulders. Having Derek stop now when they’d come this far would devastate her. She laid kisses along his collarbone and his neck, entreating him to continue.

Despite the sting she’d experienced when he first thrust into her, the way his erection filled her so completely thrilled Ginger. There was pleasure to be found in the pain, she discovered. Impaled by Derek’s hips against the hard surface of the door, Ginger shifted slightly in an effort to assuage the building ache.

“Hold still.” Punctuating his order, Derek’s hips drove her into the door once more with a powerful thrust. “Fuck. Fuck. Just give me a goddamn minute.”

“No. I can’t. Derek…please.” Her thoughts had scattered with the movement of his body inside hers and disjointed words began to fall from her lips. The pain remained, but she found it manageable when paired with the promise of something more just beginning to present itself. Still sensitive from her own touch during the car ride, she knew that if she could just move a certain way against Derek, she could use his body to find release.

Ignoring his request to remain still, she circled her hips over Derek’s, moaning without restraint when that needy part of her slid against the smooth base of his erection buried deep inside her. She tightened her thighs around him and worked her lower body into a rhythm, concentrating on finding her pleasure. She felt wild. Starved. For him. For this. She wanted to slow down and savor the moment, but her body wouldn’t allow it. Only a few more grinds of her hips…. Her head fell back on her shoulders, anticipating her climax.

Derek’s hands gripped her bottom, his fingers digging in painfully. The friction she’d craved was taken from her and she moaned in protest, pulling on his hair in frustration.