I shook my head, kissing the hot skin of his neck. He had already changed into navy blue basketball shorts and a plain white t-shirt and his hair was damp from a shower, but he still smelled faintly of grease.

“You sure?”

“I don’t really know what’s going on, to be honest. Dale has a problem, Mom is treating me like I’m too young to understand, and I just don’t want to be home right now.”

He nodded. “I know that feeling. Are you hungry?”

“Not really.”

“Tired?”

“Definitely not.”

Rhodes frowned. “Tell me how to help you, Bug.” He lifted my chin with his knuckle, his viridescent eyes flicking back and forth between my chocolate irises. My eyes fell to his lips, and without hesitating, he answered the request I didn’t have to speak aloud.

He winced as his lips met mine, as if my mouth had burned his, and maybe it had. I felt the heat every time Rhodes touched me, and at this point, I wasn’t ruling out that maybe I had the power to do the same to him.

No matter how many times Rhodes kissed me, my heart still hammered in my chest every time his tongue snaked in to meet mine. He sensed it, gently laying me down on the couch. He moved between my thighs, his rough hand hiking one up and hitching it around his waist. I gasped at the feel of him pressed against me and he smirked against my lips.

“How do you do that?” I breathed.

He sucked my lower lip between his teeth and released it with a pop. “Do what?”

“Make me forget all the pain?”

Rhodes stilled, his thumb softly grazing the exposed skin between my pants and hoodie. His eyes searched mine before he pulled me up just enough to strip my sweater over my head. Dropping it to the floor, he ran the pad of his thumb across my lower lip where his teeth had just marked me for his own.

“I don’t know, but I don’t ever want to stop.” His mouth found the sensitive skin of my neck, my collarbone, the swell of my breast. He used both hands to push my tank top up so he could kiss down my navel. When his teeth grazed my hip bone, I bucked, and he took it as permission to slide my pants down to my knees. Leaning back on his heels, he slowly grabbed the fabric bunched over my left leg and pulled it off, his eyes locked on mine the entire time. He did the same to what was left hanging from my right leg before dropping them to the ground next to my hoodie.

Rhodes pulled me to sit up straight. My feet were on the floor for only a moment before he fell to the ground and hiked both of my knees up on his shoulders. I gasped at the sight of his neon eyes piercing the darkness as he gazed up at me.

“Give me all your pain, Natalie,” he whispered, his skin hot against my center. Chills raced from the contact in all directions, blanketing me completely. “Let me take it as my own.”

He dropped his mouth to my clit, surrounding it with wet, hot ecstasy. I moaned, gripping the edge of the couch and fighting the urge to grind my hips into him. He was sucking, licking, kissing, driving me wild.

Rhodes slipped a finger inside me and my hands found his hair, holding on tight for the orgasm I felt building with each flick of his tongue.

“Don’t hold back,” he growled, sliding another finger inside. It glided in effortlessly and I bucked my hips. “Take control.”

Using my hands in his hair, I guided his mouth, tugging his hair when he found the sweet spot. When he sucked my clit hard between his teeth, I cried out, grinding my pelvis into him. He gripped my behind in his large hand and pulled me even closer, nipping and sucking me closer and closer to the edge.

“I’m so close,” I panted, my hands flying to the couch again. I kept trying to grip the sharp pleasure I felt floating in space between us. I was right there, but I couldn’t quite grasp it.

He was so hot against my sensitive skin, anytime he pulled back the sharp contrast of the cool air of his apartment sent a jolt through me. When I felt myself nearing the edge again, I squeezed my eyes tight, moving my hips in time with his tongue and fingers.

Rhodes’ free hand found my nipple and he rolled it between his fingers, adding a new jolt of pleasure. Gripping his hair again, I wriggled my hips and he slid his fingers in deeper, feeding my need. Then, he looked up at me, dragging his tongue up my slit before sucking my clit hard as he thrust even deeper.

That’s all it took.

I tumbled over the cliff, falling forever into nothing. Blackness invaded my vision and heat spread from his mouth to every end of my body. I felt the blood rush all the way down to my toes.

As I came down from my high, Rhodes crawled up my body and kissed me every inch of the way until he reached my mouth. I tasted myself on his lips. I felt my soul in his eyes.

He hadn’t just taken my pain. He’d taken all of me.

And I only wanted all of him in return.

Reluctantly, I slipped out of Rhodes’ bed and drove home just before dawn. Though I barely slept that night, I stayed in bed until just after noon, dragging myself downstairs with just enough time to eat something light and digest before my training session. I was exhausted, but ready to work. Now that I knew my body had the capability to change, I wanted to push harder — see how far I could go. Still, my hip flexors were deliciously sore from my night with Rhodes and I wasn’t exactly looking forward to multiplying that tenfold.

When I rounded the corner into the kitchen, Mom was leaning back against the counter, sipping from a large white mug that read But First, Coffee. From the looks of it, she hadn’t been up long, either.

“Morning,” she said cheerily, smiling over the steam. The dark circles beneath her eyes were a subtle reminder of the night before.

“Hey, Mom. How are you feeling?”

“Oh I’m great, sweetie. Everything is fine.”

I frowned. “Mom. Stop lying to me.”

She took another sip, staring blankly across the kitchen and out the sliding glass door to our pool area. Sighing, I stepped in front of her and grabbed her wrists in my hands.

“Momma, if Dale hurt you, or if you’re unhappy with him, we can leave. Just say the word.”

She laughed, though her face twisted in a way that I thought she might cry again. “I’m not lying, sweetie. Everything is fine. Dale and I are just like any other couple. We have our issues. But at the end of the day, we love each other. In fact,” she added, taking a last sip of her coffee before pouring the rest down the drain. “He was gone early this morning. How much do you want to bet he bounds through that door with flowers any second now?”