I stiffened automatically but he took one of the condoms, handing it to me while dropping his head so he could lick all across my collarbone. He nuzzled his nose against my cheek and then put his lips to my ear and whispered, “And yet here we are.”

I gulped a little as he lifted himself off of me by bracing his forearms on either side of my head. I opened the condom packet with my teeth and somehow managed to get it where it was supposed to go even though my hands were shaking like crazy. Suddenly I was wondering what I was going to do if this ended up being as lackluster as all the other times I had done it. It seemed really stupid to walk into the lion’s cage and tug on his tail without knowing the risk was worth it. Where was all that clarity up to this point?

I wrapped an arm across the broad expanse of his shoulder and another one right above his sculpted backside and whispered back, “Here we are.”

He left one arm arched over my head and lowered his other one until his fingers curled tightly around my thigh. He pulled my leg up high along his side and I felt just the tip of him prod at my entrance.

I saw his teeth flash in the dark right before he lowered his mouth back to mine. Against my lips he muttered, “Let’s hope we both make it out alive,” and then he kissed me in that soul-stealing way he had as he sank all the way into my welcoming body.

It was anything but lackluster.

I felt him everywhere, inside and out. His fingers dug into my flesh as his mouth moved, insistent and demanding against mine. It was almost too much. Too many sensations, too much feeling, too much anticipation. I felt my body respond with minimal effort on his part. All he had to do was touch me, slide in and out in the steady, strong rhythm he had set. I was already writhing, already feeling my insides quake as they tightened with contractions around him. I dropped a hand to one of the firm globes of his ass and dug my fingers in just to get a good grasp on something because reality was spinning away. This was most assuredly sex that was all about me. He was kissing me everywhere. My mouth, my neck, behind my ear, and all along where my pulse was racing at the curve of my neck. His hand that had been holding my leg up where he wanted it, left when it was clear I was going to stay splayed and arched just where he wanted me. It detoured to that hot spot right between my legs. At the first press of his fingertips on that sensitive nub I screamed his name. It was so loud it hurt my head, but it just made him chuckle into my damp skin, where he was nibbling hard enough to leave marks.

His fingers wiggled and brought me dangerously close to going over the edge. I could feel my reaction to his touch and to his thrusts get all liquid and hot between us. There was no hiding how effectively he knew how to touch me in order to get the most dynamic reaction. I pressed up even harder against him. I wanted closer and that wasn’t even possible. It all felt so good that it almost hurt. I felt the brink of an orgasm racing up and over me. I wanted to tell him to slow down, that it was going to be over too fast after such a long wait, but then his mouth was by my ear again and that voice that was all honey and smoke whispered, “I can’t see you but I can feel you, Royal, and you feel beautiful.”

Holy shit he was good. Between his words and what he was doing with his fingers, along with the relentless drag and pull of his body inside mine, I was done for. I tossed my head to the side and he kissed me on the cheek as I broke apart underneath him. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before and definitely worth the work I had put into getting it. My eyes slid closed. His breath hitched and he said my name on a sigh. Then his body jerked against mine and his chest settled down against my own as he collapsed on top of me. His heart was just as unsteady as mine where they beat wildly against each other. I was feeling too much, exposed in a way I hadn’t anticipated, and I wasn’t sure I could handle whatever it was that would be looking back at me in his amber gaze. I was suddenly really glad there were no lights on.

He shifted so he could pull out of my limp and spent body. He squeezed my butt and rolled off the side of the bed. I heard him banging around in the bathroom, rolled to my side, and put my hands under my cheek. For some reason I really felt like I was going to cry. Destruction and heartbreak really didn’t sound as fun as they had before I had gone to bed with him.

The mattress dipped under his weight when he returned and I thought he was going to just roll to the opposite side and go to sleep. Asa didn’t strike me as a cuddler, and in all honesty I could’ve used a minute to get my shit together, only he didn’t give it to me. Instead he curled around my back, wrapped one of his strong arms around my front, and pulled me into his chest so that we were pressed tightly together. His voice was all thick southern drawl and sleepy, warning me, “Trouble is always a whole lot of fun … until it isn’t anymore.”

I was finally starting to believe him. All I could do was close my eyes and let his even breathing lull me to sleep even though I felt like I hadn’t just crossed the line. I had blown it up and tap-danced all over it.

CHAPTER 7

Asa

Waking up wrapped around a warm body was nothing new. Waking up wrapped around a body that I wanted to snuggle into, lose myself in over and over again, and not let go of ever—well, that was a first.

We were facing each other in the narrow bed, and Royal had her head tucked under my chin and her breath was tickling my throat. Her arm was resting across my ribs and one of her long legs had situated itself between my own. We were pressed as tightly together as two people could be without having sex, and my morning erection was pretty much insisting that I take advantage of the situation. It throbbed between us where her hips were practically locked against my own. It was entirely too intimate for my peace of mind.

I liked sex—a lot—and I wasn’t averse to having whoever shared my bed for the night sleep over. I was a pro at getting my own way and defusing awkward situations with pretty words and a clever grin, so I typically never had to worry about morning-after catastrophes. In fact, I usually could look forward to a repeat performance when the sun came up, but somehow I knew if I went there with Royal in the bright light of day, it would change things.

I already felt it in the way my hands wanted to linger at the delicate curve of her waist. In the way my skin tingled and felt alive where it touched hers. In the way I wanted to simply look at her in all her naked and fiery beauty while she held on to me. I absolutely couldn’t get serious about this girl, we were beyond wrong for each other … not that I was ever going to be right for anyone, but especially not right for her. Too bad my body and my mind didn’t agree on that fact.