I wedge myself in between his legs, and the towel falls to the side. My forehead rests against his, and I close my eyes. “You are.”

“Even if I hurt you?” Jack keeps saying that, and it’s making the pit in my stomach harder to ignore.

But I do, because I love him and need him to know that. “You won’t.”

His lips gently brush mine. “I love you.” He repeats it over and over again, a prayer on his lips, a hymn he sings under his breath, at first as if trying to convince himself that it’s okay to love me and then growing stronger and more resolute with each refrain until his worship is loud.

He kisses me softly, so impossibly soft that it feels like I’m dreaming.

Then he pulls back, and we stare into each other’s eyes, both of us afraid to blink out of fear that if we do, the moment will pass us by.

“I’m ready,” he whispers. “I want you.”

“Is Rhett around?”

“I think he went to your party, actually,” Jack says.

I rise to my feet and pull him with me. I drink in his body, the dip of his waist, the way his Adonis belt is more pronounced on the left side, the tiny freckles splattered like paint across his chest. He’s a masterpiece, a rare work of art to be revered, but one that I actually get to touch, to experience.

He undresses me slowly, never breaking our gaze.

He lays me down on his extra-long twin and wedges himself between my legs, lifting the bottom half of my body. My legs wrap around him as he dips to kiss me. It’s not aching and hungry but slow and deep and passionate. As our lips and tongues move together in a choreographed dance, his hand moves downward. Spit and fingers spread me open, slowly, little by little, one by one until I’m gasping for air in between kisses. Sliding down, he uses his tongue for the first time. My back arches.

He reaches for the lube and a condom. As he towers over me, body slick with sweat already, I close my eyes.

“Go slow,” I whisper, sucking in a breath.

He pushes against me, shoving the tip inside with a pop.

I let out a yelp. “Slow!”

“Sorry! Are you okay?” He leans down to kiss me softly, and my body relaxes.

I exhale, and he slides deeper inside me, enough so that I convulse, a confusing swirl of pain and unbridled pleasure.

“Should I stop?”

“No,” I beg. “Just hold steady for a sec.”

Breathe in.

Relax.

Feel him, his weight, his power, his control.

Breathe out.

I open my eyes, and the soft lines of Jack’s face are all I see, and it’s enough for me to let go and let him in. I nod, and he goes deeper, and my eyes roll.