So I refocused on the words tumbling from her lips, revelled in them for another reason altogether. Because they turned me on. Because no other woman had brought this unique, exquisite surprise to my bed. Because hearing her vocalise her pleasure charged mine in a way I’d never thought possible.

Increasing the tempo of my thrusts, I lowered my body to hers, drew her tighter against me. ‘Wrap your legs around my waist, omorfia mou.’

With gratifying speed, she complied.

‘Now, tell me more,’ I growled in her ear. ‘Tell me everything you’re feeling.’

Whether she heard me or not, I didn’t know, but the words spilled out.

Unmanned by her unfiltered longing, I kissed the corner of her luscious mouth and groaned when she chased mine when I withdrew.

‘Kiss me. Please kiss me.’

‘Say my name, matia mou. Say my name and I’ll kiss you.’

‘Axios,’ she moaned. ‘Kiss me, please, Axios.’

Unable to resist the sultry demand, I kissed her again. Felt her tighten around me in response and gritted my teeth to keep myself on that dizzying plateau for one more second. She was eroding every ounce of my willpower, pushing me towards the zenith long before I was ready.

And there was little I could do to stop it.

Especially not when my mind was already flying to the next time, to the next position.

She would be on top. Yes, she would ride me, her heavy breasts high and proud, while those unfettered words fell from her lips. The image was so potent, so vivid, I lost the ability to think straight.

My unguarded growl in response to that scenario pushed her higher. Her nails dug into my shoulders, her head thrashing on the pillow.

‘Let go, Calypso. Now!’

The command set her free. With a sharp, sweet cry, she dissolved into uncontrollable convulsions, her body writhing beneath mine in innocently uncoordinated movements that finally shattered my control.

With a roar torn from deep within I succumbed to exquisite, untrammelled bliss. Time ceased to matter. I was aware I’d collapsed on top of her, one propped arm the only thing stopping me from crushing her. But her own arms were wrapped tight around me, as if holding me together.

The singular, searing thought that I wanted to remain here indefinitely charged through my daze, forcing me to move. Forcing sanity back into this madness.

But even as I gathered her to me after my return from the bathroom she was unravelling me again, the hand on my chest reaching deeper as she turned her face to me.

‘Ax?’

‘Hmm?’ Unfamiliar dread clenched my gut, escalating the notion that somewhere along the line I’d fallen under her mercy and her whim.

Her breath fluttered out in an almost reverent exhalation as her eyes lifted to mine. ‘You’re the only man I’ve ever been with. I just thought you should know.’

That gift, freely given when it could have been withheld in light of our circumstances, punched and winded me. The notion that opening up to her had possibly earned me this unsettled me even more.