I obeyed without hesitation, barely containing the excitement bubbling in my stomach. He closed the distance slowly, a predator with prey in his sights, and peeled the clothing from his body as he went. Jeans, gone, on the floor. A step later, boxers flew into parts unknown. He climbed onto the bed behind me, and I gasped when he splayed a tattooed hand on my abdomen, fingers reaching past my navel toward the crevice of pulsing arousal. He yanked my head back, until my eyes aligned with his chin, and lowered his head. His lips opened over my collarbone, feverish and hungry, teeth scraping tender skin. My nipples hardened into two tight buds, and my skin broke out in goose bumps from head to toe. I’d never been so worked up, so ready to fly apart from touch alone.

He teased upward, across my cheek to the edge of my mouth, his stubble leaving a rough path in his wake. His fingers slid inside me. I moaned, a second away from begging for his kiss.

“You’re so wet. Drenched and hot.” He let go of my hair and gripped my throat, holding me prisoner against his body. His gaze fell on my mouth, and he couldn’t hide it—the need to kiss me.

This man brought out so many emotions, but above all else, intense yearning. I’d rip myself apart to get to him. “I need you, Rafe,” I whispered, eyes threatening to spill so much more than tears. He saw everything, laid bare before him just as my body was. I gave him my submission, opening my thighs wider to his touch, arching into his possession of my throat, my breasts jutting forward, unabashedly on display. “I need you so much.”

“Tell me something,” he said, his fingers sliding in and out of my pussy in slow ecstasy.

“Anything.”

“Have you been with anyone else?”

“Just you.” I wouldn’t mention Zach. He didn’t count, and from the hard glint in Rafe’s eyes, I’d said the right thing.

“Good.” He groaned, then his mouth was on mine, parting my lips with desperate urgency, tongue thrusting inside as his fingers fucked me. His mouth tasted of the strawberries he’d eaten earlier.

I couldn’t be contained. I had to touch him, or I’d combust. I shoved my fingers into his hair and clutched him as if I’d never let go, urging his tongue deeper into my mouth. Kissing him from this upside down angle unraveled me, destroyed me, and I never wanted to be whole again. Not if coming unglued in his arms meant feeling this way for even a second longer. I was his, every frayed thread of my aching soul.

“Fuck, Alex,” he said, wrenching his mouth from mine. His erection jabbed my ass.

“I need you. Please.”

“I’ll fuck you when I’m ready. Put your hands behind your back.”