She rode him until her thighs hurt. Until she thought she would die from holding back one more moment. She needed to come. She needed to... She needed... He slid his hand deeper between her legs then, worked his fingers around where their bodies met, the intimate contact so shocking, so intensely pleasurable, that Jamie forgot to hold anything back at all.

Her fingernails went right into his skin as she screamed, burying her face in his neck while her orgasm overwhelmed her.

When it was done, she was limp, boneless.

Lying against his chest, her hands splayed over his muscles, feeling the intense pounding of his heart between her hands.

His eyes were glassy now, and he kissed her, holding on to her chin as he did. Taking it slow, taking it deep.

He tightened his hold on her as he slipped from her body and maneuvered himself out of the tub.

He turned away from her, taking care of practicalities before grabbing hold of a towel and holding it out for her.

She let him wrap it around her when she got out, let him carry her back into the bedroom and deposit her on the bed.

She didn’t know who she was, letting a man do these things for her.

But right now she was a little bit too tired to keep on fighting it.

She was really tired.

It suddenly crashed into her. And it had nothing to do with today.

It might just have to do with her life.

And right now the towel was soft, the bed was soft and Gabe was just the right kind of rough.

He dried her off, took the towel from her and settled her beneath the blankets before joining her, fitting her up against his body and pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

“Do you want to eat?”

“No,” she mumbled. “I just want to go to sleep.”

“Well, if you want some toast, just say the word.”

She didn’t say anything. She just smiled. And then she rested her head back against his chest and closed her eyes.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

JAMIE WOKE UP in the early hours of the morning. When it was still dark outside. The stars were weak against the velvet gray, fading away to clear the path for the sun.

And Gabe Dalton’s very naked body was pressed up against hers.

She’d never shared a bed with another person before.

Those realizations, those first times, were playing on an endless loop in her brain. A single one couldn’t pass without her notice.

And why not?

She was having an experience. And she’d never really been someone who was interested in having experiences just for the sake of them.

But she also didn’t back down from things when she wanted them. No matter how big or how scary. And even though she knew this wasn’t going to be...anything other than whatever this was—this strange, naked friendship where they talked about their lives and worked together, slept together.