I wasn’t even going to play coy. I wanted to touch every last inch of the chiseled perfection that was his body, so I shoved him back into the wall, not caring that his shoulders thumped against it forcefully. I was prepared to grab him by the balls if it would keep him where I needed him to be.

“Stay here.” I started to caress my way down his torso.

“You’re the one who left, Temptress.”

The roughness of his voice as he said it was like a punch to the gut. I didn’t have the words to tell him how much it had hurt to walk away, so I didn’t try. We were here now, and that’s what mattered.

“I had to. For so many reasons, I had to.”

“But you were out there facing it alone and I couldn’t protect you.” He saw my eyes narrow and hastily added, “Not that you need protection, but I want to at least be there for you when things get shitty.”

“Well, you managed to protect me anyway by making sacrifices I would never have asked of you.”

“You’re worth everything to me, Elena.”

I couldn’t catch my breath. “I came back and I’m yours. And you, Mr. Chase, are mine.”

Alex pulled me even closer, lips moving against mine urgently, while his hands cupped my ass possessively.

How could I ever have mistaken him for a Hollywood Pretty Boy? Those easy smiles could make it seem like he was laughing at everything, but they were only a fraction of the picture. He was so unafraid to feel and to express those feelings. It was humbling.

I felt like I was completely in control with him pinned against the wall, but in the blink of an eye, he let me know I was only in control because he was letting me be in control.

He flipped our positions, pinning me back against the wall, towering over me and bracing an arm on either side of me, forming a cage with his big, muscular body.

He reached a hand down between my legs, stroking and teasing without giving me what I wanted, but it was too good to stop him. I panted helplessly. Nothing mattered but his big fingers and what he might do with them next.

My knees almost buckled when he started to rub my clit with his thumb, beginning with torturous, slow circles then working his way up to the pressure that made me a slave to his talented fingers. He thrust one of them inside me, closing his eyes. “Do you want me to fuck you, Temptress?”

“Yes. Fuck me now.”

He stepped back a little and made quick work of putting the condom on. His voice was even deeper than usual as he continued to drive me closer to the edge, both with his words and his fingers stroking me. “Just to be clear, you want me to slide my hard cock deep inside you, fucking this pretty pussy until I feel you coming around me?”