“I want you distracted. I want you out of your mind.”

“And I want to memorize you,” she said, looking him in the eye.

He sucked in a deep breath and stepped back and then got down on his knees in front of her. He pushed her legs out wider, settled himself between them. “What are you doing?”

“Giving you something to memorize.”

He pulled her hips to the edge of the bed, her skirt riding up over her waist again. He went down on her with the kind of enthusiasm that seemed like a dream. And it was all at once too much. This was never her favorite thing, being vulnerable like this. Giving up this control. She pushed him away, or tried to, but he was unmoving. Relentless.

“Calm down,” he said to her. Looking up at her from between her legs. “You’ll be okay.”

“You’ve hurt me before,” she said.

He put his head down against her stomach, his breath brushing across her legs. “I’m sorry. But I would never hurt you now. Not like this. Not again.”

Somehow that was enough for her to melt into the moment. To release the tension in her muscles. To give it all over to him. She slipped her fingers into his hair, and felt the movement of his skull as he kissed her and licked her and she never in her life—in all of her worst and best moments—felt as close to someone as she felt in this moment.

It was like all the boundaries between them vanished. And it was him against her, wrapping her up in all the pleasure she could take. It was terrifying.

“It’s okay,” he said against her, over and over again. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

He slipped a finger inside her, his tongue against her clit and whatever she was so scared of vanished and all she felt was the light loving he gave her.

“Stop, please,” she said. “I want you inside of me. Please.”

He clenched his hands in her hair and lifted her to her feet. She gasped and squirmed against him. She expected him to put her on her feet but he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. He never kissed like it was an exploration. Like they didn’t know each other. He kissed her like he owned her. Like he knew exactly what she wanted and needed and he was the only one who could give it to her. It was agony. Bliss.

She opened her lips on a cry and his tongue swept in. More and more and more. She could barely breathe. She couldn’t take enough. She couldn’t give enough.