If I were to admit it to myself, I was also becoming addicted to this unexplainable connection we shared.

Van fisted my ponytail and pulled my head back. His warm breath came to the sensitive skin near my ear. “You’re mine now, Julia. All of you.” He gripped tighter, using my hair like reins as he thrust in and out. “You’re perfect, perfect in every way. You feel so fucking tight. I’m the only one who ever comes in your pussy, ever.”

I nodded the best I could, hearing his words while distracted by his actions.

My thoughts were consumed with the stretch and friction of his thrusts. Van filled me in a way I’d never imagined was possible.

Releasing my hair, Van’s hand came to my neck, keeping my head tipped back. “Say it.”

“It feels good.”

He pulled my neck back farther. “You’re mine. Say it. Tell me who else has ever or will ever feel how good it is to be inside you.”

I struggled to breathe and yet his rhythm continued. “I’m yours, Van. Only you. Only you.”

His grasp of my neck loosened, and his lips brushed my sensitive skin.

My thoughts tried to sway, to think about what others would think of our sudden engagement and to worry about all the unknowns about Van, but his attention and devotion to my satisfaction washed those thoughts away as well as anything not connected to the here and now.

Beneath my top, his large hands began to roam, tugging each breast from the lace cups of my bra, tweaking my hard nipples, and moving lower, swirling my clit. His mouth was also engaged, kissing, licking, and nipping. I was on sensory overload as my body began to tremble and we both came.

Again, my forehead fell to the cabinet as my knees weakened. After our union ended, Van spun me around and picked me up, cradling me to his wide chest. He sat me back on the kitchen counter. As his eyes met mine, he teased loose strands of my fair hair away from my face, put himself back in his boxer briefs, and secured the button on his pants.

“I can’t tell you what you do to me,” he said as he spread my knees and his gaze went to my core. “Fucking perfect.” Before I could say a word, Van went to the sink and dampened a paper towel.

Wordlessly, I watched as he came back and gently tended to me.