I slide her off the counter, feeling her legs tighten around me. “You’re a shit liar.” I drop a gentle kiss on her lips, pushing my tongue gently into her mouth. She accepts. Of course she accepts. And she moans. She moans so loudly. “You’re mine now, Ava.” No more fucking about. No more games. I grind into her, feeling her stiffen in my arms. “I’m keeping you forever.” I thrust once more, and when she responds by kissing me, I take that as a resounding yes. Yes, she’s good with that. Yes, I can keep her forever. Yes, she’s on the same page as me. Good.

Time to consummate that. “I’m going to possess every single part of you.” Mind and body. “There will be nowhere on this beautiful body that won’t have had me in it, on it, or over it.” I’ve never desired something so much. Craved it so much. Never felt this fucking dependent. It’s possessing me, and there is nothing I can do to control it. Only sate it.

I drop her to her feet and turn her, trying not to be too rough. But . . . her breathing is heavy, her whimpers endless. Desperate. I grab the zipper on her dress and tug it down, pushing it from her body to the floor. The bra is next. Gone. And her skin? It glows, pulling my lips to the back of her neck. I kiss her gently, smiling when I feel her shudder, her neck flexing. She can’t cope. Me neither.

I turn my mouth into her ear. “Face me,” I whisper.

She’s looking at me quickly, her dark eyes blazing, and I lift her, setting her on the counter again. Her hands land on my shoulders. I quickly seize them and guide them down to the edge of the counter. “The hands stay here.” She’s going to need something to hold on to, and I can’t guarantee I’ll be stable enough. “Lift,” I order as I take the sides of her knickers, dragging them down her long legs.

And she’s naked. Gloriously naked. And I am held rapt by the vision of her sitting here on my countertop, waiting for me to blow her mind.

She reaches for my shirt, and I move back. What the fuck am I doing? Torturing myself? “Hands,” I order, and her bottom lip juts out. It’s cute. But I’m happy taking this part slowly. Happy to watch her gradually disintegrate with an impatience I’m all too familiar with. “You want me to remove my shirt?” I ask, casual but cocky.

“Yes.”

She’s out of breath. It’s too satisfying. “Yes, what?” I ask around my grin. She will beg for me. Make up for all the lost time and stress she’s caused.