“What can I say, you bring out the reckless side in me.” Leaning in, he presses delicate kisses along the tiny dotted line of the bee’s path that wraps from the base of my skull and around my neck, down my shoulder, over my ribs, then lands where my heart pounds. “And I might have gotten a little peek that night on the sofa. Tell me what it means.”

I sigh at the heat of his body so close to mine, the part of him I want closer, frustratingly held away. “The bee’s path journeys from the head to the heart. To remind myself what I learned in therapy—sometimes thoughts lie, but our hearts don’t. It reminds me my heart knows best.”

He smiles against my skin, then kisses the bumblebee. “I love that,” he whispers. His lips trail lower, over the curve of my breast, before his mouth settles, warm and wet over my nipple, and sucks. I arch in pleasure. It feels so good to finally have Jamie here, knowing me this way. My exhale is shaky as pleasure floods my body.

“And what does your heart say?” he whispers, one rough hand sliding up my thigh. He reaches my ass and caresses it.

“That it wants you,” I tell him. “More than it’s ever wanted anything or anyone.”

He spins us on the bed until I’m on my back, Jamie braced over me. “Bea?”

“Yes, Jamie.”

His eyes meet mine. “I need to make you come. I’ve needed it . . .” His throat works as he slides his thumb along my bottom lip. “Ever since the last time. When I watched you beneath me on the sofa, gasping my name.”

I bite my lip, drifting my hands along his back. “I need it, too. I need you.”

Our mouths meet as he cups my breasts, teases my nipples. I arch into his touch, rubbing myself against him—my hips and his, my bare breasts and the fine hairs covering his hard chest. Air leaves me in tight, desperate heaves.

Jamie slides an arm beneath my back and hoists me effortlessly higher up the mattress. I cup his face, then scrape my fingers through his hair. Our mouths drop open as he presses into me, hard and heavy. I wrap my legs around his waist.

“All I’ve been thinking about is having this with you,” he whispers against my mouth. “I can barely function. I’ve been so distracted, I walked into a wall.”

A breathy laugh jumps out of me. “What?”