“Sylvia, I’m going to say this once,” Henry said seriously. “And then, since you’ve learned not to trust words entirely, I’m going to spend the rest of the night showing you that it’s true—I think you are the most exquisite woman on the face of the earth, in every way. There is no part of your body, no inch of your skin, that isn’t perfect, because it’s yours.” He took my head in his hands and kissed me, hard but sweet. “And all I want to do is make you mine, even if it’s just for tonight.”

“Yes,” I whispered. I rose up on my toes, pressing my lips to his again while my hands went to work unbuttoning his shirt. “Make me yours tonight, Henry. That’s all I want to be.”

As our kiss grew more passionate, we managed to work off his clothes, although it wasn’t easy since neither of us was willing to unlock our lips for very long. But soon we were skin to skin, wrapped in an embrace much like we’d been on Christmas Eve, only naked this time.

His body—lean and hard—made the flames in me jump higher. They burned beneath my skin, desperate to escape. My hands roamed over his broad shoulders, slid down his sculpted chest, brushed over the taut ridges of his stomach. I’d never been with a man like Henry, whose solid muscles were built by labor and honed by hours spent at the gym. I wanted to feel his weight on me, wrap my legs around him as he entered my body, see his face above mine as we moved together.

“Your body is incredible,” I told him, letting my palms move down over his ass. “I had no idea.”

“Generally, I try to wear clothes in public, so—oh, fuck.”

I’d reached between us and taken his cock in my hand, and he groaned as his hot, thick flesh slipped through my fingers. I had forgotten how exhilarating and empowering it was to make a man this aroused, this needy, this hard. I loved the way he thrust inside my fist, the way his fingers dug into my hips, the way he cursed and growled, like he was trying to hold back but wasn’t sure how long he could last. It made me feel sexy and confident.

“You’re so hard,” I whispered against his lips, tightening my grip. “How is that even possible? It hasn’t been that long.”

“It’s only possible because it’s you.”