I haven’t been a saint either.

“Okay,” I reply. “Starla required us to get check ups every year, and I haven’t had any partners since the last one. I’m good.”

“You’re amazing and I don’t deserve you.”

“This is probably true.”

He laughs and wraps his arms around me, hugging me tight. His bare chest feels fantastic against my cheek and we stay like this for a long minute while we wait for the shower to heat up. When steam begins to fill the room, Mark helps me down and leads me into the gorgeous blue-tiled shower big enough to have a floor show in.

“Did you plan to host parties in here?”

“Just the two-person kind with you,” he replies and begins soaping me up with my brand of shower gel and a fresh shower puff.

“You bought my shower gel? Pretty sure of yourself.”

“Hopeful,” he says and draws circles over my belly and down over my bare pubis. I grab a washcloth and return the favor, loving the feel of his naked body beneath my hands.

“Your body is incredible,” I murmur.

“Glad you approve.”

“I might never stop touching you.”

“That’s the plan.”

I grin up at him as he rinses us both off and suddenly his eyes turn hot again and he backs me up against the cool tile and kneels before me, lifts my left leg and throws it over his shoulder, opening me up to him.

“I’m going to slip and fall.” I gasp.

“I’ve got you,” he replies and watches my face as he slips his fingers through my lips. “God, Mer, you’re so fucking wet.”

“You turn me on.” I grip his hair in my hands and hold on as he growls and leans in to tease my clit with his tongue and lips. He sinks two fingers inside me and wraps those lips around my clit and that’s all it takes, I come apart, crying out his name while leaning against the wall of the shower.

He stands, flips the shower off and doesn’t even bother drying us off as he tugs me behind him back to the bed.

“Um, Mark? I’m wet here.”

“Fuck yes, you are,” he says and tosses me—tosses me!—onto the bed then spreads my legs wide and dives back in. “You taste so fucking good.” He’s lapping at my labia, licking every drop from me, then pushes his fingers back in and jerks them quickly, tipping me over another ledge into a mind-numbing orgasm.

“Holy shit!”

He licks and bites his way up my body, sheaths himself in a condom and plunges inside me, fast and hard.

“Fuck, Mer,” he growls and begins pounding in and out of me. The sounds coming out of him are primal and gritty and I love this side of him as much as the man who made sweet love to me not thirty minutes ago.

Suddenly, he pulls out and flips me over, yanks my hips up and plunges back inside me from behind, smacks my ass and rides me in earnest.

Holy fucking hell, it’s the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced.

“Mark, oh my God!”

“Mine,” he growls and leans in to press his lips to my ear. “You are mine.”

I grip the sheets in my fists and hold on for this wild ride with this crazy, amazing man.

“Say it,” he commands.

“Yours,” I reply breathlessly. “Always.”

“Fuck yes, always.” He grips my hips and pounds into me for several long minutes then stops, balls-deep, and shouts as he comes hard, sending me over with him.

“Jesus Christ, I won’t survive you,” he says breathlessly as he falls beside me in a heap.

“That one was all you, babe,” I reply and crawl onto his chest. “Wow. You’re definitely better than fine.”

“You’re magnificent,” he whispers and kisses my forehead. “I love you, M.”

“I love you too.”

***

I wake alone. It’s dark, still the middle of the night, and the bed is cold where Mark was lying.

Where did he go?

I wrap the sheet around me and set out to find him. The house is still, but when I glance out the window, his Jeep is still in the driveway.

I search the whole house and come up empty, but then see a glow coming from the back yard. I open the French door to the patio and step out into the mild night to find Mark sitting on a chaise lounge, watching the flames in a brick fireplace.

“What are you doing?” I ask and cross to him. He’s shirtless, clad only in loose sweats that hang in that way that show off the V muscles in his hips.

Delicious.

And just like that, I’m wide awake and my body is humming in anticipation.

“I didn’t want to wake you. I couldn’t sleep.” He holds his hand out for me then pulls me into his lap. I snuggle up against him and watch the fire.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“I’m good,” he replies and kisses my head.

“Why can’t you sleep?”

He shrugs and I lean back to watch his face. “Mark?”

“I just keep thinking that this is going to be a dream.” He chuckles ruefully and shakes his head. “I think I just lost my man card.”

“I get it.” I wiggle out of his lap and shed the sheet, then tug his sweats down around his thighs, unleashing his thick erection before straddling him and sinking down onto him.

“No condom.” He gasps and grips my hips as I rock back and forth slowly.

“It’s fine,” I whisper and kiss him sweetly. “This is no dream, babe.”

He closes his eyes and I lean my forehead on his as I ride him steadily. “This is you and me, M.”

His mouth closes around my nipple and I throw my head back as the electricity zings down to my core, making me clench around him harder.

He pushes a hand between us and circles my clit with his thumb, and I’m lost to him, biting my lip as I come around him.

“Fuck,” he whispers and comes with me, then pulls me down to him, kissing me and holding me close. Finally, I rest my head on his chest, content to sit and watch the fire beside us.

“It’s no dream. It’s better,” I say quietly.

“So much better,” he agrees.

Chapter Seven

“Okay girls! It’s our favorite time! Free dance!” Jax announces and the girls in class clap and jump up and down. This is our older class, over fourteen, so Jax chooses a brand new Pitbull song and the girls begin to dance about the floor. The part the girls love the most about this time of class is that Jax and I join them, dancing with them as if we were at a school dance.