“What?”

“I’m willing to bet we have even more in common, and I’m going to ferret everything out of you until I know you like the back of my hand and I can read you like a book.”

She cast her green gaze downward once more. She was so easy to embarrass. It had almost become a game with me. What could I do to embarrass her more?

She fidgeted with her napkin. “Are you still hungry? I have some chocolate ice cream in the freezer.”

I rose and stalked toward her, took her hand, and pulled her up. “I’m still hungry. But not for food.” I clasped her lithe body to mine and took her lips.

She sighed beneath me. I broke the kiss and gazed into her emerald eyes.

“Do you like kissing me, Melanie? Because I sure as hell like kissing you.”

Her answer was a moan, and I took her lips again. She tasted of the spicy wine and the zesty food we had just eaten. And she tasted of Melanie, sweet and succulent.

Without breaking the kiss, I backed her toward her bedroom door, into the room, and to the bed. Again without breaking the kiss, I spread the sides of her robe, brushing the satin fabric over her shoulders. My dick was hard against the denim of my jeans. I wanted her again. I had promised to go slow the next time, to savor every inch of her. I hadn’t yet tasted her most secret places.

But I couldn’t wait. I needed her now. Needed to be inside that hot little cunt. I reached into my pocket for my wallet. Thank God I normally carried two condoms and that I had resupplied after our first encounter at the hotel.

She looked into my eyes. “I… I’m on the pill. I have been forever. And I’m clean. I swear it.”

I flashed back to my conversation with Bryce earlier, how his Vegas showgirl had assured him he was on the pill. But Melanie didn’t strike me as the lying type. “You don’t want me to wear a condom?”

“I’m saying you don’t need to. If you’re clean.”

My heart nearly burst. To actually feel her silkiness with no barrier would be nirvana. “I swear, Melanie. I’m clean too.”

That was for sure. I hadn’t had a woman in so long, I was surprised sex hadn’t changed.

I shed my jeans quickly, and my cock stood straight out. I knew I was large, even larger than what was normally considered large. She’d been able to take me. She fit me perfectly. I couldn’t wait to feel every tiny ridge inside her sweet channel.

I pushed her onto the bed and touched her between her legs.

Wet and silky. She was ready for me.

I sank into her.

Fuck. She felt amazing. I thrust into her again.

Bliss. Had I ever used that word before in my life? Now was a good time to start. I had just had her an hour ago, and already I was prepared to spill. This time, without the restriction of the latex barrier between us, I felt every crevice, ridge, every bit of soft suction. And I couldn’t help myself. My balls bunched up, and the tiny seizures started low.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I wish I could last longer, but oh my God.” I thrust into her with one powerful plunge, spilling into her deepest recess.

She exhaled beneath me, her forehead beaded with sweat.

She hadn’t had an orgasm. I’d been so selfish. Again.

“Sweetheart, thank you for indulging me. And now”—I licked my lips—“I’m going to make it up to you.”

Chapter Fourteen

Melanie

Jonah’s cock was soft against my thigh. He moved toward me and kissed me—a gentle kiss this time, not the frantic, ferocious kiss he usually gave me. Now that he’d taken his sexual edge off, maybe he truly did want to see to my pleasure.

And I would let him.

He broke the kiss and inhaled, looking down at me. His eyes were nearly black and full of fire. “My God, you’re beautiful, Melanie. You look like an angel.”

An angel I was not, but I didn’t want to ruin this moment.

“And you look like the devil,” I said.

He raised his eyebrows.

“I mean that in a good way. There’s a darkness in you, Jonah, a darkness I seem to be drawn to, that I can’t say no to.”

He smiled then. “As long as you can’t say no.” He trailed kisses across my cheek to my earlobe, where he nibbled, and then he thrust his tongue into my ear canal.

I shivered all over, oozing between my legs.

Then he trailed his tongue down my neck and inhaled. “Mmm, you always smell like lavender.”

Lavender was my favorite fragrance and flower. Perhaps he hadn’t noticed the lavender plant on my night table. He was probably getting a good whiff from that as well.

He inhaled again. “I’ll never get tired of your scent.”

He continued to trail his lips down, over my shoulders, down my arms. He kissed each fingertip of my left hand and then went back up my arm. He kissed my chest and then stopped for a moment and cupped my breasts.

I’d always felt woefully inadequate in that area, but he eyed them lasciviously, licking his lips.

“I can’t tell you how long I’ve wanted to taste those red nipples.” He gave my left breast a slap.

I gasped. It didn’t hurt, actually. It just felt…different. And I was very afraid of different. Melanie Carmichael was a good girl. I grabbed his hand. “I…”

“What?”

“I’d rather you not do that. No one’s ever…done that to me during sex.”

“You don’t like it?”

I couldn’t say I disliked it. I just wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Mostly just uncomfortable. But how could I explain that to him? “I just would rather you not slap me. Period. On my breasts, my butt, anywhere.”

“All right, Melanie.”

Now I felt terrible. “I know a lot of women like it. But for now, please. Just don’t.”

He rolled over onto his back. Shit, now I’d done it. He wouldn’t want me anymore. Well, if he couldn’t have sex without a slap, maybe we weren’t meant to be together. We hardly knew each other, after all.

I looked over at him. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. I just…like that. That’s all.”

“I know. That’s obvious. I just don’t have any experience with that kind of…sex. And I’d rather not do it. At least not right now.”