Alex couldn’t help but smile then leaned over and licked her nipple softly. She trembled more and then shifted as he latched on and sucked softly. Her hand was suddenly on his head, and she ran her fingers through his hair.

“Alex,” she said groggily.

Alex sucked a bit harder before pulling away just long enough to ask, “What were you dreaming of?”

“Not sure.” He heard a muffled giggle just as he began to suck her nipple again and played with the other one with his fingers. “I’m pretty sure it was something naughty.”

“I knew it,” he said, sucking even harder and making her arch her back ever so slightly.

“And I’m pretty sure it was about you.”

He jerked his head up to see her smirking. In an instant, he was on his knees but refused to so much as crack a smile when she shrieked with laughter.

“I’m kidding!”

“You’re not funny, Z.”

“I thought it was funny.” She continued laughing, even as he pulled the sheet completely off her with a rough yank.

Normally, he liked torturing her slowly. It was as much a turn on to him as it was for her. Watching the faces she made, the utter pleasure she was getting from his torture, drove him f**king insane. But now he had other plans.

“You know what this means, right?” he asked easily, flipping her over and making her shriek even louder. He pulled her sweet little ass up in the air. “You know what it means, right, bad girl?”

“Yes!” she said, still laughing, then wiggled that beautiful ass for him. “And maybe that’s why I said it.”

Alex groaned, reaching over to his nightstand for a condom. Things like this happened so often between him and Valerie he’d gotten damn good at slipping a condom on in lightning speed. The second it was on he slammed into her with another groan.

He loved hearing Valerie cry out. While the buildup was his favorite, their spontaneous lovemaking was yet another one of the things he loved about their relationship. It was the only good thing about them arguing so often. Most times it went from heated accusations to tearing each other’s clothes off passionately, and Valerie was always game for it anywhere.

Alex stopped keeping track of the times he’d dropped her off at her dorm when she was still in school, and because her roommate was there, she’d jumped on his lap in the car and ride him right there in the dark parking lot.

He slapped her ass playfully as if he knew she enjoyed it, then squeezed it with a grunt as he dove into her deeper.

“Bad girl,” he said through his teeth, trying to hold off coming just yet, but it was building fast.

“Yes!” she said loudly, lifting her ass even higher for him. “I am bad girl.”

Damn this wasn’t helping. He slammed into her hard a few more times before burying himself in deeply for the last time with a loud groan. He let his head fall back as he held her waist firmly. “Ugh!”

All the energy drained out of him as it always did. Truth was, all kidding aside, her comment had pissed him off. Maybe if he knew for a fact she couldn’t possibly be serious, it wouldn’t have, but he didn’t.

They collapsed onto the bed next to each other, still catching their breath, and he knew it wouldn’t be long before she was out again. Next to eating and having wild passionate sex, sleeping was one of her favorite things to do. She always said she slept best after some good loving, and she wasn’t kidding.

A few minutes later, when he turned to ask if she was hungry, he almost laughed when he saw she was already dozing off. He turned on his side, resting his head on his fist, and gazed at her for a moment. This was another thing he did a lot. He loved staring at her delicate features: her long soft lashes, her cute little nose, and those lips he’d devoured so many times. Every time he stared at her in such a peaceful state, he had to wonder how someone so petite and sweet-looking could be so rambunctious and outspoken.

The photo he’d been admiring, the one of the two of them that first day he met her, was still lying next to her pillow. He frowned, remembering how that conversation where she explained about why she’d broken Reggie’s heart had started the long wild ride they’d been on ever since. That very conversation was why he couldn’t rule out that infuriating comments such as the one she’d made tonight weren’t actually just a joke. He squeezed his eyes as he thought back to that conversation again.

The day they met . . .

Tilting her head to the side playfully, Valerie bit into a strawberry as Alex squeezed his legs tightly. Watching her eat was decidedly one of the most entertaining things he’d ever done. He could probably do it for hours if it weren’t for the ache he was beginning to get in his pants.

“I don’t think I broke his heart,” Valerie said.

Alex shook his head. He knew this one for a fact. “He sat out during one of the most important games senior year because he f**ked up his hand when he punched it through a window. And I heard his dumb ass did that because he got wasted after you dumped him.”

Valerie stared at him straight-faced. She didn’t look shocked, so she’d obviously heard the story. She just hadn’t expected Alex to know about it. Normally, Alex might not have remembered something like that in such detail, but for months before the incident, he’d seen several photos of Reggie with Valerie inside his gym locker door. It was just one of those well-known things on a high school campus. Reggie had been whipped as shit over Valerie. Reggie was one of their best running backs that year, and Alex remembered being worried when he heard they’d broken up that he wouldn’t bring his A game that Friday. So he’d been even more pissed to hear what the idiot had done. It was the only reason he remembered, but he was glad he did because now he was really curious.