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His body trembled around me. Mine responded in kind. We sighed together and for a dimwitted moment, I thought he was done.

A clever hand vanished between my legs, searching, stroking, and spiking my pulse. I fought for air. Each curl of his fingers cranked my knees farther open. Hand-to-hand combat wasn’t the only skill benefiting from his knowledge of anatomy. His touch reduced my body to a panting needy blob.

My pleasure climbed, teetered on the edge. I reached for it. Just another second—

He leaned back and straightened my tattered chemise. Then he heaved me to my feet with fingers wet from my arousal.

My face fevered. I ground my molars and met his eyes. “You’re teasing me.”

He stepped closer, lips rolled between his teeth, eyes glittering.

“Bastar…arrgh.” My shoulder popped. I blinked. Both my arms were disabled behind my back, extended at the elbows. Hands numb and growing cold, I gave him wide eyes. “Tap.”

He lifted me. The gate clicked. Trousers and boxers dropped in our wake. The mattress creaked. He pinned my hands above my head and covered my body with his.

Locked at the lips, neither of us moved. Anticipation puffed and mingled in steam from our noses. I burned under his weight, crushed by packs of muscle from his chest to his thighs. My legs squeezed around him. My pleasure hung on the precipice, waiting.

He lined up and drove his hips, his mouth catching my yelp, the feel of him hurtling me toward heaven. Hump after hump, my bliss built. By the fourth thrust, he discarded what was left of my shift. Two more and my defeat erupted in hoarse cries.

When my full-body tingle tapered, I peeled my cheek from his pounding chest and spied something on his face I’d never seen there.

“What is it?” He tucked a stray lock behind my ear.

“Your smile. Perhaps I shouldn’t inflate your head, but you’re fucking gorgeous.”

He widened it. “Ego’s still at a safe level.”

“For now.”

His nose traced mine. “Are you sated?”

“Ditto on the for now.” I roamed a toe along his leg.

He chuckled and browsed my lips, his bowing up in a beautiful curve. Then he slid off the bed and glided to the gate.

The shock of his sudden exit left me stammering, “W-wait. You aren’t sated.”

“The terms were I ease you.” His neutral voice reeked with an undercurrent that said he was anything but neutral. I didn’t remember his terms barring reciprocation? What was he trying to prove? Stupid men and their egos.

He breezed to the bathroom and dammit if the muscles in his sculpted bare ass didn’t ripple through his strides. Then my panorama faded behind the door and snapped me out of my stupor.

I nibbled my lip for one breath, two…five, leapt from the bed and dialed in the combination. Maybe he forgot he gave that to me.

The door muffled the spray of water from the shower head. I slipped inside.

“Evie.” His groan floated from behind the curtain. “If you come in here, my restraint will not be repeated.”

Good. I pulled back the drape and held my breath. Palm flat to the wall, head dropped on his arm, his other hand wrapped around his erection. Water sluiced off the ridges of his lats.

I ducked under his arm and shimmied around him. A hum rumbled from his chest. He gripped the back of my thighs and planted my butt against the rock wall.

In the next breath, he filled me. The clench of his hands pinched my skin. The pain sweetened the sensation. I gave him a rough shove with my hips and smiled up at him.

Lines appeared between his brows and his mouth opened. I silenced him with a kiss that was as hungry as my body. All around me, his limbs hardened. Then his restraint snapped. Fingers readjusted on my thighs, digging further into flesh, and his pelvis pounded with a force that ensured I’d limp away.

I clutched the shower curtain to brace for the impacts. The hooks squealed along the pole. Fabric tore. His hips surged on.

A heady rush enveloped me. Climatic spasms racked my body and still, it screamed for more.

Then something flashed in his wide eyes and he caught my face between his palms. “I’m hurting you.”

“Hell, yes. Shut up and keep moving.”

He squinted and stilled his thrusts. Steam thickened the air. His body shook.

“Come on, gorgeous. I can take it.” I compressed my quadriceps around his waist for emphasis.

A moan vibrated low in his throat, but his hips didn’t move.

I dropped my legs and slid to my knees. My fingers made slow circles up the bunching tendons in his thighs. His erection jerked, and I lowered my head. Then I savored him with a gluttonous mouth.

He clenched all over as I pulled grunts and groans I never imagined hearing from him. Hands threaded through my hair, ripping at the roots. “Baby, you’re killing me.”