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Her nipples are a dark pink, still wet from my kisses.

At the junction of her thighs, she has a little strip of blonde curls, damp with her arousal.

Her limbs are sleek and toned from her daily hikes, lightly dusted with freckles.

Fuck. Every bit of Tate is perfect.

“You’re breathtaking,” I murmur before lowering my head to kiss her again.

Fingers trail across my abs, tracing the lines of my muscles. Tatum smiles against my mouth. Then she breaks the kiss to say with a hint of wonder, “I counted ten.Ten. I didn’t even know that was possible.”

“Should I stop working out?” I tease. “Start drinking beer and get a big gut instead?”

“If you want to,” she answers after a moment. “I’d like you, anyway. But I have to admit, I really like feeling your muscles. And looking at them.”

My erection twitches. Nudges at her core. “Then I guess I’d better keep up with my workouts. Since you?—”

Tatum wraps her hand around me, stroking from root to tip. And everything I was about to say flies out of my head.

“Erik.” She wraps her legs around my waist. The movement nearly makes me slip inside of her, and I immediately go still. “All the stuff about kissing tattoos and taking our time? Could we save that? For next time? Because I really want to feel you inside me. Now.”

I feel myself getting slicker. Hotter. More desperate.

I could be inside her in seconds. And fuck, do I want to.

But. There’s responsibility. Protection. Showing Tate how much I value her.

“I don’t want to rush you,” I protest.

Her blue eyes hold mine. “You’re not. I want this. And if you do, too, I don’t see the problem.”

Fair point.

And while I’m still going to make decisions about Tatum’s safety without hesitation, wasn’t I just thinking about how much I like that she tells me exactly what she wants?

“Condoms,” I choke out. “In my wallet. I have to get one.”

“Okay.” Her pupils expand until there’s only a thin line of blue around them. “Or… we could go without. I’m on protection. And I was tested last year for everything. It’s all good. I haven’t been with anyone since.”

I’m stunned into silence.

She would trust me that much?

“I’m negative, too,” I tell her. “We have regular tests for B and A. But it’s a lot. I mean, fuck, I want to. But it’s… Are you sure?”

Her legs tighten around me, pulling me into her welcoming heat. Just the tip, but it would be so easy to plunge the rest of the way in. “I trust you,” she says. “And I want to feel all of you.”

Fuck.

How can I say no?

Especially when I don’t want to.

“I want to feel all of you, too,” I growl. Then I grab her hips and plunge deep, sinking all the way to the hilt.

And fuck.

It feels so?—