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He swatted the inside of my thigh lightly. “Just for that, you get one more before I let you come.”

An inferno of arousal scorched my veins. I was light-headed and falling through space back into the mattress, and yet I wasn’t moving at all. It didn’t take long for him to have me back at the edge, biting my lip and barely holding myself on this side of ecstasy.

Jude lifted his mouth and looked at me, locking eyes while he licked his lips, and I groaned. The denial of another orgasm almost hurt.

Almost.

He stroked his hands up and down my thighs as I caught my breath, letting the pleasure fade into absolutely nothing. But I was like tinder—one strike of a match and I would go up in flames.

Finally, Jude brushed a kiss low on my stomach. “This time, you have permission.”

He didn’t hold back.

I was barely aware of his mouth and the steady stroking of his tongue, of the way he sealed his mouth over me to suck me deeper. It was secondary to the pleasure crashing into me like a tidal wave, crushing me underneath it.

Everything ignited, and I was lost in a flash of light and a flare of bliss that was sharp as a knife and soft as velvet. A contradiction all wrapped up into one, lifting my hips off the bed into his mouth and leaving me with even less control than Jude.

And then there was the other piece of it. I’d held on even when it felt impossible and did what he asked, only to be rewarded with one of the best orgasms I’d ever had in my life…

Okay, yeah, I understood why all the heroines loved this. Changed woman and all that. My mind felt numb in the aftermath, the rest of me melting into a puddle. Jude’s mouth was still between my legs, tongue sending flickers and aftershocks through my body.

He moved, straddling my hips once more and towering over me. The scratch of his jeans on my bare legs emphasized the difference in power, just a little reminder of this game we were playing. Jude pinned my hands to the bed again, and the way he leaned, I gasped.

Jude was entirely hard through his jeans, pressing against me where I hadn’t bothered to close my legs. After all the pleasure he’d dragged out of me, I was so sensitive, the rough fabric of his jeans was enough to make me want more.

Smirking, he flexed his hips. The man knew exactly what he was doing to me, and he loved every second of it.

“You did so good,” he said. “And I want you to talk to me for a second.”

“I messed up when I talked before. I’m sorry.”

He flexed his hips again, driving another gasp from me before he lowered his mouth all the way to my skin. “This isn’t about perfection always. We’re human, and I was teasing you on purpose. You were incredible, especially being new to this.”

It was impossible to explain the sunshine feeling that came with his praise and approval. My heart was fluttery, and I felt like I was being pulled away from what I knew and realigned with something entirely different. “Can I move my hands? I really need to touch you.”

The small, pleased smile brought crinkles to the corners of his eyes and made my stomach do backflips. “Yes, you may.”

I reached for him, and he met me halfway, running his hands over my shoulders and massaging them. They ached a little from the tension of holding them above my head while he wrung pleasure from me like a sponge. But the way he dug his fingers in and made them loosen felt amazing and let me know he absolutely knew what he was doing.

My own hands, I spread over his shoulders and wrapped behind his neck. How long would it take before this would feel normal? Not just him being dominant, but him being here at all. It still didn’t feel real.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

The words didn’t come at first, and I opened my mouth and closed it, causing him to smile. “I think…” I swallowed. “I think I like this a lot more than I thought I would.”

Jude froze for a second, and then he was kissing me. Hard. His whole body pushed me into the bed, and the way we were intimately connected caused me to moan into his mouth. “Really?” The whisper brushed against my lips.

I shivered. “Yes. I don’t know what it means or how far it goes or anything like that. But fuck, Jude.”

He chuckled. “I’ll take it. And I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“Because if I hadn’t had my head up my ass about whether you would like this, and hadn’t chosen to make the decision for you, this could have come a hell of a lot sooner.”

My stomach flipped again. “I see where you’re coming from, and I accept your apology. But also, some things happen the way they’re meant to. Both of us wishing we’d done this sooner is only going to take away from the now.”

“Excellent point,” he conceded. “And I think that’s enough talking for now.”