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I giggle. “Hold that thought.” I feel a little embarrassed and more than a little aroused in a way that’s new and exciting. I push myself up and off the bed. “I do need to go to the bathroom for a second. Maybe you can get us some water or something in the meantime.”

He nods and gets up a little awkwardly. He is almost completely hard again. “Probably for the best,” he says. “Give the blood a chance to get back to my head.”

I don’t take too long, and when I’m out, I find him sprawled on top of the covers, legs straight and crossed at the ankles, hands behind his head. Naked and completely relaxed. When he notices me, a huge grin stretches his mouth and he extends one arm toward me, inviting me to join him.

I am almost floored by a surge of affection. I’m in so much trouble.

But I join him on top of the covers, my head on his shoulder, arm and leg thrown over him.

“So you want me to tie you up?” he says.

I chuckle. “I’m glad your hearing’s perfect.”

“And I take it it’s not something you’ve done before?”

“Honestly, it’s not something I’ve thought about ever until you just railed me to within an inch of my life. But there, in that position, I felt I needed more of it. Like, less power. Having you do whatever you wanted with my body. I felt ... like I needed it.”

He strokes my hair absentmindedly.

“Joe?”

“I’m listening,” he says. “I think this means you trust me. You trust me to take care of you. Give you what you need.”

I nod against his chest. “I do. I really do. Maybe it’s weird, but I do.”

He tilts my chin toward his lips and gives me a sweet, long, closed-mouthed kiss. Still holding my chin between his thumb and forefinger, he meets my eyes and says, “I’m gonna take such good care of you, you’ll never want to put on clothes ever again.”

We both drink some water, and then he props up a pillow against the wall and sits up. “Show me your toys,” he says.

“Toys?” It comes out as a squeal. I’m surprised and a bit embarrassed. “How do you know I have toys?”

He raises one eyebrow. “Don’t you?”

I lower my eyes. “I do,” I say, get up and pull out the drawer from the nightstand, and put it on the bed between us. “I don’t have a lot...”

He looks at my small collection. Three vibrators, one dildo, lube, and an unopened butt plug.

He goes immediately for the butt plug. “Is this something you like?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I’ve never done it. I just ... wanted to get it when I saw it.”

Joe reaches out to stroke my cheek. “You know I’ll do anything you want, right?”

I nod, still a little self-conscious and a bit emotional. “I’d like to ... try stuff. With you. Everything we’ve done so far has felt so good ... and I know there’s more. I’d never wanted to see what else is there before.”

“Oh, fuck, Liz, baby, I—” He pulls me into a hug over the drawer between us, and it’s awkward and tight and surprisingly sweet. I am reminded that he’s an absolutely enormous man. He could easily hurt me and hurt me badly, but I’m not afraid of him. Not at all, not even a little bit. I hug him back, mostly around his arms, and I relax into the embrace as deep affection washes over me.

“Maybe we can take a little break, for now,” I say. I am suddenly exhausted from everything—the last day at the job, the confrontation with Jake earlier, the three orgasms Joe has already given me. The fact that I’ve realized this rebound thing is actually deathly serious and that I have, in my bed, a man I trust, someone with whom I want to—feel ready to—share everything.

How is that even possible? How is this real?

“Whatever you say, sweetheart,” Joe says into my hair. “But just so we’re clear, I want to spend the night. And not just because your ex might come back.”

I nod.

“I want us to spend nights together. Your place. My place. No more running away from me like your hair is on fire.”

I laugh, because he’s actually stroking my hair. “No more hair on fire.”