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She’d been to three of his cousin’s parties, but she knew exactly which one he was referring to. A reluctant smile tugged at her lips.

“Who could forget that? Everybody was smashed. Even Gina. We sang so loud the neighbors called the cops, and it was one of your friends that showed up. He was like, ‘Yo, I’m off duty now,’ and joined in. He was even worse than the rest of you.”

“Yeah, maybe he shoulda just left at that point.”

Now Vanessa was laughing softly. “When he came out the bathroom with no clothes on and ran across the yard, I could have died. His ass was so white it glowed. It literally glowed.”

Santino’s body rumbled with laughter, sending vibrations through the bedding.

“Yeah, that was crazy.” The bass of his voice was relaxing, flowing in waves that passed over her, enveloped her.

It was easy to fall back into his rhythm of speech, the way his big hands carved through the air as he spoke.

“Then after that, when everybody was passed out, me and you climbed up on the roof through that third-floor window.”

This was the part of the memory she’d hoped he’d forgotten but clearly, he hadn’t.

Santino turned his head and captured her gaze with his, holding her immobilized.

She couldn’t look away if she tried. The bass of his voice dropped lower.

Everything was hushed around them, but blood rushed and thrummed through her, bringing every bit of her to life.

“I went down on you. Licked your little clit until you came. It was like somebody poured honey in my mouth.” His chest rose and fell a bit heavier, like hers.

Santino bit his bottom lip as if the taste of her was still on it, and her clit throbbed a double beat at the sight of the thickness of that lip, its remembered softness.

“Then you sucked me, but I wanted that pussy more. Remember that was the same day we’d decided to start trying.

It felt amazing going inside you raw like that.

It was always good with us, but that was another level. It blew my mind.”

As if it were happening now, her pussy tightened, desperately squeezing on nothing. Vanessa had to clamp down on the sheet to keep herself from reaching for him. But he kept on, that fucking silken voice slowly but surely stealing its way inside her, and trying to overpower reason.

“You were riding me facing the sun when it came up. That second orgasm hit you right then, real deep, and I couldn’t hold back.

We came at the same time. That was the first time that happened, too.

I know you wanted to scream, but you didn’t want anybody to hear you.

When the light caught you, you were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. ”

Her entire body was on fire at the memory, at his words, the way he was looking at her with such raw, unfiltered hunger.

It was overwhelming, he was overwhelming.

Something close to panic bloomed. She couldn’t go back down that road with him again, couldn’t let him release that part of her that could do something so brazen, so wanton. This was dangerous. He was dangerous.

Santino reached out suddenly, cradling her cheek with that big, calloused hand. Before he could lean over, before those lips could come anywhere near hers, she pulled back. Attempted to somehow hide that she’d become a quivering mess by tightening the sash of her robe in a businesslike manner.

“I don’t recall handing over $5,000 dollars.”

She made herself stiff as a board, heavy as a rock.

He wouldn’t get blood from this stone, even if he cracked her open with his bare hands and sucked whatever he found out of her bones.

The smolder in his eyes turned to sardonic amusement.

Shaking his head with a dark chuckle, he slid backward to his own side.

The center of the bed became a cold, open desert between them.

“Okay. Let’s get some sleep. We’re hittin’ the streets early.”

He clicked off his light and she did the same, turning over and facing away from the tanned temptation.

He was close enough for her to feel his warmth and smell his freshly showered skin, but not enough to touch.

Her nipples still tingled in anticipation of what he might try to do to them.

For a long, aching while, she waited for the scratchy leg to touch hers or for the weight of the bed to shift in her direction.

Neither happened. When a light snore erupted from him, she glanced back over in shock.

Well, damn. He really was asleep.

She was a little relieved, but also a little…

insulted? And definitely agitated because now she was aching between her legs, and she’d denied herself the relief he’d offered.

But fuck it. She’d won this night, and that’s all that mattered.

She’d just have to take pride in this victory and get some rest.

The next thing she knew, light was fluttering in front of her closed eyelids, and she was nestled against something big, something that smelled good and felt smooth against her cheek.

Slowly, she became more awake and alert to the fact that her face was pressed against a strong, muscular back and her hips were pressing into a round ass.

And her arm was draped over a trim waist with something iron hard and covered in cloth in her grasping fingers.

Said fingers were stroking up and down that hard heat, and the big, muscular back was hitching with quickening breaths.

When Santino uttered a low moan, she was shocked fully awake.

“Mm…I like this wake-up call.” His voice was husky with sleepy desire.

His big hand shifted and covered hers, pressing her palm more fully against his hard shaft.

He made her hand slide up and down under his, then wrapped his fingers around hers so they could ride his erection together.

Another groan escaped him. When he made her squeeze the head nice and tight, his hips bucked involuntarily and her clit pulsed harder, seeking friction against the tight round globe of his ass.

Suddenly, he shifted as if he couldn’t take any more.

He started to turn over to face her, but she snatched her hand away and scooted back to the far side of the bed.

Her pulse was jangling, her nipples and her clit throbbing with insistence for his fingers or his mouth or that cock.

But instead of reaching for her, Santino just grinned, propping himself up on one elbow.

Slowly, he enunciated one word to describe her cowardly move. “Punk.” He pushed the sheet down so she could see the gigantic tent his hard cock was making in his underwear. “You woke up the beast, and now you’re gonna leave him hanging?”

“I was asleep. I-I didn’t know what I was doing…” she began, then trailed off with uncertainty.

“Asleep?” he asked with his lips quirked, working his cock through his boxers while her eyes followed the movement helplessly. “Oh. Right. Still pretending you don’t want this dick. You disappointed I didn’t rip your clothes off and pound the fuck out of that pussy on our first night?”

The description alone of him doing that to her made her gush. Embarrassed that he was right and at her own response, she tried looking away when he pushed his briefs down and pulled his dick out.

“No,” said succinctly but stared all the while as he began stroking it. It was every bit as thick and long as she remembered, the tip shining with a single pearlescent bead.

All her strength went into resisting the pull to lean in and lick that little droplet as it rolled down the veined ridges.

Her mouth, her tongue, her bud were begging her to take over from his slow, leisurely fist. Santino’s face and chest were reddened, and a groan slipped from him before he finally, abruptly stopped.

He chuckled, pulling up the material and hiding that glorious sight from her tortured gaze.

He threw the bedding off entirely. Still fucking helpless to stop looking, she tracked the fluid motion of his sculpted body as he got out of bed, went to the floor-to-ceiling windows and stretched his limbs in a glorious morning salute.

“Trust me, it’s happening. On my terms.” Fuck, she just got wetter at that matter-of-fact statement delivered with insolent confidence.

Then as if they’d been discussing the weather, he remarked, “That bed is fucking awesome. I had the best sleep. Let’s hit that gym downstairs, and then get breakfast.”

He turned back to her, smiling, outlined by the brilliant morning light and glowing like a golden sun god in his prime. He was infuriatingly, achingly beautiful.

His hands clapped thunder in her direction. “Come on, woman. We’ve got some sight-seeing to do!”