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“Well, it shows he’s not a creep who takes advantage of drunk women, and he’s not just into you for sex. I mean it sounds like you threw yourself at him. Multiple times. Like, low-key kinda desperate—”

“Hey, I was not desperate! I was drunk and horny—there’s a difference.”

“Uh-huh. And he wouldn’t touch you, or let you touch him, even though he clearly wanted you. He must care about you.”

“Or he’s just terrified of my brothers…”

We both laugh.

I think about our conversation afterward…when I asked him why he was afraid of me and he responded by placing my hand over his heart. I have no idea what that meant, but the only logical explanation is that he’s feeling something for me too.

“ Well, I’d love to ask him about it, but I have no idea where he is. Probably back to avoiding me and pretending nothing happened, as usual.”

“God, I seriously just want to strangle the two of you.”

Groaning, I open the medicine cabinet and grab the bottle of ibuprofen. “I know…Enough is enough. When he gets home, I’m going to make him talk to me. I can’t do this anymore.”

As if I summoned him, Gage walks through the front door, holding a box from Astrid’s bakery, two coffees, and a bottle of Pedialyte. Our eyes meet and the corner of his mouth lifts. “Hey, Spitfire.”

“Uh, Laney, I gotta go.”

“If you don’t text me after you two talk, we are no longer friends.”

“Noted.” I end the call and set my phone on the counter. “Hey.”

Gage’s eyes dip down to my nipples peeking through the silk of my pajamas for just a second before he shakes his head and makes his way into the kitchen. “I brought breakfast.”

“I see that. Thank you.”

He sets everything down on the counter and just stands there, his fists clenched at his sides.

Taking a deep breath, I decide to lay it all out there. “Look, Gage—”

Before I can form a sentence, Gage closes the distance between us in one stride, gripping my face in his hands and slamming his mouth to mine.

God, yes .

His tongue swirls against mine, the piercing immediately elevating the experience to erotic as I wrap my hands around his neck and pull him closer.

“Are you feeling okay?” he asks between kisses.

“Better now.”

“Fuck, Hazel.”

Gag e lifts me onto the counter, pressing himself between my legs, letting me feel how hard he already is. The sounds of our labored breathing fills the space.

Chest heaving, he says, “I know we need to talk, but I really need to fuck you first.”

“Yes. Now. Please.” Apparently, my vagina is running the show—because any intention of talking just flew right out the window.

Gage leans back, his hands still gripping my waist, eyes dilated. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

He leans his forehead against mine, breathing heavily. “We can’t go back after this.”

I shake my head against his. “I don’t want to go back.”

When he lifts his head from mine, I can see the moment he’s made his decision, when he finally allows himself to give in to what he wants.

He reaches behind his neck and pulls his shirt up, tossing it on the floor behind him. I run my hands up his bare chest, admiring his tattoos before he takes my hands and moves them back to his neck. “I hope you know what you’re asking for.”

“I do. Now, fuck me please.”

Gage smashes his lips to mine again and the dizziness returns, but not from the hangover. No. This dizziness is overwhelming as all of my senses go haywire, feeling every electric jolt of his touch as he pulls me closer to him, pressing his cock against the heat between my legs.

“I want you so fucking bad,” he murmurs.

“I can tell,” I tease, tracing my fingers over his inked chest.

“This isn’t going to be gentle, Hazel.”

“Good. I don’t want gentle. I want you to show me how much you want me.”

He lifts my silk tank from my body, tossing it aside before dipping his mouth to my pierced nipple, licking it and pulling it gently between his teeth.

“This is so fucking sexy,” he rasps between licks.

I gasp, my head falling back, my body arching into him. “Oh God, don’t stop.”

His tongue dances on my skin, licking, sucking, and nibbling before moving to my other breast, giving it the same attention. Gage pinches my pierced nipple as he licks the other, and I can already feel how soaked my panties are from this alone.

Suddenly, he grabs my thighs and lifts me off the counter, my legs wrapping around his waist on instinct. He carries me into the living room, setting me down in front of the couch, kneeling in front of me.

Our eyes stay locked as he hooks his fingers in the waistband of my silk shorts and pulls them down my legs slowly, holding me steady as I step out of them. Leaning forward, he buries his nose in my slit and inhales deeply. “Fuck, I need to taste you.”

He hooks his thumbs under the strings on my hips and pulls my thong down, barely allowing me to step out of it before pushing my legs apart and guiding me onto the arm of the couch. He dives between my legs, licking through my entire slit before finding my clit and flicking it softly.

“You taste so fucking good, Spitfire,” he mumbles against me, tightening his grip on my hips, anchoring me.

With one hand gripping his hair, I brace myself with the other on the back of the couch, and it’s a good thing because my entire body is trembling each time his tongue passes over me, every instance when his tongue piercing hits my clit.

Part of me can’t believe this is happening, and the other part is fixated on the sight of this beautiful man between my legs doing wicked things with his mouth because I don’t want to ever forget this moment —how I feel, how it sounds, how all-consuming this pleasure is.

“Holy shit, Gage,” I gasp, tightening my grip on the back of the couch.

He licks two of his fingers and slides them inside me, curling them softly upward, stroking a spot that has my back arching, nearly bowing off the couch.

Gage digs his fingers into my hips, keeping me in place as his tongue returns to laving at my clit, swirling the ball of his piercing around, over and over again.

Every muscle in my body tightens and my breathing grows shallow as I feel an explosive orgasm quickly building.

Then it hits—and I’m screaming and coming harder than I ever have in my life as pleasure crashes over me, rolling through me, wave after dizzying wave. Gage keeps licking, stroking, letting me ride it until I can’t take anymore.

When my body finally relaxes, Gage rises from the floor, looking down at me as he unbuttons his jeans. “I’m not even close to being done with you, but that was the perfect appetizer.”

“I can’t feel my legs,” I say, breathlessly.

His lethal grin spreads across his lips. “Well, in a moment, you won’t be able to feel your ass either.”