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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

A shiver of pure pleasure runs through my body as I wake up, wrapped in his muscular arms—but it takes a few seconds to get my bearings and fully understand what happened.

I gave myself to LJ.

And gave is the right word for it, because that’s what last night was—an offering. All night long, since we never even slept.

I close my eyes again, soaking in the feeling of his breath against my face. One arm is under my head, the other across my stomach, like a cage.

The best prison in the world.

But nothing this good lasts forever, and I need to literally wake up to reality. I’m not sure how someone is supposed to behave the next morning after casual sex, but I doubt sleeping in is part of it.

Maybe he was too exhausted from the trip from New York and passed out before he could remember to take me home.

Either way, I know myself—I’ll feel rejected if he wakes up and tells me it’s time to go.

I’d rather make that decision myself, even if the last thing I want is to leave this warm bed and this perfect body pressed against mine.

"What are you thinking about?"

I jump—I had no idea he was awake.

I try to guess what a sophisticated woman would say before being kicked out.

"Nothing, darling, just remembered I have a critically important waxing appointment."

Or maybe, "It was an incredible night. I’ll see you around."

I grimace. That’s not me. I might be a coward sometimes, but I’m always honest. So I turn around and face him.

I’ll never be ready for the impact of LJ’s beauty. God, it’s like lying naked next to a model.

"I’m thinking of a way to salvage my dignity by leaving before you hit me with one of those classic movie lines, where the hero wants to get rid of his one-night stand and?—"

He pulls me to him by the nape and silences me with a kiss.

I try, for a few seconds, to hold on to rational thought. I can’t fall for this man. It was obvious last night that LJ is a career seducer.

When he finally pulls away, he still doesn’t let me go. "Do you have to work today?"

Say yes , the little voice of reason inside me begs. "No. I’m off until Monday."

"Spend the weekend with me."

"Is that how you usually act with your women?"

"Forget that, Alexis. Nothing about what’s happening between us is how I normally act."

"Don’t make me feel special."

"Why not? You are. Say you’ll be mine until Monday."

"I like deadlines. They give me a sense of safety. Okay. Until Monday. After that, we?—"

"Shhh . . . One day at a time."

"No."

He bites my ear. "Yes. You already know enough about me to understand I don’t give up on what I want."

"And what if I don’t want you?"

"You do want me."

"Has anyone ever told you you’re incredibly arrogant?"

"Among other things. Enough thinking, sexy. I need you."

I wish I could say I don’t know what I’m doing, that he’s seducing me and playing dirty—but the truth is I don’t want to go anywhere. So instead of lying to myself, I surrender to the passion.

Lazarus

Two nights and two full days breathing Alexis.

I’ve never spent this much time with a woman. I’ve never slept next to one through the night. Sex, for me, has always been temporary satisfaction—nothing more.

And yet, after having her so many times, I still keep her wrapped in my arms.

"You don’t sleep much," she says, lifting her head off my chest.

"I could say you sleep too much."

"There’s no such thing as too much sleep. That’s like saying you had too much pizza."

I smile. "You’re still a little girl in a lot of ways, Alexis."

"How did you come to that conclusion?"

"You don’t filter anything. You say what’s on your mind."

"With you. I’m not like that with everyone. There are very few people I let in, and even fewer I trust. And even with them, most of the time . . . I fake it."

"Fake it?"

"Not in a bad way. I just don’t want to seem weird."

"Weird how?"

"Quiet. Distrustful. So I try to fit in."

"You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. Quick-witted and funny, even with that grumpy streak."

She laughs. "You talking about grumpiness is hilarious, no offense. The day we met, I thought you were going to bite me."

"I wanted you."

"What?"

"From that first day—I wanted you. I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t resist."

Her smile turns stiff, and she tries to get up.

"No."

"I don’t like where this conversation is heading. I can see exactly where it’s going."

"Then enlighten me, Miss Suspicious."

"You’re about to tell me this was great but you have to go." She says it calmly, like it wouldn’t matter if I did say that. For a moment, I wonder if I imagined our connection these past two days.

Then Alexis looks away, and I catch her lower lip trembling—just slightly.

"No, you’re wrong. Maybe that’s what I expected when I came here this weekend. But I don’t want it to end."

"What?"

"Look at me."

It takes her a few seconds to do what I asked.

"I want more of this."

"More sex?"

"Definitely the sex. But I want more of you, too."

She surprises me by pressing a kiss to my chest. "I want more of you, too. I’m terrified because you feel like a virus inside me—spreading too fast. But I don’t want the cure just yet."

"I don’t want fancy food. I’d feel like a traitor eating from another restaurant that isn’t Badger’s. You promised you’d cook for me," she says, sitting on the kitchen island, swinging her legs.

Alexis is wearing a pair of my boxers and a dress shirt I lent her, since she didn’t bring anything but the dress she arrived in.

I’m leaning against the counter across from her, testing myself. Seeing how long I can resist taking her again.

Her head tilts slightly, and she gives me that mischievous look that’s so her. Innocent and filthy at once—and I give up on whatever restraint I thought I had.

"I’d rather eat you," I say, without waiting for permission. "Lift your ass."

I already know commands turn her on. And knowing she isn’t normally like this—that she submits only because she trusts me—drives me wild.

I yank the boxers down with zero delicacy and lift her legs onto the counter, burying my face in her pussy.

I only pause for a second, my mouth already coated with her sweetness. "Open the shirt, Alexis. You’re going to ride my cock, and I want to see those beautiful tits bouncing while I fuck you."

"Filthy mouth," she accuses, but she obeys.

I devour her, starving, until she comes on my tongue.

I’m only in boxers, and I tear them off in a flash.

I’ve left condoms stashed all over the house—there’s no room we haven’t fucked in.

I grab her hips and slide into her, standing. "Wrap your legs around me and sit deep on my cock."

I start lowering her and lose my mind when I look down and see my shaft parting her slick flesh.

"Fuck!" I growl when I’m fully inside her. I make her bounce up and down, grinding my teeth to hold back my orgasm. "Touch your pussy for me."

When her fingers find her clit, she tightens around me.

I thrust harder, deeper.

She crashes her mouth into mine, her tongue seducing me just like her pussy does.

I groan from the feeling of her walls stretching to accommodate me, my thick cock forcing her open and making her pulse.

We keep our eyes locked the whole time, and the need I feel for her shakes me.

The way I take her now is savage, and it’s not even a minute before Alexis comes for me again.

My own orgasm builds, the pressure making me dizzy.

She clenches and releases around me, her juices soaking my pubic hair.

I grab her hair, biting her neck, totally lost in our connection.

She’s slick with sweat, the salty taste on my tongue.

Like every time we’ve fucked, she gives me everything—which only drives me deeper into obsession.

My whole body tenses, warning me I’m about to come.

I find a relentless rhythm, grinding my hips, driving into her.

I clutch her ass and thrust as deep as I can—until I finally give in to release.