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That was not what I had planned—I intended a slow conquest.

Even though my life’s motto is not to waste time, I know that Zoe is special. Very young too, which, for the first time, made me consider an alternative route and not go straight for sex.

I wanted to keep her with me for a while so we could get to know each other. Also, because she makes me want her more than I’ve ever wanted anyone else, even before we’ve had sex, and that’s also a new experience for me.

They were good plans and intentions; the problem is that the flaming chemistry between us dictates its own rules.

Still inside the car as we are taken through the streets of Barcelona, our mouths don’t part. Hands reaching out, eager to touch everywhere, jolting electricity, violent and uncontrollable.

Zoe’s curiosity, her raw desire, sent my plans to hell. I feel like a teenager, dying to taste my first girlfriend in the back seat when I’m actually an experienced man with a sexual past very close to debauchery.

I barely realize when we arrive home, and when I get out of the private elevator, I already have her in my arms. Like a neanderthal, I walk into the bedroom without even thinking about slowing down, taking it easy.

The number of women who have graced my bed would make an average man blush. I like sex, and while I’ve never met anyone to this day who’s aroused me with such intensity, I’m more than used to carnal attraction.

There is something about Zoe, however, that goes beyond the physical need. The primal desire to have her naked beneath me, an urgency bordering on madness.

I set her down after we’re in the bedroom and open the outside door, bringing her to the penthouse porch.

Her breath is short as she watches me in the gloom.

I don’t touch her. I put distance between us instead, but inside my heart is racing, the desire impossible to contain. Hungry and horny, full of desire to lose myself in that beautiful body.

I take a step closer.

“I never. . .”

“I know that beautiful Zoe.” I run my finger along the strap of her dress, playing with it.

“Every time you touch me, my whole body tingles.”

“Physical attraction,” I say, trying to convince both of us.

She doesn’t answer, just staring at me with those eyes like gemstones.

I turn on the central sound system on my phone, and a slow song starts playing.

“Let’s dance?” She smiles, full of shyness.

“Why not?” I offer my hand, and she comes close.

Before taking her in my arms, I take off my blazer and set it on a chair.

When I finally have her next to me, she looks impatient and hugs me.

“Is it normal to feel so safe and intimate with someone I barely know?”

“Explain. I want to hear it. Tell me what you’re thinking right now,” I whisper in her ear .

“Being near you makes me shivery and shaky. I don’t know the script in a situation like this, but I want it all.”

I bite her ear lightly, and she moans. I reach for the zipper behind her and unzip the simple, short, blue dress, the color of her eyes.

“I don’t feel so shy around you, and that’s weird.”

“Maybe our bodies recognize each other.”

“Do you believe in that? Destiny?”

She’s just in lingerie and heels now. I pull away to look at her.

She tries to cover her breasts and the front of her panties, looking very embarrassed.

“No, I want to see it all.”

She pulls her hands apart and looks at me. The innocence on her face stirs something deep inside me.

“You’re beautiful, Zoe Turner. And to answer your question, I don’t know if I believe in destiny, but I do believe the universe lines up for things to happen. A minute more or less”—I get closer and place my hands on her slim waist—“and we would never have met, but here we are.”

Everything in me pulses, throbs, and burns for her like a fire that cannot be put out.

Desire for Zoe is like a raging storm in full strength.

I tell myself there’s no reason to rush—she’s here right now; she’s mine—but a feverish lust grips my body and mind.

She seems to sense my need, and her fingers play with the buttons on my shirt.

“Open them,” I command.

One by one, she frees the buttons, focused on the task at hand.

When she’s done, I release the cuffs of my shirt, and she slides it off my shoulders. Her actions show me that she’s caught in the same web of desire as I am, because she doesn’t seem like the type to make the first move.

She looks at my bare chest and licks her lips, embarrassed but also greedy.

The combination of shyness and boldness ignites me, turning my blood into lava.

“You’re going to look at me the whole time, Zoe. I’ve never wanted a woman the way I want you, but I won’t do anything without making sure you’re with me all the way.”

“Where? Where are we going?’

“Inside each other.”

She now stares at me openly, lust overcoming her naturally docile temper.

I move my hand between us and touch her lingerie-covered breast. Zoe shudders, and her reaction only tells me what I already knew: she is sensitive, and when we have sex, it will be delicious.

Any barriers between us are unacceptable, so I reach behind her back and unclasp her bra.

I feel it before I see it, the hard nipples touching me. She moves, perhaps unconsciously, and moans as her nipples rub against my chest.

I kiss her mouth and neck in a downward trail to her thighs. I lift my head to look at her as I let my tongue touch the hard mound. She gasps, and her legs buckle.

I pick her up because moonlight seduction for a virgin might be more than she can handle.

In the bedroom, I try to lay her on the bed, but she sits up.

“Are you going to be naked, too?” Surprisingly, she doesn’t seem shy anymore, just curious.

“Is that what you want?” I ask, my hand on my belt buckle.

A nod is her response.