I look up and catch her saucy grin.

This woman.

I wrap my hands around her thighs and yank her ass to the edge of the table. I don’t wait any longer before lowering my mouth to her cunt.

I could eat Holly’s pussy for every goddamn meal of the day. Using everything I’ve got—tongue, lips, teeth—I devour her until she’s writhing on the table. I slide two fingers inside her just as she begins to clench and the orgasm rips through her.

The muscles of my jaw tense in anticipation. I want to feel that on my dick. I pull back, grab her hand, and put it on her pussy.

“Keep touching yourself. I want you coming again by the time I’m splitting you wide open with my cock.”

Her eyes, already hazy, widen. But she complies, her hand landing on her clit and teasing and circling it in a way that prolongs her pleasure and has her hips bucking toward me.

I didn’t think my dick could get any harder than it already was, but watching her play and keep herself on the edge holds a top spot on the list of the sexiest fucking things I’ve seen Holly do.

I rip open my jeans, grip my shaft, and line the head up with her entrance. “Hard and fast, yeah?”

She nods, her head jerking.

“Then let’s get to breaking this fucking table.”

I slam home, balls deep in one thrust, and Holly’s scream of pleasure echoes in the small kitchen. Her pussy grips my cock and flutters, signaling the orgasm rippling through her.

“Jesus, woman.”

I slide out and thrust again. Over and over and over again, almost mindlessly. With one hand braced on the shaking table and the other wrapped around her hip, I use my thumb to help her stroke her clit, adding more pressure and sending her into spirals of pleasure as orgasm after orgasm streak through her.

I’ve lost count when she finally grabs my hand with hers and stills it. Which is probably a good thing, because my balls are so high and tight, they’re going to blow whether I want them to or not.

When I pump one last time, her inner muscles clench me so hard I can barely move. Then I let go, emptying myself inside her before twining her legs around me and lifting her up to my chest. Her head slumps against my shoulder, and we’ve taken two steps toward the stairs when the table groans.

And collapses.

Holly’s soft giggle is one of the sweetest sounds I’ve ever heard in my life, and one I’ll never get enough of.

Against her temple, I say, “No more running, Holly.”

She pulls back and presses a kiss to my lips. “I promise.”

Other than my mother and my sister, I’ve never told a woman that I loved her. Yes, I know I’ve been married twice before Holly, and that makes me one cold bastard. But I don’t say things I don’t mean, and now that I’ve said the words to Holly, it means a hell of a lot more than if I said them before. Because before, they would have been a lie. I’ve never felt like this in my life. It’s all her.

Now I just have to get her to believe that I mean it. Instinctively, I know my only choice is to show her.

Spending the day in bed may not seem like the most romantic way to get a woman to believe you’re in love with her, but Holly and I haven’t had time to just be. We’ve constantly been on the move since day one, and I want some time to just be. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind when I tell her and settle us into her bed.

“We’re going to what?”

“We’re going to leave our cell phones downstairs, we’re not answering the door, and unless the house is burning down around us, we’re not leaving this room except to get food. And I might just feed you by hand.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Are you serious? What about your empire?”

“It’ll keep running without me.”

Holly doesn’t need to know that there are matters that undoubtedly require my attention, but right now, I don’t care. I hire competent people for this very reason, and Cannon practically inhabits the business side of my brain. He knows what to do.

Even knowing that, before I wouldn’t have dreamed of letting a day go by without at least checking in. But looking back now, it makes me realize all the more that I never had anything else in my life that was important enough to take me away from it all.

With Holly, I’ve dropped everything—more than once—to chase after her, and I’ll do it again if I have to. My hope is that she’ll never run again, however. Before we leave this town, she will understand that what I told her is true: she is the most important thing in my life. For no one else would I pull my focus this far from the business that I’ve built from nothing. But if I can’t take time to enjoy what matters most to me, how successful am I, really?

I need to tell her about my acquisition of Homegrown, but I’d rather wait for another time. Although if anything will show her just how serious I am about her happiness, that might be it. Now she’ll have the freedom to take the reins of her own career, and not be subject to the whims of the jackass record execs who don’t have her best interests anywhere near the top of their priority lists.

But there’s time to have that discussion later. Right now, I want to learn about the side of Holly I’ve never been privy to before. I want to know everything about her. Not one detail is too small.

“Tell me about what it was like to grow up here.”

I’ve got her tucked against me with her head resting on my chest, and she freezes as soon as I ask my question.

I look down, my chin brushing her forehead. “Holly, I’ve seen the town; it’s not a bad place. There’s no reason to be ashamed.”

Her hand, whether she’s aware of it or not, curls into my side and pulls me closer. She says nothing.

“Holly?”

She mumbles something I can’t make out.

“What was that?”

“You haven’t seen where I really grew up, though.”

“Is it far from here?”

She starts to pull away, but I tighten my grip around her, not willing to let her separate from me.

“No. I want to hold you.”

I’m pretty sure it’s the first time I’ve ever said those words to a woman, but it’s also totally fucking true. I suspect that whatever Holly’s about to say is something I don’t really want to hear, because it’s something that bothers her a lot. And if it bothers her, then it’s going to bother me.