“I haven’t—you know—with a guy in, well, never.”

That wasn’t entirely accurate, but I wasn’t ready to tell him the entire truth.

“Slept with?”

“Come,” I said, as my cheeks burned. I focused on his shoulder. On the ink work on that stunning dragon wing. Because I damn sure couldn’t meet his eyes. “You know. Climaxed. Had an orgasm.” I lifted a shoulder as if this were no big deal and I wasn’t utterly and completely mortified.

But I still didn’t look at him.

“Tell me,” he said, in a voice as gentle as a breeze.

“I just did.”

“Tell me why not.”

I shrugged, then looked away so as not to let him see the lie on my face. “It’s just the way I’m wired.”

He was silent for a moment, his huge hand gently stroking my hair. And despite the awkwardness, in that moment I felt cherished. And when he finally spoke, I felt desired. “Whatever men you’ve slept with have been missing out. You’re beautiful when you come.”

“You’re going to make me cry again.” My smile was tremulous but completely genuine. “I think that may be the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.”

He chuckled. “If that’s the case, I’ll have to do better. You deserve more romance than that.”

My chest tightened, and I grappled for words. I couldn’t find them, though. No combination of sounds could adequately express what was in my heart. Because how could I tell him that he filled me up? That there was so much more to him than what I’d seen over the years.

He was a mix of hard lines and angles, of soft colors and tenderness. He was like some of the art that hung in his gallery—a blend of so many elements that you’re surprised you like it because it almost seems like too much. And yet it all makes up the whole, and if you took any part away, the entire image would fall apart.

“You’re staring,” he said to me, his eyes narrow and mocking.

I grinned, feeling foolishly giddy. “Maybe I like looking at you.”

“That makes two of us,” he said. “Turn around.”

I did, and he pulled me close again, spooning against me as we lay on the thick, warm rug.

He traced his finger over my bare hip, then along my waist. The sensation made me tremble, and I sighed as my body fired under his ministrations. Slowly, deliberately, he stroked the curve of my breast, then teased my nipples until both were tight and hard and begging to be touched.

He didn’t satisfy, though. Instead, he continued upward, finally tracing my bottom lip and then, ever so gently, urging my mouth open.

I closed my eyes and drew him in, sucking hard, teasing his finger with my tongue even as the desire spilled through me, as if his finger were on the pulse of all my erogenous zones.

I heard him moan, felt his cock twitch against my ass. “Someday,” he said. “I’m taking you here, too.”

“Yes,” I said, even as my body tightened and warmed at the thought. “Anything,” I said. “Everything.”

“And just so we’re clear,” he added, his mouth so close to my ear that I felt the tickle of his breath against me, “if I’m fucking you, you’re not fucking anyone else. Do you understand?”

“Of course,” I said, and felt a small pang of pleasure at the realization that, at least for the moment, Cole August had claimed me as his own.

“Good.”

I realized I was smiling so broadly my cheeks hurt. I rolled over to face him again, then pushed him onto his back.

“Feeling playful?” he asked.

“Hush,” I said. “I have a plan.”

I straddled him, feeling decadent as I settled myself so that my sex rubbed against his crotch, his wiry pubic hair teasing and tickling in a way that was seriously designed to drive me crazy.

And when I felt his cock twitch in obvious interest, a burst of feminine power shot through me, too.

“Something on your mind, baby girl?”

“I told you I could handle it,” I said smugly. “Could handle you.”

“So you did.” He slid his hand down so that his fingers were at my sex, then started to idly play with me. Since that seemed like an absolutely delicious plan, I shifted my hips to give him better access. Immediately, he stopped.

I lifted a brow.

“Go ahead,” he said, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“Go ahead? You’re the one who stopped.”

“My hand is still right there, all ready to be put to good use—unless you’d rather use your own?”

I squinted, not entirely sure what he meant.

He laughed, obviously amused by my confusion.

“I want to watch you make yourself come,” he said. “I want to watch the flush on your skin as you get yourself off. My hand. Your hand. Hell, you can use a vibrator if you have one tucked in your purse. . . .”

“Cole!”

“Now,” he said, but his voice had turned sharp. There was no playfulness left. This was the voice of command. A voice that got what it wanted. “Get yourself off, baby. I told you, I want to watch.”

I shook my head, something tight twisting inside me. “No.”

He lifted a brow. “What did you say?”

“Cole, please. I don’t—it was so great earlier. But I’m not going to be able to, you know, and I don’t want to totally destroy that memory.”

“You won’t.”

“You don’t understand the way I’m wired. I—”

But he didn’t let me finish. Instead he grabbed my sex, pinching the smooth, bare flesh around my clit and sending waves of both pain and pleasure coursing through me. “You won’t destroy the memory,” he said, “because you’re going to come for me. And do you know why?”

I shook my head, too distracted by the sting of that intimate pinch and the way my body was reacting to it—my nipples suddenly tight and needful, my sex clenching with a desperate desire to be fucked. I felt wanton and needy and on the verge. And oh, holy hell, what door had I opened when I had set my sights on Cole August?

“Kat.” He twisted a little, and electric sparks seemed to sizzle over me, a billion tiny snaps and pops. “Are you listening?”

“You’re making it really, really hard.”

If he was sympathetic, I didn’t hear it in his voice. “Very hard, actually,” he said with a chuckle. “But you’re going to touch yourself now, and I’m going to watch. And, Katrina, you are going to come for me.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’m telling you to,” he said in the kind of voice that brooks no argument. He shifted slightly, raising his knees as if to make a backrest for me. He was hard, his erection tucked in between my ass and his legs. “Lean back,” he said, and when I complied I saw the tension in his face as my body rubbed provocatively against his cock.

“Now spread your legs wider.”

I swallowed, thinking of the very intimate view that would provide him. “Cole . . .”

“Argue again and I’ll spank your ass.” He propped himself up on his elbows. “Do it, baby. I want to see that beautiful cunt.”