“You had fantasies about me?” He took her hand gently, bringing it back to his nipple. “I like it when you twist, like—fuck yes—like that.”

She twisted, not too hard or too far, but her pu**y muscles clenched as he hissed with pleasure. That’s when the inner Ella took over and licked from his belly button up to his chest.

It felt awesome.

He was so handsome, so big and male and confident. She loved it. Loved how ridiculously sexy he was. And damn, he was beautiful. She’d never known a person who wore their skin so well, who exuded all the things sexy seemed to embody. Being with him the way she was just then was like hitting the lotto.

She laughed at the thought, and he pounced, pulling her sweater up and over her head. Then he quickly looked at her face, panicked, until he saw she was okay.

Hmm.

“I’m fine.” Reaching back, she divested herself of her bra.

“Wow.” He whistled with wolfish appreciation. “Those are f**king magnificent. You have no idea how many times I jerked off thinking of them.”

Her breath caught as shivers went through her.

“Too crude? Sorry.”

She stood and moved to the bed. “Not too crude.” Just totally not something she was used to. There’d never been dirty talk with Bill or the only other boy she’d slept with. Plenty of sex with the first boyfriend. Not a lot with Bill.

“Hot.” And it was. So much so that it sent her reeling. She stood on shaky ground, mainly with herself and her confidence. Being with him, while totally right in so many ways, made her unaccountably nervous.

Which she knew was stupid. So. Perhaps they could work out something that would help. If he could trust her enough. If she could trust herself enough.

He grinned and stalked to her. “Yeah?”

She nodded and put her hand out, touching his chest, but holding him off. “I really, like beyond really want to have sex with you right now. A lot of sex. For a long time.”

“Why you stoppin’ me then, Red?” His hands slid over her belly. “Before I give attention to these.” He thumbed over one of her ni**les. “I want to see your back. Please?”

He must have some sort of pact with the devil. It was really the only way to explain how he always just seemed to know exactly what she needed to hear and when she needed to hear it.

Because it also gave her a way to hide her face, she turned quickly.

He moved close, so close she felt him, even though he wasn’t touching her yet. So close she could smell his skin and whatever shampoo he used. Thank god she had on her cute underpants.

“Brody is the king. Jesus, this is amazing. You’ve kept this whole design to yourself. We’ve only seen bits and pieces.”

“He is. Brody being the king, I mean. I haven’t shown it because, well, I’m not like Erin or Raven. They’re so bold! It feels private to me, I suppose, something I’ve done for myself. Also, my back isn’t nearly like theirs.”

He leaned in and nipped at her shoulder. “Isn’t nearly like theirs how? And does it have to be like theirs? It’s better. If you could see yourself like I see you, you’d have nothing at all to say about others being bold. You are beautiful. Your back is beautiful, and Brody worked the ink to fit you and your skin tone perfectly. It’s you. What made you think of this?” His fingertips made an alluring trip along her spine.

She smiled, flattered and pleased. “All I had at the beginning was this card my brother sent me. It came with one of his letters. It was a picture of a cherry tree next to this beautiful, rough-hewn water pond. The tree was perched at this precarious angle on the slope, but it had grown deep and strong. It didn’t stand tall, because it had to adapt and grow strong from another angle.” She shrugged. “You gotta have the sun. Anyway, he designed this sketch after I told him I wanted to do something large and why. There’s one more part left to go, but really, it’s pretty done. Just three floating petals from the tree left to add.”

He kissed her shoulder, over the place he’d just nipped, his bare skin making full contact with hers.

“Amazing and beautiful. I admit I like it when ink means something to the person who wears it. It fits, strong and adaptable, like you.”

She took a deep breath, leaning back into him fully, just enjoying him.

He leaned down to murmur in her ear, “It’s going to be a miracle if we don’t pull this house down around us when I finally get inside you. We got us some fireworks, Ella. Strong and hot.” He slid an arm around her waist, his palm flat against her belly. “Now, why did you stop me? Because you say you want to have sex, and believe me, I do too. But you hesitated before I looked at your tat. I don’t want you to hesitate around me. Especially here when we do this. Here, between you and me, when we’re f**king, having sex, making love, whatever and all the above, I want there to be no hesitation and no fear.”

12

He was right, and she agreed with him.

“I completely agree. But you may not, once you hear my proposition.”

He turned her in his arms, brushing her ni**les against his chest until she squeezed her thighs together to try to ease the weight of desire, even just a bit.

“Ella, woman, I have wanted you. Admired you. Been attracted to you. Liked you. Pretty much crushed on you like a lovesick boy for years now. I’m not leaving this bedroom with you until I’ve made you come at least three times. I need to be in you.”