I fucking love it.

“Hmmm,” she says as she thinks on her options. She spreads her fingers out over my chest before sliding them down and out slightly before pinching both of my nipples. I buck against her from the sizzle of lust that sparks through me, and she says, “I think our first time, we’re both going to lose control a little. So I think hard and fast is going to be the best option.”

“You sure?” I ask with a little push of my hips against her.

She nods at me before sliding her hands up and around my neck again so she can pull me down to her. Just before our lips connect she murmurs, “Give me all you got, Max. I’m going to give it right back.”

“Christ,” I manage to mutter before I kiss her, and then I proceed to give her all I got.

My back arches off the bed and I slam upward into Jules, lifting her clear off the bed. She screams, her own back arches and her nails dig into my chest as my orgasm rips through me.

Holy mother fucking Jesus.

“So good,” Jules chants as I fall back to the bed and she collapses on top of me. “So good.”

My chest is heaving and her body slides against mine because we’re both sweaty as fuck. I wrap my arms around her back to hold her in place. She turns her face into my neck and kisses me softly.

“So much for slow and sweet,” I tell her in between sucking air back into my lungs.

She giggles. “We’ll get there.”

“Fifteen minutes,” I tell her.

She snorts.

“Okay, half an hour,” I amend.

Because fuck . . . the second time was just as all-consuming as the first and my body is wrung the fuck out. Two of the hardest orgasms I’ve ever had in my life.

Three total for Jules because the first time she came just with my cock pounding inside of her. The second time, I started off with my mouth between her legs, made her come, and then she climbed on top of me and rode herself to another orgasm.

She was fucking glorious. I guarantee that will be my go-to memory when I jack off on road trips now.

I roll us to the side and groan as my half-hard dick slips out of her. I press my mouth to hers lightly before I tell her, “Let me go take care of the condom.”

She nods and I roll the opposite way, right off the bed, and pad into the bathroom. I dispose of the condom quickly and do a double take as I catch myself in the mirror. I’ve got a bruise on my chest where Jules had latched her mouth onto me the first time and nail marks down my abdomen where she clawed me as she rode my cock. If I had any reservations about fucking her hard, they’re gone. As she promised, she gave hard right back to me and I loved it.

But I am looking forward to attempting a slow steady fucking. Bodies pressed tight and staring into her eyes. Just rocking slowly against her. Yeah, that will be just as epic I’m sure.

When I get back into the bedroom, I find her burrowed under the covers, her cheek resting on the pillow and her eyes following me as I walk across the room. When I reach the edge of the bed, she pulls back the covers and I’m invited in. I slide across the mattress and she flips the sheet and comforter over me.

Laying on our sides, our faces only inches apart, we just stare at each other. And yeah . . . I could just stare at her for hours too. Those eyes that change with her mood and even the tiny smattering of freckles over her nose and cheeks, which I found out tonight she has matching ones across her shoulders. I’ve certainly noticed the ones on her nose before, but up close they’re beautiful and add so much character to a face I’ve come to think of as beyond stunning.

Jules gives me a smile, her eyes lightened up and shimmering with satisfaction. “Why are you such a good guy, Max?”

I wrinkle my nose. “No guy wants to be known as ‘the good guy,’” I tell her teasingly. “That sounds so boring.”

She rolls her eyes at me and it’s adorable. But then those eyes darken slightly, going almost café mocha, and I know this means she’s serious. “Explain it to me. Why are you so gallant? Why do you put so much energy into me? Why would you spend your time on a woman that just doesn’t have a lot to give back?”

My arm goes out, slides over her waist, and I press my palm to her back as I scoot my body a little closer to hers. I know it’s poor form to answer a question with a question, but it’s necessary here. “Jules . . . why don’t you see what I see? Why don’t you understand about yourself what I understand about you?”

“Because we never see ourselves the way others do,” she whispers, and she’s not wrong about that.

“Then open your eyes a little further,” I admonish her gently before I lean in and give a quick brush of my mouth against hers. When I pull back, I tell her the truth of what I see. “You are one of the most caring and generous people I’ve ever met. Your work ethic is amazing. You’ve got fortitude and strength. I’ve never heard you have a negative thing to say about anything or anyone. You work in a really hard job caring for geriatrics, which is a shit job by most people’s standards, but you do it because you have an empathy inside of you for them. You’re loyal and just recently I’ve found out that you’re willing to take risks. You love your niece and nephews beyond all measure and you willingly gave up your carefree life at a great sacrifice to your own personal happiness to take care of them. You’re smart, funny, and I even adore your sarcasm at times. So I hope that makes it clear to you, I think you’re pretty much a one in a million type of woman, and babe . . . those are a rarity. It was imperative I snatch you up fast before someone else scooped me.”

She giggles, her eyes sparkling . . . turning golden brown again. “Well, you’re really very good at this whole sweeping a woman off her feet kind of thing. You must have had a lot of practice.”

“I’ve actually only had one serious relationship before,” I tell her candidly. “And I wasn’t very good at it.”

“Do tell,” she quips.

“I didn’t put the effort in,” I admit. “It was first love type of stuff. Met her when I was sixteen and then we dated long distance for a while when I went into the NHL, and then she eventually followed me to Florida when I played with the Spartans.”

“What happened?”

I give her a wry smile. “Nothing happened. I just didn’t put in the effort, you know. I thought it was enough to just be in love, and I just figured things would work out. Apparently, she fell out of love long before I realized what was going on. She broke it off because I just couldn’t devote enough of my energy to her.”