She bears down on my cock, circling her hips, getting the friction she needs on her clit.

I drop a hand to her pussy and flick her clit with my finger. She cries out and starts bucking on my dick.

Hell yeah.

I slap her ass with my other hand. Once. Twice.

I pinch her clit.

She fucks me harder.

Skin slapping skin.

The sweetest sound in the world.

And, as good as her riding me is, I like to be in control. If I didn’t have a broken foot right now, I’d be fucking her all over this bed.

But this is all I can do, so it’ll have to do for now.

Reaching up, I grab a fistful of her hair and pull her down to my mouth. I run my tongue over her lips, across her cheek, until I reach her ear. “My turn,” I tell her.

I bring her mouth back to mine, and I start to fuck her from underneath.

I’m plundering her mouth with my tongue, my hand on the back of her head. My other hand is spanned over her ass, holding her in place, as I piston my hips up and down, fucking her hard and wild. Her tits are crushed to my chest, sweat slicking between us, as I fuck like there’s no tomorrow.

“Oh God,” she cries against my lips. “I’m close.”

“That’s it, Ava. Come for me, baby.”

She starts chanting my name, and it’s never sounded sweeter, hearing her say it with so much want and need.

Her body is trembling.

I’m burning all over. Every inch of my body is on fire, desperate for release. My balls have tightened up, ready to explode.

I feel her body stiffen against me, and then she screams, a slew of, “Fuck,” and, “Oh God,” and, “Gabe,” flying out of her mouth.

A shock of pleasure shoots down my spine. My muscles tighten. Seconds later, I’m right there with her. Coming so fucking hard that I suffer temporary blindness.

My foot ignites with pain.

But I don’t care because I feel fucking awesome.

Her body sags onto mine. I wrap my arms around her.

She tilts her face up and presses a kiss to my jaw. I turn my face to her and capture her swollen lips with mine, tenderly kissing her. A complete contrast to the way I just fucked her.

“Mmm,” she murmurs. “That was amazing.”

“It was better than amazing. It was out of this world. It was astro-fucking-nomical.”

She laughs softly. I hold her closer.

“We should clean up.”

“Not yet,” I tell her. “We’ll clean up in a minute.”

I’m feeling lazy, but the truth is, I’m not ready to let her go just yet. And this isn’t like me. Normally, the instant I come, I can’t wait to get out of bed and get my pants back on.

Wanting to stay inside her and hold her in my arms like this is a completely new experience for me, and I want to savor it. I want to savor her.

And, when she doesn’t pull away, instead letting out a sound of contentment, snuggling deeper into me, it lights up the dark parts inside me.

It’s then when I realize just how truly fucked I am.

Because I like Ava. Quite possibly too much.

And she’s far too good for someone as fucked up as me.

But, right now, the selfish part of me doesn’t care. The selfish part of me wants to take every good thing she gives me, and I want to give her every good thing back in return.

I want to make her happy.

I just don’t know if, or for how long, I’m capable of doing so before I wreck things and end up hurting her—again.

Ava

I wake, and I’m alone. Gabe’s side of the bed is empty.

I have a flashback to yesterday morning, and my stomach sinks.

What if he regrets having sex with me?

It’s still dark out. I check the clock, and it says one a.m.

I sit up and slide my legs out of bed. Gucci lifts her head from the chair she’s sleeping on.

“Go back to sleep, baby,” I tell her.

She lays her head back down. I get to my feet and pull my panties on, and then I get one of Gabe’s T-shirts from his chest of drawers. I pull it on and go to find him.

He’s out on the terrace, smoking. His chest is bare, and he’s still wearing the shorts from last night.

“Hi.” I linger in the doorway.

“Hey.” A smile lightens his face, and a weight lifts off my chest.

I pad over to him. He reaches out and takes my hand, pulling me down onto the sun lounger with him. He drops his good leg to the floor, so I can sit between his legs.

His free arm wraps around my waist. I slide my hand over his, and he links our fingers.

I rest my head back on his chest. I can feel his heart beating against my back.

The smell of his cigarette smoke surrounds us, but it doesn’t bother me like it used to. In fact, I’m growing to like the smell. Because it’s him.

“You couldn’t sleep?” I ask him.

“No.” He takes a pull on his cigarette and blows the smoke away from me.

“Are you…having regrets? About…us?”

“No.” His hand comes to my chin, and he tips my head back, so I’m looking at him. “No regrets at all. I just needed a smoke. I always need a smoke after great sex.”

“Great sex?”

His eyes twinkle back at me in the dark. “Astro-fucking-nomical sex.”

“Better.” I laugh softly, and I rest my head back on his chest, running my fingers over the soft hairs there.

“You…don’t have any regrets, do you?” His voice is surprisingly tentative.

I tip my face up to look at him again. “No.”

I didn’t realize his expression was tense until I see it relax with my answer.

I run my fingers over his cheek. “I could never regret last night, Gabe. I’ve wanted you for a long time.”

He takes hold of my hand and kisses the palm. “Me, too. But not as long as you’ve wanted me ’cause you’ve wanted in my pants ever since you saw me in my first movie, right?”

“Jackass.”

I lightly slap his chest, and he chuckles.

“Just kiddin’.” He kisses the top of my head.

He’s not wrong though. I have wanted him since I first saw him onscreen.

But he’s nothing like I thought he would be.

He’s even better.

But then I worry he thinks I want him because he’s famous.

“I’m not just here because—”

“I know, Speedy.”

I look at him. “I just don’t want you to think I’m here because you’re famous. I’m here for this.” I tap my finger on his forehead. “And this.” I draw a heart with my finger on his chest. “And, of course, this.” I grin as I slide my hand down and cup his cock between his legs.

“Who could blame you? It is massive.” He smirks and takes a pull on his cigarette. “And, just so you know, Speedy, I only want you for your big tits and tight pussy.”

“Jerk.” I narrow my eyes at him, my lips fighting a smile.

“And your smart, argumentative, nonstop-talking mouth.” He covers my lips with his, softly kissing me, making my stomach flip. “And just…you. I kinda like you. A lot.”

My heart beats double time in my chest.

“Good. ’Cause I kinda like you a lot, too.”

I snuggle back into him, my insides glowing with joy as I enjoy the warmth of his hard body. And the gentle sounds of the city below. The burn of his cigarette each time he takes a drag. The way he exhales the smoke.

“We do need to think about how this is going to work though.” His voice cuts through the silence.

“How what’s going to work?”

He takes one last pull on his cigarette and then stubs it out. “You and me. And the fact that I won’t fuck you while you work for me.”

I sit up and turn in his lap, straddling him. His hands grip my hips.

“Okay. But I don’t work for you anymore, remember?”

He frowns. “I won’t have you jobless just so I can fuck you.”

“Isn’t that my decision to make?”

“No. It’s our decision to make.”

Our.

I like the sound of that.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I want this—whatever’s happening between us—to keep happening. So, if that means I can no longer work for you, then that’s the way it has to be.”