“Second on the left.” I went right back to kissing him, this time darting my tongue into his mouth. He groaned and gripped me tighter, sucking on my tongue. Holy. Freaking. Hot.

There was something soft against my back. Oh, the bed. Yeah, that was right. His weight came over me, and it was the most exquisite pressure I’d ever felt. My neck arched back as he put his mouth to my breasts, his hands stroking up and down my body, igniting fires so scorching I thought I’d combust.

My hands gripped the comforter, twisting it viciously as my head thrashed back and forth and my hips began to move on their own accord. I wanted—needed him to touch me. “Josh—”

“I know.” I could have cried with relief when he tugged down my pj’s. I lifted my hips and awkwardly shimmied out of them, but I didn’t care. They were off! His hands ran up my calves, stroking behind my knees, and then over the tops of my thighs.

He drew his body over mine, our skin sliding in friction so delicious I tingled. Our open mouths met in a brutal kiss as his hand slid down my waist, and finally—finally!—slipped under my panties. I raised my hips into his hand, silently begging, and he groaned against my mouth. He slid his fingers along my core, dipping in to where I knew I was soaking wet. “Fuck. Ember.”

An unintelligible sound escaped me when he brushed against my clit, sparks flying through my body. I grabbed onto him, my fingers digging into the taut skin of his shoulders, distorting the tattoo on his right. He felt so good under my hands, necessary.

Again and again he stroked me, until I could taste how much I wanted him. I whispered his name, and he kissed me sweetly as he slid one finger inside me. My hips bucked, wanting more—needing more. He understood my garbled plea, slipping another finger in and stretching me. “You’re so damn tight. Perfect.” Pleasure webbed through me, low and deep, stringing me up tight until the muscles of my thighs locked and everything within me tensed. In and out, he stroked my body like he was playing an instrument, knowing exactly when to give more and when to hold back.

He dropped his head next to mine, his breathing ragged in my ear as fine tremors ran through me. My fingers clenched his skin. I needed something, anything. I couldn’t survive this tense, reaching and straining. “Josh, please—”

He kissed my cheek softly, and then pressed his thumb to my clit as he pinched my nipple lightly with his other hand. I flew apart.

The tension within me exploded, scattering everything in my world except him. He stroked me through my orgasm and brought me down gently, knowing just where to touch to kick back my aftershocks.

It was a full minute before I returned to my senses. “Holy shit, Josh.” I turned my head and kissed him between our gasping breaths. “I’ve never—that was—I don’t—”

The sexiest smile I’d ever seen played across his mouth, and the pale moonlight in the room made his eyes seem darker, more secretive. “Yeah.” That one word held the answers to every question slipping through my mind.

I reached down his stomach, ready to unzip his pants, which were now bulging out at an angle that had to be uncomfortable, but he stopped my hand, pulling it back to his mouth for a kiss on my palm. Shivers raced through me. “Ember.”

No? Surely he didn’t mean no. He did not just give me the first orgasm of my life and then tell me “no.” “What’s wrong?” I trailed my other hand down the rigid line of his tasty abs before he captured that one, too.

“We’re not doing that tonight.” If it weren’t for the sheer determination on his face, I would have tried to sway him. Instead, a tidal wave of humiliation washed over me.

“You don’t want me?” I barely squeaked it out. This wasn’t happening.

He kissed my fingers and shifted his hips so his erection nearly cut into me. “Trust me, I want you. I want you more than oxygen at this point.”

“Then what’s wrong?” I looped my naked leg over his hips, and he hissed.

“Fuck, could you make this any harder?” he growled.

I giggled. “That’s the plan, right?”

He let out a sigh of exasperation and untangled himself, pulling my back against his chest, careful to keep his hips clear. “I want this; I want you, Ember. But tonight is about you, not us. You needed this, and I’m fucking ecstatic to give it to you, but we’re not doing this.” He pushed his hips against my ass, and I groaned, wanting him inside me. “Until it’s about us, and no one else.”

Us? I couldn’t think about that. There wasn’t any more room in my head.

Exhaustion drooped my eyelids. Now I understood why girls said orgasms made them sleep better. At least that’s what Kayla had said. Whatever. I sincerely doubted Riley had an ounce of the skill Josh just used on my body.

Josh covered us with the blankets, and with the last of my energy, I reached back around me and slid my hand over his back and under his jeans so I could feel that gorgeous ass.

His laugh nearly broke me into a pit of need again. He slowly pulled my hand out, held it in his own, and wrapped his arm around my body, cocooning me. “Stop trying to take advantage of my virtue,” he teased, his breath evening out.

I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

Chapter Six

Bacon sizzled in the pan, popping grease onto my forearm and burning. “Crap.” I brushed the oil off me and turned another piece before I gave it the chance to do it again. The clock on the wall said it was ten in the morning, but the time in my stomach said “feed me or die.” I was a hungry hangover kind of person. Nothing two Tylenol and a glass of water wouldn’t help when they took effect. I just wished I wasn’t begging God for them to take effect already. Damn, my head hurt.