I kick my sneakers off and pull my shirt over my head. “Hours,” I say. I unbutton my jeans and push them down my legs, stepping out and kicking them to the side. Matt licks his lips. He tugs my arm when I reach behind my back to unfasten my bra. “Slow down just a little,” he says. “I’m not going to rush the first time I get to love you.”

My heart trips a beat. “Okay,” I say quietly. I sit down on the side of the bed and cross my arms over my chest. I’m feeling a little self-conscious, particularly since I’m not wearing sexy undies. I’m wearing everyday panties and my ratty, old comfy bra.

Matt taps my chin with a crooked finger, and I look up at him. “Stop thinking,” he says. He stands up and unfastens his belt, then pulls the belt from the buckle. He shoves his jeans down over his hips, and I can’t jerk my eyes away when I see that his boxers are tented by his… God, he’s huge. “Stop thinking about that, too,” he says over a laugh.

“Lie down on your stomach,” he says. He walks into my bathroom and comes back with a bottle of lotion. I crawl across the bed and lay my head on my pillow, my arms crossed beneath it. I watch him as he walks slowly toward me. “God, you’re so beautiful,” he says quietly. He sits down beside me and squirts some lotion into his hands, then rubs them together briskly to warm it up.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“Taking care of you,” he says. His hip touches mine, and then his warm, slick hands land on my naked shoulders. He applies pressure with his slippery fingertips, and it feels so damn good that a moan leaves my throat. “This okay?” he asks.

I moan again and nod my head, jamming my face into my pillow. “Please don’t stop.” I say.

He chuckles. “I won’t.” He does lift his hands for a minute, though, so that he can climb up to straddle my bottom. He doesn’t put any of his weight on me, but I can feel him, heavy and hard on top of my lower back. “Can I undo this?” he asks quietly, his voice suddenly rough and abraded when he pulls gently on my bra fastening.

“Yes,” I squeak into my pillow.

“What?” he asks with a laugh.

I turn my face and say quietly, “Yes, please.” Then I bury my face in the pillow again so he won’t see how flushed my skin is.

He unclasps my bra and pulls it out of his way, and then his thumbs begin to do miraculous things up and down my spine. I sink into the mattress after a few minutes, going almost limp as he attacks my muscles one by one, moving from my neck to my shoulder to my back and down to my bottom. He stops when he reaches the elastic of my panties.

“Don’t stop,” I whimper.

“Tell me what happened with your mother,” he says when he has me sated and happy.

“I don’t want to,” I mutter.

He lifts his hands from my body. “I’ll stop now, then,” he says. Then he waits.

I heave in a breath. “Please don’t stop,” I beg. I have never had anyone take such great care with me. I’ve never had anyone who wasn’t paid to give me a massage try to do so. I have ever felt such…affection? I don’t even know what it is, but I do know it’s foreign.

“Talk to me, Sky,” he says. He lifts himself, and I immediately turn to see where he’s going, but he just moves farther down my legs. I sigh with contentment when he starts to rub the backs of my thighs.

I talk. I tell him everything that happened with my mother while he works his magic on my body. He grunts when it’s appropriate to the story, and his hands get harsh when he’s angry, but then they gentle. He listens. And he takes care of me, all the way down to my toes.

“I knew they’d met,” Matt admits. “I didn’t know it was a secret,” Matt says when I tell him about Kendra and my mother having lunch. “She liked your mom, and she really regretted the situation she was in.”

Matt’s fingers hook in the hips of my panties, and he gives a gentle tug. He stops. “Is this okay?” he asks as he pulls my panties down under my butt cheeks. He takes in a quick breath, and my heartbeat jumps.

“Yeah,” I whisper, smiling into my pillow. I lift my hips, and he pulls them all the way down my legs. I know he can see my ass, and then suddenly his hands are there. “God.”

He pulls back. “Too much?” he asks.

“Not enough,” I tell him.

He sucks in another breath, and his hands settle on my ass cheeks again. He squeezes and lifts and rubs, and he lets out a groan that seems so much like the one stuck in my throat.

My muscles feel like rubber, like I couldn’t stand if I wanted to.

“Roll over,” he says quietly. He pats my bottom. “Wait,” he says when I hesitate. He slides his fingers up my inner thighs and parts my flesh. “Thank God,” he says.

“What?” I ask. I look at him from over my shoulder.

“You’re wet. I was hoping it wasn’t just me,” he says. “You got me so turned on that I don’t know what to do next.” He parts my lower lips with his fingertips and slides a finger inside me. I push back against him.

“You can keep doing that,” I suggest. I gasp as he pushes forward, adding another finger. I lift to meet him.

He chuckles. “I can’t get to anything from here,” he says. He pulls out of me and slaps my butt with his wet hand. “Roll over.”

I pull the sheet to cover my middle and roll over. Matt comes up to kiss me. God, he takes like everything I ever wanted. He tugs playfully at my sheet.