Before I know what’s happening, I’m leaning in so close that my lips are brushing against his and my eyes close and I fall into his kiss, sinking deeper and deeper.

It takes the clearing of someone’s throat to break our lips apart and I blink at Kessler for a moment, wondering what we’ve done, before I look over.

Kate is staring at us with a smug look on her face, brows raised expectantly.

But then again, her hand is in Bradah Ed’s lap so I don’t know what the hell is going on there.

“Maybe you guys oughta get a room,” Kate says.

I look over at Teef who is passing around a tin of cookies and paying us no attention, then at Mahina who is making out with her boyfriend. Bradah Ed is sipping on a coconut, clearly enjoying Kate’s company.

Kessler grins at me. “Sounds like a good idea,” he says, getting to his feet and pulling me up with him.

“What are you talking about?”

“Well this is a hotel. It might not be a Kahuna Hotel, but it’s still pretty sweet and a room was included in the package.”

My jaw drops. “You planned to have sex with me on New Year’s?”

He cocks his head. “I always hope for the best,” he says. “Besides, I didn’t want to drive home. Come on.”

“It’s not even midnight yet,” I tell him as he takes my hand and leads me through the crowd and back to the elevator.

“Are you afraid of missing the fireworks or the countdown?” he asks. “Because I guarantee you won’t miss either. In fact, I might be able to get you off before the year is over.”

My eyes widen. We’re not exactly alone right now and a few partygoers look our way in amusement as we get in the elevator. “Ready to go down?” he asks me.

“Oh stop it.” I hit him across the chest.

We don’t have far to go. Our room is on the fifteenth floor and from the floor to ceiling windows, the views over Waikiki Beach and the fireworks barge are just as good as the ones on the roof.

“Our hotels need to step it up a notch,” I tell him.

But my voice is wavering.

I’m nervous.

I’m really nervous.

Suddenly it’s like I wasn’t naked with him earlier in the office.

Suddenly it’s like I’m standing in front of him for the first time, wondering what his touch is going to feel like when I know it feels like second nature.

I don’t know what to do.

I’m frozen in the spot between the windows and the door.

Kessler gives me a soft smile, his eyes burning with warmth. “I forgot to tell you that you look far more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.” I lick my lips. “I know I only have you like this, in this moment right now, but even just a moment with you is enough. Anything more than that is too good for the likes of me.”

Good lord.

This man.

He knows all the right things to say.

He knows all the ways to say them.

Suddenly I’m not nervous anymore because all I feel is want and lust and gratitude. For him, for this moment, for the way his words make me feel. For the way he always makes me feel.

Like I’m all that matters.

That he sees me.

I’ve just wanted to be be seen.

I walk over to him and run my hands through his wavy hair, kissing him passionately until I’m breathless.

Then I drop right to my knees.

Undo his tuxedo pants and let them fall to the floor.

His cock juts out, twitching with his rising heartbeat and I take it in my hands. He’s so hard and smooth, like velvet-encased steel and he’s growing stiffer with each pass of my fist.

“Oh fuck,” he whispers, his hands going into my hair and holding on tight.

I bring my tongue to his glistening tip, tasting salt, letting it run in a wet trail down the underside of his shaft, all the way to his balls and back up around. It brings out a flurry of deep moans from his mouth, the kind you feel vibrating deep inside you.

I love his cock. I love giving him head. He’s always so vocal, so appreciative, and while everything about him is so manly, I love seeing him succumb to me like this, knowing that though I’m the one on my knees, that I’m bringing him to his.

I work at him for a while, sucking on his balls the way he likes it, really giving him everything I have. Then I feel him tense up, his grip tightens. I want him to let loose in my mouth, I want to swallow every single drop of him and feel it slide down my throat.

“Stop, please,” he cries out, choking on his words.

I pull my mouth away from his tip. “You don’t sound like you want me to stop,” I say, even though my jaw is feeling stiff as I say that.

Breathing hard, he steps back, taking off his jacket and throwing it across the room until he’s falling back onto the plush armchair against the window. “Come here,” he says, a total command.

I bite my lip, loving the sight of him sitting back like that, his wet cock sticking straight up like a mast, his pants by his ankles, his dress shirt half-unbuttoned. He brings out a condom from the shirt pocket and tears it open, smoothly sliding it over his stiff length, mouth open as he stares at me.

I go over to him, kicking off my sandals before I pull up the hem of my dress and hold it around my waist while I climb on the chair, straddling him, sliding my underwear to the side.

Both of his hands slide up to my face, holding me, staring up at me with such intensity that it’s unnerving. It’s like I’m looking into a side of Kessler that I didn’t know was there, that he hadn’t shown me before. Not just the one who is throbbing with raw, primal lust, but the one that aches for me with tenderness.

It’s disarming.

Whatever walls I had left around me are falling into pieces.

I’m like the painting on my wall, shattered around him, not knowing if he’s going to come on by and sweep me up and make me whole again.

But I’m no longer afraid.

Not tonight.

I give him a small smile and, without breaking eye contact, I reach under, holding his cock in place while I slowly lower myself down on him. We both suck in our breath in unison as I stretch around him and he fills me, wider and tighter.

“Fuck,” I swear, my mouth dropping open. I pinch my eyes shut for a moment but when I open them he’s still staring at me, a gaze deeper and more intimate than any I’ve known. I feel his gaze inside me the same way I feel his cock, like I’m being penetrated in two places and my mind is starting to tumble.

All I feel is him, everywhere.

All I want is him, always.

“Kessler,” I whisper, but my words stop there, fading to nothing, because I don’t know what to say or how to go on. I don’t know how to tell him because I don’t quite know how I feel. Words aren’t enough.

But maybe that’s why our gazes are locked like this. Maybe he can see it for himself.

“Nova,” he says thickly, running his thumb over my lips. “I can’t believe this is you.”

“It’s me,” I tell him softly.

And I realize that if I’m seeing the Kessler I haven’t seen before, maybe he can see me.

Maybe he knows. Maybe words aren’t needed anymore.

I bite my lip as I jerk my hips back up and down, his cock sliding in deeper and deeper with each thrust. It feels so good, the slow tight slide, the way he fills me to the brim. Finally, I break his stare and I throw my head back, my breasts spilling out of my dress where he eagerly laps at them with his tongue.

His hands drift down to my waist and he wraps his fingers around me, tight, and begins to thrust up, faster, harder. I knew he wouldn’t let me be in control for too long but I don’t care, I’ll gladly hand him the keys to this ride.

He starts to pump, sliding past all my sensitive places, making my eyes fly open with each hit. One hand slips down below, between his stomach and mine and slips further until he finds my clit. He rubs his rough thumb around it in flat circles, getting wetter and wetter and I’m starting to moan, louder and louder.

“Don’t stop,” I whisper. I want him to keep going and yet I never want this to end.

“I won’t stop,” he grunts, his thumb rubbing harder in time with each quick pump of his hips.

Oh god, oh god, oh god.

I don’t have much longer.

I open my eyes to look at him and he’s staring me like he’s been waiting for me, his eyes heavy-lidded and lost to desire. “Nova,” he whispers hoarsely, voice drunk with sex. “I…I…”

Then he breaks off, face contorted as he tries to hold back and I decide to push him over the edge. I ride down on him hard, squeezing as I go, until I’m starting to come.

“Oh god,” I cry out. “Fuck.” My head goes back and I’m riding him slower and slower as the waves rip through me and I can barely hold on.

I let go, collapsing against him as he’s thrusting up into me, biting my neck and grunting with each sharp stab of his hips, saying my name over and over again, like he’s having a fevered dream.

Seconds later, fireworks explode over Waikiki Beach, the boom ripping through us, our faces aglow with the lights of yellow, red, and gold as they spray over the ocean.

Kessler pulls his head back and looks at me, a lazy grin on his face. “Happy New Year, Nova.

My heart is pounding in my head louder than the pyrotechnics but still I manage to say, “Happy New Year, Kessler.”

Chapter Fourteen

Kessler

Last night feels like a dream. I know this even before I wake up, that the reality was greater than the fantasy. That what I had in my hands was everything I ever wanted.

Nova.

I roll over and glance at her. She’s sleeping soundly, looking completely at peace, her skin dark and glowing against the white sheets, her hair in a wild mess around her head. She looks like she got thoroughly fucked last night.

I can’t help but smile, knowing I was the one who put her through her paces. It didn’t just stop on the chair, the fireworks going off after our own fireworks did. We continued on the floor, on the bed, up against the glass. I’m fairly sure we fucked until five in the morning, our own party going on longer than anyone else’s.