“You keep a very tight hold on everything you touch.” He covered her hands with his, and pressed them to the curve of her spine. “I think it’s time you learned to let go.”

With her arms stretched behind her, Lexi’s back arched. Her pelvis tilted, forcing him deeper.

“Oh God…” she moaned, head dropping back.

With her hands on her own skin, his guiding them, Jax spread their fingers, reached farther around her to cover her ass cheeks, lifting and pulling her into the thrust, forcing Jax balls-deep. The head of his cock hit her cervix on each thrust.

“Jax…God. That’s so…good.”

“Sometimes, letting go of a little control…” he said, holding a partial curl until his abs screamed, “…has a lot of benefits. Relax, Lexi…” he panted, “…and feel me finishing this off my way.”

The tension drained from her arms, allowing Jax to pull them farther behind her, reach deeper between her legs, and brush the nerve-lined skin high on her thighs bordering her opening with twenty fingers—hers and his.

She made a high-pitched sound in her throat.

He added strength to the pull, to the thrust. Waited until her eyes were squeezed closed, her mouth dropped open. Her hair spilled down her back, a few loose strands crossed her face. When she cried out with each thrust, Jax rolled forward a little more and closed his teeth around the lace-covered nipple.

“Oh God…”

He curled all the way up, pulled her arms completely behind her, forcing her breasts forward and against his chest.

“Open your eyes.” When she did, he said, “You wanted to make love looking into my eyes. Keep them open.”

He dragged her fingers over her own hot, wet skin as he stroked her, thrust, rubbed, rocked, pulled out, started over. “You’re going to come so…hard…Lex.”

At the first squeeze of her pussy, her eyes closed.

“Open your eyes.”

She opened them, barely, little slits of sparkling, smoky blue, and Jax watched the intensity tighten her face. Watched her lips form his name as the orgasm broke. Watched exquisite pleasure rush over her beautiful features.

“God damn—” was all he got out before his own orgasm tore through him. Extreme pleasure gushed into his pelvis, burned up his spine, boiled in his belly. His hips jerked, and jerked and jerked, plunging into Lexi’s succulent heat. His muscles contracted, released, contracted again, each squeeze nothing but pure pleasure rocketing through his body.

Jax let Lexi’s hands slip from beneath his. He was sweating, panting, his heart beating hard against his chest wall. Lexi went limp against him, her arms around his neck. She kissed his cheek, his jaw, his neck, then laid her head on his shoulder and grew heavy.

“Oh…my…God…” Jax wrapped her in his arms and lay back, propping himself up on an elbow to ease them both down.

And then she lay atop him, limp and loose, hot and sweet, while Jax remained deep inside her.

Christ, this was heaven.

Jax combed her hair back from her face and tossed it over her opposite shoulder. “What time does the shop open?”

Her chest was still rocking against his. She didn’t answer right away. Then finally, “My receptionist comes in…at seven.”

He rolled his head to the side so he could look at her without lifting his head. “Seven a.m.? Crap. I was hoping you’d say ten.”

She laughed softly. “I wish.”

She lifted her head and rested her chin on his chest. Her eyes were heavy, her face flushed, hair falling over her forehead. Jax had been with a lot of beautiful women, and Lexi was indeed one of the most beautiful, but her physical beauty wasn’t what was doing all these insane things to his heart.

She pushed up on her hands and smiled down at him with such warmth and joy in her eyes, Jax’s chest tightened. “It’s so good to see you.”

Then she lifted her hips and pulled his body from hers.

A pinch of panic burned his gut. That sounded like great fuck, you can go now. She leaned down, kissed him again, then rolled to her feet. Jax grabbed her arm. She gave him an expectant look as she lowered to her knees and pushed up one leg of his jeans to take hold of his boot.

Then paused. “I guess I should ask if you can stay—or want to stay—for a few hours before I get you all undressed.”

“You’re not kicking me out?” he asked, only half kidding.

Her head tilted in the cutest way. “Why would I do that?”

“Then I’ll stay as long as you’ll have me.”

She tugged on the boot and slid it off his foot, then his sock. “That’s a dangerous statement.”

After taking off the other, she pulled his pants free of his legs, and he lay naked in her bed. When she straightened, she smiled down at him, her gaze raking over him with appreciation and hunger. Reaching up, she unfastened her bra and tossed it aside. Definitely not shy about her body, she stood completely naked in front of him. Glorious wet-dream material. His cock started to harden again.

Her gaze lifted to his face. “I’m going to get a warm towel and clean you up before that,” she pointed to his growing erection, “gets out of control.”

Jax’s gaze was gliding over her body when the comment registered. When he lifted his gaze to meet her eyes, Lexi turned for the bathroom. His gaze lowered, taking in the beauty of her backside for the first time. And her ass looked as good as it felt.

The water ran in the bathroom, and as promised, she returned with a warm towel, sat on the edge of the bed, and lovingly removed the condom and wiped him clean. He was fully hard again by the time she was finished. His heart full. Jax had never felt so spoiled.

She tossed the towel aside and lay beside him, her head near his hip. He rested his cheek against her thigh and bent his knee so she could do the same to him, their position reminding Jax of a yin-yang symbol. Her hand floated over his belly, up his chest. Jax stroked her arm.

“I know you’re tired,” she said. “You can sleep. I’ll wake you up before my assistant comes in.”

He took her hand in his and brought it to his mouth. “And leave you alone to find eighteen ways to convince yourself this will never work by the time I wake up? Forget it.”

She smiled.

He glanced around the space again. “Lexi, how do you eat?”

“I usually grab something from one of the restaurants nearby. There’s a fridge in a break room downstairs.” She pushed up. “You want me to get you some water?”

He pulled her back to him. “No. I want you to stay here, touching me.”

“Well, I don’t know.” She melted against him. “That’s a rough job, but…for you…”

He sighed, squeezed her hand. She’d agreed to tonight, exposed a lot of herself, but she was still holding back. “Okay, Lex, truth—am I going to be another one of your casualties?”

All amusement left her face. “What…does that mean?”

“It’s obvious you haven’t been with anyone in a while. With your looks…” Understanding filled her eyes. He didn’t have to connect the dots. “I thought you were skittish in New York because you were sweet. Thought men took advantage of you. But I’m getting the feeling you don’t let anyone close enough to take advantage.”

Her blue eyes scanned him, serious, troubled. But she didn’t answer.

“Who did this to you, Lex? Who made someone with so much to offer hide away in this five-hundred-square-foot box?”

Her gaze drifted away with the hint of a rueful smile. “It’s over a thousand square feet, I’ll have you know.”

He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “What happened? And who did it happen with?”

She heaved a sigh, and her gaze drifted toward the darkened window above the bed. She seemed to think about it for a long moment before she spoke.

“A man I was dating, who, unfortunately, only saw me as part of his long list of accomplishments.” She paused. Licked her lips. Still didn’t meet his eyes. “When I realized what kind of person he was I broke off the relationship, but he wasn’t ready to unpluck my feather from his hat.” Her gaze lowered to his chest, her fingers tracing his ribs. “He was…wealthy, connected. Out of vengeance, he almost took everything I had, everything I’d worked for, and I realized how quickly I could lose my entire life by choosing the wrong man. How vulnerable I am against the rich and powerful of LA. Ironic that those are the very people who have enabled me to have all I have. Some of whom I love dearly. It’s…a very convoluted, twisted web.”

Twisted, all right. Especially when Jax fell right into that same category. He wanted to ask more about the guy, but Jax didn’t want to push her too hard. Yet.

“How—and when—did that end?” he asked.

“Three years ago. My friend’s father helped me out.”

“Rubi?” he asked.

She nodded. “Her father is—”

“Rudolpho Russo?” he guessed.

Her gaze darted back to his. “How’d you know?”

“The Ferrari, her looks, Russo, LA,” he said. “Doesn’t take a genius.”

“Rubi’s amazing,” Lexi said. “She’s the best friend I could ever have. We met modeling and have been close ever since. She’s nothing like her father. Though, he came through at a terrible time for me, so I can’t say anything bad about him.”

“Did your modeling lead you to fashion?”

“No. All my money from modeling went into this”—she waved her arm toward the rest of the room—“until it grew big enough to support me.”

“How did you get started?”

A distant look came into her eyes, a small smile on her lips. “I used to get hand-me-down clothes from a local church. Really ratty stuff. The kids at school were pretty brutal, and I learned early to do what I needed to do to mesh. So I used to take the charity clothes, rip them apart, and put them back together in a way that either looked like everyone else’s or in a new, trendy style.”

“Why wedding dresses?” he asked. “Are you a closet romantic?”

“Hardly. I’ve been through too much for that. But when I was young, I was infatuated with fairies and princesses. I thought I was born to live in a castle. I think it was my way of escaping reality. I guess I never really grew out of it, because I love everything ethereal and sparkly and feminine. Those have become signatures of my work.”

She ran her hand over his chest. “Tell me about you. Where did you work today?”

“Desert. Riding bikes.”

She lifted one brow. “Bikes?”

“Motorcycles,” he said with a grin.

“Fun?”

“Hella fun.”

She laughed.

He caressed her cheek. “Your eyes sparkle when you laugh, and that dimple makes me want to do crazy things to you.”

Her smile softened. Her eyes grew heavy lidded with a look that made his cock ache. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”