She moaned and her arms shook.

He smiled and pulled back. “Lie down, sweetheart. I’ve got you. I’ll even make it quick.”

She lowered herself flat against the table. The sound of her skin sticking to the surface as her back met the wood flared a dose of need in him, hot and quick. Every breath, gasp, and move she made was like a siren calling. Those same damn breaths would linger in his ears long after she was gone and echo in his dreams.

“You drive me crazy,” she said. “I’ve never known another man like you.”

He licked faster, flicking wildly until her back was arching.

“Oh God…” she moaned. “Never known another man who can make me feel the way you do.”

He was deep in paradise, surrounded by her smooth skin and silky core, and he didn’t want to be anywhere else. Her heels dug into his back, and she worked her hips up and down, fucking his tongue every time he thrust it deep.

She was so close. So responsive. His to maneuver how he wanted. She challenged his strength, but bringing her to heel was hot, and he was a bastard for loving it the way he did. And her words—he wanted to beg her to repeat them. Because his hope of convincing her to try a long-distance relationship lay in those words. Maybe his exchange of romance for sex could pay off in the end and he’d get what he wanted.

Her.

For now, he’d stick to the rules. Play the game. An even exchange.

He ate her like he’d never get the chance again. She was drenching his tongue. Raining down on him. Her sheath tensed and the table creaked as she squirmed against his mouth. She was there.

“Ready to come for me?”

“Yes!” She threw her hips out, and he knew what she wanted. She wanted to be filled. She liked it hard and rough and deep. He ran his hand down his jeans where his cock was straining against the fabric—God, it’d feel incredible to have it buried deep in her…

But all he could do was yank her closer and drive his tongue deep once, twice, three times. And then, when she was panting, he pulled back and surged a finger inside.

Her ass came off the table, but his mouth was right there to catch her clit, lock down, and suck the little bundle while thrusting a finger in and out.

She wiggled and trembled. Her hands slapped on the table, and she threw her hips up to rub even harder against his lips. And right then, Gage was teetering on the brink of losing himself.

Fire.

Chloe was certain Gage had replaced her blood with fire.

Every stroke of his tongue and pump of his hand had her burning up from the inside out. She was so close, yet so far. She was getting what she wanted…sort of. She loved sex. Loved feeling him inside her, and he knew it. He could make her come so easily, and he would. But she always wanted the extra feeling of his naked body against hers, inside hers. Loved feeling his skin, his cock, his muscles.

What was that called? Connection?

No, no, surely not. And even if it was, she wouldn’t admit it.

This was an even exchange, pure and simple. She had to say things to get what she wanted. Sure, everything she’d told him was true, but that didn’t mean she wanted to embrace anything beyond a few sweet words. Certainly not “the romance” he kept demanding.

A burst of pleasure jolted through her body when he sucked harder and buried another finger deep, curving it to rub continuously over the sensitive spot inside her.

Those flames erupted and roared, flooding her body like a tidal wave that grew and swelled until finally—

Raw pleasure surged and slammed into her like pulsing water crashing into the shore. “Yes!” she screamed.

He drank her down, working his tongue a bit slower, as if savoring her release on his fingers and lips. Her whole body shook, and the table against her back squeaked as she convulsed.

More. She needed more. The bad thing about Gage was every time she was with him, she never felt sated, only more crazed. As if the first orgasm had only awakened a deeper need only he could satisfy.

Chloe got up, slid off the table, and straddled his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. She needed to feel him. Experience him. She’d waited so damn long, and now she had him right where she wanted him. She reached between them and fumbled with his belt. Unzipped his pants. In one quick move, she’d have his cock free and inside her—

“Easy there,” he growled. He pulled on her hair until it stung, thrusting her chin in the air before he claimed her mouth with his.

She grabbed his hair, too, pulling him into a deeper kiss, and went for the glory. She pushed her hands into his underwear—

He pulled her hand back out and meshed her fingers with his.

“Ah, ah. This was a fair exchange. No full sex until I get full romance. My demands stand. You ready for our dinner date?”

She growled and glared at him. He was right there, so hard he was pulsing.

Gage tugged her hair a little more, and she gasped. “Don’t go being a poor sport because you didn’t get your way.” He nipped her chin.

“I still want to make you come.” She looked at him while his grip held firm in her hair. She was at his mercy. They both knew it. She might not be able to get into his pants the way she wanted, but maybe she could work around them.

She slowly sank her hand into his open fly and gripped his rock-hard shaft through his boxers. His jaw clenched.

“Looks like the vote is two”—she squeezed his cock—“to one. Me and this big guy here are all for some fun. You’re the only one playing coy.”

He breathed deep, as if trying to gain composure, but she had him. With his fingers still in her hair and her hand on his cock, she maneuvered her way off his lap and hit her knees between his spread legs. Halfway down, his grip on her hair tightened. Tough guy wanted to come as badly as she wanted him to.

And God did she want to make him come. The sooner she felt him surge from her touch, the sooner she could slake this aching need.

One thing she liked about Gage was how he made her feel different. She could be honest. Give in to her fantasies and let passion rule. There was no overthinking, because the time they shared never lasted long enough to really overthink.

Until this recent stunt of his with the whole three week sticking around thing. Too much time led to too much thinking and too many opportunities for the fantasy to dwindle. She wanted to stay in suspended bliss with him. Was that so much to ask?

Truth was, she’d rather be a momentary fantasy than a heartbroken reality.

A spike of anger hit her at his insistence on breaking through the boundaries that kept her safe and satisfied enough to keep moving forward.

She pulled his pants low on his hips and tugged his cock out. Finally, she had all the access she needed. He was driving her crazy by denying her what she wanted, but maybe it was time to turn the tables.

Sex for romance? Nope.

But oral for oral? He had no idea what he was getting himself into.

“So now that you’ve gotten your sweet nothings, time for the dirty talk,” she said. “And since you’re in the spirit of an even exchange, you’re going to sit there and take it. Because I have you at my mercy now.”

“Chloe…”

“You asked me the other night what I thought of?” she purred in her best seductress voice while keeping a tight grip on the base of his cock. “I’ve thought of this…” She ran her tongue along the crown, and he hissed. “I thought of how good you taste. How good you feel.” She closed her mouth over the head and sucked hard, then delivered a little kiss to ease the sting. “I’d make myself come just picturing sucking you. I’d think of every detail I could remember, every ridge and inch of you.”

She licked down the entire shaft, then up the other side. His hips subtly flexed, coaxing her for more.

“So good…” he murmured.