His voice was rough as he tried to ignore the rapid hardening of his body, how his erection was pressing insistently against the snug crotch of his faded jeans. Her scent – an oddly beguiling combination of the ocean, fresh lime juice, and the clean, fresh fragrance that was Lauren’s own unique essence – only made his awareness of her that much more pronounced.

“Didn’t your parents warn you not to invite strangers into the house?” he asked half-jokingly, desperate to lighten up the sexual tension that was beginning to seep into his very bones. “What if I’m some sort of serial killer who preys on hot young college girls? That sort of thing doesn’t worry you?”

Ben never saw it coming, admittedly hadn’t really believed her earlier claims of being a martial arts aficionado. But when he found himself sprawled flat on his back, and Lauren smiling down at him triumphantly, he quickly revised his opinion.

“My parents know I can take care of myself,” she declared matter-of-factly. “Not to mention the fact that I keep an undisclosed number of knives stashed in various places around the cabin that I can get to very easily. So, no, honey. I’m not the least bit worried about having a house guest for a few days. Come on, let’s go get your stuff.”

He scowled as she extended a hand to help him up, ignoring her gesture as he scrambled to his feet. “I studied martial arts myself, you know,” he told her in a sullen voice as they ambled up the steep driveway to where he’d parked his motorcycle. “Muay Thai and kickboxing mostly, but some judo and karate as well. Not sure I ever saw a move quite like that before.”

“That’s because I didn’t take you down using judo or karate or even capoeira – my newest little hobby. No, honey, that was just good old dirty street fighting. This your bike?”

“Yeah.” Ben tried to feign nonchalance, well aware that the older model bike had seen better days and was certainly nothing to boast about. But Lauren didn’t seem to notice as she took one of his bags.

“I want to get a bike one day,” she told him. “But I want a Ducati. A black one. And, yes, I know they cost big bucks so I’ll have to wait until I’m a big name photographer before I can get one. But a girl can dream, you know? Until then, my pick-up gets me around just fine.”

She inclined her head in the direction of the older model truck that was parked rather haphazardly on the far side of the driveway. The faded yellow paint was liberally caked with dried dirt and sand, and the truck bed was nearly as cluttered up with stuff as the loft had been. Including the surf board sticking out the back end that Lauren had apparently just used earlier today.

Once they were back inside the cabin, Ben glanced around the great room uncertainly. “Where should I leave my bags? I didn’t notice a second bedroom so should I crash on this sofa or the one in the loft?”

And then Lauren caught him by surprise for the second time in less than five minutes by sliding her hands up his chest to clasp around his neck, pressing her curvy little body flush against his as she murmured suggestively, “Actually, I was sort of figuring you could bunk in with me. After all, I’ve never been the kind of person who keeps things bottled up inside, and it was only going to be a matter of time anyway before I jumped your bones. So let’s stop wasting time, hmm?”

She pulled his head down to meet her kiss, and even though he remained standing, Ben once again felt like he’d just been knocked on his ass.

Chapter Two

He gave a long, low groan as Lauren pressed herself even closer against him, the firm mounds of her breasts crushed against his chest. His hands were splayed on either side of her slim hips, as though he hadn’t yet decided whether to push her away or pull her in even closer. Her tongue traced over the outline of his lips persuasively, until they parted as if with a will of their own.

It took the briefest sweep of her tongue inside his mouth to snap whatever control he’d been struggling to hold onto, and then he was kissing her back fiercely, his hands sliding up the sides of her ribcage and into the thick tangle of her hair. He kept her head immobile as the kiss went on and on, their tongues tangling almost as though they were doing battle with each other, as her arms remained wrapped tightly around his neck.

More than a year had passed since he’d had a sexual partner, and his body was reminding him now – very clearly – about that long abstinence. His cock was fully erect and pushing insistently against the fly of his jeans. And when Lauren began to grind herself against him, he couldn’t determine if the sensation was one of pure, unadulterated pleasure or instead of sweet, sweet pain. His hands slipped down her back to cup her ass, holding her in place as they continued to dry hump each other as if their very lives depended on it.

And then the armful of temptation otherwise known as Lauren startled him yet again by hoisting herself up his body until her legs were tightly wrapped around his waist.

“Bedroom,” she murmured in his ear, her teeth nibbling teasingly on the lobe before she kissed him again.

She was wrapped around him like a vine twined about a tree, with every part of their bodies fused together, and he couldn’t think any longer, could only feel as he began to walk haltingly into the cabin’s sole bedroom. He had to feel his way there blindly, given that his eyes were tightly shut as they continued to kiss with a near desperation, and hoped vaguely that he wouldn’t trip over his own feet. He swore softly as his shins made painful contact with the wooden bedframe, a pain that was quickly forgotten as he tumbled onto the big, soft bed with Lauren still entwined around him.

Ben considered himself a quiet, somewhat introverted man, certainly a loner, and he disliked conflict or confrontation. But those attributes didn’t mean he was also passive or submissive, and definitely not in the bedroom. Every woman he’d ever been with – and there admittedly hadn’t been all that many in his twenty-eight years – had been more than content to let him take the lead, to be the seducer, the dominant.

Now, however, the tempting little spitfire whose small, slender hands were roving greedily over his body, and whose wet, eager mouth was still clinging to his like a starving woman, was knocking him for a loop by being the aggressor. At her urgently murmured instructions, he undressed quickly, his movements jerky and clumsy, made even more so when he was given his first, spectacular glimpse of her bare breasts as she tossed her bikini top aside carelessly.

When they were both naked, their kisses and caresses became even more frantic, their bodies a tangle of arms and legs and lips as they nearly tore up the bed with the urgency of their embrace. He filled his palm with the lush, warm curve of her breast, his thumb teasing the nipple, while her own hands slid over his stomach until she was stroking his rock hard cock with long, slow movements.

“Jesus,” he panted, his hips bucking off the mattress in sync with the stroking of her hand. “Lauren – sweetheart – I need - ”

With a swiftness he wouldn’t have believed possible, she tumbled him back against the pillows, straddling his thighs as she continued to pump his cock.

“You need,” she whispered wickedly, “the exact same thing that I do right now. To fuck. Really, really hard.”

She guided the tip of his throbbing dick to where she was wet and hot and ready, and then shocked him speechless one more time by impaling herself on him with one decisive motion.

“Ah, God!”

Lauren’s gasp was ragged as she remained utterly still for the first time since she’d kissed him out in the great room. When he glanced up at her, the breath stuck in his throat at the glorious sight she made – her slender thighs quivering just a little as she straddled him, as she allowed her body to become used to the feeling of him filling her so completely, stretching her to accommodate his length; the soft nest of her light brown pubic hair just above the spot where their bodies were tightly co-joined; the curve of her belly that was both firm and soft at the same time; those incredible tits, almost too full and firm to be real, but that jiggled enticingly as she slowly began to rock her hips back and forth. Her caramel colored hair was a wild tangle of curls that spilled over her shoulders and back, almost to her tiny waist. There was a pink flush tingeing her skin, one that traveled a path upwards from her belly to her breasts and all the way up to her perfectly sculpted cheekbones. Her green eyes held a dazed expression, almost glassy, and she was breathing unevenly through her lushly full, half-parted lips.