He’d missed this so much. The passion, the feeling of naked skin against his own. The mindless frenzy that wouldn’t cease until they both came.

Carter’s sac tightened. His cock throbbed in time with his pulse. The salty-sweet taste of Tess’s skin was heaven. He wanted to devour her. To taste every inch of her. To leave her weak and shaking and sated and at the same time wanting more.

Tess gripped his hair in her fist and the almost-pain caused Carter’s cock to pulse hot and hard. The memory of her grip on his shaft sent a shudder through him and he rocked his hips against her as though he were pumping inside of her.

“Tess, you feel so good.” Carter spoke against her heated skin, unwilling to break the contact for even a moment. She let out a low whimper as he circled her clit with the pad of his finger, and the sound raced down his spine in a pleasant shiver. He wanted more of those sounds, more of her panting breaths. More of her.

Carter came up on his knees and settled between her legs. Tess’s gaze met his, the blue of her eyes seemed to deepen to a dark navy with her passion. Her tongue flicked out at her luscious, dark pink lips and Carter’s cock twitched as he imagined it flicked out at his engorged head. Her pert breasts quivered with each shuddering draw of breath and Carter took in the sight of her, laid out before him like a meal he couldn’t wait to devour.

He gripped the waistband of her yoga pants and jerked them down off of her thighs. She brought her legs up and he whisked them off of her. He eased her feet back down to the floor and her knees fell open. Carter’s gaze settled to the glistening pink flesh of her pussy, and his mouth went dry. Her pussy was already wet and swollen. Her arousal had begun to spread over her inner thighs.

Lord, she was beautiful. For a moment he simply stared. Took in the sight of her naked and totally unashamed. The passion that sparked in her gaze set him on fire and a smile flirted with her lush mouth.

“What?” The word left her lips in a breathy rush that tightened Carter’s gut.

“You’re beautiful, Tess.”

Her smile grew and emotion shone in her eyes. How could he possibly think being with her would be some detached physical moment and nothing more? Especially when she looked at him like that.

Carter stripped his T-shirt off and settled between her thighs. He looked up the length of Tess’s body, fascinated by the flat plane of her stomach and the way the muscles twitched in anticipation of his touch. He reached out and feathered his finger over her clit. Her muscles contracted as her head rolled back on her shoulders. He increased the pressure and her back arched off the floor as a low moan filled the silence. Carter dipped a finger lower and teased the sensitive skin of her opening. Tess’s panting breaths caused his sac to tingle with anticipation. Every muscle in his body had grown taut with the intensity of his want of her.

The moment he sealed his mouth over her clit, Tess cried out. Her legs drew up as her body curled in on itself. Carter placed his palms on either thigh and urged her to open for him. He eased her into the intensity of sensation with slow, gentle passes, using the flat of his tongue. He couldn’t get enough of her taste, her scent. The way she writhed and her hips undulated in an attempt to increase the pressure of his mouth. Carter didn’t want to rush, though. This might be the only day he had with her and he wanted to make every single minute count.

He cupped the round curves of her ass in his palms and angled her hips up to his mouth. He feasted on her pussy, long slow passes that he followed up with gentle flicks. He took her clit into his mouth and sucked. Tess cried out, and the sound hitched on a whimper that made Carter’s cock so damned tight he thought he might come before he even got inside of her. He drew her labia into his mouth, scraped his teeth along the sensitized flesh. He thrust his tongue in her opening before slowly dragging up the length of her glistening pussy back to her protruding clit where he started all over again.

Tess’s impassioned sobs echoed in the otherwise quiet room. Carter let one hand wander over her hip, up the flat of her stomach to her breast. He kneaded the swell, squeezed, before taking her nipple between his thumb and finger. He worked the tight bead with gentle pressure at first and then pinched. Tess’s thighs twitched and tightened around his cheeks and her back arched up from the floor as she came. Carter pressed his tongue against her clit. It throbbed against him in time with every impassioned cry from Tess’s lips. He continued to lap at her lazily, bringing her down from the high while he relished the taste of her passion.

She was perfect.

Carter kissed the inside of her thigh, around the curve of her hip, and over her belly. The muscles contracted with the light touch and he smiled against her skin as he worked his way up her ribcage. He grazed his teeth against the underside of one breast and Tess shivered. He rounded the swell with open-mouthed kisses, making his way to the dusky nipple that he sucked into his mouth.

When her cries became desperate again, he switched to the other breast, working her slowly back to that point of mindless want. Her breaths hitched in her chest and she gripped his shoulders, her nails digging in until Carter felt the slightest bite. He kissed a path along her collarbone, up the delicate column of her throat to her jaw. A light bite was followed by a gentle kiss and then another. His lips found the corner of hers and then moved fully over her mouth.

Tess’s hands wandered from his shoulders down his back and along his ribs. Her touch was like silk as her palms glided over him. Was it because it had been so long since a woman had touched him that the slightest contact caused Carter to tremble or was it because it was Tess who touched him? It was Tess. Carter had never been so sure about anything. She gripped the waistband of his jeans and came up from the floor as she pushed them down over his ass along with his boxer briefs.

He knew he’d come the second he buried himself inside of her.

“Carter,” Tess murmured against his mouth. “I want you. I need you inside of me.”

“No.” She stilled and he kissed her. Soft and slow. “I need it to last. I don’t want it to be over yet.”

Tess’s throaty chuckle heated his blood to the boiling point. “When is your brother bringing the girls home?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Then trust me, we won’t be done until they walk through that door in the morning.”

Carter groaned into her mouth as he kissed her again. Twenty-four hours with Tess. For the first time in what felt like forever, something in his life had gone right.

*   *   *

The rightness of being with Carter shook Tess to her marrow. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had made her feel so good. Focused solely on her pleasure and acted as though he enjoyed it. He was unlike any man she’d ever known, and even though she’d assured him that they could be together—no strings attached—Tess worried that after today he’d worm his way permanently into her heart.

She was willing to risk a broken heart, though. For this one day with him, she would’ve risked anything.

Carter rolled away from her long enough to kick off his shoes, socks, and jeans. He dug into the back pocket and fished out his wallet. He pulled out the condom package and gave a rueful laugh. “Travis insisted I carry a few in my wallet. Something about not being able to get back on the horse if I didn’t have a saddle. I gave him shit for pushing me but I guess I owe him.”

Tess giggled. “Oh, I’m definitely sending him a fruit basket.”

Carter laughed in earnest and the sound warmed her. “I was thinking of something more along the lines of a new car.”

“Definitely.” The levity of the moment gave way to the distraction of Carter’s naked body. Tess’s stomach did a back flip and landed hard as she committed every detail to memory. She’d never dated a guy like Carter before, let alone seen one without any clothes.