She finished her drink and set it on the edge of the pool table. His eyes were locked on her, silent and waiting. He didn’t have to pretend at control, he owned it. That much was clear from the stillness in his frame and the confidence in his stance.

There was a back door out of the billiard room. She slipped her hand into his large one and tugged him to follow her. He did, and right when they hit the small hallway, his grip tightened and he spun her around to face him.

“Fuck baby steps,” he rasped against her mouth, then snagged her bottom lip between his teeth, tugging slightly and bringing her in for the hottest kiss she’d ever had.

She parted her lips on a gasp, and he plunged his tongue inside, as though taking a deep taste of her. He pressed her against the wall, tunneled his hands in her hair, and used his knee to kick her thighs apart so that he could take up the space between them.

“What are you doing to me?” he growled against her lips before diving in for more.

She arched her back, rubbed her breasts against his chest, and opened her legs wider to accommodate his larger frame. He surrounded her with his arms, could easily crush her if he wanted. Instead, he brought her close to him, eating her up with a powerful combination of strength and self-control. Not gentle, but not forceful. Just pure, raw lust.

And she wanted to feel all of it.

“Looks like I’m tapping into your wild side,” she whispered between kisses.

She caught flashes of his massive biceps straining against that poor shirt that struggled to contain them. She gripped the collar of his shirt in her fist, then yanked and brought him close, crashing his lips even further into hers. He groaned and, with a flex of his hips, ground against her.

He broke away, breathing hard. He glanced around quickly—as far as she could see, no one was paying them any attention—then without warning, he hoisted her up.

A sharp laugh broke from her as she locked her legs around his waist. He carried her with ease, like she weighed no more than a doll, and bounded toward a single door at the far end of the hallway. With her balanced in one arm, he opened the door and walked them into a dark supply closet. He shut the door behind them, all the while keeping her locked around him, and sank to his knees.

“I can’t see you,” she said. It was too dark, and that was a shame, because Ryder was a delectable sight.

“Your eyes will adjust, and don’t worry about seeing. I’ve got you.”

Her back was against the wall and Ryder against her front. Staying on his knees, he coaxed her to stand. She kept her hands on his face as she did so.

What must it look like to have a man like Ryder kneeling before her? A strange power flooded her. This strong man had chosen to stay kneeling while she rose to her feet.

He unfastened her shorts, then slid them down her thighs and off. The sound of the denim falling and the metal button hitting the ground with a clink made her heart pick up.

His big finger traced the line of her panties. “Lace?” he asked.

“Yes,” she breathed.

He continued to trail his finger around the band. “What color?”

“Red.”

What sounded like an approving growl broke from his chest as he worked those off of her next.

“I do wish I could see your face,” he said, and hooked her left leg over his shoulder. “Especially when…”

She gasped when his tongue slid along her folds. Her hands flew to the top of his head, and she closed her fists in his thick hair.

“Mmmm,” he moaned against her, sending shivers from her center to her spine. “Should have known you tasted sweet everywhere.” He delivered another long lick from her opening to her clit, and her head lolled back, thumping against the wall behind her. “Like sugar and spice. My own personal candy shop.”

He thrust his tongue inside, and she lost her mind and the ability to breathe. Gone was every other moment or thought beyond Ryder—the strong, sexy man she couldn’t see but wanted to keep tight against her.

She pushed her hips out to meet him. Wanting more. Blindly holding on to him as he delivered wicked kisses to her body.

“You like it deep, sweetness?” he asked.

Her eyes popped open, not that it made a difference since it was pitch black. But she realized she’d been grabbing his hair and throwing her hips into his tongue as if trying to ride him.

“Yes,” she admitted, and she was ready to follow up with an apology for being too rough or demanding, but Ryder spoke first.

“Good,” he growled. He pushed her further against the wall, tossed her other leg over his shoulder, and brought her center flush against his mouth. He was so strong, holding her with his big hands splayed under her ass and the wall for leverage. “Open yourself up for me so I can give it to you deep, the way you like it.”

She’d never felt so tiny or malleable before. He held her like she was nothing more than a delicious drink he was preparing to consume. She reached down and, using two fingers, opened her folds. His mouth was right there to greet her. He buried his entire face between her thighs.

He licked wildly at the sensitive bundle of nerves until she was shaking on the brink of climax. His clean-shaven jaw felt like tiny grains of soft sand gently scratching against her inner thighs as he worked her over. She spread her legs wide, trapped between his mouth and the wall behind her, while he took on the weight of her entire body and her pleasure.

He thrust inside her so thoroughly with his tongue that she rocked form the force. All she could do was clutch his hair and ride his face as that wicked tongue worked its magic. Her heels dug into his back, and the only thing she could do was chant his name and beg for more.

“Oh, God, yes. Please, please, right there,” she moaned, and Ryder just fucked her with his tongue in a way that defied the laws of physics. His strength surrounded her. His mouth consumed her. And she lost every ounce of self-control and gave it up to him.

He kept his tongue within her and shook his head, causing his firm upper lip to brush back and forth against her clit. Sparks flew behind her eyes and violent tingles shot from her toes to her fingertips.

She didn’t just fall over the edge. She was hurled off the cliff, then snapped back by an invisible rope, only to be thrown off again. Never had anything felt so intensely perfect that it bordered on pain.

“Oh, Ryder!” It was all she was able to gasp before her orgasm sent another wave of pleasure over her, hard and fast. Bright lights flashed behind her eyelids, and her entire body broke out in goose bumps, which then melted away from the heat of his touch. Her inner walls shuddered around his tongue, and he swallowed every ounce of bliss he’d coaxed from her. Her feet stung from the aftershocks and it took several tries to finally breathe right.

He let one of her legs come back down to the ground as he lingered between her thighs and delivered light kisses to her skin. He was slowing down, but she was nowhere near done. Not by a long shot.

When the sweet piece of sugary female was back to standing on two feet, Ryder checked the urge to clamp his arm around her and bring her back for another taste. The woman was pure fire and the sweetest kind of spice he’d ever experienced.

Other women he’d been with only fit the controlled man he presented to the public. They were as restrained in the bedroom as he was in a business meeting.

But Candy? She didn’t hold back. Didn’t stall. Just let him take her and taste her and damn him for wanting more. She represented the drug he couldn’t have. The habit he couldn’t feed. He’d just wanted a taste. But he had to let her go. His control was already flying out the window, and he’d never expect her to—

“Umph!”

A short burst of air left his lungs as his back hit the floor. In a single breath, the sexy brunette had pushed him back and was now straddling him, clawing at his belt.