I rip the seam of the dress open. She squeals but doesn’t move as I rip the other side open, too, all the way up to the sleeve.

Not enough.

“What are you doing?” she whispers, breathless. “The dress—”

Digging my fingers into the opening, I rip the sleeve off, then pull it down and off her arm. Much better. I deal with the other one the same way and tear the dress off her.

She’s breathing hard, lips parted, the flush on her cheeks telling me she’s not scared. She’s excited.

And it makes me even harder. It’s a loop of desire. Her desire feeds mine, my cock swelling to the point of bursting and my balls growing heavy and taut, and a light flush spreads over her pretty tits, the nipples erect and dark. The scent of her arousal fills my senses. She lifts a hand, and I grab her wrists and pin them back over her head.

A tiny flare of anger flashes over her face, and then more arousal, and holy fuck, my cock twitches and leaks inside my pants.

I can’t. Hold back. Much longer.

“Take them off.” She moans when I bend over her and capture one nipple with my teeth, then soothe it with my tongue. “Your pants.”

“Tell me you want my cock in your mouth,” I rasp, switching to the other pretty breast and its sweet nipple. “In your pussy, so deep you’ll feel it everywhere.”

She gasps. Releasing her wrists again, I lick a trail between her tits down to her bellybutton, then lower. I press my mouth to the black lace of her panties, on her mound, and inhale her scent. Her breath hitches, and her hips roll, the pressure of my lips there teasing but not enough to get her off.

“Tell me, Ray. Tell me you want it.”

“I…” She squirms. “I want it.”

I grin. That’s it, baby. Work for it. Because deep inside you do want me. You do trust me. And I fucking need you.

Snagging the black lace of her panties with my teeth, I drag them down, glancing up at her as I do so. Her heavy-lidded expression captivates me. Her tongue darts out to lick her lips and Jesus Christ, I’m on overload. So it’s no surprise her panties go the way of the dress.

Easy. A quick flick over each hip and the tiny bit of lace holding them together is history. A fraction of a second later, I have them off her and push her legs apart.

“How badly do you want it?”

“Storm…” Frustration twists her pretty face. “Come on.”

“Say it.”

But then she turns the tables on me, because this is Ray we’re talking about. Always catching me off guard, making me hurt so good.

“I want you,” she whispers. “You, Storm.”

Shit, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go down. It’s her walls I’m trying to tear down. Not let her pull down mine.

You have me, Ray.

Suddenly, I can’t stand teasing her anymore. Can’t stand holding back and having any damn barrier left between our bodies. Frantic, I sit back and unbutton my pants, push them down and off me together with my briefs. I wrestle with my shoes and socks, and finally, mercifully everything is off.

My clothes drop to the floor, and I turn back to her, leaning over her. She’s so damn pretty. I wanted to eat up her pussy, then have her ride me again, but my balls are drawn up tight and my cock is so hard it hurts. The pressure is cranked up so high I might come before I even enter her.

No fucking way that’s happening. I’m gonna just—

She slips her arms around my neck, brushes her lips over mine and cants her hips upward, sliding against my thighs. One leg curls around my hip, the heel of her shoe driving into my muscle, a slight sting—and the head of my dick slips between her warm folds, swallowed into heat. A velvet vice, tightening around my cock, and the world around me fades.

It’s me and her, my body fitting into her body, our mouths coming together, crushing and melding and tasting. It feels so good. Mind-blowing. I’m doing this to prove something to her, but I can’t remember what it was. As I drive deeper into her, and she moans in my mouth, as I thrust faster, the need to come is short-circuiting my brain.

Shit. This is insane. Never felt so good before. Never—

“God.” Her body arches into mine, her hard nipples pushing into my chest, and she ripples around my dick. She cries out, her hips rolling, and my whole body goes taut and tight.

“Fuck. Oh fuck.” A tiny part of my brain that’s still working rings the alarm. No condom. Fuck, no condom, no wonder it feels so good. “Goddammit.”

In the last second, I pull out of her, in one long drag that has me groaning and clenching my jaw so hard it creaks. Then everything goes white. My dick jerks, and I come like a goddamn fountain, my spunk splashing her breasts and belly, her shoulders and the covers.

Christ. Fuck. God.

I shake my head slowly from side to side, my vision hazy. She smiles up at me, her eyes bright, and I find myself smiling back.

Whoa.

How can sex with this girl get better every time? And even worse, why do I want to take her in my arms afterward and sleep with her taste in my mouth and her face pressed to my chest? It makes no sense at all.

But God, I want it. I want her like I never wanted anyone or anything before in my life. The realization is a punch to the gut, and I stare at her, frozen. I don’t just want her, dammit. It’s more than that, it’s—

The world goes bang.

Things rattle, the walls tremble, and something slams into my back. I drop on top of Ray to protect her from whatever the hell life has thrown our way this time as water sprays down on us from the sprinklers that just kicked in.

Fucking figures.

Just when I thought I was about to understand this mess.

***

“Storm. Storm!” She’s shaking me by the shoulders, her voice rising into a panicky pitch. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” I blink and lift my head, then try a push-up, since I’m crushing her to the mattress. My ears are ringing. What the hell just happened? “You?”

Her hands lift to my face and rest on my cheeks, warm and small and light. “Fine.”

Ungluing myself from her pretty body, my cooling cum smeared between us, I sit up. My back stings as I shift to take stock of her. No missing limbs. No blood and gore. Her creamy skin looks unblemished.

But the ringing in my ears only grows louder, and the room dims again.

“Storm.” She’s shaking me again, dammit. “There’s a man at the door.”

What man? The question spins in my mind, but she says nothing and I’m not sure I asked it. Drawing myself back from the dark is hard. Feels like I’m lying in quagmire, the mud sucking at my limbs, at my head.

Bracing my hands on the mattress, by her sides, I try to sit up and I can’t. The copper tang of blood fills my nostrils.

Move, I think. Move, goddammit.

Blood. Gore. Noise. Pain. Danger. Over and over again, twisting into my life, snagging around my neck, pulling me down.

Shit. One more try and I sit back on my heels, my breath coming in harsh pants. Something warm is trickling down my back. Blood. No wonder I thought I could smell it.

Raylin leans back on the bed, covering her breasts with her hands. She’s staring over my shoulder, her eyes narrowed.

“Well, this is awkward,” a familiar male voice says from behind me. “Won’t you introduce us, Storm?”

“Rook.”

The bed dips when he sits down beside me and his face enters my field of vision. “In the flesh. Hawk told me you were on your way. Couldn’t wait to get the party started, could you?”

“Fuck you,” I spit at him, and he doesn’t even flinch. That’s what happens when someone knows you since you were at toddler. So much harder to intimidate them.

Damn Rook. Despite the fact his hair has been shaved to a dark shadow on his skull, in his pressed gray suit and polished shoes he’s every inch the successful business man.