Forgiveness.

But could he forgive himself? Every mile he’d driven away that night had made it harder to contemplate going back. Each day had made him more certain it was best he stayed away until he was worthy and had something to offer other than just his love. Every time he looked at Ty, he was reminded of the mistake he’d made, everything he’d missed, and how he’d left his girl unprotected and she’d be taken by another man.

Never again.

He eased her down on the bed and stretched out beside her, propping his head up with his hand as he caressed her beautiful body. His hand dipped into her narrow waist and then out again over the curve of her hip, and then over the soft skin of her thigh.

“Are you trying to drive me crazy?” She slid a hand over his shoulder, cupping the back of his neck to draw him down to her lips. And then all thoughts of being slow and gentle faded away beneath the primal need to take her.

He rolled until he lay on top of her, one leg tucked between her thighs, pressed against the moist heat of her pussy. With his forearms on either side of her head, he devoured her mouth, drinking her down as if dying of thirst. Evie rocked her hips against his shaft, each small motion a sweet, painful pleasure.

“Shirt,” she panted, reaching beneath the press of his body. “Off.”

“Panties. Now. Or I’ll tear them from you.” He sat up and tore his shirt over his head, then helped her slide her panties over her hips. For a moment, he couldn’t move, drinking in her beauty, from her soft curves, to the red-gold curls at the juncture of her thighs, to her lush breasts tipped with dusky rose nipples, to the face that had haunted his dreams.

Evie blushed and turned away, her hands coming up and over her breasts. “Zane…”

Gently, he tugged her hands away. “You’re beautiful, sweetheart. Let me look.”

Her blush spread down her neck, teasing the crescents of her breasts. On impulse, he leaned forward and drew a nipple into his mouth, licking and sucking the hard peak, his hand caressing her softness until her blush had gone and she writhed on the bed beside him. Her fingers tangled in his hair and she pulled him down, sliding under his body until he had to drop his weight to his arms for fear of crushing her.

“I never really got to look at you before.” He pressed a kiss to each of her breasts and then feathered his lips down her body, tasting the salt on her skin, inhaling the light floral fragrance of her perfume. Her hands clutched his hair as he followed the dip in her stomach, and when he circled her belly button with his tongue, she trembled.

His cock protested its confinement when he reached her mound, but this was about Evie, her pleasure, her need. He slid down the bed and Evie widened her legs to accommodate his shoulders, her heels digging firmly into the mattress, her hips rocking up to the heat of his mouth. But he wanted to draw it out, savor her. So he pressed a kiss to the soft skin of her inner thigh and continued his descent, kissing his way down her long lean legs until he reached her feet.

“Don’t you dare.” Evie pushed herself up on her elbows, her beautiful face flushed with desire. “You know how ticklish my feet are.”

Yes, he knew. He remembered everything about her.

“Zane!” She shrieked and twisted when he ran his nails along the sole of her foot, and then she laughed—really laughed. It was a sound he’d never thought he’d hear again, and he pushed himself up to kiss her.

“You’re different.” Evie stroked her hands over the bunched muscles in his shoulders and down his back. “Aside from being bigger and stronger and likely able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, you seem more … self-assured.”

“I know what I want.”

“What do you want?” She licked her lips and all thoughts of taking her slowly flew out the window.

“You.” He claimed her mouth in a kiss that served only to heighten his need. She tasted like peppermint, fresh and clean, a contrast to the thoughts he had about what he wanted to do to her while he had her in his bed.

Her fingers stroked over his chest and around to his back. She was glorious beneath him, her lips pink and swollen from his kisses, her fiery hair spread over the pillow, her nipples rosy and peaked, rising toward him with her panting breaths. She dropped her hands to the fly of his jeans and he hissed in a breath when she ripped it open.

Fuck. He needed her bad. He rolled, bringing her with him, until she was lying on top, her soft, sweet body wedged between his thighs. “Touch me.”

She sat up and eased his jeans over his hips, following them down his legs until he kicked them off, then kissing her way back up. With a grin, she wrapped her hand around the base of his cock. “How do you want to be touched?”

“Suck me, sweetheart.” He smoothed his hand through the silken strands of her hair. “Take me in that hot, wet mouth. Suck me deep. Make me come.”

And that was pretty much the end of slow, soft, and gentle. But she didn’t seem to mind.

“I always wanted to taste you,” she said, dropping her head to take him in her mouth. His girl didn’t tease. She tongued his length, hard and fast, then she followed her taste with a lick over his crown before she taking him in deep. Zane bucked his hips, tightened his grip on her hair, holding her still as he jerked and plundered her mouth.

Undaunted by his control, she sucked with a steady rhythm, her mouth moving up and down his shaft, her tongue swirling over tip and base, while one hand cupped and squeezed his balls. When she slid her tongue over his opening, he clutched the duvet and groaned. Christ. If she kept that up, he would lose it before they even started.

“Need to be inside you.”

“Need to finish what I started.”

He felt the vibration of her voice through his cock and he almost spilled into her hot, wet mouth.

“No.” Gently, he tugged her head back and she released him with a soft sigh. He grabbed a condom from his night table and sheathed himself, then settled her on top as he stretched out on the bed, knees on either side of his hips, the head of his cock at her entrance.

“Zane.” She rocked against his grip until he slowly lowered her down, inch by inch over his throbbing shaft. She felt so good. So right. So hot and wet he could barely hold on. He pulled her down for a hard kiss, his lips demanding all she had and more.

“More.” She ground against him, and Zane thrust his hips up, driving deep until a groan ripped from her throat. He liked that she told him what she wanted, but even more that she did what he asked.

“Touch yourself. Your nipples. I want to see your pleasure.”

Evie sat back and cupped her breasts as she rode him, pinching her nipples until they were tight, hard peaks. How many nights had he fantasized about her as he stroked himself to release, never imagining she would be even more beautiful than the memory, or that it would feel so right? When he felt her pussy clench around him, he feathered his fingers over her clit and teased her until she moaned.

“Harder. Don’t stop.”

“Come for me, Evie.” He pinched her clit and she sucked in a sharp breath, her inner walls gripping him hard, and then she came with a low, guttural groan, shuddering around him. Too much. He couldn’t wait. Still buried inside her, he flipped them over and slid one hand under her thigh, lifting her right leg over his shoulder, spreading her wide.

“Oh, God … I can’t … not again.”

“Yes, again. Come with me.” He hammered into her, his muscles taut to the point of breaking, sweat beading on his brow. And when he felt her ripple around him, heard her moan of pleasure, he gave in to his need. The climax tore through him, arching his back as he pumped deep inside her, his senses filled with her beautiful face, the scent of her sex, the slickness of her skin.