Sauntering over to me, he graces me with his naked chest as he strips his shirt off. “You like to tease . . . let me teach you how it’s done.”

Oh shit.

I stare up at him, trying to concentrate on my breathing before I pass out. He’s exactly the man I knew he was, and if I thought he was the one for me before, he just branded me exclusively for him.

“Show me,” I whisper and he laughs.

“Lift up your head.”

I do as he requests and soon darkness consumes my sight.

“Good girl.”

God, I love it when he calls me that.

Now having only my senses of touch and hearing to go by, the room quiets. I fear he left me strapped to his bed, that his version of teasing is leaving me alone, while I anticipate his return. Then my excitement picks up when I hear the zipper of his jeans. My back arches, and my knees fly up as I widen my legs.

“Don’t make me tie your ankles.”

His voice is even toned, no emotion. Kudos to him because if I could I’d slip my hand down myself to finish this off, from him leaving me teeter tottering on the edge.

Quickly lying my legs flat on the bed, the mattress dips and a lukewarm drizzle sprinkles from the crevice of my breasts down my stomach.

“A little bit of sweet.” The mattress dips on either side of my hips and his tongue swipes the gooey liquid off my stomach, surging a current of desire right to his target.

“Rob.” My hands tug against the restraints and my back arches further as I try to control my pleasure.

He doesn’t respond, instead, an icy cold cube hits my skin from his hot mouth. His tongue slides it up my stomach, up the curve of my breast and his mouth covers my nipple. Circling the outline of my breast with the ice cube in his mouth, I squirm.

“Remember who started this game,” he reminds me, as the ice cube melts in the middle of my breasts.

“You’re taking it too far.” I fight him, loving his arousing exploration of my body.

“Am I?” he questions, his hands and lips disappearing again. “I think you’re wrong. I didn’t even grab the whipped cream.”

A giggle leaks out of me before I can mask it. I have to show how serious I am because he needs to get a condom on and thrust into me hard right now before the most intense orgasm falters to the sidelines.

Just as I’m trying to control my imprisoned pleasure, his hard body lays on top of mine. I savor his light cologne as my breasts crush against his chest. “Next time you should listen,” he whispers in my ear and the tip of him is right at my opening.

Sliding side to side and lifting my hips, I attempt to end this game he’s enjoying playing with me. With a little finagling, I’m positive I can entice him to ditch this whole teasing business.

“I need you,” I beg and my hands lift only to remember they’re trapped.

“I know. I need you, too,” he admits. Thank the heavens. I’m making progress. “But, all in good time.”

“What?” I screech. “Rob, grab a condom and get your dick inside of me now,” I demand and he leaves my body once again. “Rob!” I scream and then Best I Am by Flaw sounds from his iPhone.

I hear a drawer open and shut. The mattress slopes again and my heart rate picks up with the hope he’s finally relenting. His hand removes the tie off of my eyes and he’s smiling down at me.

Ogling his naked body, I notice his condom is already on and he’s moving on top of me again. “You make it too hard,” he softly murmurs, reaching up and untying the rags from my wrists.

He lightly massages each wrist, bringing them back down. His fingers skim down my arms as I bring them around his neck. “Listen to these words as I fuck you, Paige.”

I sink into the mattress, hearing the lyrics to the music. Rob flips our moment from lust-filled to love in a flick of his finger to his phone. He slowly moves inside of me and I lay drowning in him and the fact his heart is opening for me.

The song is a promise of sorts. Sticking to his true colors, the song conveys he’ll do the best he can to make this work between us. It’s his own sentiment to our situation, and I restrain the tears from the trust he’s giving me after such a short time.

He rolls his hips and I melt into his hold, bringing my legs up and over his waist. Our lovemaking syncs into a harmonious tempo, and a peace flows between us.

His fingers weave through the hair on the sides of my head as he rests the weight of his body on his elbows. The honest blue eyes dig into mine with promises he doesn’t know if he can fulfill, but he desperately wants. He isn’t giving me bullshit lines about how much he loves me, or that he’ll never mess up. Instead, he’s allowing me inside of the raw creature he believes is screwed up, but for me, he’ll try to change and that’s enough. I don’t want empty promises, just truth.

My eyes flutter from the emotions and the physical satisfaction he’s handing me. The orgasm that I expected to rack my body five minutes ago hinders on the edge, ready to explode in a much more quiet way than I figured. My fingernails scratch his shoulder blades and my legs tighten around his waist as he sends me over that cliff, soaring into the air with him alongside of me.

As we come down from our fall, he lowers on me, kissing me softly and slowly. His tongue whisks in my mouth, churning my tongue with his. A soft moan releases into his mouth and his hand removes my arms off him as he entwines our fingers above my head.

He breaks our kiss and his lips travel down my jaw, but his hands stay linked with mine. “Paige,” he sighs and with only my name I know exactly what he’s conveying.

“I know.” We had a moment that neither one of us is ready to admit. The ramifications if it doesn’t work are too fearful to acknowledge what just transpired. Instead we’re content with the knowledge that our relationship is evolving faster than we thought possible. We’ve zoomed from physical attraction, to dating, to something neither one of us is very good at communicating, or feeling. I give us credit; at least we aren’t ignoring the moment between us. That has to be a start.

A half hour later, I’m still naked in his arms. His phone plays music, love songs that I never would guess he enjoyed listening to. I’m grateful there’s no sign of Chrissy or Dex yet.

“Can I ask you a question?” I sit up, thumbing through his music to pick a song.

“What?” He lays there, his fingers brushing up and down my back, igniting shivers.

“What’s your relationship with your dad?”

His hand leaves my back and a huff passes his lips. “There isn’t one. He’s an asshole.”

“Oh.” My eyes light up when I see a song. “You have Stay by Lisa Loeb?” I ask and he chuckles.

“Yeah. I hope my secret is safe with you. I don’t make a habit of showing people my music collection.”

“Promise.” I lay back down on his chest. “Why?” I ask and he stares down at me confused. “Why is your dad an asshole?”

His body stiffens and I wonder if I’ve pushed too hard, too soon.

“He cheated on my mom. After the accident, my parents’ relationship became strained. Both my parents grew up in Mill River, so, their son being a killer didn’t exactly bode well, especially at first.”

“You’re not a killer. It was an accident.” I tighten my arms around his stomach to comfort him.

“Not according to the town of Mill River, but anyway, I was too wrapped up in my own shit to really notice anything with them, or they put up one hell of an act. After my mom found my dad with her business partner slash best friend, she fell into a depression.” He sits up, resting his back along the headboard. “I think it was all too much for her at that point. I tried to help, continuing to go back home. Doing her laundry, trying to get her to eat. My aunt would call me with updates, but my mom was on a downward spiral. She wasn’t even the person I knew growing up. After the accident she would fight my battles for me, holding the ground that I was a seventeen year old that made a terrible mistake. With Carly ditching out, it seemed as though all the blame hit me, not that I didn’t welcome it.”