His eyes on his task, a task that had apparently been on his mind a long while, he plucked my nipples like they were strings on his guitar. The pleasure-burn was a perfect chord, stoking more heat inside my pussy.

“Didn’t you notice the neutral color palette?” He swept me into his arms and deposited me in the center of the bed. The beige coverlet was turned back, ditto on the cream-colored sheets. The soft cotton was cool against my back.

“I guess I did.”

I came up to look at him, not wanting to waste any opportunity to appreciate him. I stared at him as he looked at me. Even half unclothed, I didn’t feel naked or exposed. I felt right with no more secrets between us.

“I want you to add whatever you want, wherever you need to make the space your own.”

He removed his sweatpants, his glorious cock jutting out as he stepped out of them. My lips parting as he climbed into the bed, I reached for the elastic that held back his hair. I wanted it gone so I could fill my fingers with the luxurious strands. Unbuttoning the top button on my jeans, he lowered the zipper. When I tossed the elastic aside, his long hair fell around us, forming a gleaming curtain.

“My apartment lacks only you to make it a home.”

“You want me to move in with you?” My voice rose with incredulousness.

“Youaremoving in with me.” He removed my jeans, my panties too, then spread apart my legs. Settling between them, he gave me a bossy look. “I love you. You love me. We lost too much time already. It’s not optional.”

“You’ve gotten authoritative since I slept with you,” I grumbled.

“I made love to you,” he said firmly, correcting me.

I didn’t disagree. I felt that way about it too. Every time we were joined, it felt like a completion. Like confirmation. Two broken hearts made whole.

“I’ve always been authoritative. It’s who I am, and you know it. You respond to it. Every command I give, you follow willingly. It’s a gift, your trust. You give it because you know I’ll take care of you. That I will handle you with care.”

His eyes glowed with certainty from within the waterfall of coppery dark hair that resettled around us. Allowing me the time to ponder what he shared, he removed the elastic from my hair and spread the golden strands out over his beige sheets.

“I do trust you,” I whispered.

Barry knew me. He understood what I’d been through and he acted on that knowledge, knowing what needed to be done. He’d won my trust with my body first, then my heart when I’d given him my love. And just moments ago, I’d given him the deepest secret of my soul.

I reached for him, framing his face. “Body, mind, and soul, you have me.”

“All of you is what I always wanted.” He swept his hot, possessive gaze over my naked form. “And all that I am is yours.”

“Make me yours.” I placed my hand on his warm skin, right over his wonderful heart. It thumped strong and steadily beneath my palm.

“It would be my pleasure.” His tone deliciously sexy, his mouth formed a dark sensual curve.

He removed my hand from his hard chest. Taking both of my hands in one of his, he lifted my arms over my head.

“Keep them there,” he said low, and pressed my hands into the mattress to show me what he wanted.

“Yes, Barry.”

My lips formed a sensual curve of their own, and he captured them with his, kissing me hard. Fusing our lips together, he urged me to open my mouth and slipped his tongue inside. With long and deep strokes, he explored, claiming every dark and secret crevice. When he broke the seal between our lips and lifted his head, I gasped for air. My heart was beating rapidly, my body flushed with heat.

He didn’t pause to appreciate how turned on he had me from just a kiss. He had a bigger goal—claiming all of me.

He shaped my breasts and they swelled, conforming to and then overflowing his hands. Skillfully, he twisted the taut tips, making them burn and my pussy ache.

I did my part, keeping my hands where he placed them. Writhing in pleasure, I lifted my back. Wanting, needing, and begging for more, I moaned when he fastened his wet mouth around my nipple, and shuddered as he drew the tingling tip deep. Ribbons of pleasure wound tighter around me. He worked me into a restless, needy frenzy, then did his wicked magic all over again on the other side.

“Barry, please.” My palms tingled. I wanted to touch him so badly. My body was drenched in heat.

“What do you want, babe?” Caging me between his sculpted arms, he gazed down at me, his eyes flashing dark and possessively.

“You. I want you.” I was so wet and needy, my clit swollen and throbbing. “I want to touch you.”