Moving down to her breasts, he lazily loved her, pausing to kiss, suckle and tease.

Finally he lifted himself, shifting over to drag the trunk toward the bed. Cool air rushed in between them, but seconds later, he was back, covering her, warming her. In his hand he held a condom package.

She took it from him and he kissed her once again, his hands stroking the length of her body, pausing to roll a nipple or tease her belly button. Pulling back from him, she used her teeth to rip the package, withdrawing the circular condom. “I can put this on with my mouth,” she teased.

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. “I think you better use your hand if you want this to last.”

Giving him a mischievous smile, she placed the condom on the head of his cock and slowly rolled it down his length. He was the perfect size for her. Big and thick, but not porno monstrous. She loved the feel of him in her hand, even with the condom on.

Erik pushed her back and settled himself between her legs, sliding himself back and forth in the slickness of her body. His lips caught hers again and he whispered, “I could fall in love with a woman like you.”

He lifted her thighs and tilted his hips before sliding inside her, burying himself to the hilt.

“Oh,” she breathed as he filled her. It wasn’t just the physical act of taking her, but the words. Again, his honeyed words wrapped round her, sweet nothings whispered in the act of passion. But somehow they seemed to be more. She wanted them to be. She needed them to fill the small box of hope inside her heart.

He began to move, eyes closed.

The sensation was so good, she closed hers, too. She lost herself in the moment, his hands clasping her hips, his breathing ragged in her ear as he dropped tiny kisses sporadically on the shoulder that had slipped out of the pajama top. Emma lifted her knees, hugging his lean hips, and rode with him toward that beautiful pinnacle.

“So...so...” he panted, kissing her jaw before capturing her lips again. “So good.”

He increased the tempo and she lifted her bottom so he touched that spot. Inside, she felt the tension build, gathering deep in her pelvis. She surrendered to it, letting it rip through her, washing over her with tingling warmth.

Seconds later, Eric joined her, his guttural cry in her ear as he pumped into her.

Finally, he collapsed atop her, breathing hard, kissing her shoulder, whispering things about how good she was, how tight, how perfect, how sexy. Emma wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to her.

Their hearts beat together as time slowed and the chill around them permeated.

Erik lifted his head and studied her.

“What?” she asked after several seconds.

“I’m amazed by this. Sounds silly but I never planned on feeling so...so...right with you.”

“Why not? Because of Alexis?”

Erik swallowed. “Maybe. I don’t know. I guess I just never imagined that you were a possibility. I always liked you, but never allowed myself to see you as anything other than what you were to me—a cute friend of my sister’s. But you’re so much more and it’s like stumbling over a winning lottery ticket. Where there once was not much, now there is such possibility.”

Emma watched him, wondering what he meant.

She’d said this was supposed to be a one-night thing, a crazy act they’d never discuss again, but maybe he saw there could be something more. She wanted that. Oh, how she wanted that, but she didn’t want to be that kind of girl. The kind that said one thing to get what she wanted but changed the game to suit herself later. She’d never press him for any kind of relationship if he saw this only as a hookup.

Erik withdrew from her, reaching down to deal with the spent condom. This time he was the one padding to the bathroom. Seconds later, he returned, handing her a length of the precious toilet paper so she could do cleanup. Afterward, Erik tugged on his socks and T-shirt, handed her the pajama bottoms and pulled her to him. Flipping the blankets back atop them, he sank into the lumpy mattress, settling her beside him.

After a few minutes of contemplating the darkness, Emma asked, “What did you mean by all that?”

“Hmm?”

“That there is ‘possibility’?”

“Oh, well...” He hesitated as if he wasn’t even sure what he’d meant. “I know we kinda agreed that this would be a one-time thing, but...”

“You want more?” She took the hope out of her voice. She didn’t want to sway him, didn’t want him to know how much she wanted him to say yes.