“I know,” she whispered, placing her mouth on his. He smothered his laugh and his thumb brushed her nipple, causing her to release a little growl at the back of her throat.

He lifted her shirt, pulled down the cup of her bra and finally, finally felt her soft skin. But it wasn’t nearly enough.

He wouldn’t beg, it wasn’t in his nature, but he found himself pulling back from her, his eyes searching hers. Hoping to see the yes he’d been longing for.

Blue met brown, desire skittered across her face, flushing her skin, and hope sparked and burst into flame. He couldn’t wait a nanosecond more and released the words he’d been keeping behind his teeth. “Say, yes, Ro,please. Put me out of my misery.”

Her creamy skin reddened in a blush, heating from the inside out and her eyes widened as she nodded. Nodding wasn’t enough, he needed to hear the words. “Talk to me, Ro.”

She placed her hands on his chest, ran them down his rib cage, dancing her fingers over his abs. “I want you, Muzi. I want anything and everything you can give me.”

Thank God and all his archangels, angels and cherubim. Clasping her face in his hands, he pulled her down, allowing his kiss to turn ferocious. He couldn’t hold back anymore, he intended to make Ro his.

Giving in to temptation was such a risk. Ro wasn’t just another one-night stand, a fling. She was—could become—important. He was risking his heart again and it had taken many, many beatings in the past. He should pull back, he really should, end this now...walk away. Instead of being sensible, instead of protecting himself, Muzi rolled her over so that Ro was under him. He sat back on his haunches and pulled her upright, swiftly lifting her shirt, pulling it over her head, and throwing it to the floor. He ran his finger down her chest, circling one breast, then the other. Ro reached behind her to unclasp her bra but Muzi pushed her hands away and, with one hand, flicked open the clasp.

Ro pulled her bra down and off her arms and he looked at her, taking in her sweet breasts and rose-red nipples. He touched one with the tip of his finger and watched, fascinated as it hardened under his gaze. Dipping his head, he blew on her bud and when she tensed, pulled her into his mouth. As sweet as, no, sweeter than he imagined, sheer perfection.

Muzi felt his heart bouncing off his rib cage, his lungs straining to get enough air. Sex had never affected him like this before, he’d never been compelled to immediately make her his or to slow time down to a crawl and spend eons discovering every inch of her luscious body.

He wanted to both devour and delay, ravish and ramble.

Muzi moved off her legs and slowly undid the zipper to her shorts, kissing every inch of new skin he exposed. He pushed her shorts down her legs, nipping at her hip bone and nibbling the inside of her leg before tossing them over his shoulder. She lay on his bed in a pair of pale cream panties, nearly the exact color of her skin. He allowed himself the pleasure of running his finger over her mound, between her feminine folds, and felt the dampness of her panties, reveling in the knowledge that he’d made this intriguing, lovely, complicated woman wet.

Leaving her was torture but he needed protection. Since he seldom—okay, never—brought women back here, he didn’t have a stash of condoms in his bedside drawer. Remembering that he had some in his bathroom cabinet, he pulled back, smiling at her groan of disappointment.

“I need to find some condoms, baby,” he told her before walking into his dressing room, and then his bathroom, glancing toward the huge corner shower, complete with two showerheads and a bench.

He could imagine sitting on that bench, Ro riding him...

But that was for later. He grabbed a strip of condoms and hurried back to her, momentarily stopping in the doorway to take her in. She looked both wanton and wonderful, turned on and temptation personified.

She was going to be his...

And he couldn’t wait.

Muzi tossed the condoms near her and sent her a reassuring smile as he lowered himself back onto the bed. “Does that yes still hold, gorgeous?”

“More than ever,” Ro murmured, lifting her hips in a subconscious move. “But I do wish you’d hurry up.”

“Patience, sweetheart.” Not that he had much himself, he was burning up with need. He knew that he could enter her, slide on home, but he wanted this first time to be something she’d remember for the rest of her life. And that meant doing something he’d been fantasizing about.

After dropping a hard, brief, openmouthed kiss on her lips, his mouth traveled down her body, over her abdomen and the fabric of her panties. She gasped and tensed. He pulled aside the fabric and circled her nub with his tongue, causing her to release a harsh scream.

Yeah, she liked that.

Impatient with the barriers, Muzi pushed her panties down her legs and placed his mouth on her core, pinning her to the bed with his hand on her stomach. Needing to give her more, he slid a finger inside her, then another, lifting his eyes to see her head thrashing against his pillow. She reached down and pushed his head closer to her and Muzi widened his fingers and sucked her harder, knowing she was close.

She turned statue still, released a long wail and he felt her gush over his fingers, buck against his mouth as she touched the sun and ignited.

He was torn between giving her more or watching her come down from her intense orgasm, and decided to combine both. Sitting up, he quickly opened a foil packet and rolled the condom down, his skin ultrasensitive.

It wouldn’t take much to ignite him. Hell, Ro just needed to look at him and he’d explode.

Metaphorically. And, possibly, literally.

Lifting and widening her legs, he placed himself at her entrance and commanded Ro to open her eyes. “Is this still okay, Ro?”

She smiled at him. “What would you do if I said no...that I was done?”