I drop her hands in favor of running my fingers through my hair. “It’s the only way.”

  “No, it’s not,” she says, trying to catch her breath from laughing so hard. “Your father’s right and you should tell Elena the truth.”

  I thought she’d agree with me, or at least consider my idea. But she’s dismissing it outright. “No!” I shout. Luna flinches at the volume, and I gather myself. “I can’t do that.”

  “Carter . . .” Luna starts, her voice a calming tone as though she’s trying to soothe me. “This is crazy. Things keep getting more and more out of hand. We’ve gone from a little bit of art tutoring to your asking me to marry you for real? What’s next?”

  I don’t know, but I can’t tell her that. I need to have a plan, one we can stick to. People get married for various reasons all the time, so this isn’t that crazy. I tell myself to stick to the facts . . .

  “We get married. We ride it out and see it through. After, well, we’ll figure it out. I’m desperate here, Luna. Whatever you want.”

  “You’d have to be desperate to want to marry me.”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it. Don’t put words in my mouth,” I snap back.

  “I’m gonna put my foot in your mouth,” she replies, equally snippy.

  “Some people happen to like that.”

  I grab her foot from beneath her leg, pulling it into the air, and Luna falls back to the arm of the couch. “Wha—”

  I shut her up by sucking her big toe into my mouth. I’ve never done this before, but I have to admit . . . it’s sexy as fuck.

  “Think about it. Think about us. Think about the deal and the art exhibition.” I nibble the flesh of her toe and remind her, “Think about how good we were together.”

  I’m not talking about at dinner or with Elena, and we both know it. I’ve also been thinking non-stop about what happened between Luna and me—how amazing it was and then how it ended. I was shocked and didn’t handle it well, and I would love a chance to improve on the experience. Not that I’m complaining, but Luna deserves more.

  And fuck, I want to be the one to give it to her. I’ve been feeling a bit Neanderthal about it being me. I’m not proud of it, but there’s something about being the one who she let see her in that most vulnerable moment that’s special. I’m fucking hard just thinking about it.

  “Have you used those toys you told me about since?” I ask as I push her sweats up and kiss her calf, keeping my eyes on hers.

  She bites her bottom lip, not answering, but it’s answer enough.

  “Where are they?”

  “My nightstand,” she says quietly as I lick behind her knee. That’s as far as I can go with her in these pants, and I want more.

  I stand and pull her into my arms, carrying her bridal style to the bedroom down the hall.

  She is my bride. Or she’s going to be.

  I gently lay her down on her bed and follow, arranging myself beside her so I can keep my hands on her . . . all over her as I caress and knead her calves, her thighs, her hips, and up to her breasts.

  “Carter, we should be talking about how to come clean, not . . . this.” She’s arguing, but the words are moaned and her eyes have fluttered shut.

  “We should fuck now and talk later,” I suggest against the sensitive skin of her neck. “You want this, Luna. You want me. No sense in arguing, your body’s giving you away.” With my hands under her shirt, I pluck her breasts through her bra and she arches into my touch.

  “It’s a biological reaction,” she says. “It’d happen for anyone.”

  “You think so? What we did, what we’re doing now . . . you think it’s like this for everyone?” I’ve pushed her bra up, letting her full breasts free, and I lick her peaked nipple, moaning against her delicious flesh.

  She cries out, grabbing my head and holding me to her for more. As if I have any plan to stop.

  I’m not lying or telling her sweet nothings to get her to let me fuck her again. Luna might not realize how special what we did was, but I do. Sex that good is a once in lifetime experience. I think that’s part of why I was so upset that she didn’t tell me about her virginity. I felt like I’d pushed her too far, too fast, or maybe gone too hard on her.

  But finally, I realized that sweet, innocent Luna Starr might just be my match. And no matter how dangerous that is, it’s a rare gift I won’t waste.

  I pull her shirt over her head, and she helps get her bra off while I move down to her sweats, teasing them over her hips as I lay kisses to her belly. “I want to see you. I want to touch and taste every inch of you, find every spot that drives you wild and tease it until you’re begging me to fill you.”

  “Uh-huh.” Though it’s an easy agreement, it’s hard won and I know it.

  As I get her pants down, I realize . . . “You don’t have on any underwear?” I look up her body to see her smiling at me. “You little teasing slut, there was only one thin layer between me and heaven this whole time?”

  I throw her leg over me so that I’m centered between her legs and lay a long lick over her seam, tasting the juices pouring from her pussy. I keep licking as I tell her, “You left your panties on my table when you left. Did you realize that?” She moans, her fingers sliding into my hair and scratching my scalp as she grips my head. “I jacked off with them, remembering this tight pussy clamping down on me and how beautiful you looked as you came for me.”

  “Oh!” she shouts as I slide two fingers into her slippery core.

  “You like that image, Luna? You driving me so fucking crazy that I milked myself with your silky panties wrapped around my cock?”

  “Show me.”

  “Good girl, I want you to tell me what you want.” I’m praising her as I already move to do her bidding, standing to pull my shirt over my head and shove my shoes off so I can kick out of my pants. I want skin to skin this time, all of Luna and all of me.

  On the bed, she’s rolled to her side, looking at me through hazy eyes that drop to my cock as I take myself in hand with long, slow strokes. A bead of precum leaks at the top, covering my hand, and Luna licks her lips hungrily.

  “Tell me what you want, baby. You wanna suck me?”

  In answer, Luna sits up so that she’s on the edge of the bed, her legs on either side of mine. I thrust into my hand, showing her up-close what I want to do to her. As my cock peeks out of my fist, she sticks her tongue out a tiny bit, lapping at the precum like a hungry kitten. I grip her head, holding her still. “Stick your tongue out.” She does so, and I rub myself over her pink tongue, tip to throat, slow and easy, teasing us both.

  She swallows reflexively, trying to take me deeper. “Take my mouth,” she whimpers.

  I give her what she wants, fucking her face slow and deep as I watch her closely. She moves a hand to her glasses, and I freeze, holding her at the base of my cock. She looks up at me, her eyes watering behind the lenses, and I remind her, “Glasses on. I want you to see what you do to me, how fucking crazy you make me, Luna.”

  She nods, her nose burying in my trimmed hair, and only then do I release her. I expect her to need a second—to catch her breath or maybe decide if that was too much—but she doesn’t lose contact with my cock, immediately finding a rhythm and pace that brings me to the edge faster than she should be able to.

  She takes me in and out of the wet heat of her mouth, slurping on me obscenely. She wraps one hand around my base to work in tandem with her mouth, and then the other hand disappears between her legs. She begins to moan, the vibrations driving me crazy, but not nearly as sexy as the idea that sucking on my cock has Luna so turned on that she needs to touch herself.

  I lean back, giving her more of my cock, but mostly so that I can watch her touch herself. When her hips start bucking, I warn, “Don’t come. Not yet. I’ll make it worth it.”

  She pouts, a sound deep in her throat working over my cock, but she moves her hand away from her pussy. I reach down for it and bring her fingers to my mouth, sucking the cream from them with a groan. She’s so delicious that I’m instantly on edge and have to pull my cock from her mouth.

  “Wha—” she says, her eyes jumping to mine.

  “We come together.” I shudder even as I make the vow, my body in sharp disagreement with my mind. I bend down to kiss her, sliding my tongue against hers as I cup her face. “Lie back. My turn to drive you wild.”

  Nerves flash in her eyes for a split second, but then she smiles and moves back on the bed. She lays out like Snow White—head on the pillow, hands crossed on her belly, and feet together. That’s not gonna work for long, but I leave it alone while I open the drawer of her nightstand to see what type of fun we’re going to have.

  Dildos, vibes, and lubes . . . oh, my! I smile evilly as I hear Luna’s voice singing sweetly in my head.

  “Fuck, my sweet girl has a naughty side, doesn’t she?”

  Luna blushes, her eyes dropping in embarrassment, but I reach over and lift her chin with a finger. “I fucking love it, Luna. I’m glad you know your body. I want to know it too.”

  Her eyes meet mine this time. “The purple one on my clit . . . is my favorite.”

  Better. Bolder. Luna has a goddess inside her. It’s my job to help Luna release her into the world with a lover, not only on her own.

  I press the button on the side of the purple rose-shaped vibrator, and it comes to life with a low, almost soundless hum that I can feel in my hand. I press it again, and the vibrations get faster and faster, sometimes in a rhythm and sometimes full-throttle. Oh, this is going to be fun.

  “Butterfly your legs,” I order. She puts her feet together, letting her knees fall open to expose herself to my gaze. I lie on the bed between her feet, supporting myself on my elbow so I can have both hands free.

  I start with the vibe on low, touching it over her skin. Slowly, I work my way to her breasts, and she arches, wanting the vibe there. I press the button, increasing the vibration as I touch the edge to one nipple. The vibe sucks her nipple into the little orifice at the center of the rose, and Luna’s breath hitches. I use my free hand to pluck and play with the other nipple, not wanting it to feel left out.

  When she’s ready, I blow gently over her clit, not touching her with anything other than my breath. “I wonder if I could get you to come like this . . . without even touching your sweet pussy. What do you think?”

  Luna squirms, trying to lift her hips to my mouth, but with me lying over her hip, she’s pinned down. “I think you’re evil.” But then she remembers she can tell me what she wants, that I want her to. “Lick me, suck me, use the rose on me . . . something.”

  I want her on my mouth, but I promised her toys, so I turn the vibe back down to low before pressing it over her clit. It’s torturously not enough and I know it, but her pussy pulses beneath the purple toy, spilling more of her juice. That I can taste. Leaving the toy in place, I slide my stiffened tongue inside her, fucking her with it as I increase the intensity of the vibe.

  I work her that way, alternating my tongue and my fingers in tandem with the vibe, taking her to the edge time after time until she’s a puddled mess, begging for release. I’m humping the bed beneath me, my dick desperate to get inside her.

  I can’t wait any longer. Neither can she. I’m so close to the point of no return that it’ll barely take a stroke and I’ll probably spill all over her belly, and I can have her coming in a heartbeat too.

  She holds her hands out, a clear invitation of what she wants.

  “Are you sure?” I ask. One last chance before I take her.

  She nods, and with me lined up with her pussy, she reaches one hand down, guiding me in. I take it slow, not because Luna needs the adjustment time but because I want to feel her envelop every inch of me in her heat. This is a sensation I’ve never felt before, a loss of my own virginity of a sort.

  With Luna. It seems right that it’s with her.

  When I bottom out, I pull back before sliding in again. Slowly, we pick up the pace, and at some point, her legs end up on my shoulders. Bit by bit, I lean forward, watching her for signs that it’s too much, but she must’ve been telling the truth about doing yoga because her legs are up by her ears and I’m pounding into her raised pussy in minutes.

  She tilts her head back and pleads, “Hand necklace.”

  “Goddamn it, Luna,” I grunt. But I wrap a hand around her neck gently. “This what you want?”

  “Choke me, please.” She smiles as her eyes clear. Luna might not be experienced, but she knows what she wants.

  I squeeze gently and feel the corresponding flutter against my cock. Wanting to try something more, I keep one hand around her throat and smack her ass with my other.

  “Oh!” she cries out with the sharp sound. I do it again and again, each time the cry becoming more of a guttural moan. Luna’s going wild beneath me. She thrashing her head, and I have to press harder to hold her in place. Her calves are digging into my shoulders for leverage as she bucks, making her ass slap my hips as she takes my cock deep. I wrap an arm over her legs, pinning her there, and take control.

  I fuck her hard, legs locked and throat pinned, totally at my mercy.

  “Do you want to come, Luna?” I grit out through clenched teeth.

  “Yes! Please, can I?”

  “Good girl,” I praise at her remembering to ask. “Can I come too? I promised you we’d come together, and I’m about to fill this pussy up with my cum for real.” Fresh tingles run from my balls up to my spine. “I’ve never done that, Luna. I want to . . . with you.”

  I want her to understand that this is special to me too. She is special to me.

  “Together,” she agrees.

  We fight to get there, and when she’s right on the edge again, I hold her impaled with my cock bottomed out inside her, making shallow thrusts, and manage to grunt out, “Say you’re mine, Luna. Say you’ll marry me.”

  “Yes!” she screams as the flutters of her pussy surround me. I’m not sure if she’s answering me or crying out her pleasure, but I’m going to hold her to it. Either way, I can’t hold back any longer and I spill inside Luna. Hot spurts of cum jet from my cock, and the idea that I’m marking her is ridiculously sexy to a deep, dark, possessive part of my soul.

  It might not be right, but it’s the truth.

  As Luna comes back to consciousness from her orgasm, I keep pumping into her, wanting to keep my cum deep. “Goddamn, Luna. You’re fucking amazing.”

  She sags back, taking her legs from my shoulders to let them hang down limp and flopping her arms onto the bed. I trace my hands over her skin, petting her all over. When my now-soft cock slips from her, I use my fingers to push our combined cum back into her.

  “You’re a slippery mess,” I tell her. She squirms, probably thinking it’s some sort of insult, and I swat her hip. “Sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. Your pussy covered in our cum, white cream spilling out but your pussy sucking it back in when I push my thumb inside you. You want it there, don’t you?”

  I glance up, and she nods silently, her eyes bright with mischief.

  I whisper, “Want to know a secret?” I don’t wait for her to answer, just tell her, “I want it there too. My cum marking you and then drying over your thighs when it runs down your legs. I want to rub it into your skin like lotion so you know you’re mine.”

  She laughs lightly. “Yours? I’m not yours, Carter. That was just . . . you know, dirty talk.”

  In an instant, I slam my fingers inside her, impaling her hard and deep and fast, and lean over her, getting right in her face, nose to nose. “Mine. You said yes, Luna. You’re going to marry me.”

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY

  LUNA

  What the hell? Was Carter serious? He couldn’t have been serious! It was sex talk, that’s it.

  But the stone-cold stare in his eyes tells a different story. He looks dangerously serious, especially as he starts pumping his fingers into me again.

  “You said yes.” Pump. “We’re getting married.” He wiggles his fingers deep inside me. “Say it,” he orders, finding a new rhythm.

  “But—” I cry.

  I can’t marry him. That’s crazy. I also can’t come again, not so soon. But Carter doesn’t agree with either option.

  “You can, and you will, Luna.”

  That’s the last he says of it, thankfully, because when he gives me one more earth-shattering orgasm, I think I would’ve agreed to anything he said in that moment.

  Quack like a duck and call me Spanky!

  Deal, Spanky. Shucky-ducky quack-quack!

  Paint a landscape with the brush clenched in your asshole!

  Sure thing. I’m your girl. I gotchu, no problem!

  Marry him . . . fuck my life, I would have said yes.

  Afterward, I’m toast. Like call me a croissant because I roll over to my side, curl up, and pass out. Somewhere in my unconsciousness, I know Carter is lying behind me, his arm thrown over me and his fingers tracing gentle circles across my belly beneath the blankets he’s pulled over us.

  That’s how I know this is probably all a dream, anyway. Carter Harrington is not petting my round belly after proposing mid-sex. I’ll wake up in the morning alone, the way I always am. I’ll get up alone, eat breakfast alone, and go to the museum and then later, work on Alphena . . . alone.

  And that’s okay. I really don’t mind it . . . usually. Even so, I snuggle into Carter’s embrace, enjoying this dream a little longer.

  I wake up to near-blinding sunlight streaming in the window. I stretch out like a cat, feeling deliciously rested.

  Man, I slept like the dead last night. And those dreams?

  I can’t believe I concocted a whole scenario of Carter proposing for real and then fucking me until I said yes.

  My brain is such a strange place, so full of strange ideas. It’s a good thing they’re private because I would be so embarrassed to share that one with Samantha. She’d probably try to write a paper on my delusionary imagination.