One of my favorite dance songs came on next, “No Lie” by Dua Lipa and Sean Paul. Kendall and I shared a high five because we both loved the track and then started moving with even more energy. It was a sexy freaking song and the chorus was the perfect rhythm of beats to pop your hips to.

  I was so lost in the music, the feel of hands on my hips startled me, as did the heat at my back. But just as quickly, the scent of his cologne relaxed me, and I turned my head to the side and up to find Rafe. He moved his body into me, my ass to his crotch; his fingers tightened on my hips, and then he swayed his hips to the rhythm of the song.

  Rafe Whitman was sexy-dancing with me.

  I sucked in a breath, overtaken by the sensual spell he cast over me. The man could dance. He had rhythm. That said very good things about what he could do with that rhythm in bed.

  His lips brushed the side of my neck as his fingers squeezed my hips with every sway to the left. His chest rose and fell and I could feel his breathing grow fast and shallow in line with mine. My nipples were taut beneath my bra, a pulse throbbed between my legs, and I was half convinced that if I didn’t get him alone soon I’d have sex with him right there on the dance floor.

  He kissed my neck again and then trailed his lips up toward my ear. “Do you have any idea how sexy you are?” Rafe’s question was hoarse with need. “Or how much I want you?”

  My mouth felt dry with thirst for him and I whirled in his arms, my hands resting on his chest as he gripped my hips again. Those denim-blue eyes were dark beneath the dim lights of the bar, but I could see the harshness etched into his features. The harshness of need. I shivered, fevered, my pulse racing so fast, I felt a little mindless. “We need to go back to my apartment. Right now.”

  Rafe’s nostrils flared. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  • • •

  I’d barely gotten my apartment door open when he was on me. Rafe’s kisses were fervid, deep, so damn sexual every part of me was electrified. We practically fell inside and I slammed the door shut with my foot because my hands were occupied beneath Rafe’s T-shirt.

  His skin was overheated and smooth, and I loved following the dips and curves of his muscular abs.

  He groaned into my mouth as we stumbled backward toward my bed. Rafe tried to fumble with the complicated ties on the back of my dress and I broke out of the kiss to shake my head. “No time.” I needed him in me now.

  I’d love to say that our first time was slow and tender, but there were months of pent-up sexual tension bursting at the seams between us. When I fell onto my bed and Rafe came down over me, so big and masculine and clearly wanting me, I just needed to be filled by him. To satisfy the hunger that had yawned between us for weeks.

  Rafe was on board with that.

  I pulled up the skirt of my dress as Rafe fell between my legs, and I bent my knees to hug his hips with my inner thighs. He held my sultry gaze as his fingers slipped beneath my underwear to try me. That flame in his eyes burned brighter at finding me wet. He grunted, and then he tore the lacy undies down my legs. I kicked them free, thighs spreading for him again.

  The sound of Rafe pulling down the zipper on his jeans caused another flip of arousal deep in my belly. “Hurry,” I gasped, up on my elbows to watch him as he yanked his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans. He pushed them and his underwear just far enough down to release himself. “Oh.” A thick, throbbing erection of above-average size strained toward his stomach as he yanked a condom out of his wallet.

  Watching him roll it on, I started to second-guess whether he would fit even as I squirmed with anticipation.

  “Of course you’re hung like a horse,” I commented breathlessly. “You never do anything in half measures.”

  Rafe fought his laughter as he crawled back over me and pinned my wrists to the bed. I moaned at the sensation of being held down as he nudged between my legs. No man had ever made me feel so fragile and feminine as Rafe did, but I found I actually liked the sensation in bed. I liked our differences a lot.

  His amusement disappeared at my obvious arousal, and he pushed inside, holding my gaze.

  My desire for him eased his way considerably, but I still felt an exquisite burn of pressure as he slowly filled me.

  “Fuck.” He squeezed his eyes closed as if he was in pain. “You feel amazing.”

  Then he retreated and the friction was delicious. “Rafe,” I gasped. “Faster, harder.”

  He took direction extremely well.

  His grip on my wrists tightened as he bowed his head into my neck and began to thrust.

  My thighs squeezed against his hips, the friction of his jeans against my bare skin erotic beyond bearing, as that coiling tension inside me sprang so tight with only a few drives of his cock inside me. I came on a loud, shocked cry of sensation as my inner muscles clenched and unclenched around him.

  “Star, Star, fuck,” he panted, and then he stiffened seconds before he groaned in release, his hips shuddering between my thighs.

  My inner muscles continued to flutter around him as I stared up at the ceiling in disbelief.

  I’d come too quickly, but I’d come hard.

  Still, it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough.

  “I want you again,” I whispered.

  Rafe released my wrists and I lowered my arms to slip my hands under his T-shirt, finding his skin fevered and slightly damp. He lifted his head, bracing himself on his hands to hold his body off me, and he slowly slid out. I moaned, and his expression turned searing.

  “Give me a minute. And then we’re doing it right the second time.”

  I smiled saucily. “The first time felt pretty damn right to me.”

  He grinned before pressing a sweet kiss to my lips. Then he said, “I have fantasized about kissing every inch of your body for weeks. We didn’t even get our clothes off.”

  “It was still hot.”

  “I think the last time I came that fast I was a teenager,” he joked. “So yeah, it was hot.” He rolled off me. I sat up to watch him cross the room and disappear into my bathroom to deal with the condom. When he returned, I took in his mussed hair and flushed skin and desperately wanted to see all of him naked. I pushed off the bed, the skirts of my dress falling down, and as I stood, I realized I hadn’t even taken off my shoes.

  Rafe watched me prowl toward him with a hooded gaze that promised he was about to devour me. I shivered, quite happy to be devoured. But first things first.

  “Take your clothes off,” I ordered quietly as I stopped so there was enough space between us that I could enjoy the entire show.

  Rafe obliged. He whipped his T-shirt off first. Then his shoes and socks. His eyes never left mine as he pushed his jeans and boxers down his legs. He was hard again as he kicked himself free of his clothes. Standing before me, completely unabashed by his nakedness, he allowed me to look my fill. I took a moment to sear the sight of him into my memory. Such a broad chest and shoulders, so defined and muscular and masculine. Thick thighs and well-formed calves. Long, long legs.

  My heart raced at the sight of him. I’d never dated a guy who looked after his body quite like Rafe looked after his, and while I’d never considered myself a shallow person, I was most definitely delighted by the fruits of his labor.

  “Now it’s your turn.”

  I shook. Not with sexual nerves. I liked sex and had few hang-ups about it. Besides, we’d already popped the lid on that. No, I shook with nerves because taking it slow allowed my mind to slow. To remember that this wasn’t just some guy I was attracted to and using to scratch an itch.

  This was Rafe.

  And I wanted what we had to be something more.

  For the first time since my first time, I wanted to make love.

  Wow.

  Big night.

  With trembling fingers, I untied the ties of my dress, the ones Rafe had trouble with earlier, and let it fall to the floor. I stepped out of it in only my underwear and my wedged heels. Rafe’s eyes mapped every inch of me. He swallowed hard. I deliberately turned around as I bent over to take off my shoes and Rafe groaned loudly. When I straightened, I held his eyes as I unclipped my bra and let it drop. Finally, I took out the pins holding my hair up, dropping them to the floor without a care, as I shook my hair until it fell down my back.

  I was totally naked and vulnerable to him.

  Rafe took his time studying me. His cock strained harder toward him, and there was that sexy but also adorable flush high on his cheeks. When his blue eyes met mine, I inhaled sharply at the raw need in them.

  “My fantasy doesn’t even begin to live up to the reality of you,” he confessed in that low, rumbling voice. “I’ve never laid eyes on anything so beautiful.”

  Tears burned my eyes. “Rafe . . .” I didn’t know what to say. How did a person respond to the most epic compliment ever given? And who would have thought that brooding guy I’d met all those months ago could be such a romantic? “You’re beautiful too.”

  He didn’t seem to know what to do with that, so he just smiled.

  “Can I touch you?”

  He swallowed hard again. “You don’t have to ask.”

  “I . . . I want to touch you without you touching me.”

  “So, basically, you want to torture me?”

  I laughed softly. “Not intentionally.” I approached him slowly and as his eyes fell to my breasts, his breathing increased. His fists clenched at his sides. I stopped before him and reached out to press my palms to his pecs. Rafe took in a deep breath as our eyes met. I’d never had any man look at me the way he looked at me. Like he might die if he didn’t touch me. Yet he didn’t reach for me.

  He gave me this.

  Lightly trailing my fingertips over his skin, I memorized the contours of his chest, my thumbs stroking over his hard nipples. My touch made his abdominal muscles flex in response. I brushed my lips over a nipple and he shuddered, so I licked it and he lifted his arms before he remembered himself and lowered them again.

  I teased his other nipple as my hands coasted up his chest and along his strong shoulders and down his arms. Then I kissed lower, soft, wet kisses down his six-pack.

  Rafe’s breathing was loud and shallow now. “Star . . .”

  I followed his happy trail with my mouth, avoiding his arousal as it strained up for some lovin’. Smiling to myself, I lowered to my knees, feeling the sharp V-cut of his hips and smoothing my hands down his lightly furred thighs until I was eye level with his cock.

  “Star—fuck!” he grunted as his scorching hardness passed between my lips, and I felt his thighs tense under my fingertips. My tongue trailed along a vein on the underside of his cock and his breathing stuttered before seeming to stop entirely when I sucked, bobbing my head so my mouth slid excruciatingly slowly up and down his length.

  Rafe still didn’t touch me.

  I looked up at him, and I could tell he was losing it. A war clearly written on his face. He wanted this but— “You have to stop or I’m going to come,” he choked out.

  I released him with a smug smile. “That’s kind of the point.”

  Rafe shook his head, clearly dazed. “No, I want to be inside you when I come again.”

  Deciding that teasing him any further was cruel, I kissed my way up his body. Then I tilted my head back as I leaned my naked body against his, his arousal digging into my stomach. “Your turn.”

  He took my hand with a nod and then walked around me, leading me back to the bed. Rafe sat down on the edge and then reached for my waist. For a second, he paused, smoothing his rough hands along my curves as he drank me in. Then he arranged me on his lap so I straddled him, my knees just touching the bed on either side of him.

  He kissed me.

  Rafe’s kiss was slow, exploring, our tongues tangling in a mimic of what our bodies wanted to do. I crushed my breasts to his hard chest, needing to be closer, needing friction, needing the kiss to be impossibly deeper. Rafe held me tight, his hands smoothing down my back and over the rise of my ass as we devoured each other’s mouths.

  He broke the kiss, his gaze lowering to my breasts, and then he cupped me in his big, beautiful hands. I arched my back, my nipples pebbling, eager for his touch. When his thumbs brushed them, I shuddered, a sigh escaping from between my lips. My breasts were supersensitive, which I’d only recently discovered wasn’t something all women experienced. Kendall said hers weren’t particularly effective at getting her off, but I loved having my breasts touched. Having Rafe touch them was a fantasy come true.

  My hips squirmed with need as he rolled my nipples between his fingers and thumbs, his gaze fascinated, as if my response thrilled him. Then he bent his head and covered my right nipple with his mouth, and I cried out as sensation scored down my belly and my clit pulsed.

  Rafe growled as if he could feel every inch of my reaction, and his other hand dipped between us, his thumb finding the bundle of nerves at the apex of my thighs. I jerked at his touch, on sensory overload as he tugged ruthlessly at my nipple, scraping his teeth over it before licking and sucking.

  The tension coiled tight in my womb and I dug my fingers into his strong shoulders as he moved his mouth to my left breast and treated my other nipple to the same.

  I shattered, crying out his name as I came, shuddering on his lap as he laved and licked at my breasts until every inch of me was wrung out with the orgasm.

  “Wallet,” he breathed harshly against my chest.

  It took me a second for the word to compute and then I searched around for it frantically. Thankfully, it was still on the bed by my pillow. Rafe turned to follow my gaze and stretched out to get it without dislodging me. He gripped my ass to keep me in place and his fingers slipped, making me shiver.

  He grabbed his wallet and shot me a fiery look.

  Then he was kissing me again, this time harder, more demanding, as he blindly took out a condom. We broke the kiss in order for him to tear the wrapper and then I was lifting my hips in anticipation as he rolled it on. The man had barely secured himself when I rose up over him, guided his tip in, then slammed down.

  We moaned against each other’s lips before our mouths met fully. Our kiss was desperate, needful as I rose again and came down. I clung to his shoulders, flooded with feeling. The overwhelming fullness of him inside me, the hard grip he had on my ass while his other hand squeezed and molded my breast with just the right amount of pressure. I leaned back, breaking the kiss, but only so his cock thrust into me at the most delicious angle. Only so I could watch him. I moved slowly, building toward an exquisite orgasm.

  My eyes never left Rafe’s handsome face as I moved, feeling sexy and powerful beneath his gleaming gaze, watching the way his nostrils flared as he lingered on my breasts and the way his eyes dropped to watch me ride him. He gripped me tight, urging me on; his jaw clenched as the heat between us increased and a light sheen of sweat coated our skin.

  All I cared about in that moment was being this deeply connected to Rafe. And the growing pleasure low in my belly, the sound of our uncontrolled breaths and my mews of pleasure, the intoxicating scent of sex.

  Our eyes met and I moved on him, holding his gaze. There wasn’t just passion and need in his eyes. There was tenderness and awe.

  We were making love.

  That knowledge was my undoing. My orgasm came upon me suddenly and I came around him, my stomach muscles rippling with the release, my inner muscles squeezing him tight.

  “Fuck.” Rafe’s hold turned almost bruising. Then he arched his neck and groaned long and hard as I felt him throb inside me.

  Eventually he let out a sharp exhalation, opening his eyes, chest rising and falling quickly as he stared at me as if he’d seen nothing like me before.

  Suffice to say, making love to Rafe Whitman was the best damn thing I’d ever experienced. By the look of wonder in his eyes, it was the best damn sex of his life too.

  I pressed a soft kiss to his lips and whispered, “What now?”

  He wrapped his arms around me, crushing me to him, and the movement made us both draw in a breath because he was still inside me. “I’d like to stay the night.”

  No guy had ever stayed the night. “What if I snore?”

  “You don’t. I would have heard you that night at my apartment. But even if you did, I’d still like to stay the night.”

  A happy smile prodded my lips, one I tried to hide but couldn’t, and Rafe’s eyes glinted warmly. “Okay. You’re staying the night.”

  After we’d cleaned up, we’d gotten into my bed and I felt all of sixteen again, watching his big body slide under my duvet. As soon as I got in, Rafe pulled me to him. He was a cuddler.

  I’d never been cuddled in my sleep before, so I wasn’t sure how I’d handle it, but I found it was just like that night at my parents’ house except better. I enjoyed falling asleep with my head on his chest, feeling his heartbeat beneath my ear. I liked how warm and safe and wanted he made me feel.

  Even better, I enjoyed waking up just before dawn to the feel of his tongue on my clit, to the orgasm that shattered me into full consciousness before he thrust inside me and brought me to my second orgasm.

  It was by far not my last of the day.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Real-dating Rafe Whitman was very different from fake-dating Rafe Whitman. Obviously, the fan-freaking-tastic sex was one of the big differences, but his playful boyishness was another. I loved that side of him. Over the next few weeks, I spent a lot of time at Rafe’s apartment. Mostly because I knew he needed to be close to his clinic for his patients and also because it was easier for me to get to jobs from his place than mine. During those overnight stays, I discovered that Rafe, along with all the veggies in his fridge and freezer, had a drawer dedicated to candy bars. Snickers, to be exact. There was just a drawer filled with Snickers. I couldn’t help but bite back a smile at his adorable defensiveness as he explained that he allowed himself a Snickers bar twice a week and he just liked to make sure he was stocked up. I was at once impressed with his willpower and amused by his need to have a stockpile. The man asserted so much self-control that he needed to know that when he wanted to let loose, he had what he needed to do that.