An unfamiliar emotion rose in me. Then I realized it was bashfulness. Abby’s praise was making me soft—and I was kind of into it.

My dick was definitely into it. It wasn’t soft, though.

I cleared my throat. “I didn’t do anything special. Celeste needed a male protector. I was happy to give her one.”

Abby smiled. “It’s the twenty-first century, you know.”

“Ah, but I’m not from the twenty-first century.”

She bit her lip, and the sight of her white teeth sinking into the plump pink almost did me in right then and there. She gazed at me with a mix of desire and confusion. “Why can’t I control myself when I’m around you?” she asked, almost to herself.

“Do you want to?” I murmured.

The scent of her desire bloomed, and it stoked my need higher. Desire pumped through my veins. I needed her—needed to peel her clothes off and see her lithe body spread open for me. I’d never had her that way. Not yet. And I fucking needed it. Lust clawed at my insides like a wild animal thrashing to get out.

But I couldn’t make a move without Abby. I’d come here to do something morally questionable. I was going to cross a line, and she didn’t even know the line was there. Before I stepped over it, I had to be completely certain she wanted me. I had to give her that.

“Do you want to?” I asked again. “Do you want to control yourself around me?”

She swallowed, and her reply was more breath than sound. “No.”

It was enough. I unbuttoned her shirt—a prim, white button-down. Virginal. My hands shook as I worked the buttons through the fabric. Then I was easing it off her and staring at her gorgeous breasts rising above a lacy white bra. Somehow, seeing her this way was even more erotic than seeing her wearing nothing at all. She was like a present I got to unwrap.

I removed her jeans, my breath hitching when her panties slid down with the denim. I bent and kissed her hipbone…then the mound of her pussy. She was wet, her sweet slit shiny with arousal. But I didn’t kiss her there just yet. No, I saved that for later.

Lust pounded me—a drumbeat galloping in sync with my heart. I’d had her before, but not at my leisure. Our first encounter didn’t bear pondering. Our time in the shower had been desperate and rushed.

But this time was slow. Steady. Every moment was languid and stretched. This wasn’t about fucking. This was about making her feel precious.

Once I had her completely bare, I made short work of my clothes. Satisfaction thrummed through me as she drank me in, her green eyes lingering on my chest and abs before sliding to my dick. I’d never given much thought to my body, but I was proud of it now because it pleased her.

When I couldn’t wait any longer, I eased her onto her back and settled between her long legs. Her pussy was warm and soft against my dick, and I pressed my hips hard against hers, nudging my shaft between her lips and letting my length drag against her clit. Sweet, wet sounds greeted me, making the blaze inside me roar to an inferno. I rocked my hips, gliding up and down her cleft. Giving her a taste of what I intended to give her. Because that was the inevitable conclusion to what was transpiring between us. I was going to be inside her. I was going to mark her and make her totally and completely mine.

“You’re so beautiful,” I said, my voice like gravel in my ears.

Her lips quirked in a smile with more than a hint of mischief. “Not so bad yourself.”

For a fleeting moment, shame almost had me pulling back. She trusted me, and she’d opened herself to me—literally. I was a thief at the gate, ready to take more than she’d agreed to give.

But then she arched up, her perfect tits crowned with puckered pink nipples, and I was lost all over again.

She was utterly gorgeous with her glossy dark hair spread on the pillow and that charming beauty mark at the corner of her lip. Her lips, her nose, her lush mouth. Her elegant brows and those glittering green eyes. How was I supposed to resist her?

I wasn’t. I couldn’t.

“I want to taste you,” I said, and I slid down her body with her soft moans echoing in my ears. I planted a featherlight kiss on her trembling belly, then another on her pink, swollen clit. Her pussy was as pretty as the rest of her—all pink, slick folds. I licked over her opening, and she shuddered and spread her legs wider.

“Delicious,” I said against her plump folds. Then I traced the tip of my tongue around her clit.

“Cyrus,” she gasped, arching again. Her hands slid into my hair and pulled.

I smiled against her pussy. “You like this?” I licked her again, circling her entrance. “I can’t tell.”

“Yes!” She lifted her hips, pushing against me. “I love it.”

“Then you’ll have more of it.” I tongued her clit, lapping at the hard little bud while she shuddered above me. When I sucked her into my mouth, she bucked so frantically I had to pin her slender hips down with both hands. I kissed and licked and suckled her, slowing down at times when her breathing grew too rapid. I wanted this to last. It might be the only chance I got to savor her.

“Cyrus…Cyrus,” she moaned. “I can’t…” Her breathy sighs floated around me on gossamer wings, each one sinking into my flesh with the sweetest hooks.