“Devon,” she said on a lusty moan as she opened those emerald eyes and caught my gaze.

The trust and adoration in her eyes were like a gut punch to me, and it instantly forced me to give her exactly what she needed.

I put pressure on her clit and stroked hard and fast until I could feel her entire body shaking uncontrollably as she orgasmed.

Hard.

The primal satisfaction I got from watching her fall apart was almost foreign to me, but I knew it was going to be addictive.

When she screamed my name over and over as her climax went on and on, I knew that was a sound I was going to want to hear a million times or more in the future.

I’d never get enough of it.

I’d never get enough of seeing her just like this.

I covered her mouth with mine as she crashed back down to Earth.

She kissed me back with so much passion that it made my chest ache.

That probably should have scared the hell out of me, but it didn’t.

Everything…fucking everything was different with Reese and I wasn’t shying away from those differences like I had earlier in our relationship.

She made me feel things that I never had before, but I was starting to realize that truly feeling alive was better than guarding every single emotion I had.

When I released her mouth, I simply held her tight until she recovered.

I couldn’t say that I didn’t want more, but I was content just to hold her warm body against mine knowing that she was satisfied.

“You didn’t want to…” she said hesitantly against my shoulder, trailing off at the end.

“Fuck you?” I asked hoarsely. “Have my cock buried so deeply in your beautiful body that I couldn’t think straight? Hell yes, I wanted it, but we need to talk first, and I wanted to watch you get off. My dick can wait.”

“What do we need to talk about? Are you okay?” she asked, instantly sounding concerned about me.

Christ!That was one of the things that I adored about Reese.

If she thought something wasn’t right with me, she immediately wanted to know because she cared about me.

“I’m fine,” I said as I reached down and picked up her shirt and helped her get it back on her body. “I was going to try to explain at the fundraiser, but we were interrupted. I can’t do a friends with benefits thing with you, Reese.”

She looked crestfallen, and I knew I was going to have to explain a lot of things that I’d never told anyone before, not even my own family.

Reese

Okay, I couldn’t say that I wasn’t disappointed, but I gave Devon a lot of credit for speaking his truth.

He obviously didn’t want me as much as I wanted him, and I was going to have to be alright with that.

Unfortunately, my heart still ached, especially after what had just happened between the two of us.

“I understand,” I said as I stepped back.

“No, I don’t think you do,” Devon said huskily as he moved forward, picked me up, and carried me into the family room.

He put me down on the sofa, sat next to me and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close before he spoke. “You can’t be a hookup for me, Reese. I care way too much about you for that, but I’m also not sure how to be your guy. I haven’t been anyone’s man since college, and that relationship soured my desire to have any kind of relationship with a woman for a very long time. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever want that again.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” I queried gently.