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Tyler stopped what he was doing and looked at her, his lids heavy. “Do you want me to stop?”

She stared at him, breathing hard. 

“Yes or no?” he asked, his eyes dark and intense. And she had no doubt that if she told him no, he would stop. No questions asked.

“Don’t stop.”

A hungry smile curled his mouth and the hand on her thigh began to slide upward.

At that point she knew there was no turning back. It was a done deal. She was going to sleep with Tyler. 

His breath was hot on her skin as he nibbled and kissed his way down her body. Touching, tasting. His fingers slipped inside the leg of her shorts, brushing against her panties… At that point things began to get fuzzy. One minute her shorts were on, the next they had mysteriously disappeared. The same thing happened to her panties. Then Tyler was touching her. Slow, steady pressure. Warm and slippery.

She closed her eyes and gave herself permission to relax and enjoy. How could she have thought she didn’t need this? That she didn't miss this? And no man knew her body the way Tyler did. No one made her feel as good. And what the hell was wrong with feeling good? Who better than a man who needed no road map to please her? 

Without warning Tyler pressed her thighs open, lowered his head and took her into his mouth. The sensation was so wickedly intense she cried out. Her hands fisted in his hair and she was making sounds, raspy and nonsensical. She didn’t seem to have any control left. She was flying on autopilot, and about to crash and burn.

Her breath was coming hard and fast, and the room slipped in and out of focus. Each individual sensation merged and tangled and fused together like the wick on a stick of dynamite, then it sparked and ignited. The flame hissed and licked its way up, building and climbing. And when it reached her core, she blew apart, splintered into a million pieces.

She hovered there, somewhere between pain and pleasure, conscious and unconscious. It seemed as though she melted back together, one little piece at a time, slowly, gradually, her pulse returning to normal. When she finally opened her eyes, Tyler was there, leaning over her. Watching. Waiting for her to return from the outer stratosphere. Then he leaned down and kissed her. So gently, so sweetly.

“I’ll see you later, Lexi.”

Wait. What?

Later?

She sat up, still dizzy and a little disoriented. “Where are you going?”

“My room.”

“But…” They had just gotten started.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “Did I do something wrong?”

He looked almost…sad. Which made no sense at all. “No. You did everything right.”

“Then why are you leaving?”

“You know where I’ll be if you need me.”

Then he left, closing the door quietly behind him. For several minutes she was too stunned to process what had just happened. To make sense of it. Was this just a game for him? Wasn’t it enough that she’d let him into her room? That she’d let him touch her? Apparently not.

What did he want? For her to chase him? Would he settle for nothing less than total surrender?

She didn’t know if she should feel angry or hurt or disappointed, so she allowed herself all three. Was he honestly that arrogant? He had chased her relentlessly for days; now he was just going to turn his back on her?

Unless… Maybe Tyler wasn’t as sure of himself, as self-confident, as she’d assumed. Maybe he needed her to come to him. Was it possible that under that arrogant facade he was just as lost and confused as she was?

The thought was as sad as it was empowering. And she knew exactly what she needed to do.

—----------

Lexi stepped into Tyler's room. The light beside the bed was on, but he wasn’t lying there.

Her eyes were drawn to the curtains blowing in the open French doors. Tyler stood on the balcony, his back to her, leaning on the edge. He wore nothing but a pair of loose silk pajama bottoms.

She walked up behind him, and though she didn’t make a sound, he sensed her there.

“You lost?” he asked, not turning around.

Lost?

“No,” she told him, hearing a quiver in her voice. Everything about him, about being close to him, both frightened and excited her. “I know exactly where I am.”

He just stood there. She knew what he was waiting for. He wanted her to make the first move. She stepped up behind him and lightly touched his bare back. He didn’t tense, didn’t flinch, as though he’d been expecting it. She flattened her hands, smoothed her palms across warm skin, feeling only lean muscle underneath. His back rose and fell steadily as he breathed, while her own breath seemed to be coming faster. She could feel the steady beat of his pulse while her own fluctuated wildly, knocking around inside of her chest like a Mexican jumping bean.

She slipped her hands around to rest over his solid abdomen just above his waistband, and felt the muscles contract. She pressed her cheek to his back, breathed in the scent of his skin, felt that rush of familiarity pour over her.

His hands didn’t stray from their perch on the railing but he said, “You’re trembling.”

“I’m scared,” she admitted and she let her hands wander higher, across his chest.

“No reason to be scared.”

She had every reason to be scared, to be terrified, even. She was so in love with him. Scared of having him and yet scared of losing him. But she’d come too far to stop now. She was going through with this. She’d never wanted anything more.

She undid the tie on her robe and let it fall to the balcony floor, then pressed the length of her naked body against him. He sucked in a breath and groaned somewhere deep inside. She could feel it rumble through him, through muscle and skin into her breasts and her fingers and the curve of her belly.

They stood that way for several minutes, neither moving or making a sound. It was…nice, but she wasn’t looking for nice. She wanted fantastic. She wanted mind-blowing, rip-roaring ecstasy. She dragged her nails lightly down his chest, from his shoulders all the way to his waistband, felt him tense. He was trying to be strong, trying to milk this for all he could but she could feel him losing it. And she liked it.