He stepped back as if knowing instinctively what she wanted. As he watched, she reached behind her back and unzipped her dress. She slid each strap over her arm and tugged until the dress slipped off her body, leaving her in nothing but her strapless bra and panties and her heels.

He made a noise, a cross between a whimper and a growl. “Don’t stop,” he begged.

Heat flushed her skin under his gaze. She reached around again to unlatch her bra and let it fall. Her nipples puckered from the shock of cold air and hot desire. She kicked off her shoes and then tugged her panties from her hips.

And then she stood before him. Naked. Exposed. Fully. She curled her toes and propped one foot on top of the other. A nervous habit, even when naked.

He took his time, letting his eyes travel the full length of her and then back up. “You’re—” He cleared his throat. “You’re so beautiful.”

“Your turn,” she whispered.

He nodded, and then holding her gaze, he unbuttoned his shirt. It fell to the floor and was quickly followed by his white undershirt. His chest rose and fell with the same trembling quakes as hers as his hands went to his pants. His fingers shook as he undid the button and then lowered the zipper. When he hooked his fingers in the waistband of his pants and briefs, she held her breath.

Never breaking eye contact, he slipped both garments from his hips and let them pool on the ground. He lifted one leg and then another to free himself from them. And then stood before her, naked.

His voice was low when he spoke. “I’m not going to touch you until you tell me it’s okay.”

“Can I . . . can I touch you first?”

He stood stock-still but for the nearly imperceptible lift of his chin. Even the air locked in his lungs beneath the thick, matted hair of his chest. And that’s where she began her exploration. She reached between them until trembling fingers met the warm flesh of his pecs. His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. Alexis splayed her hands wide, felt the rapid beat of his heart beneath her hand. So strong, so full of life and energy.

Alexis slid her hands wide across each nipple, and when he responded with a sharp intake of breath, she paused there to do it again. Rubbing her palm over the hard, pebbled flesh that poked through the hair. Would he like to be kissed there? Was it the same for men as women? With a sudden thirst for the taste of him, she dipped her head and pressed her lips to one nipple. Noah made a noise, soft but urgent. Emboldened by it, Alexis flicked her tongue across the hard pebble. Noah’s arm shot out to brace himself against the bedpost, leaning into her, urging her on. So she sucked the nipple into her mouth, twirled her tongue around it, as her fingers traced a slow path downward.

Every inch of him was hot, toned, tight. As if every muscle was engaged in the sheer act of restraint. But when her fingers circled his belly button, he gave up the fight. He growled, slid his hand along her jaw, and tilted her face to his. His lips claimed hers as she slid her fingers lower. His erection bobbed between them, hard and hot.

“Can I touch you here?” she asked.

“God, yes,” he rasped.

Alexis wrapped her fingers around his hard length. Noah went instantly still but for the squeeze of his fingers against her jaw. And when she moved her hand up and down, he groaned and dropped his forehead to hers. He was soft and hard at once. She moaned as she imagined him inside her, sliding in and out of her wet heat. Wetness pooled between her thighs.

He suddenly gripped her wrist.

She looked up. “You want me to stop?”

He gulped. “I want this to last. But if you keep doing that, I’m going to be done for in about five seconds.”

A surge of pure carnal power filled her with courage, boldness. Alexis slanted her mouth fully against his and brought his hand to her breast. Could she orgasm from sheer anticipation? She was almost there. It was a sweet agony, waiting for his fingers to flick across her throbbing nipples. But he seemed hell-bent on torture, because instead of going to the spot that needed him most, he placed simple caresses atop each plump round of flesh.

“Touch me,” she begged.

His fingers brushed the curls at the apex of her thighs. The reverent tenderness in his touch . . . Instinct brought her legs apart to let him in, and he answered with a tender caress down the seam of her, parting her to his gentle probing.

He teased with featherlight caresses. He taunted with the slightest pressure, slipping just the tip of a finger inside her before retreating.

“I’ve dreamed of this so many times,” he whispered against her lips. “Dreamed of touching you like this. Dreamed of us together.”

She would have admitted me too, if she could talk, but she couldn’t. Every sense, every cell, was tuned to the magic he worked between her legs.

Noah hoisted one of her legs over his hip, never breaking the kiss. His fingers pumped in and out of her, and he pressed the heel of his hand to her swollen, throbbing nub.

“Oh, God.” Alexis’s head fell back. Her body shook, legs trembled. Noah wrapped one arm around her waist to hold her as she rocked against his hand.

“Noah . . .” His name wrenched from her throat as waves and waves of electric pleasure shot through her. Her fingers dug into his shoulder as she held on, rode it out, soared on a rainbow of emotions she couldn’t identify.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured, tenderness in his voice as he tightened his arm around her waist. “Just hold on to me.”

Alexis weakly wrapped both arms around his neck and hung on as he scooped her in his arms again before dipping her backward onto the mattress. Alexis wrapped both legs around his waist and dragged his mouth to hers.

His erection was cradled between her legs. Their bodies acted together, hips tilting into each other, into the bliss of hard against soft. Noah laced their fingers together and pressed her hands into the mattress above her head. But then he paused and lifted his mouth just enough to speak.

“Is that okay?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

It had been two years since she’d been with anyone, but she’d never been with someone like this. Open and honest and tender. Someone who cared to stop and check in with her to make sure what he was doing was still okay. Someone who took his time, treating every inch of her skin like a treasure to be cherished. Of all the ways she’d reclaimed herself, this was the one that mattered most. Everything about this moment, this act with Noah, was hers. Willing and honest. Raw and wanted.

“Do you like this position?” he asked quietly, skimming his lips across her jaw.

No man had ever asked her that during sex. “Yes. Do you?”

“Any position with you is perfect.”

They kissed slowly, languidly, fingers flexing together, bodies molding and melding as if this were all they needed. But it wasn’t. They needed more. She needed more.

Noah must have felt it the same time she did, because lazy became hurried. Languid became passionate.

Noah suddenly rose up with a groan and slipped from her embrace.

“What’s wrong?” she panted, a twinge of alarm turning the fuzzy edges of her desire into sharp focus.

“I forgot,” he grunted. She watched as he crossed the bedroom naked, unzipped his duffel bag, and dug around inside. Then he pulled out a long sheath of condoms.

She couldn’t help it. She giggled.

He turned around. “What’re you laughing at? My ego is at stake here.”

She giggled again. “You whipped those condoms out like a magician pulling a scarf from a hat or something.”

He gave her a sexy grin and jerked his eyebrows suggestively as he crawled back into bed. “Want to see my magic wand?”

Alexis laughed and groaned at the same time. “I walked right into that one.”

Noah rose on his knees above her.

“Do you want me to do it?” she whispered.

He slipped a foil square into her hands. She opened the condom and rolled it on him, slowly, reveling in his groan of pleasure.

She laid back again, and he returned to her, covering her body with his.

Alexis lifted a leg and hooked it over his hip, and as if he couldn’t wait any longer, Noah thrust inside her. Alexis cried out and arched her back. She wrapped her other leg around him and hooked her ankles, sending him farther inside.

But then they both stopped.

Stopped moving. Stopped breathing.

He shuddered on top of her, and she understood, because she felt it too. The power of being joined, finally. The joy of it. The surprise of it. It was too much to take in all at once.

The perfection of it brought their gazes to a passionate collision.

His eyes were black with desire but round with an almost stunned expression. “Lexa,” he whispered, his voice laced with wonderment.

She traced her finger along his jaw. “Make love to me.”

He closed his eyes and dropped his forehead to hers. Then he lowered to his elbows, cradled her head in his hands, and began to move with an aching slowness. Their mouths found each other, tangling in an intimate dance as old as time but brand-new to them.

Noah’s hips lifted, and he withdrew to the tip. She gasped at the pleasure.

“Talk to me,” he murmured against her ear.

“You feel so good.”

He moved again, slowly withdrawing before thrusting back in. Alexis tilted her head into the mattress with a groan.

“Like that?” he whispered, voice tight with restraint.

“Yes,” Alexis moaned.

Noah did it again, slowly pulling out only to thrust back into her, harder and faster. A cry of pleasure burst from her throat, unbidden and unprompted. She gripped the comforter.

She whispered hungrily for him to talk to her, to tell her what he was thinking.

“You,” he groaned against her mouth. “All I ever fucking think about is you.”

He caught her earlobe with his lips. “You’re the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I think of when I fall asleep. And even then I dream about you.”

Alexis wove her fingers in his hair and moaned. “What do you dream about?”