Monica pushed a lock of hair that had fallen forward away from his eyes. “You don’t have to fight for what’s already yours.”

He leaned in to kiss her and she pulled away. “Wait. I need to say something.”

His eyes searched hers and he leaned back to listen.

“I figured out what my one thing is. You know, that one thing in my life that I need to make every day worth living.” Her heart fluttered in her chest as she realized without a doubt what that one thing was.

“Oh, what’s that?”

As if he couldn’t figure it out. “I more than miss you when you’re gone. It’s like I’m empty inside. It’s you that I need.”

His coy smile slid and he didn’t let her pull away as he kissed her, soft and intimate with lots of sparkly promise.

“Wait, I’m not done.”

He leaned his forehead against hers and waited.

She took a deep breath and leapt from the tallest obstacle on which she’d ever been perched. “I’m going to tell you something. I don’t expect a response.” She hesitated. “I love you.”

Trent closed his eyes. “Say that again,” he whispered.

“I love you, Trent.”

He found her gaze and stared deep inside. “Thank God.”

The edge of despair in his voice placed a smile on her face.

“I didn’t want to fall alone. I love you, Monica.” He held her face in his hand and said, “God, do I love you!”

Yeah, she might have told him he didn’t have to repeat the words, but damn it was good to hear them. Any ice left of the queen was shattered with his words.

Her lips met his in a hungry kiss, greedy and full of desire. His arms circled her waist, pushed under her shirt.

She sucked his tongue into her mouth and feasted on his lips. Lips she loved, with the man who broke through her walls and emotional boundaries. It no longer mattered where their relationship would lead so long as they were together on the journey.

Monica squirmed on his lap, not content to feel his rising need pressed against her thigh. There were much better places for that part of his anatomy than her thigh and damn if she wasn’t ready to experience it… him again. Using the sofa for leverage, she lifted her knee over his legs and startled him. Even between their clothes, their combined heat burned. She arched into him with a low moan of pleasure.

Skilled hands ran along the edge of her bra, undid the clasp, and filled his palms with the weight of her br**sts.

He broke the kiss and held her to him with both hands as he lifted both of them from the couch. Clasping on with her legs, she used her lips to suck on the lobe of his ear. “Jeez, Monica, you make it hard to walk.”

She giggled. “Oh, you’re hard. Very yummy and hard.”

In her room, he fell with her onto her bed, pinned her, and thrust his hips into hers.

“We have way too many clothes on, Barefoot.” She tugged at his shirt, freed it from his shoulders, and tossed it away.

Trent helped her out of her shirt and leaned in to taste her needy br**sts. Their endless foreplay had ended right here for weeks. Not this time.

She reached for his pants, undid the clasp, and thrust her hand inside.

He pulled away from her long enough to groan. Using his surprise she shifted her leg over him until she rode on top. “I think it’s my turn to be on top,” she said.

He laughed. “Whatever the lady wants,” he promised. “Just get naked.”

She slid off the bed and pulled his pants with her until he was there in full naked mouthwatering glory. When she kicked the rest of her clothes off, she reached for her bedside stand, found protection, and returned. She sheathed him slowly, running her hand up his length and back down. When his eyes glossed over and closed she did it again.

Trent reached for her hips and guided her close. With her spread over him, he rounded a hand in front and cupped her. Monica rode his hand for a moment until the rhythm carried her close to the breaking point.

When Trent lifted her up and onto him, he plunged and carried her weight. The angle brought depth and fired off explosions and heat. Monica wanted to think she had control over him, but he managed to take her over and over, guiding her hips and finding the perfect angle for her world to spiral and break free in a rush of pleasure.

He flipped her under him, so unexpected, and so damn hot, and pushed her into the soft bed.

“More,” he said in her ear as if a promise. “I want more from you.”

“I don’t know if I—” But he moved a little higher and—hell yeah—heat built again until she was moaning his name and her eyes went blind.

He pushed himself farther once, twice, until pleasure rippled over him with his release.

The world stopped spinning on its axis yet the two of them kept moving, hearts beating, heads spinning, until she heard Trent draw in a breath. “If… if you tell anyone I agreed to not do that with you, I’ll tell them you’re the liar. Fair warning.”

Her laughter filled the room. “Wanna do it again?”

The rumble of his chest against hers was quickly followed by him climbing off her and vaulting off the bed.

Stunned, she leaned up on her elbows and gaped. “Where are you going?”

“Coffee,” he said. “We’re going to need coffee to stay up all night. Make up for lost time.”

The man she loved glanced at the door, jumped back on the bed like a kid, and kissed her. “I love you,” he whispered. Then he made good on his threat and left to brew a pot of coffee.