She hissed and raked her nails across his shoulders. “Oh, yes. Suck it, Flynn. Harder.”

   The edge in her voice made his balls quiver. He could spill inside of her right now just feeling the way she moved against him and the taste of her soft nipple inside his mouth.

   He released her nipple, grasped her hands and held on while she rode him, taking in the view of her body as she undulated against him. She was a beautiful goddess, in control of both of them as she rocked him to oblivion. And when she spasmed around his cock, tilted her head back and lost control with her orgasm, he thrust into her with his climax, spilling inside of her with his own release.

   It was a damn good feeling, a euphoria he didn’t want to let go of.

   Amelia clasped on to him and lay her head on his shoulder, breathing deeply as she recovered. He wrapped his arms around her and let them both settle.

   “We could just stay like this all night,” she murmured against him.

   “We could, but it might get a little cold. And eventually there’d be sunrise.”

   She lifted her head. “True. Let’s go get in my bed.”

   She lifted off of him. He dashed into her bathroom to get rid of the condom. When he came out, Amelia was propped up on the bed, beautifully naked and holding her glass of wine. She motioned with her head over to the nightstand.

   “Yours is over there.”

   He came toward the bed. “Huh. I thought mine was right there.” He motioned to her.

   She laughed. “I meant the wine.”

   He picked up the glass and climbed onto the bed next to her, then took a swallow of wine before setting it down on the nightstand. He turned to her.

   “Tell me about your ex.”

   She shot him a raised brow. “That’s your idea of after-sex small talk?”

   He shrugged. “We’re dating now. We should get to know each other better. And I want to know about your life before you came here.”

   Amelia took a sip of wine. Then another. Flynn could tell talking about her ex was something she didn’t enjoy, that it made her uncomfortable. He hadn’t meant to make her uncomfortable, but he was being honest when he told her he wanted to know her better. And her ex was part of her past—obviously a big part of her past. He wanted insight into what made her leave Portland and come here.

   When she took yet another sip of wine and still hadn’t answered him, he decided maybe he should get the conversation started. “You moved from Seattle to Portland for him.”

   “Yes. Frank—that’s my ex—received a really wonderful job offer. We had been dating for a year when we got engaged. We got married eight months later and a month before the wedding Frank got a job offer in Portland he couldn’t refuse. So after the wedding we moved there. Actually, he moved before the wedding since he had to start his new position right away. I joined him after the wedding.”

   “That’s kind of stressful on a new marriage.”

   “It was fine. I was fine with it. We were in love and it seemed like a new adventure. I found a job at a wonderful restaurant and climbed up the chain of command there. I was happy. We were happy—for a while.”

   He toyed with a lock of her hair. “So what happened?”

   “I don’t honestly know what changed. I can’t pinpoint when it happened or why. Maybe it was the stress of his job. Frank was in a tech job and it was very challenging for him, so he depended on me a lot. His family was in Seattle, so I was all he had and, honestly, my situation was similar. My dad is gone and my mother and I are estranged, so I liked having Frank in my life, someone to count on. Both of us really loved being just the two of us, you know?”

   Flynn nodded.

   “But after a while, he began to lean on me a little too much. He’d text me all the time asking what I was doing, who I was with. He’d want to review my calendar with me. He worked long hours, which gave me a lot of free time. I was okay with that because I supported his job. I got to know the people I worked with and when he worked late, I’d go out with those friends.

   “He . . . I guess he grew jealous that I developed a life that didn’t include him.”

   Flynn frowned. He didn’t like the direction this was going. “Surely he couldn’t expect you to spend all your time with him, especially if he worked long hours.”

   She circled her finger over the rim of her wineglass. “Actually, he did. He wanted me home when I wasn’t at work. And he wanted me to account for every minute of my time when I wasn’t at work. He wanted me to text him when I left the house to go out with friends. He wanted to know who I was with. After a while, he didn’t want me to even see my friends in social situations that didn’t include him.”

   “That’s ridiculous.”

   She nodded. “I thought so, too. It got to the point where I felt like he was smothering me, that he didn’t trust me. Actually, he didn’t trust me. And there was no reason not to trust me. I loved him.

   “But his insecurities got the best of him and he went off the deep end. He told me I had to stop seeing my friends altogether and I told him he was being ridiculous and jealous and petty. That’s when everything went haywire for us. And that’s when he accused me of having an affair with my boss.”

   Flynn blinked. “Jesus. You can’t be serious.”

   Amelia dragged in a deep breath and sighed. “Yes. It was, of course, completely unfounded. Craig, my boss, was married to a lovely woman and had two amazing little boys and he was utterly devoted to his family. Craig and I got along very well and I enjoyed working for him. I had a wonderful job at the restaurant. I loved all my friends there. And Frank made my life a living hell. He’d show up at the restaurant and get a table just to watch me. He’d tell me he had to keep an eye on me to make sure I behaved. “

   “Christ, Amelia. That borders on stalking. He was stalking his own wife.”

   She nodded. “I know. I tried to convince him there was nothing going on between Craig and me. I think the stress of his job finally got to him. Or something. I don’t know. I suggested we go to counseling but he refused. I even offered to get a job at another restaurant, thinking maybe there was something I’d done that gave him the wrong impression. But he said me working somewhere else would be ideal and would be easier for Craig and me to see each other.”

   Flynn raked his fingers through his hair. His gut tightened and he wanted to fold Amelia into his arms and remove all the pain she’d gone through. But he couldn’t. He’d opened up this can of horror from her past by asking her about it. Now that he had, he needed to let her finish. “So what happened?”

   “I finally couldn’t take it anymore. His refusal to believe in me, to trust me, to even consider going to couples counseling, was the end of our marriage. I told him if he didn’t stop this nonsense that I’d leave him. One night it came to a boil and he screamed at me and told me that’s exactly what I wanted all along—freedom so I could be with Craig. I cried so hard, tried to convince him that there was only him in my life, but by then he wasn’t seeing reason. I packed up and left the house that night. I filed for divorce, quit my job and decided to move. I thought about moving back to Seattle, but what I really needed was a fresh start.”