Now that was a damn great sign, but I needed to make sure. “You’re okay?” I asked, barely recognizing my own voice.

She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Yes. It…it feels better.”

“Better?” My lips twitched into a half smile. “We can do better than ‘better.’”

“We can?” She sounded breathless.

“Uh huh,” I murmured, sliding my hand along her thigh and guiding her other leg around my hip. Her gasp of pleasure was what I needed to hear. “How about that?” I kissed her as I pulled out slowly, and then slid back in. She shuddered as I pulled halfway out. “And that?” I asked.

Her eyes were only half open. “That’s…that’s good. That’s…oh…” Then her eyes drifted shut and she rocked her hips up, reclaiming the inches. “Oh, wow.”

“Yeah,” I grunted. “Wow.”

Syd did it again and I slammed my hand into the pillow beside her head. I let her set the pace and dear God, once she got the hang of it, she curled those damn legs around my hips and my restraint broke. I thrust into her deep, over and over again. Her soft moans rose as the intensity and pace became feverish. I moved faster, grinding my hips against hers and lifting up, getting leverage and going deep. Her movement became frantic, and I was mindless, swept away as she cried out my name and her body spasmed around mine in tight, sensual waves. I couldn’t hold back. Not any longer. With two more thrusts, I buried my face in her shoulder and pounded into her as I came.

As I shuddered in her, I finally got it. Hell. I got in that moment what had been so elusive to me this entire time. Sex mattered—oh, holy shit, it mattered—when it was with a person who meant something.

It mattered with Sydney.

Chapter 17

Sydney

My body ached in all the right places in a really, really great and unfamiliar way. God, I got why everyone freaked out over sex now. What we’d done had been amazing. I wasn’t so naїve that I didn’t know it wasn’t always that sublime, but I’d never felt that way before, never came like that or felt so—God, I can’t believe I’m thinking this—full and complete.

I had no idea sex could really feel like that.

It took forever for my heart rate to slow down, and I knew it was the same for Kyler, because when he’d pulled out he rolled onto his back and tugged me along with him. I was half on him, half off. One arm and leg were thrown over his body, and my cheek rested over his heart. We stayed like that, his hand moving in a slow circle over my lower back. I was snuggled as close as I could be, more content than I could remember.

Everything seemed unreal. To be lying next to a fire on a snowy day after doing something so wonderful. How many romance novels featured passionate sex by a fireplace? More than I could count. I almost laughed, but…

But Kyler hadn’t spoken yet.

Opening my eyes, I watched the flames wrap around the logs and told myself to not freak out and ruin this, whatever this was. Of course, my brain didn’t listen to me at all and started spewing out questions like an annoying child. Why hadn’t he said anything? Did he regret it? Had he enjoyed it? Did I come across frigid and he couldn’t wait to get the hell out of here? On and on my thoughts went until I was ready to punch myself in the face, but the truth was, Kyler had said nothing, and shouldn’t he have said something? Even Nate had spoken afterward, telling me that he enjoyed it, which had turned out to be a lie, but he still had opened his mouth.

Oh God, what if this had been a mistake?

I squeezed my eyes shut. I’d never see what we had done as a mistake. No way, but Kyler…? His hand stilled along my back, and I realized I’d gone completely stiff.

“Syd?”

Part of me wanted to bury my head, but the blanket was tangled along our hips and that would look real awkward shoving my head down there. I forced myself to lift my head and look at him. His eyes were lazy slits, but I knew he saw me—saw everything.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

Heat swamped my cheeks, and I started to sit up. “Nothing. I mean, I’m just thinking about everything. What we did? It was awesome. Really. And I hope you feel—”

“Hold up.” His arm tightened around my waist, keeping me in place, and his eyes were wide open now. “You hope I thought it was awesome?”

Feeling way too exposed, I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded.

“Are you insane?”

My brows shot up. “Excuse me?”

“Did I think it was awesome? No. It wasn’t awesome. It was the fucking best thing I’d ever felt, baby.”

I gaped at him.

“And that’s the truth. So don’t go filling your head with bullshit. Being with you? Yeah, nothing has ever compared to that.” In one fluid motion, he sat up and pulled me into his lap. “You feel me?”

Gripping his shoulders, I gasped. Oh, I felt him. A ball of molten lava formed in my belly. “I…I feel you.”

“Good, because it’s the truth.” His hands slid to my hips, and my heart fluttered in response. There was a glint to his deep brown eyes and a mischievous tilt to his sensual lips.

He couldn’t be…

Kyler shifted slightly and he pressed against my core, hot and ready. Holy crap, he was inhuman. He chuckled when he saw my expression. “What? You look surprised, babe.”

“You’re ready to…um, go again?”

His lips tipped up in a half-smile. “I’m always ready when it comes to you, but I don’t—”

“You don’t what?” I’d been stuck on the whole “always ready when it comes to me” thing. “Want to do it again?”

He tipped his head back, eyes searching my face. “There’s nothing I want more than to do it again, but we don’t have to.” He cupped my cheek, sliding his thumb along my lower lip. “We can just chill.”

I didn’t think I was capable of just chilling, not when I could feel him and I was a little surprised that I was so ready to go again. And I was ready. I was drenched and he had to know that.

My heart was thumping fast once more as I lowered my lashes. “I want to.”

His cock jumped. “Syd…”

Turning my head, I felt his thumb slide over my lower lip again and, in a move of boldness I didn’t know I was capable of, I sucked the tip of his thumb into my mouth.

Kyler’s entire body jerked and he made the sexiest sound ever. “Damn, baby…”

Fueled by his response, I took his thumb deep into my mouth as I leaned into him. His chest was smooth against my sensitive skin and I moaned around his thumb, my eyes drifting shut as my body quaked.

“Fuck,” he grunted, clenching my hip as he pushed up. “God. I can’t get enough of you.”

“You have me.” I lowered his hand to my chest, moaning the moment his fingers covered my breast. “All of me.”

He rose up, kissing me. Slow. Deep. An ache pulsed between my thighs, in tune with my racing heartbeat. Sliding his hands down my sides, he moved my legs so I was straddling him, and he prodded at my entrance. I may have started this, but he took complete control. He palmed my breasts and my head fell back, body arching.

His mouth closed over a rosy tip, and I lost the ability to breathe. What he did with his lips, his tongue and his teeth sent stinging jolts of pleasure through me, and in that instant, I knew Kyler could be a lot more raw than he was. And that excited me even more.

I reached between us, gripping his throbbing cock. His answering groan sent a wave of shivers through me. Stroking him slowly, I pressed my forehead against his. “Please,” I whispered, eyes closed.

“Baby, you don’t have to beg me.” He caught my lower lip and nipped. “Just tell me what you want and you’ll have it.”

My grip tightened and I forced the words out. “I want you. I want you to make love to me.” My eyes flew open at the last three words. I wanted to take back those words. Oh God, I shouldn’t have—