I walk to him, stopping inches from his body. Heat and his smell pour off of him. Slowly, I push up the material of his thermal shirt. He dips down a little so I can pull it over his head. In the dimly lit room, I can make out his dog tags, the silver chain they hang from, and the broad chest they complement.

Before, we’d rushed to have sex, and I didn’t get a chance to really look at him, but now….I run my hand down the center of his body, feeling the hardness and the short crisp hair that merge into a single line trailing under the waistband of his jeans.

He sucks in a breath when I unbutton his pants, working one button at a time.

“Rowan.” My name is a warning on his lips.

Standing on my tiptoes, I press a soft kiss to his mouth. “Don’t worry, Marine, I’ll do my patriotic duty and take very good care of you.” My hand slips inside his boxer briefs and wraps around his cock. Velvet over steel. I slowly move my hand up and down the length of him, watching as his eyes close and his hips jut forward.

“Feels damn good,” he murmurs. His sexy mouth opens slightly and I lower to my knees.

Pulling out his heavy erection, I kiss the head. Seth’s eyes snap open, glittering black as he stares down at me. Keeping my gaze locked with his, I part my lips and take him inside. His body shudders and his hands go to my head, fisting in my hair.

I revel in this moment, in this power I have over him. For so long I was powerless when it came to Seth, but now, even on my knees, I’m holding him in my hands.

Strangely enough I don’t want to lord that over him. I want to please him. Run my hands up and down his erection and listen as he groans my name.

“Rowan.”

Smiling, I take my time stroking and licking him. I learn what makes him moan and what makes him hiss. What makes his legs shake and his hands tighten in my hair. I work my way up his body, pressing hot kisses along the way and shoving his jeans down. Rediscovering Seth’s body is both painful and healing.

My fingertips glide over his nipples, which are just as hard as mine.

He cups the back of my neck, pulling me closer. “Kiss me.”

Tenderly, slowly…oh, so slowly, I brush my lips over his. Again and again. He rumbles low in his throat and covers my mouth with his. He sucks on my tongue, making me whimper.

Pulling away, he grabs me by my thighs and lifts. I wrap my legs around his waist. His cock brushes against me with every step.

“I want you,” I whisper.

“Be patient,” he says as he lays me down in the center of the bed. I watch as he gets rid of his jeans, boxer briefs, and socks, then rolls on a condom.

Seth places a knee on his bed and then his hands. The muscles in his arms are cut perfectly, the veins bulging as he puts more of his weight on them. His dark gaze rakes over me as he licks his lips. I grow shamelessly wet.

He grins like he knows it and crawls up and over me. Straddling my body, he sits up and runs the side of his thumb right along his lower lip in that way I love. His erection is rubbing against my chest, right between my breasts. I arch my back slightly and begin to move.

“Take what you want from me,” I say, dying for him to finish this. I want him hot and hard inside of me. I want him wild and out of control. I want him—

He flattens his palm against my collarbone and runs it up to my neck, lightly closing his fingers around it. “You have no idea how much you own me.”

“That’s not my hand around your neck,” I say, but I make no move to push him away. A delicious thrill runs through me.

“Yeah, I’m bigger than you, stronger than you, and could make you do whatever I wanted, but that’s not what I’m here for,” he says softly. Keeping his fingers lightly wrapped around my neck, he pushes his body back so that he’s laying fully on top of mine. My thighs cradle him, the head of his cock pushing against where I’m hot and needy.

He dips his head, claiming my mouth in a hot kiss that makes my toes curl. The onslaught never comes, not like I expect. He devastates me one kiss at a time. He strokes my hair and the side of my face, then cups my breast. His thumb teases my nipple and makes me moan.

But still he won’t move his other hand; it’s like he thinks I’ll bolt. I grab his wrist. He peers up at me through lashes so dark and thick it makes him look like he’s wearing eyeliner.

“I need something to hold on to,” I say.

The most wicked smile I’ve ever seen from anyone, including Seth, kicks up the corners of his mouth. “Hold on tight,” he murmurs as his hungry mouth covers my nipple and sucks it deep. His teeth nibble and torture me. His tongue soothes the sharp bites of pain that he leaves all over my sensitized skin.

Lower he travels, to circle my belly button with his tongue and then to kiss my inner thighs. He runs his nose along my sex, then teases me with the tip of his tongue. “Smells so fucking good.”

My grip tightens around his wrist in full anticipation of his erotic kiss, but when he sucks my clit into his mouth I scream and buck my hips.

“Oh God,” I cry. “Ohgodohgodohgod.”

My eyes close and my back bows as I urge him closer, as I try to get away but his hand around my neck prevents me from leaving. Yet he never increases the pressure. It stays light, his fingers gently caressing me.

I’m his willing prisoner right now. I’m the one being owned by him. Tears spring to my eyes, not because I’m hurting, but because I’m free like this. His teeth scrape across my clit and I shatter.

Seth moves again, positioning himself between my thighs. He grabs the base of his erection and pushes the broad head inside of me, sliding home in one long thrust. He braces himself on one elbow, watching me as he moves inside of me. The push and pull is driving me wild. He’s driving me wild. I writhe beneath him, wanting more, wanting him deeper.

I tilt my hips back, and he slides in the smallest of distances, but it’s enough to make him groan. I smile, one hand going to his ass, urging him faster, harder, but he won’t obey. He hooks one of my legs over his shoulder, opening me up to him, and keeps his pace steady.

“Touch yourself,” he orders harshly.

I move my hand from his very fine ass to the top of my breast, slowly tracing the curve of it and then going lower. I’m wet and hot and desperate when I finally touch myself. He watches us, watches his cock go in and out of me, and my fingers show him exactly what I like.

“Damn,” he mutters. “Hot damn, girl.”

He rolls his hips, doing this figure eight movement that sends me over the edge. I press down hard on my swollen clit, rubbing it in the opposite direction of what he’s doing to me.

“Seth,” I moan as my second orgasm washes over me. Everything goes bright and my body shakes at the intense pleasure. I know it’s because of him. I know that everything, especially sex, is better with Seth.

I love you. I love you. I love you. I bite back the words.

Growling, he pumps into me hard and then throws his head back, the tendons in his neck straining. He shouts my name and then he holds himself still, so deep inside of me that I know I’ll feel him for days later.

Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll feel him forever.

Seth

I trace the lines of Rowan’s back while she sleeps. The house is quiet and peaceful, just like us. All the urgency I felt before, the driving need to consume her, is gone. Well, not gone, but it’s temporarily sated.

She sighs dreamily. The sound makes my heart melt and my cock harden.

“Dreaming of me, hopefully,” I murmur, kissing her shoulder.

“Thinking about us,” she says, and I sit up.