The first time he’d ever set eyes on her, he’d thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. And he knew he’d always feel that way, that he could catch a glimpse of her from across the room a million times—or be looking at her just like this when she was soft and warm and perfect beneath him—and never get used to the way her beauty pierced right through him.

Every day, he was running a million miles an hour for his career. These moments alone with Ashley were precious. So precious that he wanted to draw this one out as long as he could with more kisses over the rapidly beating pulse at the curve of her neck and then by taking her sweet mouth again and again and again.

Until there was no way to hold back any longer...

He kicked off his pants and had on protection a second later. Levering himself up on his forearms so that he could watch her expression as he took her, he slid into her tight, wet heat. She gasped as he filled her, arching up into him to take even more of him, one glorious inch at a time.

“Tell me.” His words were rough and ragged from the pleasure taking him over. “I need to know.”

“Anything.” The one word from her lips was coated in bliss, breathless with ecstasy to come. “I’ll tell you anything.”

“How does this make you feel?” He gripped her hips harder and pushed deeper. Her eyes closed as her head fell back. He licked at her sweat-slicked skin before saying, “How do I make you feel?”

“Good.” Her eyes opened, and when she looked into his, his chest clenched tight. “So good.”

“More.” He put his hands on her thighs and lifted her legs to wrap around his waist. “Give me more. Trust me with more, Ash.” It wasn’t just a request anymore, wasn’t just a question. It was a plea. A plea for her to reveal the secret parts of herself. He put his hands on either side of her face and gently caressed her. “Please, Ash. Tell me what’s in your head right this second.”

“I think about you all the time.” Her words came out in a rush—Ithinkaboutyouallthetime.

When she realized what she’d said and flushed with renewed embarrassment, he wouldn’t let her look away. “I think about you all the time, too, Ash.”

“And this. I think about this all the time.” This time, thankfully, she didn’t look away. Instead, she wrapped her legs even tighter around his hips as she lowered her voice to a whisper. “I want you inside of me every second of every day.”

Of all the things Drew had thought she might say, he’d never dreamed of her echoing the same thing he wanted himself. He repeated her words on a hoarse groan of need.

“Every second”—he came nearly all the way out of her, then thrust even deeper, and she gasped with pleasure—“of every day.”

“Yes.” She lifted her mouth to his, and he captured her “Please” in a kiss more raw than any he’d ever experienced before.

“No more space,” she gasped as she gripped his shoulders so tightly he knew there would be marks. “There’s too much space between us.”

“Not anymore,” he promised her. “All you need to do is let me in.” Her inner muscles clenched over him then, and the pleasure was so intense that he could barely get out the words, “Let me all the way in, Ash.”

And when she put her mouth to his while their bodies moved in perfect unison, Drew’s passion for Ashley was wild.

Unraveled.

Unleashed.

These past months, he’d been numb and then hurting. He’d been running as fast as he could and then alternately trying to find that still place. But with Ashley, he didn’t need to fight past anything or to pretend.

He just needed her.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“I know I promised to give you time,” he said a short while later, “but I really think we should tell him.” Drew had shifted his weight slightly to the side so that Ashley could breathe, but his need to touch her all the time was so strong that he kept one leg across hers.

Her eyes were still hazy from her climax when she opened them to look up at him. “Mmm?”

He loved her like this, when she was so sated with pleasure that her awe-inspiring brain momentarily shut off. He leaned down and licked over her lips, slowly and thoroughly, until her breath was coming faster.

But even though he was ready for her again and he could tell that she was just as ready, they needed to talk about her father—and the fact that they weren’t going to be able to keep their relationship a secret forever. Especially given how much he’d hated keeping it a secret from his family today. He wanted to proudly tell the whole freaking world, She’s mine. And I’m hers.

Still, he couldn’t resist running his thumb over her damp lips. And when she licked out against the pad, he groaned at how good it felt. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”

“If it’s anything like what you do to me...” She bit her lower lip, and desire nearly won out over the talk he knew they needed to have. “Now that I said what I said...” Her skin flushed again. “Well, now you know exactly what I’m thinking. What I’m feeling.”

It was huge that she’d told him just how much she loved making love to him—the words I want you inside of me every second of every day were better than the best lyric ever written—but he still wanted more. “I love you.”

Her eyes went huge, and her lips parted in shock. “What?”