I was close. So close. About to explode. I leaned back against him, rubbing his erection with my ass. I felt incredible. Sexy. On fire. Small grunts formed at the back of my throat.

“Bite on your hand to stifle your screams if you need to.”

I wanted to challenge him—to say, oh you’re so sure I’ll be screaming—but then he bent his fingers and stroked against a particularly sensitive spot. A moan escaped from my lips.

“Hand,” he ordered.

Just in time, I flung my hand to my mouth, biting down on my finger as I came. My orgasm flared through me, erupting in tandem with a spectacular sequence of fireworks. I couldn’t tell what parts of my blinded vision were from the display and which were from Hudson. It was glorious.

But I wasn’t nearly sated.

I wanted more. Wanted him.

I spun into him, kissing him with frenzy. My hand rubbed his cock through his pants. He was so hard. He wanted me as much as I wanted him. More, maybe.

The fireworks show wasn’t over. I didn’t care. “Take me to bed,” I demanded against his lips.

It was Hudson’s turn to groan. I swallowed the sound with another wet kiss, licking into his mouth with deep strokes. God, he tasted good. I couldn’t get enough of him, was ready to fuck him right there on the deck.

Somehow Hudson found the strength to untangle from my embrace. “Jesus, woman.” His eyes were nearly black with desire. Then he turned toward the entry to the staterooms, pulling me behind him.

The crowd cheered at that moment. For the fireworks, of course, but it drew my gaze up.

That’s when I saw her.

On the upper deck, looking down at me was Celia Werner. My mind flashed back to my dream and the terror that accompanied it sparked through me. Her eyes met mine, piercing through me, and I suddenly understood the phrase “shooting daggers.” Anger emitted from her cold stare. Hudson had said it was he that she was mad at, and maybe she was mad at him. But she hated me. It was evident in her entire posture.

A chill ran down my spine as, again, I realized she’d always be there. She’d always be threatening at the periphery of my life with Hudson.

The realization only fueled my need for Hudson to be inside me.

I pushed Hudson onward, determined to recapture the mood from a moment before, to remind myself that I was the one with him, not her. Me. Only me.

As soon as we were in the hallway leading to the staterooms, we were kissing again. He pushed me against the wall, his hands reaching under my dress to fondle my naked ass.

Desperate to make his groin meet mine, I curled my leg around his thigh. He relaxed his pressure so that I could jump up and wrap my legs around his waist. He sucked and licked along my neck as he carried me to our room. There, he braced me against the other wall so he could fumble with the key and the lock, swearing as he did until we were finally inside with the door shut behind us.

Panting, we both broke into a laugh. Hudson’s serious demeanor made outbursts like this rare, and I swam in the sound of his unbridled amusement.

Until our eyes met.

Then we were lip-locked once again.

With me still wrapped around him, he sat—more like fell—onto the bed. I didn’t hesitate, scrambling down to the floor to my knees so I could undo his belt. He toed his shoes off and lifted his hips so I could pull his pants and briefs down.

As soon as his cock sprang free, my eyes were glued. I wanted to lick it, to take it in my mouth, to feel it filling me, twitching in me. But there were still clothes in the way, and I needed to be naked. Needed him naked.

I reached my arms up so Hudson could pull my dress over my head. The backless nature of the outfit hadn’t allowed for a bra to be worn. Thank god. One less item to be removed. While he worked on unbuttoning his shirt, I circled my hands around his penis. Damn, it was steel. I only had time to stroke him a couple of times before he was pulling me with him onto the bed.

Both of us naked, we pressed into each other with a frantic need to be skin-on-skin in as many places as possible. Our hands explored like it was the first time, like we might never have the chance again—caressing and touching while we kissed with fevered passion. Hudson’s fingers eventually made their way to my lower regions where I wanted him most.

He slid through my wet folds once before tearing abruptly away. “Turn around and kneel above my face. I have to lick you.”

I shook as I clambered into the position. Hudson had gone down on me plenty of times, but never with me hovering over him in such a carnal way. It felt dirty and base and so, so sexy.

When I was bent over his face, he put his hands on my thighs and slid my knees further apart so that my cunt was a half an inch above his mouth. I was squirming before his tongue ever touched me. And he took his time before it did, blowing across my clit first, sending delicious little sparks through my limbs.

I peered down at the erotic sight of him between my legs and watched as he buried his nose in my lips and inhaled. “You smell so fucking good,” he groaned.

Holy. Fuck. I almost came right there.

Then—finally—his tongue flicked across my already excited clit. My body lurched and I cried out, fingernails digging into his hips. Amazing…so amazing.

How could it always be so amazing?

As I struggled to hold on, to not go over too quickly, I saw his cock twitch below me. There was no question that I had to have him in my mouth. Immediately. I grasped my hands around the base of his shaft and slid his crown past my lips like I was sucking on a Popsicle. Only Hudson was much yummier.

His whole body shifted underneath me, his grasp on my thighs tightening. “Fuck, yes! Suck it.”

It was what I loved the most about sucking Hudson off—that I could have power over him. I was always the one who fell under his spell. I enjoyed the way he molded me, manipulated my body, bent me to his will—I craved it. But when I had his cock in my mouth, I finally understood why he liked being in control. It was quite heady to be the one making him twist and writhe. Making him succumb to me.

And while I bobbed over him, he continued to suckle at my core. The ecstasy warred with my solemn intention to give to the man who was always giving to me. My insides tightened and I felt close to coming, but I held on, focusing on him. He thickened as I hollowed my cheeks and increased my tempo. My free hand ran up and down the inside of his thigh, then moved to cup his balls. He groaned and that was when I knew he was as close as I was. It was a battle—who would get there first? And who would the winner be? The one who came or the one who didn’t?

I considered it my victory when he pushed me away. “That’s enough. On your back. I need to come inside you.”

I swiveled to do as he commanded. I bent my knees, planted my feet on the bed, and spread my legs as Hudson scooted toward me. But instead of covering me with his body, he stayed kneeling. Lifting me under my ass, he urged me up into an arch. One hand moved to support me under my thigh. The other moved to rub my still-throbbing clit.

Talk about a view. I had the perfect vantage point to see his cock knocking against my bare pussy.

“I’m so turned on right now, Alayna. It’s going to be rough.”

He was asking my permission. Crazy, because I trusted him implicitly with my body. Trusted him with all of me.

My eyes met his. “Please.”

He groaned. Then he plunged in, deep and hard, just as he’d promised.

I cried out, fisting the sheets. I had already been on the brink and the minute he entered my channel, my orgasm ripped through me.

Hudson wasn’t slowing at all as I clenched around his cock. He drove into me with single-minded fury, over and over. His thighs slapped against mine, the sound driving me mad, stirring up another climax within me. He talked to me—crazy sex talk that I could barely make meaning of in my haze. Each word punctuated as he thrust in, in, in. “You’re. So. God. Damn. Hot. You. Make. Me. Come. So. Hard.”

And then we were both coming. So hard. He pushed into me with a long groan. My eyes were glued to him, and I watched his entire torso stiffen as his hips bucked against my pelvis. Then my own vision went white, clouding with the intensity of my release. His name was on my tongue, both a curse and a prayer as I surrendered to the convulsions that begged to overtake me.

God, oh, god.

It seemed ages before I recovered enough to speak—to think. When I could, Hudson had already fallen on the bed beside me. He was equally affected, I knew. If he weren’t, he’d be holding me. Instead, we lay side by side, our shoulders the only parts of our bodies touching, yet the connected feeling was palpable.

I took a final deep breath. “That was incredible.” Incredible was an understatement. There weren’t words for what it really was. I looked over at the glorious lover beside me. “Seriously. How does sex with you just keep getting better and better?”

Hudson didn’t pause in his answer. “We’ve learned to trust each other.”

“Is that what it is?” It meant a lot that he trusted me after the things I’d done. In many ways I didn’t deserve it. But I would never betray him again. I’d grown past that.

“Yes. That’s what it is.” He turned his head toward me, his eyes narrowed. “Did I hurt you?”

“In only the best ways.” He had been rougher than usual. But I’d loved every second of it, even though I now felt raw and a bit tender. “I had no idea you were so into a shaved pussy.”