7. Remi

"Twenty-five to thirty-five percent of one-night stands end in a long-term relationship." ~ Tim Rhodes

How the fuck did I get here? I wondered as I lay on my back, staring up at the ceiling. Rain pelted against the glass window as thunder rumbled in the distance, creating an even more cocoon-like, surreal atmosphere. It truly felt like we were the only two people on earth.

The most beautiful, most intriguing, most charming, most intoxicating woman I'd ever had the pleasure of meeting, was beside me in bed, and I was spending the night with her. Awareness crackled like the lightning bolts outside. Blood that should have been pumping to my head had traveled south as I thought about all the dirty things I wanted to say, to do this woman beside me.

I wanted to strip her naked and take my time exploring every inch of her body, memorizing every curve, every freckle, every dip, every line. I wanted to discover each and every sensitive spot that made her melt with ecstasy. I wanted to make her come so hard that she saw stars. I wanted to feel her writhing beneath me as I thrust inside of her so deep I didn't know where I ended and she began. I wanted to claim her, to own all of her.

"Kyle?"

Her soft voice spread through me, warming me from the inside out—not that I needed any help in that department. I was burning up. From the moment she'd come out of the bathroom in sweats and a t-shirt, I'd been on fire. She made cute and wholesome the hottest look in the world.

"Yes, Ava?"

"What are you thinking about?"

I took a deep breath and contemplated what the correct response would be. There was no way I could tell her what I was thinking, but part of me, the part that resided between my legs, was trying to convince me that it would be a great idea to confess all the dirty things that had been running through my mind.

Thankfully, I was able to overrule my dick's vote.

"I think sometimes a man's thoughts should be his own." I could hear the authority in my tone.

Typically, I was an easy-going, laid-back, go-with-the-flow guy. But when it came to being intimate, a switch flipped inside of me. I became dominant. I needed to be in complete control. I wanted my partner's total submission.

None of the women I'd been with had ever complained. If anything, it was the opposite. They loved how I took charge. But that sort of submission took trust. Ana wasn't someone I was in a relationship with. We met a few hours ago. There was no way she trusted me, and with good reason. I was a stranger to her. She didn't even know my real name.

As we lay in silence, the only thing I could hear was the whooshing of my heartbeat, which at the moment sounded like a wind tunnel. When she didn't say anything else, I wondered if she might have been offended by my curt response. I could apologize, but she'd said she doesn't like apologies; she liked actions, not words.

A few minutes passed, and I figured that if she was mad about the way I'd spoken to her, it might be a blessing in disguise and remove all hope of temptation from me. If she rolled over and went to sleep, I'd do the same thing. Or at least, I'd try. The chances of me getting any rest with a boner that could chop wood were slim to none. Still, in the light of day, maybe the atmosphere wouldn't be so sexually charged.

I doubted it, but it could happen.

"Kyle?" Her voice was even quieter this time, making the atmosphere even more intimate, which I would have thought was an impossible feat.

"Yes, Ana."

"Do you want to know what I'm thinking?"

Her seductive, teasing tone caused my dick to swell in my pants. I fisted my hands at my sides and then stretched my fingers out, trying to disperse some of the built-up tension I was feeling. "Yes."

"I'm thinking that tonight we're floating in a bubble, a bubble where only we exist. Where only Kyle and Ana exist. And tomorrow, that bubble is going to pop, and we'll never get to float in it again."

Okay, that was actually really fucking sweet. Now it was my heart's turn to swell.

"I think you're right."

"And I was also thinking that under the cover of darkness, in the middle of this storm, I want to do all the things people do in hotel rooms." She took in a shaky breath. "Because I know if the sun comes up and all I did was lie here beside you like a good girl would be expected to do, I will regret it for the rest of my life. I want to be bad with you tonight."

Fuck me. Just when I thought this night couldn't possibly get any hotter, she went and told me that she wanted to be bad with me tonight. I opened my mouth to reply, but apparently her statement had short-circuited my brain because no words came out.

"Kyle?"

This time, when she said ‘my' name, her voice was tiny, just a whisper that I wasn't even sure I'd heard.

"Yes, Ana."

"What are you thinking right now?" she asked me again.

"It's kind of hard to do any thinking because all the blood that should be going to my head is going much farther south."

"Are you hard?"

At her question, my cock jumped as if raising his hand like an overeager kid in school. My dick was being a real pick-me.

"Yes. Are you wet?"

"I don't know; I think maybe you should check."

"Fuck," I groaned.

"Yes, please."

Her sassy response shifted me from neutral to first gear. One second, I was lying flat on my back; the next, I was on top of Ana, my body pinning her to the mattress. I gripped her wrists and restrained them above her head.

She let out a little gasp, and I felt her hips jerk up as her eyes widened.

Huge green eyes stared up at me as her chest rose and fell in short breaths.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked.

"Yes." Her Sex cradled my shaft as her thighs opened even wider.

It was then that I realized we had a problem.

"What?" she asked.

"I don't have any condoms." I didn't carry them with me when I traveled because I'd never cheat.

"I do." Her eyes cut to the nightstand beside her.

She must have put them there when I was in the shower before I came to bed.

When I looked back at her, she smiled. "I told you, I like to be prepared."

Perfect. That was the only word to describe this woman.

"You have to promise me that if I do anything that you don't like, or if you want to stop at any point, you will say something."

"I promise." She licked her lips, and I swallowed a groan. "On one condition."

"Anything," I rasped.

"Have you seen Peaky Blinders?"

Wow. Every time I thought I knew where our conversation was headed, she surprised me. I fucking loved it.

"Yes."

"Do you remember when Tommy is talking to May at the stables, and he tells her about Grace?"

"Sort of." I was trying to place the scene.

"Basically, she thanks him for being a gentleman and telling her about her, but then she asks him to kindly start behaving like a gangster again."

"Okay." I wasn't sure I was following, but honestly, just being this close to Ana and feeling her body beneath me was enough. It was also extremely distracting, making it difficult to process words.

"You have been a perfect gentleman tonight. This is only happening because I know you are a good egg." She tilted her hips up again, and I felt the heat of her sex pulsing against my throbbing cock. "In my life, I am always the one in control. I make life-and-death decisions on a daily basis. People depend on me. My brain never shuts off. I am always thinking, analyzing, and making decisions." Her thighs tightened around me as she continued to roll her hips seductively. "I've never had a one-night stand with a stranger, but I've also never been with a man who could make my brain shut off. I think you are that man. So, Kyle, this is me, Ana, giving you consent. Don't ask for what you want; just take it. Take me."

As hot as what she'd just said was, her words hit me just as squarely in the chest. I could feel the gravity of the trust that she was giving me. Despite the fact that we'd only known each other a few hours, I knew that ‘Ana' would not give that away so easily.

I wanted to thank her for her vulnerability, her trust, and her transparency, but I didn't want to ruin the mood by being sappy. Thankfully, I didn't have to, because apparently she could read my mind.

The corners of her mouth curled up as she said, "You're welcome."

A deep groan ripped from me as I lowered down and pressed my lips to hers. Despite the urgency flooding through me, the kiss was gentle, patient, and exploratory. Our mouths fused together as our lips parted and our tongues met. Little by little, it deepened until it felt like I was absorbing her essence in the soul-binding exchange. I lost myself and became intoxicated by the sweet sensuality.

I couldn't say how long I lingered at her mouth, but by the time I broke our kiss and began kissing her neck, she was writhing beneath me. My fingers slid beneath her shirt, and she shifted so I could remove it, leaving her topless and panting.

My gaze hungrily devoured her bare chest as my knuckles brushed along the swell of her mounds. Before I lowered my head and pulled her nipples into my mouth, they were already puckered, and begging for my attention. Using the tip of my tongue, I traced the outline of her areolas before flicking her rosy tips and then biting down on her pebbled flesh with just enough force to make her gasp. I alternated between her right and left breasts, showing each equal consideration.

Her hands roamed over my shoulders as her back arched, causing her hips to grind harder against my heavy erection. Reaching between our bodies, I slipped my hand beneath her sweats and cupped her lace-covered sex. The material was very damp as I began to massage her seam. Within just a few passes of my touch, her breath grew choppy, and I could feel her body priming for release. The moment I read the early signs of her climax, I removed my hand and pushed myself up, so I was kneeling between her legs.

When I moved, she started to sit up, reaching for me, but I stopped her. "Don't."

She stilled immediately.

"Lay back down."

A tiny grin pulled at the corner of her lips as she reclined onto the pillows. Keeping my gaze locked with hers, I hooked my thumbs in the waistband of her sweats and panties. Her half-hooded eyes watched me as I pulled both items of clothing down her hips and off her legs, tossing them off the side of the bed. After discarding them, I sat back on my heels and admired her, totally nude before me.

Her body was truly a masterpiece. The curve of her hips gave her an hourglass shape, highlighted by her full breasts and toned thighs. My eyes drank in her nakedness, and my cock throbbed with anticipation.

I lifted her right leg and kissed her ankle, then her calves, then her knee before lowering it back down. Then, I repeated that sequence on her other leg. After lowering her left, my hands ran from her shins to her thighs, pressing them farther apart. Her sex glistened with arousal as I lowered myself down into an army crawl position between her legs.

As I ran my finger up and down her feminine lips, my breath mingled with the heat of her core teasing her clit with each pass. Her seam began to pulse, coating my touch with her building arousal, I sensed she was close once again, so I switched my technique.

When I removed my hand, a frustrated sigh fell from her lips, which was music to my ears. I wanted to drive her to the edge, then back off as many times as possible before she went off the cliff.

I pressed a soft kiss on the tiny patch of hair covering her pelvic bone, then moved my lips lower. Ever so gently, I grazed her swollen clit, letting my tongue barely brush along it as I continued down to the base of her slit. I licked up and down her opening, then traced along the outline of her swollen nub, just three times before her stomach contracted and her thighs began to quiver.

My plan had been to stay there, feeding off the sweetness of her nectar for a while, but when she started coming, I pushed my fingers inside of her and concentrated my tongue's attention on her pleasure button. Her entire body shook as she came apart. I stayed with her as she rode out the tidal wave of her orgasm, committing every sound, every movement, every second to memory.

We might only have one night together, but I planned on making it the most memorable night of our lives.