We never made it back to the bedroom.

After the shower, Jax carried me-still wrapped in that oversized towel-straight to the kitchen like he'd already mapped out every surface in my apartment for exactly this purpose. My damp hair clung to my shoulders, skin still flushed and tingling from the hot water and everything that came before it.

He set me down on the edge of the granite island, the cold stone a sharp contrast against the heat of my thighs. The towel slipped open almost immediately, baring me completely. Jax stepped between my knees, hands sliding up the insides of my legs, spreading them wider.

"Stay like that," he said, voice low. Commanding. "Don't move."

I swallowed hard, my palms braced behind me on the counter. My heart hammered so loud I was sure he could hear it.

He didn't rush, instead he dragged a single fingertip along my inner thigh slowly, watching my skin tense under his touch. Then he moved it higher and higher, until he brushed my slick folds already swollen and aching for him again.

"You're dripping down your thighs," he murmured, almost to himself. "All because I carried you in here? Or because you know what's coming?"

"Both," I breathed.

His eyes flicked up to mine-dark, predatory, and pleased. Then he dropped to his knees.

He breathed in my smell deeply."Holy-fuck." 

Then he swiped his tongue slowly over my lips, almost casual. Just the flat of his tongue dragging from my entrance all the way up to my clit in one long, deliberate stroke.

My hips jerked, but he pinned them down with one forearm across my pelvis, heavy and immovable.

"Be still," he warned. "Or I stop."

I whimpered but forced myself to hold still.

He rewarded me by doing it again-slower this time. Licking broad circles around my clit without ever touching it directly. Teasing and tormenting me. Until my thighs trembled and my fingers curled against the granite.

"Please-Jax-"

He hummed against me, the vibration making me gasp.

Then finally, he sucked my clit between his lips, firm and steady, flicking the tip of his tongue over it in quick, relentless little strokes.

My head fell back, and a broken moan tore out of my throat.

He slid two thick fingers inside me-curling immediately to that spot that made stars explode behind my eyelids. He pumped them in time with the rhythm of his tongue, sucking harder, faster, until my entire body was strung tight like a bow.

I was right there-right on the edge-when he pulled back completely.

I actually cried out in frustration.

He rose slowly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes glittering with mischief.

"Not yet."

Before I could protest, he spun me around. One hand between my shoulder blades and pressed my chest flat to the cool counter. The other yanked my hips back until my ass was in the air, legs spread.

I heard the rustle of fabric-his towel hitting the floor. Then the blunt head of him notched against me.

He didn't push in right away, he rubbed himself along my slit-coating himself in my wetness, teasing my entrance, nudging my clit with every slow pass until I was shaking, and begging incoherently.

"Tell me what you want," he said, voice rough. "Use your words."

"Fuck me," I gasped. "Hard. Please-Jax-I need it-"

That was all he needed.

He slammed in-deep, brutal, and claiming. The force of it shoved me up onto my toes. My hands scrabbled for balance on the slick granite.

He didn't give me time to adjust, he just set a punishing rhythm. Each thrust drove him to the hilt, his balls slapping against me, the wet sounds obscene in the quiet kitchen.

One hand fisted in my hair, tugging my head back just enough to arch my spine.

"Look at me," he growled.

I twisted as best I could, meeting his eyes over my shoulder. The raw hunger on his face nearly undid me.

"You're mine," he said between thrusts. "Say it."

"Yours," I sobbed. "All yours-fuck-don't stop-"

He reached around, his fingers finding my clit again-rubbing fast, tight circles that matched the brutal snap of his hips.

The dual sensation was too much, and I shattered.

My orgasm hit like a freight train-violent, blinding, walls clamping down around him so hard he cursed viciously. My knees buckled but he held me up, fucking me through it, drawing it out until tears pricked my eyes and every nerve was screaming.

He followed right after, burying himself deep, hips jerking as he came with a guttural groan, flooding me again. Pulse after hot pulse until I could feel it leaking down my thighs even as he stayed inside me.

For long seconds we just breathed-his chest heaving against my back, my forehead pressed to the cool stone.

Then he eased out slowly, turned me around, and lifted me onto the counter again-this time gently. He stepped between my legs and kissed me, slow and deep. Like he was tasting every sound I'd made.

When he pulled back, his thumb brushed my swollen bottom lip.

"You okay?" he asked, softer now.

I nodded, still dazed. "More than okay."

He smirked, but there was something almost tender in it.

"Good. I love your energy."

He glanced toward the living room, then back at me.

"Couch next?"

My laugh came out shaky. "You're going to kill me."

"Only in the best way," he promised, scooping me up again.

He carried me straight past the couch, through the open archway into the living room, and dropped me onto the thick rug in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. Afternoon light poured in, warm and golden, turning everything soft except the way he looked at me-like I was already his and he was just deciding how many different ways to prove it.

I landed on my back with a soft thud, my towel long gone, and my skin still damp from the shower and slick from everything we'd done since. He stood over me for a second, naked and shameless, cock already hardening again as his gaze dragged down my body.

"Spread your legs," he said quietly.

My thighs parted instantly.

He knelt between them, but instead of diving in like before, he braced his hands on either side of my head and lowered himself until his mouth was a breath away from mine.

"You keep taking everything I give you," he murmured. "No hesitation. No asking me to slow down. You just open up and let me wreck you."

Heat crawled up my neck. "I like it when you wreck me."

His lips curved into a slow, dangerous smile.

"Yeah. I noticed."

Then he kissed me. Not the frantic, devouring kind from earlier. This one was deep and deliberate, his tongue stroking mine like he had all the time in the world. His body settled over mine, heavy and hot, pinning me to the rug without crushing me. I could feel every inch of him, his hard chest against my breasts, his thick thighs bracketing mine, the heavy length of his cock resting against my stomach, leaking against my skin.

I arched up instinctively, trying to get friction. He pulled back just enough to look at me.

"Patience," he said. "I want to feel every second of this."

He shifted lower, kissing a slow path down my throat, between my breasts, pausing to suck one nipple into his mouth until it was swollen and aching, then the other. My fingers twisted in his hair, hips lifting, searching for contact.

When he finally reached my stomach, he hooked my legs over his shoulders and spread me wide-open to the sunlight, open to him.

He licked me like he was starving-long, firm strokes of his tongue that dragged from my entrance to my clit and back again. Then he focused on sucking my clit gently, flicking the tip of his tongue over it in quick little pulses while two fingers slid inside me and curled.

My back arched off the rug.

"Jax-fuck-"

He growled against me, the sound vibrating straight through my core.

I was already close, embarrassingly fast after everything else today.

He knew it too, and just when my thighs started to shake, he pulled his mouth away and rose over me again.

I whined in protest.

He lined himself up, rubbed the head of his cock through my folds, coating himself until he glistened.

"Look at me," he ordered.

Our eyes locked, and he pushed in slowly this time. So slow I felt every thick inch stretching me, filling me, and claiming every bit of space until he was seated deep and still.

We both groaned when he was all in.

He stayed like that-buried to the hilt, hips flush against mine-letting me feel the full weight of him inside me.

"You feel that?" he whispered. "That's me owning you. Every inch. Every pulse."

I clenched around him involuntarily.bHis jaw tightened. "Fuck-do that again."

I did, and he rewarded me with a slow, rolling grind-small circles that rubbed the base of him against my clit and the head against that perfect spot inside.

My nails dug into his shoulders.

"More," I begged, and he gave it to me.

Long, deep strokes-pulling almost all the way out before sliding back in, deliberate and devastating. Each thrust dragged against every sensitive nerve, building pressure that coiled tighter and tighter in my belly.

The rug burned against my back, the sunlight warmed my skin. And his mouth found mine again-kissing me through every thrust, swallowing my moans.

When he finally sped up, my legs locked around his waist, heels digging into his ass, urging him on.

"Gonna come," I gasped against his lips. "Jax-I'm gonna-"

"Come on my cock," he growled. "Let me feel it. Let me feel you fall apart while I'm buried inside you."

One hand slid between us. His thumb found my clit, rubbing fast, firm circles.

That was it.

I came hard-shattering around him with a cry that echoed through the room. My walls pulsed, clenched, and milked him in tight rhythmic waves.

He fucked me through it-harder, faster-until his rhythm broke and he slammed deep one last time, coming with a rough, guttural sound that vibrated against my throat. Hot pulses filled me again, spilling out around him as he kept grinding slow and shallow, drawing out both our pleasure until we were both trembling.

He collapsed half on top of me, careful not to crush me completely, his forehead pressed to mine. For a long minute we just breathed-sweaty, wrecked, and tangled together on the living room floor.

Then he kissed the corner of my mouth, soft.

"You're dangerous," he murmured.

"Me?" I laughed weakly. "You're the one who keeps finding new ways to ruin me."

He lifted his head, eyes serious for once.

"I'm not done ruining you."

My pulse jumped.

"But I'm also not going anywhere after," he added quietly. "This," He flicked his finger between us, "is not just fucking. Not for me."

The words landed heavy in the quiet room.

I searched his face, my heart thudding too hard.

"Me either," I whispered.

Something softened in his expression-something almost vulnerable beneath all that cocky confidence.

He kissed me again. Then he gathered me against his chest and rolled so I was draped over him, both of us still joined, still messy, still catching our breath.

"Stay like this with me for a while," he said against my hair.

I rested my cheek over his racing heart.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Kai walked beside me, hands in his pockets, shoulders relaxed in that way only he could manage after a day of nothing but running around the beach.

I'd been trying not to think about Fred-his last text still burned in my mind: *You're too much, Helen. Too big, too loud, too needy.* But the words kept looping anyway.

Kai stopped suddenly. The tide tugged at our ankles, then retreated. He turned to face me, blocking the last of the light so his silhouette looked taller, broader, safer.

"You deserve better," he said, voice low but steady. "You always have."

I tried to laugh it off, but it came out small. "Yeah, well... apparently not."

"No." He stepped closer, close enough that I could smell the faint coconut of his sunscreen mixed with his cologne. "Fred was a fucking loser. A coward who couldn't handle a woman who actually fills a room instead of shrinking to fit his tiny ego. He looked at you and saw something to criticize because he couldn't handle how much space you take up-how much life you have."

My throat tightened. I looked down at the sand, watching it swirl around my toes. "He said I was... too much. My body, my appetite, my everything."

Kai's hand lifted, slow, like he was giving me time to pull away. When I didn't, his fingers brushed my cheek, then tilted my chin up so I had to meet his eyes.

"Your body is perfect," he said, and the words landed like a hand on my heart-firm, warm, undeniable. "These hips?" His palm slid to my waist, then lower, cupping the full curve where my sundress clung. "They're made to be held. To be gripped. To be worshipped." 

His thumb traced the soft swell of my belly through the fabric, no hesitation, no judgment. "This stomach? Soft and strong and fucking gorgeous. These thighs?" He squeezed one gently, reverently. "They could crush a man's head and he'd thank you for it. And these breasts..." His other hand rose, cupping one, thumb brushing over the nipple that hardened instantly under his touch. "They're heavy and perfect and I've spent years imagining how they'd feel in my hands. In my mouth."

My breath came shaky, heat bloomed low in my belly, spreading fast. "Kai..."

"I'm not saying this to make you feel better," he continued, voice rougher now. 

"I'm saying it because it's true. And because I've been holding it in too long." He exhaled, like the confession physically hurt. "I love you, Helen. Not the 'best friend' kind. The kind where I want to wake up next to you every morning and fall asleep buried inside you every night. The kind where I want to be the man who reminds you-every single day-how fucking gorgeous you are. How wanted. How loved."

The words hung between us, heavier than the humid air. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I was sure he could feel it.

"You... love me?" I whispered.

"Yeah." His thumb stroked my lower lip. "And I want to be with you. Really with you. Not hiding behind friendship anymore. Not watching you settle for assholes who don't see what I see."

I stared at him. The way his eyes were soft but burning, the way his hand still rested on my hip like it belonged there. The way he'd flown across the country just to make sure I didn't fall apart alone, even when he was so busy.

Tears pricked my eyes, but they weren't sad ones. "Kai..."

He leaned in, forehead resting against mine. "Say something, baby. Please."

I swallowed. My voice cracked on the first try. "I've loved you too. For so long I didn't even realize it was different from friendship. I just... thought that's how it felt to have someone who actually saw me."

His breath hitched. Then his mouth was on mine-slow at first, like he was savoring the moment he'd waited years for. But when I opened for him, when my tongue met his, the kiss turned hungry, deep and desperate.

His hands roamed-squeezing my ass, lifting me slightly so my thighs parted around his hips as he backed us toward the nearest cabana. The sheer white curtains fluttered in the breeze, offering just enough privacy from the empty beach.

He sat on the edge of the wide lounger, pulling me down to straddle his lap. My dress rode up, exposing thick thighs that pressed against his sides. He groaned into my mouth at the contact.

"Fuck, Helen," he rasped, hands sliding under the fabric to grip bare skin. "You feel so good. So perfect."

I rocked against him instinctively, feeling how hard he already was through his shorts. A soft moan slipped out, his name on my lips like a plea.

"That's it," he murmured, one hand slipping between us, his fingers finding the damp lace of my panties. "Let me hear you. Let me feel how wet you are for me."

He pushed the fabric aside, two fingers gliding through my folds, then sinking deep. I gasped, my head falling back.

"Kai-oh god-"

"You're dripping, baby." His thumb circled my clit in tight, perfect strokes while his fingers curled inside, hitting that spot that made my vision blur. "All this for me? After all these years?"

"Yes-fuck-yes," I whimpered, hips rolling, chasing the pressure. My breasts bounced with every movement, nipples tight against the thin cotton. He leaned forward, sucking one through the dress, his teeth grazing just enough to make me cry out.

"Come for me, Helen," he growled against my skin. "Come on my fingers like the beautiful girl you are. Let go, I've got you."

The praise, the heat, the way he held me like I was precious and filthy all at once-it shattered me.

My thighs clamped around his hand, body jerking as pleasure ripped through me-hot, blinding, endless. I moaned his name loud enough that the waves almost swallowed it, hips grinding down hard as I rode the aftershocks.

He kissed me through it-slow, deep-until I was trembling in his arms, boneless and glowing.

When I finally opened my eyes, he was watching me with something close to awe.

"That's my girl," he whispered, brushing damp hair from my forehead.