His erection was straining against the zipper, and my eyes widened when I pulled the denim off his hips and the only thing hiding him was a pair of boxer-briefs. I ran my hand over him and was rewarded with a low sound of pleasure in his throat. Letting the tips of my fingers run along the inside of the briefs’ band before pulling them lower, I bit my lip to hide my smile when his body shuddered. I grabbed his length in my hands and ran them slowly up and down, placed two openmouthed kisses on his chest, and looked up at him. He was breathing heavily, his mouth slightly open, and there was no doubting the look in his eyes.

“Do you . . .” I trailed off, the blush returning at my minimal experience with this.

Kash seemed to understand as he grabbed at the jeans hanging on his thighs and took a couple foil packets out of the pocket. “Mason’s good for something, I guess.”

I laughed and continued to work him with one hand as I pushed his pants and boxer-briefs off the rest of the way. He tilted my head up with his hands around my face, his thumbs brushing my jaw, and kissed me deeply.

“Rachel,” he whispered against my lips before pulling back an inch to look into my eyes, “can I have you?”

A lump formed in my throat when I realized what he was asking. I’d already told him I was his, but that wasn’t what this was. He knew about Daniel and the situation with Blake. One pushing, the other taking. Kash was asking. I nodded and squeezed my eyes tightly shut as I kissed him hard.

Pushing me farther back on the bed, he stepped out of his pants and tore open one of the foil packets. I watched as he rolled the condom on and reached for him when he finished. He grabbed the outstretched hand, kissed my palm, and intertwined our fingers as he crawled onto the bed and over me. I lay back and let him pull me up higher. When his lips found my throat, I wrapped my legs around his body and whimpered when his length pressed against me. He rolled his hips against me and I thought I would go mad if I didn’t have him soon.

“Please, I don’t want to wait anymore.”

He leaned back and positioned himself at my entrance. The hand holding mine gripped tighter and his eyes locked on mine as he slowly pushed inside of me. A breathy moan left me and he groaned as I stretched around him. Kash didn’t move for a few moments as we just felt each other. And with that lazy smile I loved, he pulled almost completely out and pushed back in harder. His name left my mouth and I brought his body down toward mine to capture his lips. Our joined hands were now pinned to the bed, his long fingers still entwined with mine and now clutching the comforter in them as well as we moved together. His other hand was in my hair, and his elbow was pressing into the mattress to keep his weight off me and give him the leverage he needed to move completely, but slowly, inside me.

My body was on fire for him, the heat in my belly growing rapidly. Our breaths were labored and our kisses were changing from slow and passionate to rough and needy. I urged him to move faster as I felt the familiar tightening low in my stomach and cried out when he leaned away and slammed into me. The heat in his eyes held me captive, and I’d never felt as beautiful or wanted as I did right now, in this moment with him. The hand that had been in my hair moved down my body, and the second his fingers rolled around my sensitive bud, my body shattered around him and I roughly whispered his name as I lost myself to him. He worked me through my orgasm, and when my body felt limp and sated, he curled back over me and placed his head in the crook of my neck. With a few more thrusts, his entire body tensed before shuddering, and he bit down on my collarbone as he groaned out his release.

His body was gently shaking when he pushed himself up, and I wrapped my arms around his broad back, bringing him closer to me. His arms gave out and I welcomed his weight for the moment before he rolled us onto our sides. Placing a soft kiss where he’d bitten down, he looked up at me and claimed my mouth next. We lay there holding each other for a few moments; the only sound was our heavy breathing as we stared into each other’s eyes. A soft whimper escaped my lips when his body left mine, and he kissed me quickly on the forehead before rolling off the bed and walking into the bathroom. He smiled when he came back in and saw me under the covers.

“I love seeing you there,” Kash said roughly as he crawled in with me. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close to him. “Are you okay after that?”

I snuggled in closer to his hard chest and sighed happily. “Much better than okay. I—” I broke off and kissed his warm skin.

“You what?” When I didn’t respond, he tilted my head back and searched my eyes. “What, Rach? You can tell me.”

Wishing I’d kept my mouth shut, I smiled softly and internally cringed, hoping I wouldn’t ruin this night. “I was afraid I’d end up breaking down during. I was afraid he would find a way to ruin this for me.”

“Did—”

“No!” I cut him off quickly and tightened my hold on his waist. “No, everything with you is just—it’s perfect.” I shrugged and hoped he could see the sincerity in my eyes. “It was just you; I felt safe and cherished, like I always do with you.”

He kissed me softly. “I do cherish you. I love you, Rachel.” My chest warmed as I whispered my love for him back. He held me close and I was almost asleep when he said softly, “You begin school again soon. He’ll be there, and I—I don’t know how to protect you if I don’t know who he is.”

“It doesn’t matter. He won’t do anything at school, and you wouldn’t be able to protect me from him anyway. You can’t go to my classes with me. It just—it doesn’t matter. He won’t bother me there.”