“Hey, you’re the one who held food up to my lips.”

“Let’s see if you can be nicer about it.” He grips a piece of pineapple in his fingers and offers it to me. I lean in, smiling, and gently take the fruit from him, chewing happily, slurping the juice.

“Better.”

“My turn.” I choose a slice of apple and hold it up for Rhys to take from my fingers. “No biting.”

“I seem to remember you enjoying my teeth on your skin last night.”

I feel my face flush as I remember the way he skimmed those teeth over the ball of my shoulder, my ear, my neck.

My pussy.

“Yeah,” he whispers and bites the apple, then leans in and bites my lower lip. “You like it.”

I lick my lip where he just bit it and taste the apple there.

“The fruit is delicious.”

“You’re delicious.” He’s finished with the fruit now, nibbling down my neck to my shoulder, making my eyes cross. “How do you keep your skin so soft?”

“Genetics,” I reply hoarsely. “And I try to stay out of the sun.”

“It’s working,” he replies and kisses my chin. “Are you still hungry?”

“We ate three bites of fruit,” I remind him. “Aren’t you still hungry?”

His green eyes smile into mine as he reaches over and plucks the rose from its vase on the tray. “I’m hungry for you.”

I snort. “Charmer.”

“You’re not an easy charm, Gabby.” He lightly drags the soft petals of the rose down my nose. “But just because you don’t need the pretty words, doesn’t mean that I don’t mean every single one of them. You are beautiful. You are amazing. And—” He pulls the petals down between my breasts, over my belly, and down my hip, making me gasp. It tickles. “I’m hungry for every inch of you.”

Suddenly, he flips me over onto my stomach, brushes my hair off my back and away from my face, and returns to skimming the rose down my spine to my ass, barely over the crack, then in a circle over each of my butt cheeks.

“I enjoy your skin,” he murmurs and kisses between my shoulder blades.

“I enjoy you enjoying my skin,” I reply with a grin. “I feel pampered.”

He pauses. “You should feel pampered every day.”

I snort. “Who are you?” The rose skims down my inner thighs, making me moan. “Who says stuff like that?”

I hear him toss the rose away, and suddenly his naked—he must have lost the robe—body is covering mine and his mouth is next to my ear.

“I’m the man about to be deep inside you.” His voice is rough, his breathing already different. Hard. “I’m the man that can’t get enough of you.” He spreads my legs with his own. I hear him rip open a condom, and with me flat on my tummy, he pushes inside me, all the way inside, making me bite my lip.

“Oh, my God.”

He kisses my neck, pulls out most of the way, then slams into me, harder than he has before, and I gasp, shocked at how fucking good it feels.

“Too much?” he asks.

“No.” I shake my head and try to tilt my hips up to meet him, but he holds me down, his hands on my ass, pushing me into the mattress.

“I’m the man who’s about to fuck you into this mattress, Gabrielle.”

Holy hell.

And he does. Hard and steady. I can’t wait to see his fingerprints on my ass later.

“Rhys.”

“That’s right. That’s who I am.”

I freaking know who he is!

“Damn, I’m gonna come.” I bury my face in the bed, but suddenly he pulls out and flips me back around.

“Look at me.” He props one leg on his shoulder and kisses my calf as he wraps the other leg around his waist and slips back inside me. “I want to see you while you fall apart.”

I can’t look away from his face. He’s intense, but his eyes are happy as he watches me. I know that most men are visual creatures, but Rhys loves to watch me. We kept the lights on all night long.

His eyes never leave me.

And it makes me feel just what he says. Amazing. Beautiful.

I reach between us and circle my clit with my fingertips, sending little zings through my limbs and spine, and Rhys’s jaw clenches.

“Oh, fuck yes, touch yourself.”

I reach farther down and press against his cock as he pulls in and out of me, and for the first time, his eyes close.

Well, look at that.

I file that away for later.

“Tell me you’re about to come,” he growls. I can feel him swell even more inside me and I know he’s so close.

And so am I.

I cup his face in my hands and rise up to kiss him, tightening my core and pussy, clenching around him even harder, and we both fall over the edge into ecstasy.

We’re panting, a little sweaty, as I fall back onto the bed and Rhys follows me, careful not to crush me, but his head is on my chest and his arms are gripping my sides. I summon up enough strength to push my fingers through his hair as we regain our senses.

“You’re good at that,” I say finally, staring at the ceiling. “Now I know what all the fuss is about.”

I feel him smile against me. “Oh baby, we’ve just gotten started.”

***

“This is Jackson Square.” I point to the park surrounded by wrought iron fencing in the heart of the French Quarter. “And behind it is St. Louis Cathedral. We can go inside, if you like, to look around.”