That was why when Nik retreated to another part of the restaurant, a tug in my belly told me to follow. My intention wasn’t to take him home, and the idea didn’t even spring up until I started talking to him, taking in those full lips and soft features. His lean build and styled blond hair were an unforgettable combination, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him.

If he showed up.

At the end of my apartment floor’s hallway, I looked out to the open land behind it, untouched by construction. Against the clear night sky, it stretched forever to a blurry horizon lit by the highway. I’d never previously given it any attention, but now it was my saving grace to assuage my mind.

I slumped back and knocked my head against the wall. He wasn’t coming.

Lifting my phone, I looked at the screen to see if I missed anything and found nothing. Anticipation left me jerky, listening for the sound of Nik’s arrival. When a car door slammed shut in the distance, I jolted up and waited but instead it was a woman carrying groceries upstairs to her apartment.

I closed my eyes and sat with the rejection. At least the guy was a stranger. I could sleep this off and get up tomorrow and pretend like this never happened.

“Hey.”

My eyes flew open, finding Nik standing on the other side of my doorway. “Hey.”

“You didn’t tell me it’s a pain in the ass to find this building,” he said, his mouth curled in a slight smile.

That explained why it took a bit for him to get here. Tension I’d been holding in my arms released, and the spark of desire I’d held in at the restaurant started to build. “Sorry, I forgot to mention that. Glad you found it in the end.”

I bit back the urge to say that he wouldn’t have trouble next time. This hookup could go entirely sideways, and I shouldn’t be making promises of seeing him again. It still didn’t stop me from wanting to, though.

Nik’s eyes flitted between the door and me, his eyebrow rising expectantly. He wetted his lips, slow and measured, and my body temperature kicked up a degree, pooling between my legs. I could already feel myself stiffening in my pants.

Holding his gaze, I pulled my keys out of my pocket, slipped them into the deadbolt, and unlocked the door. I pushed it open and motioned for Nik to go in first.

I followed him and tossed the keys onto the side table. My apartment was saturated in a calm blue, muting the mess that I’d left behind before heading out that evening, and I made a mental note to thank Dakota for convincing me to buy into those damn smart bulbs.

Rubbing my hands on my jeans, I took a breath and said, “So, would you like anything to⁠—”

Suddenly I was spun around, the rest of my question aborted by Nik’s mouth latching onto mine. With the world still spinning, I grabbed on to his shoulders and allowed myself to fall into the feeling of his soft mouth against mine.

Nik’s hands skittered over my hips and up my chest, his fingernails scraping along my skin as his fingers curled into a fist around my tank top. His teeth grazed my lips as he slowly opened up, the tip of his tongue slipping over the seam of my mouth. Despite the force of his hands, he was hesitant, and that flared my insides to a fever pitch.

I gripped his hips hard and pushed him against the door, ripping at his T-shirt. Nik broke the kiss, his sharp breath blowing on my chin while he lifted his hands so I could free him of the barrier between my mouth and his skin. I coaxed a moan out of him as my mouth latched on to the bottom of his neck, the taste of him sharp on my tongue.

Nik’s knuckle brushed against my nipple as he jutted his hips forward, his hard-on pressing against the straining seam of my zipper. I ripped my mouth off of him and shook out a breathy groan. Desperate for more, I slotted a leg between Nik’s and rolled my hips over his thigh.

“What do you want?” I asked, my face still tucked between his neck and shoulder. “I’m down for anything.”

Instinct clouded my rationality, but I was telling the truth. It’d been a while since I’d hooked up with anyone. The last time was with a friend of a friend on New Year’s Eve six months ago. She was a good time, but she didn’t set me on fire like Nik was doing right now, leaving my knees weak and rutting against him like a fucking animal.

This had never happened to me before.

Silence hung between us enough that the fog of lust cleared. I pulled up to look at him, a lasso of worry tightening around my chest. If he wasn’t down for this anymore, I’d have no issue walking away and having a date alone with my hand tonight.

Nik’s hooded eyes looked at me, the tip of his tongue curled on his upper lip. He didn’t look completely spooked, but there was an uncertainty there that was enough to give me pause.

“You okay?” I asked, leaning back to give him space. Nik jerked me back toward him, his fingers digging hard into my hips.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay,” he whispered, tilting his head to nose along my jaw. “I expected to end up at someone’s apartment tonight. I ain’t mad about it.”

To further prove his point, he gripped my ass and set a rhythm, his lips brushing over the shell of my ear when he said, “Let’s go to the couch first. I want these pants off you now.”

The rasp of Nik’s voice gave a rough edge to those words, and it all went straight to my dick. I didn’t need him to tell me twice.

Heading to the couch immediately turned into stumbling toward it, my hands cupping his face as we kissed, his hands anchored on my hips. Our chests bumped and legs tangled, but mercifully, we made it to our destination with no critical injury.

I pushed Nik down on the couch and widened my legs in front of him, immediately going for the button of my jeans. Nik’s lidded eyes locked onto my hands, the tip of his tongue resting on his top lip.

It was a miracle I was able to get the zipper down. Before I could start to pull my pants down, Nik’s fingers hooked onto the waistband, his thumbs rubbing over my hip bones. He peered up at me, and even saturated in the azure lighting, he was radiant.

He was asking permission.

My pulse skipped, and a shudder quaked through my muscles. I grazed my thumb over the side of his neck, where his heartbeat thumped against his veins.

Getting jeans off wasn’t as sexy as they showed in movies, and a part of me wished I hadn’t opted for skinny jeans, but I knew they were the main reason I had Nik’s tongue tracing a winding trail around my belly button.

With a grunt, I gripped Nik’s shoulder and shoved him onto the couch with enough force that his breath caught. I tugged my pants and underwear off, unable to stand another second of ignoring my cock’s need for attention. I crawled into Nik’s lap, my hands caging his head.

His eyes swept over my body with reverence as his hand encircled my cock. Little shocks of warmth skittered over my skin, my legs shaking to hold myself up. Nik sank his teeth into his bottom lip, a wrinkle of concentration settled between his eyebrows as he squeezed the tip of my cock.

He flicked his gaze up to me, his voice breathy and nervous when he said, “Let me know if you like what I’m doing, okay?”

A fondness bloomed in my chest. Nik’s voice was low and sweet, soft in a way that made my pulse skip. I hooked a finger under his chin and tilted his head up, answering with another kiss.

Nik hummed at the simple press of lips, and that simplicity of it eclipsed the arousal and replaced it with a different kind of desire.

I needed to see him. Not in the dimness of mood lighting or under the glow of a moon. A primal urge gnawed at my bones, ravenous and commanding. It slashed away the heady delirium that came with sex, and I reached for the light’s remote and pointed it to the ceiling.

Nik snatched my wrist away. “Don’t.”

With wide eyes, I peered down at Nik’s rough grip and shook it off. He immediately let go, his face twisted like he was ashamed, but it flashed away before I could ask anything about it.

“I like the way you look like this,” he said.

“Okay,” I murmured before stealing another kiss.

Nik’s hesitancy evaporated, his pace increasing. When he swiped the pad of his thumb over the tip of my cock, I ripped my mouth away and gasped. “Holy shit, do that again.”

The ensuing chuckle was followed by Nik’s mouth on my neck, his teeth grazing over my quivering pulse. His hand continued to torment me, leaving me begging for more. I received a growl in return, half expecting Nik to tease, but his pace quickened, his forehead pressing against my shoulder.

“Wow,” Nik whispered, awed.

I tilted my head to the side, huffing shallow breaths to keep my orgasm at bay.

He was watching. He was watching me lose myself.

Him being witness to me unraveling was enough to push me over the edge. Blood rushed away from my head and down toward my clenching stomach as I spilled into Nik’s hand. My head suddenly felt heavy, and it was a lot of effort to keep it up when I could just surrender.