Who was this bold woman who told men she was attracted to them and practically gave them a free pass to feel her up on occasion? It wasn't a Piper I'd ever met before. But I liked her. She made me feel alive. And so did Lucas.

The way he was watching me now, dark, hooded eyes firmly on my face while we finished our meal, hardly speaking to one another, was so animal that I nearly stood from my chair and ripped my own dress off. And I imagined that his thoughts were not far behind.

We finished our dinner, and our wine, while making polite small talk, avoiding any further mention of sex or attraction. Then he stood from his seat and crossed the table to me. He held out a hand and I took it, letting him pull me to my feet and lead me out of the kitchen and dining room and back toward the deck. I started to ask where we were going but knew the moment I saw the pinkish orange light slanting in through the windows. The sun was setting. He was taking me to watch the sunset with him.

It was a romantic thing to do, especially more so given that I'd basically given him permission to tear my clothes off and he'd opted for this romantic gesture instead.

There was a fire pit on the deck, which he lit up the instant we reached it, surrounded by an assortment of comfy outdoor couches with puffy pillows and light blankets. I shivered in the evening breeze coming off of the water and Lucas wrapped a blanket gently around my shoulders before lowering me onto the couch and taking a seat cozied up next to me.

He propped an arm up onto the back of the couch behind me and lifted a leg so his ankle rested against his knee. He was giving me a few inches of space, not pressed too up against me without my permission. But I nuzzled in next to him anyway, pushing my cheek into his hard chest as I wrapped the blanket tighter around my body. He went rigid at the touch but only for a moment, then he relaxed into it, even dropping his arm from the couch to wrap around my shoulder, letting his hand fall into my hair where his fingers absentmindedly played with the dangling strands. Inwardly, I groaned. Were men even aware of how sexy that was?

For a while, we watched the sun set in silence. I stared out at the beautiful horizon and the shimmering pastels reflected in the ocean with a content smile on my lips. I didn't realize Lucas had been watching me until I turned to find him staring, a look of fervent adoration in his eyes that sent my heart soaring.

"What are you—" I started but I got no further.

He raised two fingers to my chin and pulled my face up to his like he had done before. But this time, when our lips met, it was no chaste peck meant for the viewing pleasure of those around us. It was searing, hot passion, years of pent-up desire, melding our lips together by the sheer heat of it. I shifted in my seat, moved in closer, and he parted my lips with his tongue, searching, exploring. I welcomed him in with a soft sigh and the muscles of his arms tightened and contracted around me in response. The kiss grew deeper, more frenzied. I pushed against him until I could get no closer from his side.

So I separated from him and met his gaze. His eyes were dark, hooded, boring into me with an obvious, carnal desire. We were breathing heavily, our chests heaving in unison. He took my separation as retreat and began to back away but then I stood, letting the blanket fall around my feet, and turned to face him. I placed my knees on either side of him so that I was straddling him. His eyes widened a fraction as they swept over my body, from my lips to my chest, right at eye level, to my lap against his. Then I leaned in and let my lips crash against his once more.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. He held onto my hips, massive hands gripping me with a familiarity that seemed to indicate they belonged there all along. I let my tongue work against his, running it along his bottom lip, biting playfully. He gave as good as he got but then I took it a step further. I clenched down and swivelled my hips, rubbing myself against his erection that I felt pressed up against my center.

I could feel the zipper of his jeans against the soft lace of my thong. I felt his hard cock straining against the denim between us as well. It was easy enough to tease him, given my current position. So I took advantage of the situation and ground down hard on top of him. He pulled away from my lips with a groan. I smirked and looked down at him, biting my lip as I stared at his, red and swollen from our passion.

"You're missing the sunset, Vega," I teased him with a grin.

"I've seen sunsets, cariño," he told me with a raised brow. "There's a different view I'm looking for now."

Then, without moving me off of his lap, he stood. I squealed in terror, wrapping my legs around his waist and digging my nails in his back to avoid falling. He chuckled, his arms wrapping around me and holding me tight against him.

"I've got you, Piper."

He did. I knew he did. So I trusted him as he carried me through the main cabin towards his master suite. I took the time that he was focused on getting us to the bedroom to kiss his neck.

"If you don't stop, we won't make it to the bedroom," he warned with a groan, his voice low and husky.

"Who says I want to?" I asked, nipping at his neck again to enunciate my point. A growl escaped him then, so animalistic in nature that my thighs became a little slicker at the mere sound of it and something told me that Lucas Vega was about to be amazing in bed.

Overwhelmed with need, I stopped him with a hand on his chest, pushing out of his grip so that my legs slid down and my feet were on the floor. Then I grabbed his hand and pulled him quickly through the hall toward his suite. We had barely made it through the door when my lips were on his again. I reached for the bottom of his shirt and he let me pull it up and over his head, tossing it to the side. His fingers got tangled in my hair as he gripped the sides of my face and kissed me again. Then his hands ran down my shoulders, skimming against the sides of my breasts, and sliding down to my bare legs. He grabbed the fabric of my dress, tugging me forward and up onto my toes so that my lips were pressed hard against his and my ass was hanging out of the bottom of my skirt. He let go of the dress long enough to cup my ass in his hands and then growled against my lips.

Driven wild by the sound, I placed both hands on his chest and pushed. He fell back onto the bed, sitting up on his elbows to look at me, chest heaving. I reached for the hem of my dress and pulled it up and over my head in one swift move, tossing it over to where his shirt had landed only moments before. Then, I was standing in front of him in my green lace bra and matching thong. His eyes drank me in hungrily, greedily, as I scrambled forward to join him on the bed.

I let out a moan when he cupped my breast, another when he slipped the lace aside and toyed with my nipple, and still another when his finger traced my stomach to dip into my panties and rub against my clit. I kissed him hard and reached for the zipper of his jeans. He groaned against my mouth as I pulled out his long, throbbing member and gave it a few quick strokes. He unclasped my bra in an instant and it fell away, forgotten. I reached down, shimmying out of my thong, and pulled away from him to look into his eyes.

"Do you have, um—" I asked, breathless.

He nodded, rolling over and reaching into the bedside table. He pulled the package out a moment later and started to open it but I took it from him. He raised a brow and I got to my feet. I pulled his jeans off of him. Next, his boxers. Then he was completely naked in front of me. Six feet, three inches of unadulterated male Adonis. I bit my lip and he groaned.

"Don't look at me like that, cariño," he growled, eyes darkening as he met my gaze. "I can't take it."

Smiling, I pulled the condom from its wrapper and rolled it over the tip of his cock. He flinched at the contact, his member so rigid, so hard, and so big. I'd never been with someone so big. So this was what Lucas Vega had been packing all these years? If I'd known that in college...

"Everything okay, Piper?" Lucas asked and I realized I'd zoned out in thought.

To answer, I smiled and crawled slowly over him until we were face to face. He lifted his to meet my lips and I moaned against them as I lowered myself onto him, slowly at first, making sure I was ready to take all of him at once. He moaned with me as I slid onto him and, once he was fully inside me, I stayed still for a moment, savoring the feeling of fullness. Then I began to move. Slowly at first, light hip swivels, throwing my head back as I bounced up and down. Then I went faster, moaning every time his cock hit that sweet spot deep inside of me.

As it turned out, Lucas Vega had a very dirty mouth. Profanity and graphic descriptions of my body and sexual acts he would like to perform on it spewed from him as I rode him. I would have blushed if it wasn't so hot. And it turned me on to think of all the delicious ways that I could get him to shut up if I wanted to.

When we both finished, him right after me, I rolled off of him, sweating and breathing heavily, and collapsed onto the bed beside him. He groaned as he turned over, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me close.

"That was incredible," he murmured into my hair, giving me one sweet kiss on my neck, before his breathing started to even out and he fell asleep.

It was. It truly was. I'd just had the hottest sex of my life and the only thing I could think, as I stared up at the ceiling of Lucas Vega's yacht, was that the last ten years of my life had been wasted missing out on this, on him.