“I know,” she said.

“I don’t feel like sharing you tonight—or any night, really. I’ve never felt possessive like this over anyone in my entire life. I don’t know what’s going on with me. I feel so out of control of my emotions.”

“What I do for a living is not exactly a normal situation for someone to have to deal with. I think you’re reacting normally. I’m putting you in a tough spot.”

“You’re doing what you have to, and I admire you for that. More than you know.”

“I’m not going back to work tonight. I’m just gonna stay on and talk to you. You paid me enough for a week.”

“You do what you want, okay? Not what you think I want.”

She pulled off her shirt before removing her shorts and underwear.

“What are you doing, Eden?”

“You said to do what I want.”

She was panting, and her eyes were glassy. She looked horny as all hell. My dick was hard as steel as I watched her spread her legs apart, her glistening pussy taunting me.

“I want you to show me how much you want me. And I want to hear you groan and watch you come, Ryder.”

Well, fuck. I thought I was already hard, but my dick stiffened even more.

“Lie back,” I said.

Eden positioned herself so she could rub her clit while watching me masturbate. Even though we’d done this before, there was something so desperate about this time. I think we were both at the end of our ropes after being interrupted before I’d left her.

As I tugged at my cock, I said, “You’re so hot, baby. I’ve never wanted to fuck anyone like I want to fuck you. I want you so bad right now. I can hardly think straight.”

There was no bigger turn-on than the sound of her moaning while she touched herself to the sight of me jerking it.

I licked my hand to wet it so I could imagine it was her drenched pussy. I closed my eyes and imagined what her pheromones smelled like. We were both totally lost in the moment.

When I opened my eyes, she was squeezing her tit with one hand while she massaged her clit with the other.

Holy shit, that’s hot.

Her legs started to tremble before she moaned in pleasure. I loved that she didn’t give a fuck whether or not I was ready. She just let herself go.

“Eden…Eden…Eden…” I let out the longest breath, which I hadn’t even realized I was holding, as my cum spurted out in buckets.

She watched every second of it. I kept milking myself to squeeze out the last few drops.

I collapsed against the headboard, momentarily sated but knowing that feeling of satisfaction would be short-lived.

We lay there for a while in silence. Eventually, she got up and put her shirt back on.

“So, Ollie told me you’ve been emailing each other,” she finally said.

“Yeah. He’s so cute.” I wondered if she was mad about that. “I hope that’s okay with you. I told him we could keep in touch.”

“I know what you told him—that you’d be there for him no matter what.”

My tone was insistent. “I’m not trying to overstep my bounds. I just don’t see a reason why he and I couldn’t keep in touch, even if…”

“Even if things don’t work out with us,” she said defensively.

I paused. “Yeah.”

“You do know Ethan told him the same thing, right?”

Fuck Ethan.

“Yes. But I’m not Ethan. I’m not an asshole. I would never do anything to hurt him.”

“Not intentionally. But life happens. Shit happens. He and I, we’re not used to people who stick around. Sadly, that’s the norm for us. Ethan, my father, Ollie’s father—no men in our lives ever stick around. My brother and I have no one but each other, so we’re not exactly conditioned to believe people when they say they’re going to be there.

That hurt to hear. “I know. I get it.” Leaning in, I said, “You’ve never mentioned your father before, only that he was never around.”

“Yeah, well, there’s not much to mention. My mother really knew how to pick them. Both men she got knocked up by were passing through town at the time.”

“Is he alive?”

“My father is a drifter. He never stayed in one place more than a year or two. The last I heard he was somewhere in North Dakota.”

“Were you born in Utah?”

“No. I was born in Montana. My mom was from there. She was a struggling student when she met him. They were around the same age. He took off after he found out she was pregnant. He came around one time when I was five. But at the time, I didn’t know it was him. My mother introduced him as her friend Lane. She only told me years later who it really was.”

Montana.

Lane.

Montana Lane.

Fuck.

“Wow,” I said.

Even though Eden was downplaying her feelings, the fact that she’d chosen her father’s name for her screen name spoke volumes. She was hurt by her dad’s abandonment far more than she was letting on.