“Smart-ass.” He grinned and bit back the order he wanted to give her. Instead of commanding her to undress, he reached for her buttons. Slow and gentle, damn it. His hands stiffened, and he had to concentrate.
She hummed and reached for his belt.
Heat swept through him.Basketball scores. Golf courses. Baseball teams.He tried to take himself out of the moment . . . and she unzipped his fly. “Whoa.” He finished the buttons and jerked her shirt down, capturing her arms at her sides by tying the loose ends in front of her belly button.
“Hey.” Her hands dropped, and she lifted her head.
God, what he wouldn’t do to have her tied up, completely at his mercy. There was a power in having a strong woman like her give complete trust. But such power held two prongs. She’d own him. What if something happened to her? He blinked and shook his head at the uneasy thought. “Slow down,” he murmured, his gaze caught by her frilly pink bra. “Pretty.” Yeah, he’d been expecting something cotton and simple . . . Just how many layers did this woman have?
“Thanks.” She struggled against her shirt. “I can’t move.”
“That’s the idea.” He gave in and flicked the front clasp of the bra, springing it open. Her breasts were small and firm, with pert pink nipples. “Beautiful,” he breathed, easily tugging the bra straps down to join the shirt. Slowly, he dropped to his knees between her legs. “Behave yourself and slow down, or you’re about to see how easily I can use this pretty bra to contain you.”
Her breath caught.
No. Definitely no. She might think she wanted all of him, but no fucking way. He reached out, almost reverently, and cupped one breast. At the touch, his entire body shuddered. “God, you’re beautiful.”
“Heath,” she murmured.
Yeah.Heath.He leaned in to kiss her between the breasts.
She sucked in air, and her abdomen rippled. He smiled and kissed his way around both breasts, finally taking a nipple into his mouth. Her gasp moved her deeper into his mouth. Then she started to struggle against the shirt again. He growled and released her nipple, leaning back. “Knock it off.”
“No.” She moved to kick him, and he pressed her to the bed, keeping her knees spread on either side of him. Her snarl was more of a growl.
He grinned, light careening through him. Was that happiness? “You are so cute.”
She rolled her eyes. “Somehow I just went from beautiful to cute. Would you please free my arms so I can touch you?”
Hmm. He would like her hands on him now that he was back in control. And she had saidplease. “Fine.” He released the tie and pulled her shirt and bra free.
“Better.” She licked her lips and grabbed the hem of his shirt. “Duck.”
He had just enough time to duck his head before she ripped it off.
“Nice,” she breathed, flattening her hands over his abdomen. “Ridges and packed abs. You’re like a cologne advertisement.”
Who cared about his abs or cologne? Her breasts were within his reach.
She stayed away from his stitches and his newest bandage. Her hands flitted across the scars on his left side, and she frowned. “I hadn’t taken time to inspect these.”
“Whip and belt,” he confirmed, pressing his hand between her breasts. Man, she was small.
The sound of protest she made filled his heart. When was the last time a woman—and somebody not his family—truly cared? His touch turned reverent.
“Who hurt you?” Anger rode her words.
“Doesn’t matter.” And it didn’t. “Was a long time ago.” Although danger still hunted him, and he needed to remember that fact. “Enough talking.” He grasped her waist, lifted her, and moved them both to the center of the bed. Then he tunneled his hands into her hair and kissed her, putting all the words he couldn’t say into the kiss.
She moaned and kissed him back, rolling onto him. The second her chest slid against his, he nearly lost his mind. Then she moved to the side and tried to shove down his jeans.
He helped her and then added hers to the pile on the floor, leaving them both nude. She was beyond perfect, and his insides rioted. He had to protect her.
She chuckled and moved back on top of him. Her thighs spread and her knees dropped to either side of his hips. She leaned down and nipped his chin. “Although I feel like I’m on a boulder right now. I mean, I don’t even press you into the bed, do I?”
He tried to concentrate on her words and not on the wet heat coating his dick from her sex. Figured she’d be a talker. Why he liked that about her—a lot—he’d never know. “No?” He ran his hands down her back, to the dip in her waist, and finally to her butt. The woman had an ass on her, and he could spend days learning each curve and dimple.
She wiggled against him, and he saw stars. Then she fingered a scar along his right pec. “Knife?” Her eyebrows drew down.
