“I know.”
His mouth quirked. “Everyone seems to know except the two of them.”
Another button gave way. “Are you saying you’re hung up on me?”
He lightly kissed her, and teased, “Little bit.”
Her heart took leaps around her chest. “Really?”
His gaze turned smoky. “You like that, huh?”
Throwing her arms around him, she pressed her face to his throat. “Yes.” His scent, dark and masculine and delicious, filled her head. “I like it a lot.”
“Understand, darlin’, I like everything about you. Whether you’re spattered in paint or wearing sweats at the gym or—” he nipped her neck “—buck-ass, which I’m pretty sure will always be my preference.”
“Then maybe I should get buck-ass right now.”
“Now you’re talking.” As if she weighed nothing, he scooped an arm under her legs and lifted her. Norwood and Maggie both perked up, but she said, “Stay,” and with twitching ears, they both remained in the kitchen as Stack carried her away.
She loved him. More so every minute.
Pretty soon she’d have to come clean and admit that she’d seduced him under false pretenses.
He’d thought to get uncomplicated sex.
But all along, she’d been going for happily-ever-after.
* * *
STACK GOT HER in the bedroom, closed the door, then lowered her to the bed. He stretched out beside her, one leg pinning her down while he kissed her senseless. Covering her breast with one hand, he groaned. Her nipple was already puckered tight, and he tormented them both by playing with her while getting his fill of her soft mouth.
Each time she adjusted, he did, too, until he got lost in the ravenous kiss, her taste and heat and the fragrant air around her.
Dragging his mouth away, he shoved up the shirt until it bunched around her upper chest. Her breasts trembled with her ragged breathing. In a fog of need, he held her in his hand, licked the ripe nipple, then sucked her hard and sweet.
Her back arched, and he felt the sting of her nails on his shoulders, quickly replaced with a deliberately easier hold.
He wanted to tell her that he didn’t mind if she got carried away; he loved turning her on. But he wasn’t about to give up suckling her to say anything. Not when she showed so much amazing reaction.
Squirming, she lifted her body against his leg. Every breath sounded like a faint gasp that turned into a soft moan and then a sharper groan. Jesus, would she come just from this?
The idea of that nearly put him over the edge. Before he lost it completely he sat up and wrestled the shirt off over her head. The second her hands were free she reached for him.
“Not yet, darlin’.” He bent to kiss her midriff, then her cute belly. The scent of her skin drew him back again and again until he was nuzzling against her with soft love bites.
Groaning, he slid off the bed to stand at the side, then grabbed her waistband and dragged down the flannel pants.
She’d gone commando, and he hadn’t realized it. Breathing hard, he lightly touched her with his fingertips.
“My socks...” she whispered.
“They’re cute.” Who the hell cared about socks? He opened the remaining buttons on his shirt. “Next time, tell me if you want my shirt off. I’m happy to oblige.”
“Note—I always want your shirt off.” She came up to her knees in front of him and opened both hands on his chest. “Your body is amazing.”
Throwing her concerns back at her, he asked, “Is that what you like most about me?”
“I like everything about you.”
“Yeah?” He opened his jeans and eased the zipper past his erection. “This?”
Her hand slid around him, and she murmured huskily, “Yes, this.”
For a minute or two he let her play. Not like he had the willpower to stop her, not when it felt so damned good. When her thumb teased over the head, slicking pre-cum in lazy circles guaranteed to make him explode, he caught her wrist.
It wasn’t his preference, but since a gentleman always asked, he said, “Condom?”
Her eyes, dazed and dark, stared into his. “Just you and just me.”
“Perfect.” Better than perfect. He’d like a week with just the two of them. Maybe a month.
Maybe longer.
He stepped back from her. “Lie down. Let me look at you.”
“You’ll finish stripping?”
“Hell yeah.”
She smiled and reclined, one arm over her head, the other resting on her stomach. She bent a knee, and all the lust and need inside him coiled tight.