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  “Oh God.” Her eyes slid closed, and her head fell back. She rocked up against him again and slid her fingers into his hair, drawing his mouth right where she desperately wanted it. “Stop teasing me already, Hunt. I want you.”

  He growled and licked up her center, tasting her excitement and desire. Her arms went out from under her, and she fell back on the bed. He circled her clit while she planted her feet on the mattress and lifted to meet every stroke. And when he felt her getting close, he slid a finger deep inside her, licked faster, and drove her hard into an orgasm that tore a scream from her mouth.

  She was still quivering when he pressed his lips to her thigh, her hip, when he worked his way up her body and finally found her mouth. She opened immediately and shoved his pants down his hips as he swept his tongue along hers. Her fingers fumbled with his trousers, helping him shuck them off. Rolling to his side, he tore his lips from hers just long enough to grab his wallet and kick his pants and boxers the rest of the way off.

  Her hand wrapped around his erection. He jerked at the contact, then moaned as she stroked him and lifted her mouth back to his. Her small hand was like velvet wrapped around his shaft, so good he was afraid he might come if she kept that up. He pulled back from her mouth once more and glanced at the wallet in his hand, searching for a condom. “Hold on. Just a second.”

  She moved to her knees, stroked him again. He sucked in a breath at the wicked sensation. His fingers closed around the condom, and he yanked it out of his wallet. Then absolutely lost his fucking mind when he felt her lips close around his shaft.

  “Oh fuck.” He fell back in the pillows before he could stop himself. His eyes rolled back in his head. She sucked him deep, let him slip almost all the way out of her mouth, swirled her tongue around the head, then drew him deep all over again.

  Blood pounded in his groin as she worked him over with her mouth. Her small hand stroked the base of his cock while her lips and tongue focused on the head. He felt his orgasm screaming toward him. Knew he could come in a matter of seconds. But he didn’t want this to be over so soon. And when he came, he wanted to feel her come all around him at the same time.

  His hands shook, but he managed to push himself up, to grasp her by the arms and draw her back. She gasped as he slid from her mouth and looked up him with lust-glazed eyes. Pulling her close for a quick kiss, he said, “I need to be inside you. Climb over me.”

  “Yes.” She straddled his legs as he made quick work of the condom. “Hurry.” As soon as he got it on, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard.

  She tasted like heaven. Felt like pure bliss. Grasping her at the hips, he pulled her toward him while she licked into his mouth. The tips of her breasts grazed his chest. Her slick core brushed the head of his cock. Electricity raced down his spine as he lined her up and tugged her down so he pressed inside her just a fraction of an inch.

  He drew back from her mouth just enough so he could see her face. “Kelsey, look at me.”

  She eased back, lips swollen, eyes glazed, body trembling. But it was the trust he saw in her gaze that absolutely undid him.

  “Take me.” His fingers flexed against her hips. “I’m yours if you want me.”

  “I want you. I want all of you.” She closed her lips over his and sucked his tongue into her mouth just as she lowered and drew his length deep in her body. And the taste of her was so wicked, the feel of her so hot and slick and tight, all he could do was groan against her lips and thrust hard to meet her.

  Her hips pressed flush against his. She gasped and lifted, tightening as she rocked her hips, making him twitch and tremble with every stroke.

  He wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her tighter. Drove deeper inside her. Grunted every time he bottomed out and her wet core squeezed all around him. He could feel her growing wetter, tighter. Knew she was close. Pulling his mouth from hers, he kissed the corner of her lips and whispered, “God, you feel good.” He palmed her breast and gently pinched her nipple. “Ride me, Kelsey. Use me. I want to feel you come all around me.”

  She moaned and tore her mouth from his, breathing hard as she moved over him, faster with every thrust. “Oh yes, there.” Her fingernails dug into his shoulders. Her hot breath brushed his lips. “Right there. Don’t stop.”

  He couldn’t. He was seconds away from detonating. “Do it.” Holding her tight against him, he plunged deep again and again, his eyes locked on hers as he watched her spiral blindly toward her release. “Come for me, baby. And take me with you when you go.”

  Her climax slammed into her, stealing her breath with a gasp that echoed in his ears. And the second it did, the instant he felt her body quiver and quake all around him, he let go of the tension in his body and grunted through a shattering release that didn’t just consume him, it flipped his entire world upside down until only two things were clear.

  One, this wasn’t wrong. In the middle of complete chaos, they’d found each other, and it was the most pure and honest thing he’d ever known.

  And two, that scared the shit out of him because he finally had something he never wanted to let go. Something someone else seemed dead set on destroying.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The man definitely had some wicked talents.

  A smile tugged at Kelsey’s lips as she rolled toward the closed bathroom door and listened to the water running on the other side. She liked that Hunt was in there, using her shower. Liked that he’d stayed in her room all night. Liked even more what he’d done to her in this bed.

  Her cheeks heated as she remembered how assertive she’d been last night. She’d never been like that with a man before, but then she’d never been with a man like Hunt either. It was easy to drop her guard and just be herself with him, especially when she’d seen how turned on he’d become when she’d taken charge and shown him what she liked.

  The shower flipped off. Nerves rattled around in her belly as she tugged the sheet up to her breasts and shook back her hair, hoping it looked sexy and alluring on the pillow instead of the major bedhead it probably was. Since Hunt had slipped out of bed before she was awake, she didn’t know what he was thinking now that morning had hit. She desperately didn’t want him to regret any of last night, but she knew there was a chance that was possible. Especially since they’d clearly cut the sexual tension between them and the wine from last night’s dinner had worn off.

  Oh man. I really hope that wasn’t because of the wine . . .

  The bathroom door quietly opened, and Hunt stepped into the bedroom with a white towel hooked low at his hips and another in his hand as he rubbed his hair.

  “Hey,” she said, pushing herself higher in the pillows while trying not to look at that low-riding towel that accentuated the dark line of hair on his belly and did crazy things to her blood.

  “Hey. You’re up. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

  “You didn’t.” She fixed a smile on her face, hoping she looked calm and casual. That’s how she needed to play this regardless of what he was thinking this morning.

  “Good. I contacted Armstrong’s attorneys last night. They left me a voice mail this morning and said they could see us at two. I was going to let you sleep a little longer, then thought we could get breakfast and drive into LA.”

  Real life. She didn’t want to think about real life just yet, but there was no avoiding it. “Yeah, that sounds fine.”

  “Good.” He tossed the hand towel onto a small chair in the corner and eyed her carefully.

  An awkward silence filled the room, one she didn’t like. She glanced down at her hands, trying to think of something mature to say.

  He moved toward the bed, and those nerves went haywire in her belly. She still didn’t know what he was thinking, but instead of grabbing his clothes from the floor or telling her he needed to go get dressed as she half expected him to do, he placed a knee on the mattress, angled diagonally toward her, then stretched out on his stomach and reached for her hand. “I had a good
time last night.”

  The relief suddenly swirling inside her was sweeter than any summer wine. “So did I.”

  Pushing up on his elbows, he closed both hands around hers and played with her fingers, looking sexy and adorable and just the slightest bit nervous. And, oh boy, she really liked that he was nervous. “Not what I expected, of course.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. Had she been too aggressive? She was completely clueless when it came to what guys liked. “I, um, hope I didn’t force you to do anything you didn’t want to do.”

  He laughed and glanced up at her, and his smile made him so devastatingly handsome, she caught her breath. “That’s not what I meant. No, I definitely liked that. Loved it, actually, and absolutely want more.”

  Oh, thank God.

  He glanced down at their joined hands again. “I meant this. You and me. I think it’s safe to say I’ve stayed away from you on purpose because . . .”

  When he didn’t seem to want to go on, she mustered her courage and said what he was thinking. “Because it complicates things.”

  “Yeah.” He looked up at her. “It does, big-time.”

  That little burst of happiness deflated like a balloon losing air. She loved what he’d said, loved the way he was touching her, but she hated what he was about to say next.

  “Your brother. My best friend. Your other brothers. Your parents.”

  Yep. There it was. He was already listing off all the reasons this couldn’t happen again. She’d been silly to think last night was a good idea.

  “But here’s the thing.” He brushed his thumb over her knuckles. “I don’t really give a shit what your parents or brothers or even Alec think about this.”

  She blinked, sure she had to have heard him wrong. “What did you say?”

  One corner of his lips tipped up in the sexiest smirk. “I said, I don’t care what they think. And I don’t want you to either. I know this complicates things with your family in a million different ways, and it’s probably gonna tick Alec off royally, but neither of us planned it. And this morning when I was in the shower, I was just thinking, you know, who cares if we planned it or not? This isn’t about them or anyone else. It’s about you and me. And now that it’s happened, I wanna do it again.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah.” He tightened his hold on her hand. “I do. What about you?”

  Every nerve ending in her body tingled with excitement. “I do too.” Smiling, she pushed up from the pillow and leaned toward his lips. “I definitely do.”

  He met her kiss, opened, and drew her into his mouth as he shifted to his side, wrapped an arm around her, and pulled her flush against him. Deepening the kiss, she pushed him to his back and straddled his hips, part of her unable to believe that last night—that this morning—had actually happened.

  Drawing back from her mouth, he laid his head on the pillow and looked up at her. “There is one thing I’m a little worried about, though.”

  “What?” Her gaze drifted from his lips to his scruffy jaw, then down the line of his throat to his sexy chest. God, the man was built. And right now he was laid out before her like an offering.

  He brushed the hair back from her face, drawing her eyes back to his. “Your divorce was just finalized.”

  She blinked down at him, unsure where this was going. “And?”

  “And . . . I told you last night I’ve had a thing for you for ten years. I don’t want to ruin it before it even starts because my timing suc—”

  She kissed him. Dove right in and kissed him hard. And when he drew in a surprised breath, she swept her tongue into his mouth and tasted him, wanting him even more than she had last night.

  His hands fisted in her hair, holding her close so he could take charge of the kiss. And beneath his towel, his erection lengthened and pressed against her low belly, telling her he wanted her the same way she wanted him.

  When she was breathless, when she knew he was too, she drew back just enough so he could see her eyes. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  “No?”

  She loved the hopeful sound of his voice. “Not at all. Julian and I have been separated for eight months, but I was over him years ago. The truth is, I never should have married him.”

  His gaze dropped to her hair falling across his chest. “That’s good.”

  She sensed there was something more. Eyeing him carefully, she said, “What else?”

  “Why do you think there’s something else?”

  “Because I’ve spent ten years watching you too. You’re not the only one with creepy stalker tendencies.”

  He laughed, and the sound was so light it released a little of the pressure building in her chest. “I will remember that.”

  “So tell me.”

  His smile faded, and his expression grew serious. “I’m . . . not great with relationships. I avoid them, to be honest. Women have told me in the past that I’m bullheaded, emotionally closed off, and noncommittal, all of which is true. And a big part of the reason I’ve stayed away from you. I just . . .” He glanced back down at her hair and toyed with a wayward strand. “I don’t want to avoid you anymore. I don’t think I can. But I definitely don’t want to screw this up either.”

  His words touched her in a way nothing else ever could. Not just because he’d said them, but because he meant them. Her ex certainly hadn’t ever cared about their relationship like this.

  “Hunter.” She stretched out on top of him so they were eye level. “Look at me.”

  His gaze drifted to hers, and in his dark irises she saw heat and nerves and hunger. All the same damn things she felt. And that one look supercharged her blood and told her no matter what, this—them—was absolutely not a mistake she would ever regret.

  Sliding down his body, she pressed her lips to his chest, then moved lower, skimming hot, wet kisses the length of his abs to the top of his towel. “Unless you plan on stopping me right now, there’s not a whole lot you can screw up at the moment.”

  Relief filled his eyes, but it quickly heated and darkened, intensifying all that hunger she’d seen earlier in his gaze. “I think I like the sound of that.”

  She knew he would. Reaching for the knot at his hip, she planned to make sure he liked it a whole lot more than he had last night.

  All those nerves Hunt had fought through the night had completely dissolved when Kelsey had climbed over him this morning and rocked his world. And it wasn’t because of the sex—though that had been soul-shatteringly amazing. It was because they were finally on the same page. Both ready to see where this thing growing between them went.

  He glanced sideways at her as they stepped into the elevator at the trendy Beverly Hills law offices and Kelsey pushed the button for the top floor. Unlike him, she was nervous today. He could tell by the way she repeatedly fiddled with the hem of her blouse and smoothed her hand down the hip of her slacks. But he was confident these nerves had nothing to do with him, and he was also sure—especially after last night—that he was the only person who could calm her.

  As soon as the doors slid closed, he reached for her hand at her hip and pulled her toward him.

  Surprise drew her brows together as she glanced down where he held her then up at his face. “What are you—?”

  He closed his mouth over hers and pushed her up against the back wall of the elevator. She sucked in one surprised breath and tensed, but the second he dipped into her mouth and stroked her tongue, she sank into him with a groan and slid her arms around his waist.

  God, he loved the way she tasted. Adored the way she melted under his touch. And couldn’t stop himself from feeling more than a little victorious when the tension and stress released from her muscles, all because of him.

  When she was breathless—when he was nearly ready to hit the “Stop” button and completely distract both of them—he drew back and gazed down at her. She blinked her sweet brown eyes up at him before pursing her lips and reaching to wipe the lipstick from his mouth.
“Point taken, Mr. O’Donnell.”

  He grinned, loving that she knew exactly what he’d been doing. “It’s just a meeting.” He pressed his lips to the tip of her nose, then stepped back so she could smooth out her shirt again. “Nothing bad is going to happen.”

  She smirked his way, then focused on the silver doors. “Famous last words.”

  “Kels—”

  “I’m fine.” She shook back her hair. “Really, I am. But I’m glad you’re here with me.” Drawing a deep breath, she added, “Promise not to get too far away, just in case.”

  Something in his chest turned over as he watched her, shoulders back, spine straight, eyes focused and intense. Something he wasn’t prepared for.

  He knew she saw herself as weak, but she wasn’t. Not just because of all she’d been through in her life and survived, as he’d told her last night, but because she hadn’t let any of it jade her. She’d been rejected numerous times. She’d failed more than she’d succeeded. And right now, some unknown person wanted to hurt her, and they still didn’t know who that was or if that person was even a threat anymore. But she hadn’t been hardened by any of it. She hadn’t closed herself off emotionally, as he had for years. And she wasn’t letting the past dictate her future, as he still did every damn day. She was taking chances, moving forward, living life by her rules and no one else’s . . . the way he should be.

  “Kelsey.” His fingertips skimmed hers.

  She glanced up at him with the prettiest brown eyes he’d ever seen. “Yeah?”

  Words lodged in his throat. Words he wasn’t ready to say but couldn’t keep from forming in his mind.