A tray balanced on his forearm, Nakos paused outside Amy's bedroom. Unless she was changing, she always left the door open, even while sleeping. He would've thought living with a man, despite having known him all her life, would make her uncomfortable not having a measure of privacy. Yet every time he passed by, it remained open. He wondered if it had something to do with her attack, if enclosed places scared her.He stared at her, asleep in bed under a mound of blankets. Only her face was uncovered, and early morning light bathed her profile. She had one hand tucked beneath her head and her dark lashes fanned her cheeks. At least when she slept the strain he often found in her expression finally eased. Peaceful, almost.A shake of his head, and he stepped deeper into the room. He'd been in the habit of calling her angel lately. The word had flown out of his mouth the first time, unbidden, as if by no control of his own. It was accurate, though. She was a take-no-prisoners, hear-me-r
She nodded and headed for the door, but he called her name to stop her."Have you never had breakfast in bed before?" Three years of marriage, and not once on their anniversary? What about as a kid when she'd been sick or something?"Let me shower. Give me thirty minutes and I'll be ready." She turned again, totally avoiding him."Amy, leave the tray." When she paused but didn't comply, he stood and met her in the doorway. He took the damn thing from her and placed it on the dresser, then tucked his finger under her chin to force her to look at him. "I'm allowed to do nice gestures, am I not?"She blinked up at him like he'd spoken Vulcan and the word "nice" didn't compute.Hihcebe. It really was a foreign concept for her. He didn't know whether to be pissed off or gutted. Either way, he had the strongest urge to drive to the prison where the Antichrist was spending the next fifteen to twenty and relocate the bastard's teeth. Then again, her parents weren't exactly pleasant peop
The drive to Casper took just under ninety minutes. While Nakos spent quite a few hours with the prospective horse and talking to the breeders, Amy wandered around, snapping pictures. She'd gotten some great shots by the time Nakos was ready to head out."There's a family restaurant right up the road." He glanced at her from behind the wheel, then back to the two-lane highway. "We can do an early dinner. I'd rather take you somewhere nicer for our first date, but I've been stomping around a farm all day."Date? There he went again. First, breakfast in bed, followed by the beautiful comment and flowers. Now, dinner out. She couldn't hack it, not this take charge side of him, nor the consideration. It was one thing when they were friends and the occasional slips could be chalked up to placating. Dating was entirely different.Unsure how to respond, she glanced out the passenger window as trees and hills whizzed by in a blur. Dating led to sex. She'd been with other men before Chris, b
"We're an option now, and we've been alone countless times. If I had known" "You would have what? Pitied me much sooner? Fought the attraction harder?""Done everything in my power to prove you wrong." Elbows on the table, he leaned forward, fire darkening his already black eyes. "You responded to me. You're not damaged goods or defective. Obviously, your previous partners didn't have a lick of patience. Just because you take longer to get there doesn't mean you can't, anim."Mary Mother, her girly bits wept. She clenched her thighs, desperately wanting to try, but history proved an orgasm was too much to hope for. Granted, none of her lovers had turned her on near as much as him, but hot and bothered didn't equate to oh yes, please while going at it."Here you go. A cobb salad and burger with fries." Plates were set in front of them. "Can I get you anything else?"Since Nakos's heated glare was on Amy and he didn't appear interested in responding to the waitress, she smiled at t
Damaged goods, his ass. All she'd needed was a little encouragement and she'd knocked every brain cell in his head out of whack. His dick pulsed behind his zipper, his heart shoved against his ribcage, and his eyeballs thunked the back of his skull.The kiss turned brutally punishing and desperate. A battle ensued. Him. Her. Repeat. So much for her submission, and he wasn't sorry to see it go. Each stroke of her tongue warring with his unleashed something deep inside him he hadn't known existed. Animalistic and raw. Untamed. Gone was any shred of finesse. Forget unhurried seduction. His body wailed to take her. It was all he could do to fight the urge.Having her beneath him was unadulterated torture. The best kind. He'd gladly bear it every hour on the hour. She had him that enthralled. But he'd meant what he'd said. They weren't going to bed until she was ready. After what she'd told him at dinner, he had a sinking suspicion not only had no man taken time with her, but they'd use
She hummed a sweet little noise and turned her head to smile at him. "My mind is blown. Plus, I'm trying to figure out how to return the favor. I'm not very good with" "I don't need anything but what we're doing." Tonight was about her, even though he suspected he might've gotten way more out of the experience than she had. "I proved you wrong. Orgasms aren't a myth."Her laugh, husky and deep, nailed him right in the breast bone. "I've been known to be wrong on occasion. Tell anyone and I'll deny it."He grinned, knowing he was sunk. He'd be concerned if he weren't so damn happy. "No one would believe me anyway." After a moment of doing nothing but sharing air, he realized where her hands were and grinned wider. "Why are you smiling at me like that?""Because you're grabbing my ass with one hand like you want a repeat and gently stroking my back with the other as if ready to fall asleep." Always a contradiction, this woman. Before she could knock him out with a verbal one-two,
Amy hadn't been horseback riding since before the divorce, but her body remembered how and she closed her eyes, tipping her face toward the sun. Leather reins were soft against her palms and the gentle sway of the gelding under her was hypnotic. She breathed in the scent of summer grass and soil, smiling while hooves clomped the earth.She should be worried about the giddy sensation in her belly, but whatever. Nakos had given her an orgasm last night. If she never had another, she'd carry the memory of that one for two lifetimes. Even better was the pleasure she'd given him. She wasn't sure if it was because she'd been with Nakos or that she'd been coming down off a high, but nothing in her experiences had been so right. No nerves or doubt. They'd been in sync. Watching his reaction had cemented something in her mind, what he'd been trying to tell her for a couple weeks. He wanted her. Not because Olivia was taken or out of some errant surge of restlessness, but because he genuinely
Sure enough, Nakos looked up, shielding the glare from his eyes with his hand. Rivulets of water trailed over his sun-kissed skin like some naughty version of a Coppertone ad. A beat later, he nodded and turned to Olivia."He smiles when you walk into view. Every time. And I don't need to be a mind-reader to pick the thoughts from his head. He's got some dirty fantasies going on in there. It's a guy thing."She huffed a laugh, but her heart pounded and her skin heated. The longer Nate's words hovered between them, the deeper they sank. Her belly clenched at the possibilities. Perhaps because Nate had no vested interest made it easier to believe him. Or maybe since he had started as an outside party to their unit gave his opinion more merit. Credence. Whatever the reason, happy was shoving doubt aside. The biggest issue lingered in the fringes of her mind, though. Of all the crap she'd been through, all the horrible things said and done, Nakos leaving her would be her breaking point