In shockingly little time he had her on the edge, two fistfuls of his hair in her hands, panting for breath while simultaneously begging him to “pleasedon’tstop, pleasedon’tstop, pleasedon’tstop…”

He didn’t. Of course he didn’t. Because Jacob was a man of his word, as she was learning. Or in this case, a man of his tongue.

And, oh God, that tongue.

When she came, hard, her legs buckled, but Jacob caught her, bringing her straight down onto him, sheathing himself deep within her.

She immediately came again, completely out of control and unable to do anything but hold on for the ride. When she could unclench her toes, she opened her eyes and realized he hadn’t moved. His blazing-hot gaze held hers.

“Condom,” he grounded out, his entire body strained, strung tight as a bow.

Good God, for the first time in…well, forever, she hadn’t given a single thought to her own protection—or his. She hadn’t thought at all. “I’m on the pill,” she whispered. “And I’m…safe. I had myself checked.” She’d done so right after finding out about Lucas’s extramarital activities and then again more recently to be doubly sure.

Jacob banded his arms around her tight and kissed her. “Before I met you, I hadn’t been with anyone in two years.”

She gaped at him. Two years? Cupping his face, she leaned in and kissed him softly. And then not so softly, getting a feminine rush when his breathing hitched. Letting her hands drift over every part of him that she could reach, she reveled in the low groan she wrenched from him and began to move.

He assisted, his hands at her hips, gaze locked on hers, holding her prisoner. A willing prisoner.

They ended up on the floor. Then against the door. And then last but not least in the shower, leaving her to wonder if he was even human.

By then it was dark and past her bedtime. She was rag-doll floppy, sated beyond her greatest imagination and making contented, purring noises that she couldn’t seem to control.

This left Jacob to towel her off from their shower, as she was unable to lift a finger to help him. But she did manage to lift a finger—all of them, in fact—to touch him, trailing her fingertips across his chest and abs, which contracted at her touch.

When his body rose to the challenge, she had to laugh. “Aren’t you tired?”

He smiled, but his gaze remained focused on the towel he had covered her with and was now slowly sliding from her. “Never too tired for this.”

A soft moan escaped her when he bent his head and let his mouth follow the trail of the towel. She might have whimpered as she found a secret stash of energy in reserve…

Much, much later she found herself curled up in his bed, his arms wrapped around her. His lips were warm and soft against hers, and unlike their kisses earlier, this one was unhurried.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“I need sleep for tomorrow…” She looked at his clock. It was two thirty. “…Today,” she murmured drowsily. “The on-site boss is rumored to be a real hard-ass. If I go to sleep right now, I could still get six hours before any Wounded Warriors show up.”

“You know what would be even better?” he asked, voice all bedroom husky.

“Let me guess,” she said. “Five hours?”

He smiled. “I like the way you think.” And then he rolled them, tucking her beneath him.

Or four, she thought. She could definitely make do with four…

Jacob woke up the next morning to the deafening roar of Sophie thinking too hard. She had her head on his shoulder, an arm and a leg thrown over him, holding him to the mattress, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she’d drooled in the crook of his neck. The thought made him start to smile, but it vanished when he realized that she was slowly inching away from him.

Once again trying to sneak out of his bed.

She was a horrible sneak. She had her hair in his face and nearly unmanned him with her knee, but because he was amused at her utter lack of skill, he let her get to the edge of the mattress before he said her name.

She fell out of the bed.

She immediately leapt back up and whirled, clearly looking for something to cover herself. He caught her expression, so utterly anxious, it quelled his amusement.

“I’m sorry,” she gasped. “Did I wake you?”

Pushing the fury at Lucas down deep for now, he rolled out of the bed and came slowly toward her. Halfway there, he scooped his T-shirt off the floor and gently dropped it over her head, smiling at her when her face peeked out and the hem fell to mid-thigh.