“I didn’t give you time to put anything on,” she whispered.

Shit! He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten. It hadn’t even crossed his mind, and he was a stickler for protection. When it came to unwanted microbes, he was no less careless with his body than he was with his parlor, and you could eat off the floor in that place.

Even more unsettling was his lack of panic over the situation. In fact, he only wanted more of her, harder, faster, until he exploded inside her with no barriers between them.

That would be crazy at this point. He gritted his teeth in agony and forced himself to ease her up so he could dig in his back pocket for his wallet. Her mewl of frustration was almost enough to derail him from the clumsy endeavor of opening the little packet he extracted. “Trust me, baby, you feel so f**king good, it’s not like I want to stop.” The words tumbled out in a rush.

She leaned over to whisper in his ear, punctuating each word with a seductive nibble. “Hurry up, or I’ll start without you.” Then she treated him to the sight of her fingers trailing lightly down her belly, toward her pu**y.

Dammit! Didn’t she know what that did to him? He growled, unable to get the damn latex on and unfurled fast enough, remembering how hot and wet and tight she’d been around him. Just as her fingertips disappeared between her legs, eliciting a moan from her lips, he seized her waist and yanked her up over him again. Settled her damp heat over the turgid head of his cock. Nearly died as she allowed herself to sink, swallowing him inch by inch.

“Do you love me?” she panted, taking him deeper, deeper.

Ordinarily, this would not have been the ideal time for a girl to ask him that question. In the heat of the moment, he would have gladly walked on his elbows for the rest of his life for this feeling. But he could honestly say now, with her, the answer he gave was the absolute truth. “Beyond all reason.”

“You’ll be with me no matter what?”

“You’d have to beat me away.”

“I don’t want to think anymore. I just want to know you’re mine and nothing else matters.”

“This is all that matters.” Digging his fingers into her ass, he showed her the rhythm and then turned her loose, watching as she moved on him. Her br**sts swayed in front of his eyes and he reached up to cup them, rolling them in his palms so that her ni**les stabbed into his hands.

She searched for the angle she wanted and found it, leaning back with her hands on his knees. When that wasn’t enough to anchor her, he grasped her forearms and she locked her hands around his in return, using his strength to keep herself from falling as she went after her own pleasure with a fervor that left him devastated. It was everything he’d felt last night to the nth power, her hot passage gripping him with such sweet need, he couldn’t breathe for it. Couldn’t think, except about her.

His release welled in his shaft, swelling him even larger inside her. This was going to be over way too fast, but they had all night. And tomorrow night. And forever, if she’d have him. The disconnect between his mind and his body wouldn’t allow for him to have any control whatsoever.

Thankfully, as with all the other areas in his life, she was right there with him. She clenched up around him and cried out as the surge overtook him and it was final: he wasn’t going anywhere. She was his, and he was in this for the long haul. Marriage, kids, little league, ballet recitals, soccer practice, grandkids, the whole bit. He jerked her close to him and cursed as she contracted around him, milking him for more and getting it. He knew he was a goner. And it was okay. It was all good.

It was more than good. It was the best damn feeling he’d ever known, as if all the wrinkles in his life were being smoothed out at once.

“Ohhhh, God,” she sighed as she came down from her own heights, melting like butter over him. Her thighs released their vise grip on his hips, and the biting crescents of her fingernails unclenched from his shoulders. He nuzzled under her chin and absorbed her post-apocalyptic shudders, smiling at the sound of her teeth chattering near his ear.

Gently, he lifted her so he could pull out, watching her expression slacken as the bead of his barbell slid over her sensitive, inflamed tissues. She settled back down and draped herself over him.

“Sorry about earlier,” he said. “I never forget. Everyone would go apeshit if you got pregnant.”

“I truly, honestly don’t give a damn anymore.”

“I think I’m rubbing off on you in a bad way.”

“Unless there’s a major monkey wrench in my cycle or something, we should be in the clear.”

“Just so you know, I’m clean. I get myself checked every few months because of the job. I haven’t been with anyone since the last time.” He stroked her hair, urging her to lift her head so he could stare deep into her eyes. He wanted her to believe what he was about to tell her without a doubt. “I meant what I said, sweetie. I’m not going anywhere no matter what happens.”

“Brian, I know,” she whispered, frowning at him as if there shouldn’t have been any question. “I’ve never doubted you. I’ll see about getting on birth control as soon as I can so we won’t have to worry about it so much.”

He lifted her knuckles to his lips and brushed them gently. “You will?”

“I don’t want anything between us.”

“Me, either. Although you do realize, BC was a big, fat fail for my brother and his wife. As evidenced by baby Alex.”

“Yikes. That’s scary.”

“I suppose we can always double up when I’m feeling particularly virile.”

She burst out laughing. He loved that sound so much. It was clear as wind chimes, capable of turning even the stormiest of days into warm blue skies. “You mean there are actually days when you don’t?”

“Not really. Scratch that. I’m always pretty f**king virile.”

Chapter Eighteen

The knock on the door came early that evening.

It actually wasn’t a knock. A half-dozen fists could’ve been pummeling the surface outside. Candace and Brian jerked awake on the couch, where they’d dozed off wrapped in each other’s arms.

“Shit,” she whispered. Thank goodness her curtains were shut tight, or someone might have seen them through the window. She jumped off him and threw on her clothes while he went into the bathroom. She was still standing there, chewing her knuckle, when he emerged a couple of minutes later.

“You okay?” he asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

She gave a nervous laugh. “No, but I’ll manage.”

“Do you need me?”

“Always, but stay here for now, okay?”

He nodded as she turned and headed for the door. She probably looked a fright: hair a mess, clothing disheveled from hours on the road…and she probably smelled of sex.

A hysterical laugh bubbled up, but she didn’t let it go. She also didn’t bother to peek out and see who she was about to confront. Taking a deep breath, she snatched the door open.

She must have had a hell of a look on her face, because her mother’s carefully honed glare turned to surprise in an instant. Candace let her own gaze sweep down her mother’s figure with all of the disdain she’d suffered over the last few years. “What?”