“Daniel. Daniel, please.” She fought the delicious tingling as it built once more, even as she reached for it in desperation. With a throaty cry, she turned and sank her teeth into his bicep.

“Fuck yeah. Bite me, gorgeous. Mark up my whole body. I want everyone to know who I belong to. Who I get hard for. Just you, Story. Just you.”

She came apart, moaning as the flesh between her thighs rippled around him. Daniel dropped his head into her neck and repeated her name over and over as he claimed his own release, his hips pumping rhythmically even after the shudders passed.

She’d never felt more exhausted yet energized in her entire life. After what they’d just done, connecting with each other in a way she didn’t know was possible, she felt changed. Different. Still the same woman, but with new awareness. Tonight, they’d faced the demons from his past and come out on the other side stronger. Individually and…together. Yes, together. She wanted him beside her more than anything.

When the time was right, she would shed her own secrets to Daniel. How she’d allowed herself to be walked all over by Fisher, staying in the relationship much longer than she should have. Without a doubt, she knew Daniel wouldn’t judge her. He would comfort and reassure her. She didn’t even have to question that.

In her current blissed-out state, she wanted to jump up and down on the bed, shouting her feelings to anyone who would listen. Which hadn’t worked out so well for Tom Cruise. Better to play it safe and stick to the plan. Tonight, they were a normal couple and no big decisions needed to be made. Even if her heart had already made them for her.

Long minutes passed, Daniel’s heavy body weighing her down into the soft comforter, as they caught their breath. Eventually, he realized he was crushing her and moved off her onto his side.

Story blew out a shaky breath toward the ceiling. “Dude.”

Beside her, Daniel’s body shook with silent laughter. “Did you really just say that?”

She rolled over to face him, a catlike yawn stretching her face. “In California, the word dude has over a thousand different meanings. Dude, Duuuuuude, Dude! It all depends on your tone.”

“All right. So in this case, what was your meaning?”

“You couldn’t tell? I just paid you the highest dude compliment possible.” Daniel chuckled and pulled her close, where she snuggled into the heat of his body. For a while, she simply stayed quiet and enjoyed his fingers stroking down her spine until curiosity got the better of her. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something. Where were you earlier when you received my picture text?”

Daniel leaned down and nipped her ear. “In a classroom full of uniforms giving a lecture. I had no choice but to dismiss them early. I’ll probably have some explaining to do about that tomorrow.”

Story couldn’t contain the laughter that bubbled out of her. Picturing him trying to shoo a bunch of confused police officers out of a classroom was simply too humorous an image.

Daniel pulled back to examine her expression. “Oh, you think it’s funny?”

“Funny doesn’t begin to cover it.”

He gave a thoughtful frown. “Honestly, I should be concerned that thirty aspiring detectives didn’t catch on to my problem. But it’s a good thing they didn’t or I’d be answering to Detective Woodie for the rest of my career.”

Story buried her face in his chest to hide her smile. “There’s nothing to keep me from calling you that when we’re alone, though, is there?”

“Try it and see what happens,” he warned.

She used her most seductive voice. “Will Detective Woodie be reporting for duty tonight?”

Despite his threat, Story felt his body respond to the change in her tone. “Okay, maybe I don’t mind it that much.”

“Oh God,” she groaned. “We just named your penis. Honeymoon’s over.”

With lightening quickness, Daniel rolled onto his back, bringing Story with him so she straddled his hips. Using one hand, he positioned his thickening erection beneath her and she gasped. “Nah, sunshine. I’m just getting warmed up.” His hips rolled, pushing him inside her, effectively putting an end to her laughter.

Unable to think past the solid pressure deep within her, Story leaned forward to brace her palms against his chest, but pulled back with a gasp when she realized she’d placed weight on his wound. Daniel simply kissed her hand and brought it back to cover the imperfection on his flesh once more. The sweet gesture made her eyes cloud with tears. Giving into impulse, she leaned forward and kissed the wound.

With a choked noise, Daniel rolled them over on the mattress. “Honest to God, Story. The bullet didn’t kill me, but the way you make me feel might.”

Chapter Nineteen

Story gave up on repressing the goofy smile spreading across her face as she packed her bags on the floor of Jack’s spare room. However, just having left six foot three inches of rock-hard man lying in a tangle of sheets, begging her for one more hour with her body, she suspected a goofy smile was more than acceptable.

Looking down with a dreamy sigh, she realized she’d been folding the same shirt for ten minutes. She gave up and went to make some coffee.

Jack would be discharged from the hospital tomorrow and she wanted to be out of the apartment by then. They might have jumped over some emotional hurdles since she’d arrived in New York, but living with Jack was another story altogether. She had it on good authority that her father still dated frequently, and walking in on him engaged in a passionate moment would probably afflict her with temporary blindness.

An hour later, she’d managed to remove all traces of her stay from the spare bedroom and nourish herself with a decent breakfast of eggs and toast. She showered and threw on a blue summer dress before dragging her suitcases to the living room to be picked up later. Then she left the building to walk the twelve blocks to the hospital.

She’d come to an important decision last night, long before Daniel took her back to his apartment and blew her mind until morning. She was staying for the summer. The night Fisher broke up with her, she’d shed her passive nature and vowed never to look back. In just one week, she’d gone a long way in accomplishing that goal. Becoming that person. A person who decided she wanted something and took it. Someone who didn’t let other people govern her decisions or tell her how to live. She could go back to California as her newly confident self, vowing never to return to her old ways.

But Daniel wouldn’t be there. People, namely her mother, would call her crazy for taking a chance on a man she’d only known a week. It was a little crazy. But it would be crazier to walk away when she felt this way. As agreed, they hadn’t spoken about her leaving at all last night. And this morning, Daniel had seemed to be avoiding the topic, probably assuming she still planned on returning to the West Coast and wanting to avoid the unpleasant discussion. She couldn’t wait to surprise him tonight with her actual decision.

But first, she needed to make things right with Jack. She didn’t want to start her relationship with Daniel by sneaking around behind her father’s back. If Daniel knew her plans for the morning, he would have insisted on coming with her, but she felt that the responsibility of telling Jack about their relationship lay with her. Her father thought Daniel was “just another jackass with a badge,” or so he’d put it. She wanted to make it clear to Jack just how wrong he’d been. Furthermore, she felt the need to prove to Daniel the seriousness of her feelings. What better way to accomplish that than by telling Jack, the way he’d wanted to days earlier?