Her tears last night… God, listening to her cry in Luc’s arms had nearly done him in. Luc had soothed her, whispered to her. Those soft sobs and torn breaths had eaten at Deke, gnawing on his resolve. He wanted to be the one to comfort her.

Dangerous want. If he’d held her, caressed her last night, he would have ended up making love to her. Not fucking her. The kind of sweet, soft loving meant to reassure. The kind that would bond them together. For her sake and his sanity, he’d resisted.

First jealousy, now this. What the hell was wrong with him?

Kimber drew in a bracing breath. “After yesterday morning and last night, I can’t stay. You don’t want me here, and I know why. Thanks for the help you’ve given me. I’ll get my things and be gone by ten.”

What the…? Gone by ten. Her words should have been a relief, but Kimber was a fighter. Why would she suddenly concede and retreat? And why did the thought of her leaving take a gash out of something inside him that felt suspiciously like his heart?

She turned away from him. Even so, he couldn’t miss the vulnerable expression tightening her face as she rose and crossed the kitchen and exited the room. He could just let her go, should let her walk out now… Woulda, coulda, shoulda.

Deke stood and scrambled to block her path. “You know why I don’t want you here, huh? What do you think you know?”

A frown of incredulity wrinkled her brow. “I know what men have been saying about me since puberty hit. I rarely wear makeup and I don’t own a dress. I hate lace and I think fatigue pants are a great fashion do, despite what magazines say. I never mastered the fine arts of giggling and eyelash batting. I like fishing, loathe cooking, and can drink a six-pack of beer in under four minutes, if challenged.” She tossed back her head, fighting tears, and her face said that she was annoyed because of it. “I’m a tomboy. And I know for a lot of guys—for you—it’s a turnoff.” Her comment was so wrong, Deke almost couldn’t process it. “You think I’m turned off by you?”

The duh! expression would have made him laugh if this wasn’t so serious. “When I first came here in lace and heels, you wanted me. But then you saw through it, and like in high school, you came to view me as one of the guys. It turned you off, so you told me to leave you alone unless we were in bed. There, you intended to live up to your promise. That proves my point.”

Was she serious? “That proves you know jack shit, kitten.” She planted a hand on her hip and sent him a challenging stare. “I’ve been down this road. More than once. You don’t have to shield me from the truth. I can take it.” Suddenly, Deke wanted to pound the face of every high school creep who’d made her feel less than female. But it was an out, an easy one. Letting her believe the lie would get him off the hook. But it would be chicken shit. And he couldn’t hurt her on purpose.

He sighed, defeated. “Have I done anything yet to baby your feelings?” Kimber hesitated. “No.”

“Exactly. I wouldn’t pretend you turned me on if you didn’t. And this shit about you not being…feminine enough. It’s crap. It isn’t makeup and giggling that makes a woman. It’s her smarts, her moxie, the way her sexuality flows through her.”

“What are you saying?”

Reaching for her hand, he squeezed it. “You’ve got it all, kitten. I like that you’re straightforward. You don’t get freaked out by my profession. You’ve got a killer sense of humor when you’re not tense. If I’m grouchy, it’s because you turn me on too much.”

“Too much?” Skepticism shot from her hazel eyes. “You want me too much?

Tugging on her hand, he draped it across his fly, covering the unflagging erection he had whenever she came within ten feet of him. “Does it feel like I’m lying?” Through his sweatshorts, she gripped him, stroked her nimble fingers up and down his rigid length. “No.”

Deke grabbed her wrist to stop her. Between his crazy urge to hold her and the lust she was inciting with her every touch, she was treading dangerous water.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish.”

With her free hand, she grabbed at his shorts and began to push them down. “I can finish you. Didn’t I do it last night?”

Her mouth. Oh, hell. Yes, she’d totally finished him. The wet, silky heaven had been paradise. Luc had told her exactly how to unravel him, and she had. Slow, hard, a little bite—and he’d been a goner. The thought that she might do it again, here and now, made his cock pulse under her hand. She gripped him even harder in answer.

He grabbed her fingers, which were pushing at his shorts, with his free hand and his last bit of wits. “Don’t.”

Kimber didn’t pause. She stopped and jerked her hands away. “You want me but you don’t want me to touch you? And since when does a man who wants a woman too much turn down a blow job?”

“If you push me right now, I’ll want more.”

“What does that mean?” she snapped.

“Your virginity is off limits. Don’t test me, or you’ll find yourself naked and impaled on my cock. It’s all I can fucking think about. If I get inside you, I’ll stay inside you—all damn day if you let me. And I’ll come back for more tonight. And Luc will want to be next in line.”

A sharp intake of breath. A sudden flush staining her cheeks. A softening of her combative posture. “Oh.”

“I’m on a short leash, so I’d get the hell away from me if I were you.” But Kimber didn’t move. For a long moment, she just stared at him. Deke resisted the urge to squirm uncomfortably. There was something going on in that pretty head of hers. God help them both if she gave any indication that she wanted to have sex with him. He didn’t have much self-control left. He’d drag her back to Luc’s bed, wake his cousin up and…do something he’d regret.

A long silence later, she stepped closer, placing her hands on his shoulders and stepping on her tiptoes to reach him. She settled her lips over his and gave him a soft, almost chaste kiss.

“You didn’t want to admit any of that, but you did it to spare my feelings.” Perceptive. He’d give her that.

“That’s really…decent of you. You could have let me believe I wasn’t feminine enough for you, but you didn’t take the easy way out.” A relieved grin broke out across her face. “Thank you. I really respect that.” Deke shrugged. He was stupidly pleased to have put a smile on her face. “Just being fair.”

“I should be fair, too, and admit that I’m off balance. You and Luc are a potent pair. Both of you turn me on, but”—she released a shaky breath—“I respond to you a lot more than I thought I would. When you touch me, I melt and ache. I’ve never felt this way.”

He got to her, more than Luc? More than Jesse? Euphoria and lust blasted him in a potent combination, raced through his veins like a drug. In the snap of a finger, he was high on Kimber.

Shit. He shouldn’t. He knew he shouldn’t— Too late.

Deke was already grabbing her, thrusting his fingers into her hair, cupping her jaw, then dropping his head to ravage her mouth. With a little gasp, she opened to him, met his possessive kiss.

Curling his tongue around hers, he breathed in her heat, swallowed her moan. He held her tight. And his brain began to shut down.

Now. Sooner than now. He had to taste her, be as close as possible. Deep, deep into her mouth. Her flavor knocked him on his ass. Like heaven.

Then she molded her body against his, arched into him and pressed those sweet breasts right against him. Touch them. He had to. Get them bare.

With one hand, he swept her tank strap down one shoulder, then the other. He pushed it low enough to free her breasts and run his palms over the firm mounds.

Not large, not small. Just right. And those nipples, hard. Always ready for his mouth. His. Soon…

Focusing on the remaining barriers, Deke yanked the tank down her waist, then grabbing the waistband of her shorts and panties, dragged it all down her hips and legs. Naked. Perfect. Boiling him with want.

Raking a pair of fingers through her slit, Deke confirmed his suspicion. She was wet. Very wet. Hard breathing, eyes dilated and begging, she gripped his shirt in desperate fists. Thank God she was aroused. So was he.

Deke lifted her by the waist, ignoring her gasp, and set her on the kitchen table.

He’d fantasized many times about having her spread across it like his next meal, his sustenance. The reality ratcheted up his need. His heartbeat soared. His cock throbbed.

Pulling his shirt over his head, he tossed it away. Then, chest heaving, he pushed his shorts down his legs until Kimber could see nothing of him but bare skin and naked want. With rapt eyes, she took him in, unblinking, unwavering.

Unbelievable.

Gripping her thighs, he dragged her hips to the edge of the table and leaned over her, blanketing his body with hers. Searing heat. Peachy, sugary smell. She drove him insane. His gaze sought hers. Found it. Wide, aroused, trusting. Want seared him, sizzling his blood. On fire. Touch her. He had to. He kissed her flat belly, dipped his tongue in her navel. She sucked in a breath. He stepped closer, so near her heat.

She spread her legs wider, gaze still clinging to him. Silent, open, drowning in want.

Her nipples were hard. Standing up, thick and swollen.

Irresistible. He swooped down and took one in his mouth. Devouring it. Like candy. Better, actually. He swiped his tongue over it, nipping the tender flesh when it hardened even more. Hmm. Perfect.

Kimber panted, little whimpering sounds peppering the air as she curled her hands around his head, trying to get her fingers in his military-short hair and tug him closer.

“Deke…”

That note in her voice, pleading. It forced him to look up again. Her stare singed him.

Claim her mouth. Her sweet kiss, all accepting and impassioned, kicked him with another jolt of lust.

Fuck. Her. Now. He enveloped her hips in his hands, loving the way his palms nearly swallowed her, the way she was open to him, and he could see the wet, welcoming cream of her pussy, her swollen folds. Taking himself in hand, he positioned his cock against her entrance.

Steamy. Hot. She scalded the head of his cock as he savored the moment before he’d push into her, make her his. Jesus, he was shaking. Desire piled on top of desperate need, wrapped in the harsh demands of his body. And something else…

Take her. Claim her.

“Deke,” she pleaded, both for him to push forward—and to stop.

Stop? No. Hell no! Why should he stop?

Because he shouldn’t do this. To her. To himself. The reason escaped him. She was open, wet, laid out on his table like a freakin’ banquet of delight, eyes shining.

With tears.

Tears? The sight, the question, snapped him out of his lust induced haze.

He looked around. Clothes strewn across the floor. Sunlight filtering in through wide-open windows, slanting across her breasts. She was spread out across the same damn table they’d eaten dinner on.

She was a virgin.

He swallowed, knowing he should back off, leave her the hell alone. Right now, he was one thrust from changing their lives forever.

Maybe…maybe it would be different this time. Kimber wasn’t a teenager. She wasn’t from a troubled family. She wasn’t Heather. If he thrust into her, she’d be his. His. Completely. His to hold on bad days, his to share smiles with, his to surprise, to tease, to please, to fuck…

His to care for if something went horribly wrong. The lust jacking up his system iced over at that thought. He took a half step back.

“Weren’t you going to stop me?” His voice creaked. For chrissake, he sounded like he was a hundred.

Kimber hesitated. “Yes.”

But he wasn’t convinced. “When?”

“Well, I—I meant to. I tried.”

Deke pulled up his shorts, tucking his erection back inside with a grimace. “Do you actually love this pop star you’re chasing?” A blink. A glance away. A boulder of unease settled in his gut. Was she skittish because she didn’t love McCall or because she was trying not to throw her feelings for the pop star up in Deke’s face? She sat up, covered herself with her arms, drawing her legs up to her chest. “Would I be here trying to learn all this if I didn’t?”

“Only you know why you’re really here. But I know you don’t comprehend the fire you’re playing with, little girl. Next time, say no. If Luc had been here, I might not have stopped. Next time, I might fuck you—and fuck the consequences.”

Late that night, Kimber dozed on Luc’s shoulder while they snuggled to an old black-and-white classic. His warmth curled around her. Safe. Comforting. By unspoken agreement, they didn’t discuss Deke, but her thoughts kept drifting back to him. Where was he?

Somewhere in the house, a door slammed. The sound jerked her fully awake.

Sitting up with a yawn and a stretch, she looked around in confusion. Still just Luc and the old movie.