With eyes locked, she pulled him into the warmth of her mouth. She wasn’t sure who moaned louder . . . him or her. Probably him, but she loved his response and took him deeper.

“Jesus, Zoe.”

She hummed and kept moving, letting her hands grip what she couldn’t take.

Both of his hands were in her hair . . . she felt him tug her away, then push her back for more. Finally, he stopped her pursuit. “Another time,” he moaned, pulling her higher on the bed and rolling her onto her back. “Finish that another time.”

“I plan to,” she told him.

He wiped her lower lip with his thumb and kissed her.

When he pulled at her lace panties, she lifted her hips to help them leave her body. His fingers fanned her belly and buried into the heated folds of her sex.

She whimpered, ready for whatever Luke wanted to do with her. “I want you inside of me, Luke.”

He wiggled his fingers. “I am.”

She hit his chest with her fist. “Not that part.”

“Impatient minx.”

“Luke,” she warned.

He kissed her snarl before reaching over the bed to find his pants. He unearthed a condom from his wallet and handed it to her.

With his erection in her hand, she covered him quickly and lay back down.

Luke nudged her legs apart and settled between them.

Their eyes locked as he sank into her one inch at a time. He stretched her sex and filled her. They both stilled, alone in their thoughts, but one with their bodies. Luke gave a slow, knowing smile and started to move. And when he reached down to kiss her, emotion clogged Zoe’s throat.

He whispered sweet words as he claimed her body as his. The slow, fiery build drew tiny squeaks from the bed. Soon she could only hear the thump of her heart and their quick breaths as they moved closer to release. When her muscles tightened, ready to explode, she wrapped her legs around Luke’s waist and willed him closer. She shuddered in her orgasm, his name on her lips, and knew her life was never going to be the same again.

Chapter Ten

Luke walked into his bedroom right as the sun was starting to peek in the window.

Leaving Zoe’s side was one of the hardest things he’d done in years. The glow of her smile and weak push as she told him to leave were evidence she was just as affected as he was.

His wallet was empty of condoms and the muscles under his skin were sated.

They’d managed about two hours of sleep before making love one final time.

He had promised himself sometime in the night not to overanalyze what was happening between them. Never once did he think it was just sex. With Zoe, it had never been all about the sex. Yeah, when he was a teenager getting anything had been a priority. If he were being honest with himself, the first time he really noticed Zoe, it had been his dick that stood to attention first. He’d been gone most of the summer, shipped off to his grandparents on his mother’s side, just outside of Seattle. He hadn’t wanted to go, but as the summer wore on, his parents probably had to book his ticket for their own sanity. That was the year he’d really discovered girls, and much to his delight, they discovered him, too. Those months in Seattle had proven one of the best summers ever. Mainly because of the girls who flirted and then some with the kid who wasn’t going to be around to tell their steady boyfriends once school started in the fall. Luke enjoyed the then some with the girls most likely to put out. When he returned to River Bend, his ego had grown along with his confidence he’d get what he wanted.

He distinctly remembered a hot August day when he’d heard that Jo and her posse were going to hook up at the river with a fifth of whatever liquor she could get her hands on and go swimming. There was only one real swimming hole on the river, and all the kids knew about it.

Luke rounded up Baily and Mike and headed to the river to spy on the girls.

They’d parked far from the swimming hole and walked the long way around to stay hidden, hoping the whole time that one of the girls had forgotten her bathing suit.

They hadn’t.

But watching girls in bikinis was almost as much fun as watching them naked. Especially Zoe. Luke had done a double take when his eyes rested on her. She’d always kept herself hidden under big sweatshirts and heavy sweaters. Ugly clothes that didn’t fit and only called out negative attention. Even the bathing suit she’d worn that day hadn’t suited her well. It had been way too small. Her breasts spilled out from the edges of the fabric and the bottoms did a crappy job of hiding her ass.

Luke was bewitched.

They’d sat in the trees watching the girls swim for half an hour before he accidentally on purpose rolled a half-empty can of beer down the bank and gave their location away.

Jo had been the first to notice and start cussing.

Mel ducked under the water.

And Zoe . . . Zoe placed both hands on her hips and stared them down.

By the time they left the river that day, they’d polished off the fifth and the six-pack, they’d sat around a campfire counting stars, and Luke had gone so far as to hold Zoe’s hand.

Yeah . . . it was that big a deal.

He’d gone from getting it to hand holding for the better part of the next year. He’d never looked back.

Luke looked at his bachelor home and small kitchen. Zoe had never cooked there, but he could picture her demanding fresh basil or thyme—whatever the hell that was—while he scrambled over to his parents’ to raid his mother’s garden. Or maybe he should plant one for Zoe.

What was he thinking?