His carefully thought out speech had deserted him when he had come across her sprawled in one of the armchairs in the family room, her head thrown back against the armrest, her hair wild around her shoulders. She was beautiful even when she was sleeping.

He’d been such an ass. She’d tried to make conversation on the way home but he’d barely spoken two words to her in reply. She’d finally given up and gone upstairs alone when they reached the house. He picked up the remote and turned the television off. After he’d put the boys to bed, he’d gone into his own room and shut the door. She must have come down sometime after that.

It had taken him by surprise when she’d mentioned going back to Florida so casually. As if she couldn’t wait to leave. When just the idea of her not being around anymore made him feel panicky. She owned a house here so surely she’d come back sometime, right? He’d only known her a few days but the idea of not seeing her every day just seemed crazy.

Unfathomable.

“What are you doing to me?” He trailed a finger over her cheek and she shifted in her sleep.

“Jackson?” She turned over in the chair and would have fallen out if he wasn’t there to catch her. Her arms twined around his neck as he lifted her into his.

“What are you doing?” she mumbled sleepily.

“I have no idea.” He carried her upstairs to his room and laid her gently amidst the rumpled linens.

In the dim light coming through the window, he could just make out her face. She blinked at him a few times before her eyes turned soft, slumberous.

“Come here,” she whispered.

He didn’t waste any time. He dropped down on the bed next to her and pulled her into his arms. Her head fell back as his lips found her throat. She let out a soft “ah” as he nipped his way down the soft skin of her neck. He gently pulled her cotton tee shirt over her head and groaned as he saw she hadn’t been wearing a bra.

“I thought,” she broke off with a moan when he nuzzled his face between her breasts.

The scent of her skin was driving him crazy.

“I thought you were mad at me.”

He tugged at her jeans and watched, mesmerized, as she moved next to him on the bed and arched her back so she could pull them off. The seductive thrust of her hips made his throat go dry.

“I wasn’t mad at you. I was mad at myself.”

She laughed, a low, throaty sound, as he captured her leg and pulled her closer. A few kicks later, her jeans were on the floor next to the bed. Her eyes held his as she arched her back again, this time to slide her panties off. She sat up and flung them at his head like a slingshot.

“Christ. Come over here.”

She straddled him and he anchored a hand in her hair and pulled her down for his kiss. He loved her taste, the way she melted against him, the sounds she made. Nothing had ever been this good.

“What do you say we forget the one night thing?”

Ridley whimpered and bit his bottom lip. “Forget it? You mean not do this anymore? I don’t like that plan.”

“No. I mean forget it, and just do whatever we want.”

She nipped along his jawline and then pressed her tongue against his pulse. “Whatever we want, hmm?”

He laughed and flipped them over. She squealed as her back hit the bed.

“Mmm, hmm. I know exactly what I want to do first.”

Her eyes fluttered closed as he returned to his position between her breasts, nuzzling and licking his way down to her belly button.

“You do?” she whispered.

“Mmm, can you guess?” He nipped at her hipbone.

“Oh my, I think… I can’t think.”

Her legs fell open as he lowered his head between her thighs. The scent of her was like a drug, filling his nostrils, wrapping around him and through him until he was consumed by it.

She cried out at the first lash of his tongue. The sound echoed in his ears as he lapped at her, already lost in her taste. He pulled one of the pillows from the head of the bed to him so he could prop her higher.

“What are you doing?” she asked, breathlessly.

“Just getting comfortable, baby girl. I’m not done with you, yet.”

He was nowhere near done, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy a few detours. Propping her hips up also gave him a unique view of her breasts. He leaned over and laved each of her nipples until they pebbled against his tongue. She gripped his hair and held him against her, moaning when he pulled away.

Her moans turned to soft sighs when he settled between her thighs. Another long lick of her core had her arching off the bed.

“Jackson, stop teasing me.”

He laughed softly and gripped her thighs, pulling her closer. The position pushed her against his mouth and he growled his approval. He drew the lips of her sex between his teeth lightly until she cried out.

“Oh. Oh!” She clamped her hand over her mouth to muffle her cries as she came.

He moved with her, keeping his mouth on her as she clenched against his tongue, trying to prolong her pleasure. Finally she dropped down against the bed and sighed.

He turned her gently on her stomach until her perfectly round ass was beneath him. Hell yeah. Now he could play.

She shivered as he caressed the soft skin of her back, pressing his thumbs gently next to the indentation of her spine. She arched under his fingers like a cat. He followed the same path with his tongue, until she trembled.

He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed another condom. At the rate they were going he would need a new box by tomorrow. He glanced over at Ridley. She was up on her arms, watching him.