Emma’s mind was swirling in confused thoughts. It didn’t help that he was sprawled over half the couch, looking at her with a wolfish grin. She’d been thinking about last night all day, and now, with him sitting in front of her, she wasn’t sure what the protocol was.

Besides the awkwardness of it being the morning after one of the most intense sexual experiences of her life, there was one small nagging detail.

The bear outside had a hurt paw.

The man sitting next to her had a fractured wrist.

No.

The thin mountain air was affecting her thought processes. Or was it the man sitting next to her?

Either way, Emma the scientist had taken to becoming Emma of flights of fancy.

“Maybe I just lost my boots.” He said.

“And your pants? Or did you go out in shorts today?” She couldn’t help the little smile that played about her lips.

“It’s true I wasn’t thinking very clearly this morning.”

Now her heart was beating much too fast.

Had she affected him the same way he had affected her?

There was so much more to do with this handsome rugged man of the Colorado Rockies.

Suddenly he stood up. “Have you eaten?”

Caught off guard, she shook her head.

“Do you like pasta?”

“Of course.”

“I’m a little handicapped at the moment.” He lifted his wrist. “But if you’ll help me with some chopping, we can cook some spaghetti.”

“I can do that.” She stood up and balanced mostly on one foot.

“Doc was right. We do make quite a pair.” That wolfish grin had turned boyish now, and her heart shifted just a little.

Supporting her on his good arm, he led her into the kitchen and helped her onto a counter stool. He set a large cutting board on the kitchen island in front of her and took some bell peppers from the refrigerator and an onion from a basket on the counter. “Compliments of my sister,” he said, sheepishly.

“Skylar is… interesting.”

“Ha. That’s what people often say about her. They say that or they use the word ‘driven.’ She can be a little intense.”

“Sometimes intense can be a good thing.”

“What do people say about you, Emma?”

She picked up a knife and split the bell pepper in half. “Driven. And focused. Sometimes determined.”

“Then I think perhaps you and my sister could be good friends.”

“She told me she doesn’t have any friends. Maybe one. It wasn’t clear.”

“How could she possibly have time? She runs this ranch, and when my mother is away, she pretty much runs her brothers. All eleven of them.”

Emma’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Your mother had twelve children?”

“Yes. And unfortunately, Skylar is the only girl. She was born next after me.”

“I’ve never known anyone who had twelve children.”

“Yeah.” He took a pot out of the cabinet. “You’ll see them all around the lodge. But you probably won’t notice them. When they get out of line, my mother boxes their ears.”

Emma laughed. “And what about your father? What’s he like?”

“My father does whatever my mother tells him to do. And often that involves teaching his children how to do things around here. He started with me. He taught me to do everything from carpentry to plumbing to balancing the books to being a good host. Same with Skylar.”

“That’s a lot to keep up with.”

“For him it is. I took to carpentry. My sister took to management.”

“So you’re a carpenter?”

“Not really. I like carpentry work, but I’m an architect.”

“Yeah?” There were layers to this handsome man she hadn’t even imagined.

“Yeah. A few years ago.” He paused and a shadow crossed his face. “I had to make a choice whether to stay here and help out or to a take a job in the city.”

“You chose here.” She said quietly. Something had happened to Aiden. Something he didn’t like to talk about.

“Yeah.” He agreed. “But let’s talk about you.”

She went back to chopping. “There’s not a lot to tell. I’ve always been in school. But with any luck, this will be my last year.”

“Master’s degree?”

“Doctorate.”

“So after being in school your whole life, you’ll have to go out into the world, huh?” He said teasingly.

She shrugged. That wasn’t something she wanted to think about. A job implied far too much structure. And Emma preferred to do things on her own schedule. Fortunately, her own schedule usually involved getting things done. “I could teach.” But even to her own ears, she heard the lack of conviction.

“But that’s not your first choice.”

She sighed. “I like being outside. I love nature. Despite my current situation.” She nodded toward her foot. “I’m usually fairly sure-footed and outside.”

He laughed. “Present company included.”

His gaze grew more intense as he stared at her. They both stopped what they were doing. She set the knife on the cutting board, and he leaned against the counter.

Emma felt an almost-tangible connection pulling them together. She licked her lips.

Then in two steps, he closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms.

She sighed as his lips pressed against hers.

The old song, It’s in His Kiss, played in her head. She felt that Aiden wanted to eat her up, and she couldn’t get enough of him.

He growled and lifted her up to sit on the counter. Now they were face to face, and as his lips grazed against hers, he gently nudged one knee aside and nestled himself between her legs.

His arms wrapped around her, pulling her close against him. His fingers slipped beneath her shirt and caressed her bare skin in deep, massaging circles. She gripped the edge of the cabinet top and leaned her head back.

His lips traveled across to her ear lobes, his breath sending shivers through her. His soft lips slowly moved down to her neck, and she groaned.

He pulled her closer, holding her body against his. She felt his hardness pressed against the softness between her thighs.

She shuddered as his lips found that little hollow place at the bottom of her neck. Each press of his lips, each minute touch of his lips, set her body aflame.

His hands moved to cup her butt and scoot her to the edge of the counter. She spread her legs, shifting to rub against him.

His lips moved back to hers, his tongue mimicking the circling of his hips against her.

He hooked his arms under her knees, opening her legs wide, and her arms went around his neck. Then she was floating against him, no longer touching the cabinet top, supported only by his arms around her knees and her fingers tangled in his hair.

She was unraveling. Unraveling and coiling beneath him all at once. He cradled her butt with one hand, while his other hand slipped beneath the waistband of her sweatpants. His fingers slid between her legs, moving aside the wet cotton of her panties.

She writhed against him and caught her breath as he slipped a finger inside her. She was undone. She reached the tip of the spiral and came against his palm.

Her body shuddered as she wrapped her legs around him. She wanted him inside her. She wanted him more than she wanted the next breath.

He carried her to the bedroom and gently lay her on his bed, with the room in shadows.

His gaze locked against hers. He ran his fingers slowly through her hair, then brushed his thumb against her swollen lips. “I want you to be mine.”

“Yes.” She breathed, feeling the heat building again in her core.

He pressed his lips lightly against hers, then looked into her eyes again. “Just mine. And only mine.”

She nodded. “Okay.” Right now she would have agreed to anything. Anything to get his hands back on her.

“I don’t understand it,” he said, but he seemed to be talking to himself.

Something niggled at the back of her mind, but she was struggling to put two thoughts together.