It was cruel, and I knew it. But somehow I’d never been able to help myself. Not when she had the scent of lust about her… and that stubborn look in her beautiful eyes. I couldn’t say I was surprised that she stalked off without a word, slamming the door behind her. But it told me what I needed to know. She hadn’t slept any more than I had. She was irritable and frustrated. She needed coffee almost as much as she needed me to take her back to bed and remind her who we used to be together. I could hear her footsteps on the stairs. When she appeared again in the doorway, she was fully dressed.

“Here,” she said, thrusting an armful of clothes at me. She sat down abruptly without meeting my eyes and reached for a mug.

“You kept these?” I asked, turning them over in my hands; jeans and my favorite flannel shirt.

“They were boxed up the back of the closet,” she said, sipping her coffee. “I was going to mail them… I just forgot… Will you please just get dressed?”

I smiled, but did as she asked and brought the pan of hot biscuits back to the table. My reward was the look in her eyes. She was ravenous.

I slathered one with butter and apricot preserves, her favorite, and pushed the plate over to her. She took a big bite and her eyes rolled in pleasure. She licked her fingers and my heart turned over. “Oh, god… you haven’t lost your touch, that’s for sure.”

“I fucking hope not,” I answered, putting my hand on top of hers. I brought her sticky fingers to my lips and sucked them gently into my mouth and it felt like the air between us was suddenly overheated.

“Jason…”

“I know,” I said, letting her fingers fall away. “We shouldn’t do this, but we already have, Em. Last night wasn’t an accident.” I gripped her hands in mine, holding them captive. “We found each other again because we were meant to, Ember. We could spend the entire rest of our lives apart and it wouldn’t change the fact that we’re meant for each other. I’m supposed to be here, fixing the fucking roof and bringing you breakfast in bed.” I put her hands on my chest and held them there. Her eyes were enormous and liquid, the color of dark chocolate. I slipped one hand boldly down between her breasts and rested my palm on her flat belly.

“We were going to start a family, Em,” I said, feeling a thrumming under my hand. “Our family is here, right here… waiting to be born, sweetheart.”

“And you’re still on-call… aren’t you?,” she whispered. “You could leave me anytime, day or night. An hour’s notice, and you’d be packed up and gone…”

That’s the girl I love. Straight between the eyes. How the hell did I live without you?

“Yes,” I answered simply. I wasn’t going to bullshit my way out. “But I haven’t been called in over a year. The foundation takes most of my time. I’m working to overhaul the impact of hydroelectric energy on these mountains.” I took her face in my hands and looked into the bottomless depths of her eyes. “What I do makes me who I am, Ember. But mostly what I am is a man who needs his soulmate.” I kissed her and felt the tension in her body ease. “There’s no such thing as a life without risk, babygirl,” I said. “But there’s no such thing as a fucking life at all… without you.”

I stood, pulling her up with me and crushed her body to mine. “I love you, Em,” I whispered into her open, waiting mouth. “I never stopped. I never will, no matter how you try to push me away.” I reached under her sweater and slipped it off, over her head. “We had three long years apart,” I said, cupping her lace-covered breasts with my hands; stroking them, heating them… “and I have a lot to make up for…”

“Oh… my… god…” she gasped out, digging her fingers into the muscles of my shoulders. We hadn’t even made it up the stairs.

“That’s my baby,” I whispered into her folds. I dipped my tongue inside again and felt her hovering on the brink. My cock was pounding in outrage, jerking hard in time with the throbbing of her swollen clit. But I intended to make good on my promise before I gave in to its demands.

“Once is just to get the fire started,” I said, making sure she could feel my lips sliding over the most sensitive spot, “you know that, sweetheart. My baby needs more…” I slid two thick fingers up her inner thigh and paused to feel her reaction. “You never forgot how I can touch you,” I whispered. “How I can make you come on my fingers… how I can make you so fucking wet that I can slide right up to… here?”

She sucked her breath in, making a sound that took me damned close to the edge along with her. The feeling of her hot, velvety pussy in my hand shifted my consciousness downwards… she grasped the head of my cock in her hands. Reilly was outside barking in the distance, and Ember was squeezing me… stroking me now…

“I was on the other side of the door last night,” I ground out through my teeth, “jerking off…” I gasped, “while you were doing it too…” I pressed deeper, into the secret spot that made her juices flow. She was suddenly soaking wet and her hips were grinding in a rhythm that moved faster and faster…

I pushed her legs up and wide, spreading her but keeping her tight, too. I let the huge, wet head of my cock find her perfect center…

“I’m not ever going to be on the wrong side of that door again,” I said, as the primal urge to dominate her grew stronger with every second. “And this,” I said, thrusting my raging erection in with one swift jolt. “This belongs to you.

Only you.”

“Hey, Sis… I’m home…”

A second later, we were scrambling and I was jerking the blanket off the sofa to cover her. Randy stood awkwardly in the open doorway, his hand flying up to his cover his eyes before he stepped back outside. “Ah, fuck… I’m sorry… I didn’t… Jesus Christ…”

He closed the door, giving us all a chance to recover ourselves. Ember’s face was flushed, her eyes enormous and stunned…

Randy had still been in his turnout gear, clearly exhausted and filthy… with singe marks on his jacket.

The acrid smell of smoke lingered in the air behind him.