They fell together in an explosive burst of passion that made Olivia’s head swim. His hands were everywhere, and his tongue plunged into the depths of her mouth like he wouldn’t be able to get enough if he had a lifetime to try.

As he turned them so he was on top, her every sense went on full alert. His cologne, her shampoo, the bristle of his whiskers against her face, the soft mattress below her, the cool sheet that covered them, the weight of his leg between hers.

He finally broke the kiss and buried his face in her neck.

She cradled his head in one hand while using the other to caress the huge, fading bruise under his right shoulder.

“Oh, Cole, your shoulder. It must’ve hurt so much.”

“It did. Worse than the face, if you can believe that.”

Being careful not to hurt him further, she gently smoothed her hand over the area around the bruise.

He released a contented sigh. “Feels good. Where were you when I needed a nurse?”

“I was right here, wondering how you were doing and wishing I could see you again.”

Raising his head, he found her eyes in the candlelight. “Did you really wish for that?”

She held his gaze while her hands continued to stroke his back. “There was a jolt.”

“Right,” he whispered. “The jolt.” He kissed her again, this time softly, his lips moving over hers in an easy rhythm that seduced and inflamed.

With her fingers buried in his hair, she held him right there as one endless kiss faded into another, neither of them in any rush to move on.

“God, I could kiss you all night,” he said.

“Luckily, we have all night.”

“So we do.” Holding himself up on one elbow, he put his other hand flat against her belly under her shirt. “You have the softest skin. It’s like silk.” He pushed the shirt out of the way and replaced his hand with his lips.

Olivia gasped. “Cole…”

“Do you think we could get rid of this?” he asked, tugging on the tank top.

With only the briefest of hesitations, she sat up and pulled the top over her head. When she glanced at his face, she discovered cool blue eyes gone hot with desire.

He reached for her. His chest hair tickled her breasts, and he trembled.

Knowing he was as affected by her as she was by him infused her with tenderness and desire and love. Yes, there was love. To deny that would be foolish, and Olivia wasn’t foolish. At least she hadn’t been before this, before him.

He relaxed his hold on her just enough to cup her breasts and run his thumbs over her nipples. Then he dipped his head and sucked hard on one of them.

Olivia cried out, which startled him.

“Don’t stop,” she pleaded.

“I think I’ve found something else I could kiss all night,” he murmured against her breast.

That she could laugh just then came as a total shock until he went back for more, and her laughter faded into a moan. The firm weight of him on top of her gave her no choice but to lie there and feel—his lips, his tongue, the warmth of his mouth. She squirmed under him until she had worked her legs free. Arching her back, she pressed against his erection.

He responded by closing his lips tight around her nipple.

She clutched fistfuls of his hair.

His wince got her attention, and she relaxed her grip.

“Cole.”

“What, honey?”

“I feel like I’m burning up,” she panted.

“Maybe if we got rid of the rest of these clothes, you’d cool off.”

“Somehow I doubt that’s going to help,” she said, lifting her hips so he could get rid of her pajama bottoms and the scrap of lace she wore beneath them.

He sat back and gazed at her. “When I was stuck at home for two weeks, I had all these fantasies about the girl in the airport,” he said softly as he crawled back up to her. “But nothing I imagined could’ve prepared me for the reality of the woman—the beautiful, smart, funny, incredibly talented, and amazingly sexy woman she turned out to be.”

Moved beyond words, she kissed him and hooked her fingers into the waistband of his shorts to push them down.

Kicking them the rest of the way off, he shifted to his side and brought her with him.

She wanted to touch him everywhere she could reach. His skin was smooth, his chest hair dark and soft. She liked that he was muscular but not bulky. Her fingers trailed over rippling abs and then lower until her hand closed around his pulsing erection.

His eyes fluttered shut. He exhaled a long, deep breath and seemed to be working hard to stay still so she could satisfy her curiosity.

And she was really, really curious as she stroked him, touched him, felt him.

“Liv,” he sighed.

The sound of her nickname coming so naturally from him, especially just then, went straight to her heart.

The more she stroked him, the harder he seemed to get. “Does it hurt?” she whispered.

“No. It aches.” He lifted her leg over his hip. “For you.”

Olivia was breathless with anticipation as his fingers danced lightly over her leg and inner thigh. Without realizing what she was doing, she tightened her hand around his cock, drawing a deep groan from him.

His fingers slid through the slick heat between her legs, teasing, touching, rubbing.

She was teetering on the edge when he pushed two fingers into her and sent her hurtling over.

“Oh God, Cole.” Her body was completely out of her control as sensation after sensation pounded through her. Gulping for air, she clung to him and slowly returned to earth.

“Wow,” he whispered, his expression awestruck. “Is it always like that?”

“No,” she managed to say. “Never.”

Brushing the damp hair off her forehead, he pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her lips.

“Let me get a condom.”

Reluctantly, she let him go, but only because she knew he would be right back. She lay on the bed waiting for him, her body alive with aftershocks that reverberated from the soles of her feet to the palms of her hands, to her lips, to her breasts, and between her legs.

He sat on the edge of the bed to roll on the condom. When he turned to her, she wrapped her arms around him, and he started all over with kisses that, on their own, were almost enough to send her flying again. By the time he perched over her, Olivia thought she would go mad if she had to wait another minute.

“Please, Cole,” she said between deep breaths. “Now.”

As he began to push into her, he cradled her face in his hands and dropped soft, damp kisses on her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, and then her lips. His tongue traced a path from her bottom lip to her top. He thrust his hips again, and when he met with resistance, he froze and looked down at her, shocked.

“Don’t stop.” She looked up at him. “Please, don’t stop.”

The realization seemed to knock the wind out of him for a minute, but then he rallied. Moving slowly, so slowly, he worked his way past the barrier.

Olivia waited for pain that never came. There was only pleasure unlike anything she had ever imagined. Her hands slid down to cup his backside, pulling him tight against her. For a long, breathless moment they stayed just like that, joined but still.

“Are you okay?” he whispered, gazing down at her with concern all over his handsome face.

“So much better than okay.”

His smile was a relief.

“You won’t hurt me if you want to, you know, move a little,” she said, her eyes widening as her encouragement caused him to throb inside her.

A nerve in his cheek twitched with tension. “Are you sure?”

She nodded.

He moved slowly at first and then faster when she met each of his thrusts with the lift of her hips. Reaching beneath her, he gripped her bottom to better angle her. The new position put the focus on just the right place, and before long she was climbing toward another release. He lowered his head to tug her nipple into his mouth, and that was all it took. She cried out, tightened her legs around his hips, and held onto him as he came with a cry of his own.

He pushed hard against her one last time before he collapsed on top of her, his forehead and back damp with sweat.

Olivia held him close, so close she could feel the pounding cadence of his heart, and was filled with satisfaction, knowing she had done that to him.

His head spun with questions. Where to even begin? What to say? Why didn’t she tell me?

Her fingers made lazy circles on his back.

How does a woman get to be twenty-seven in this day and age without ever—

“Are you mad I didn’t tell you?” she asked in a small voice that tugged at his heart.

“Of course not. I’m a lot of other things, but mad is definitely not one of them.”

“What kind of other things?”

He lifted his head and pressed his lips to hers. “I’m surprised and full of questions, but mostly I’m honored.”

“You are?”

Nodding, he kissed her again. “Very much so. But why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve been more careful—”

She stopped him with a kiss. “You were perfect. I’m sure it was no good for you, but next time—”

“What’re you talking about? No good? That was best sex I’ve ever had in my life.”

“You don’t have to say that.”

“Olivia,” he said, exasperated. “I’m not just saying that. It’s true.” He withdrew from her and sat up to pull the covers over her. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

Her face lifted into a tentative smile. “I won’t.”

Cole went to the bathroom, got rid of the condom, and splashed cold water on his face. He looked in the mirror for signs of the changes he felt occurring inside but saw nothing new on the outside. How was it possible to feel so much and not have it show? His face should have been lit up like a Broadway marquee.

He reached for a bottle of her lotion and breathed in the scent that was so uniquely hers. The smell was enough on its own to turn him on. Returning the lotion to the counter, he took a couple of deep breaths and stared at his reflection.

“Tread lightly,” he whispered. “Don’t screw this up.”

He went back to the bedroom to find her turned away from him, looking out at the darkness through the window they had left uncovered. Her hair flowed freely on the pillow, and the sheet had dipped to her waist, leaving the curve of her back exposed. Just looking at her made him want her again. Making an effort to keep his own needs in check, he got back in bed and snuggled up to her.

“What’re you thinking about?”

“Dessert.”

He laughed. “I would’ve guessed a hundred other possibilities.”

“I’m kind of a sucker for chocolate.”

“I figured you might be. Do you want it now?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Coming right up.” He brought the wine and cake back to bed.

Olivia rested against the pile of pillows and held the sheet over her breasts.

Cole fed her the first bite.

“Oh, that’s good,” she said, wincing as she shifted into a more comfortable position.

“Does something hurt?” he asked, alarmed.

“Not really.”

“Why don’t I believe you?” He took a bite and fed her another one. “Are you sore, honey?”

“A little.”

“I’ll draw you a hot bath. That’ll help.”

“Only if you join me.”

“Twist my arm.”

They ate the cake in companionable silence, but all the while Cole’s mind raced with things he wanted to ask her if only he could find the right words.

Pouring wine into the glass he had put on the table next to her, she took a long sip and studied him. “What do you want to know?”

Startled that she had read him so easily, he looked over at her.

“You have questions.”

He shrugged. “A few.”

“You can ask, Cole.”

He gave her the last bite of cake and put the plate on the table. “I’ll ask in the tub.” Getting up, he went into the bathroom and turned on the water. In the closet, he found a robe and brought it to her since she might not be ready to walk around naked in front of him.

“Thank you.”

Waiting until she was settled in the tub, he transported the candles into the bathroom and shut off the light. “Got room for me in there?”

She scooted forward so he could get in. “Sure do.”

When he had arranged his long legs around her, she relaxed against him.

“Is the hot water helping?” he asked.

“Mmm.”

“I hate that you’re hurting because of me.”

“It’s a good hurt. The best kind.”

Rubbing soap over her breasts, he watched her nipples spring to life. “Why haven’t you ever done this before, Liv?”

“I haven’t had much luck in the romance department.” Tilting her head back so she could see him, she added, “Until lately, that is.”

“I can’t believe there hasn’t been someone important before now.”

“There’ve been two, actually. One I dated for a year when I was nineteen, and the whole time I was working up the nerve to take the next step with him. I was almost there when I found out he’d been doing it with someone else while pressuring me to ‘prove my love.’”

Cole tightened his hold on her and forced himself to stay quiet.

“The second one got tired of waiting and decided to take what he wanted.”

“No.”

“Fortunately, I’d grown up with two older brothers and knew how to defend myself.”

“Jesus,” Cole uttered under his breath. The thought of her in danger made his gut clench with anxiety.

“I heard it was months before he stood up straight again.”

“Remind me to stay on your good side.”

She giggled. “Needless to say, it took me a while to venture back into the dating pool after that disaster. I’ve had a lot of first dates that never materialized into anything special.”

“Their loss,” he said against her ear.

“You’re giving me goose bumps,” she said with a shiver.

“You should see what you’re doing to me.”

“I can feel what I’m doing.” She reached back to hook her arm around his neck and bring him down for a kiss. “I’m so glad I waited for you.”

His heart contracted. “So am I,” he said, his hands coasting up over her ribs to cup her breasts. “I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to have been your first.” He wanted to add “and only” but didn’t. At this point, he could only hope. “How’s the soreness?”

“Much better.”

“Ready to get out?”

“In a minute.”

Resting his head back against the tub, he closed his eyes and realized he was completely and totally relaxed. There was nowhere else in the world he wanted to be, nothing else he could have wanted. This is what contentment felt like. He finally understood what had been missing with all the others. When he remembered he had to leave her on Monday, he ached. Who knew when they would get another chance to be together like this?

The water had grown cold by the time he finally stood and reached for towels. He tied one around his waist and then held another for her. Wrapping it around her, he surprised her when he scooped her up and carried her back to bed.

“And you say you’re not romantic.” She kept her arms around him and brought him down with her. “That was right out of An Officer and a Gentleman.”

Cole laughed. “I was an officer, but there’re a few women out there who might dispute the gentleman part.”

“Have you left a trail of broken hearts in your wake?”

“Define ‘trail.’”

Olivia cracked up and looped her arms around his neck. “More than fifty?”

“No!”

His indignation fueled her laughter. “I’ll bet there’re hundreds you don’t even remember.”

He rolled his eyes. “No way.”

“I shared my dirty laundry. It’s only fair…”

Glancing at her with a worried expression, he bit his bottom lip. “Do you promise you’ll still like me after?”

She raised her little finger. “Pinky swear.”

“Huh?”

“God, you are old.” She reached for his hand and hooked her pinky around his. “It’s a very solemn promise.”

“In that case,” he said, amused by her, “I had a girlfriend during my last two years of college, and we lived together senior year. I wanted to marry her. In fact, I even asked her.”

“What happened?”

“She turned me down.”

“Seriously?”

“Yup.”

“A woman seriously said no when you asked her to marry you?”

“Yes,” he said, laughing at her amazement.

“She must’ve been blind, deaf, and dumb.”

“I hate to disappoint you, but she had all her faculties,” Cole said, pleased by her irritation on his behalf.

“So why did she say no?”

“She didn’t want to be a Navy wife.”

“She hurt you,” Olivia said, caressing his face.

“Mostly she disappointed me. I thought we really had something, but I guess it was one sided. Otherwise she wouldn’t have cared what I did for a living, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I think about her sometimes, though. It amazes me to realize if she’d said yes, I’d have had a whole different kind of life. We’d be married fourteen years by now—if it’d lasted—and I’d probably have a bunch of kids.”

“Do you wish you had kids?”

“Sometimes. But when you live the way I do for as long as I have, you start to wonder if there’s room for a family.”

“I can see how that would happen when you’re on the go all the time.” Her finger traced circles around his nipple. “So that’s one…”

He nibbled on her neck. “And then I met you.”

She poked him in the ribs, causing him to jolt. “Nice try.”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Afraid not.”

“I’ll tell you, but you have to remember you did that pinky thing and still like me after.”

“I remember.”

Releasing a deep sigh, he looked up at the ceiling. “I guess I’m one of those guys women call toxic. I avoid commitment like the plague, but I’m always honest about it. I tell every woman I go out with that I’m not interested in anything serious, and it never fails that they think they’re going to be the one to change me or housebreak me. There’ve been a few who’d call me an asshole for being exactly what I said I was, especially since everything happened earlier this year.”

He finally risked a glance at her and found her rolling her bottom lip between her teeth. “You’re freaking out, right?”

“No, but I am wondering something.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“It’s just that you didn’t say that to me.”

“You noticed that, huh?”

“Uh-huh. In fact you said the exact opposite, with the leap speech and all of that.”

“Is that what we’re calling it?” he asked, laughing. “The leap speech?”

“That’s the official name.”

He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “When I told you earlier that I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything?”

She nodded, her lips parted in breathless anticipation.

“I didn’t mean just physically. I want you. In my life for as long as it feels good to both of us.”

“That’s an awfully big step for a commitment-phobe, isn’t it?”

“It’s huge. But it seems to be a night for big leaps.”

“Yes, it does.”