“Quinn,” he snarls. I ignore him. “Quinn.” Then, “Oh, fuck, Quinn.” And he grabs my head and pours himself down my throat.

I swallow him down, every last drop. If someone had told me, before I met Matteo, that I would not only be willing to do that for a man, but would love doing it, I would have laughed. When I’m finished, because I’m sorry that it’s over and I’m not tired of having his cock in my mouth, I lick him clean.

Only then do I remember that he’s standing here stark naked in temperatures that are barely above freezing. Greedy girl that I am, I’m not sorry. And anyway, he started it.

Standing, I lean into the back of the SUV to hunt for clean clothes. Behind me, he says, “We’ll need to sleep in the back. It’s too cold outside.”

Wait. What? I turn around with my hands full of clothes. “How long are we going to be staying here?”

“Until I can get a sense of Santiago’s movements. I just went to the top of his hit list, so you’re not safe with me. We’ve got to be cautious.”

My heart squeezes so hard in my chest that my vision starts to gray. The next thing I know, Matteo’s patting my cheek. “Quinn. Hey.”

I blink as the gray recedes. “You got put on his hit list for me,” I whisper. It’s agony to think of him getting hurt at all, let alone on my behalf.

“It was only a matter of time before I ended up there. Another couple weeks, he would have had it in for me anyway.”

I’m no longer holding the clothes; he must have taken them from me while I was trying not to faint. He starts to put on his briefs, but it’s quickly apparent that he can’t bend over without it causing a lot of pain around his ribs.

I take the briefs and kneel down, holding them so he can step into them. This puts me at eye level with his cock again. I stare at it, a little dreamily, and it twitches.

Smiling, I stare some more. Matteo growls, “Do not tempt me.”

Tempting him sounds like an excellent idea. I give him a look that says so and he shakes his head. “Swear to fuck, I’m gonna spank the hell out of you.”

“What?” I say with only partially feigned indignation. “Why?”

Matteo sends me a look that makes my pussy tingle. “You want a list?”

“Hmph.” I shake the briefs at him. He steps into them, and I tug them up until he can reach them. We do the same thing with his jeans, but when I reach for a long-sleeved t-shirt he stops me.

“Not sure how easily I could get it back off, and I’d just as soon not have to cut up all my clothes. This’ll do.”

We get the back set up next. It’s starting to snow again, so putting most of it on the picnic table is not a great idea. But the SUV is one of those jumbo-sized ones, so we can fit things on the floorboards under the folded-down back seat and also line the edges.

There’s only one sleeping bag. But Matteo brought blankets and a thick foam pad, so we can make up a sort of bed, using the unzipped bag like a comforter on top.

By the time we’re done, I’m starving. There’s a barbecue adjacent to the picnic table and I cast it a doubtful look. “Do you want me to try to cook something? I didn’t see any charcoal in your gear.”

“Nope. And we better not risk building a fire. There’s no dry wood, and smoke could draw attention. We’ll have to make do with protein bars.”

Not my favorite thing – or his either, probably – but I’m hardly in a position to be anything but grateful. “Are you sure you don’t want a shirt? It’s awfully cold out here.”

In answer, he climbs inside the back of the SUV and lies down. “I need to rest anyway. Give myself a chance to heal.”

“Oh. Right.” I fidget, not sure what to do. Now that his big, masculine body is in there, the remaining space looks much smaller.

I’m confused by my own feelings. A little while ago, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him, not to mention my mouth. Why am I all nervous and jittery now?

Maybe because that behavior was completely out of character for me. Not that I blame myself: being kidnapped, being rescued, Matteo getting hurt, being chased by Santiago’s guys … all that danger, and the rush of still being alive, made me giddy, reckless.

But now the adrenaline has had a chance to wear off, and regular me is a little bit horrified. Not sorry, but not exactly eager to carry on in the same vein. I’m back to being cautious and circumspect and worried about getting hurt.

“Quinn.”

I flinch. “What?”

“Get in and shut the door behind you.”

I have no good reason to refuse, so I do as he says, but sit cross-legged on the mat. Lying down beside him feels too intimate.

We each eat a protein bar, washing them down with bottled water. When we’re done, the silence between us quickly turns uncomfortable, or so it feels to me. “Do you have any games?” I ask. “Or playing cards?”

Matteo looks suspiciously like he’s trying not to laugh. “Didn’t think to pack any, sorry. Wasn’t expecting to have company.”

Damn. He’s lying there, with silver threaded through his dark hair and crinkles at the corners of his eyes, looking exactly like the sexy, experienced older man he is. And here I sit feeling like a kid.

I look away and hitch up one shoulder. “Just a thought.”

“I had a different thought.”

Did his voice just get deeper? Richer. Warmer. Even more panty-melting. I have to clear my throat before I can answer. “What?”

“I was thinking you could sit on my face.”

My eyes get round. I gape at him, speechless, my brain completely shorted out. This goes on for too long, evidently, because Matteo gets tired of waiting and takes over.

“C’mere.” Grabbing hold of the front of my shirt, he tugs me down next to him, then rolls toward me, onto his uninjured side. The next moment, his mouth fuses itself to mine.

This kiss is nothing like the one at Kosta’s house. It’s slow and deep and thorough, and in no time it leaves me drenched. As if he knows it, Matteo unzips my jeans, then slips his hand inside my panties and cups me.

When his fingers part my slick folds, the same animal sound comes from both our throats. He deepens the kiss, one finger stroking in and out of me, his thumb circling my clit. My hips match his rhythm, rising to meet his hand, inviting him in, asking for more.

Pleasure, deep and dark, as soft as a feather and as sharp as a knife’s edge, builds inside me, coiling and twisting and tightening until my body’s as taut as a bowstring ready to release. I moan into his mouth and he nips my lower lip, then sucks at the tiny hurt.

I’m so close, my body desperate for release in a way it’s never been. His thumb presses, rolls, and presses again, and a million shooting stars burst from my clit, my body convulsing, my toes curling, my hips bucking as I clamp around his finger.

Matteo lifts his thumb, then flicks it over my clit, triggering another climax. When it finally subsides, he does it again. And again.

Through all this he’s still kissing me, hungry, insistent. When he finally lifts his head, I’m drunk on him, my lips bruised and swollen, my blood thick as honey. His pupils are huge.

“Are you on the pill?”

My pulse, already rapid, goes into overdrive. Holy shit, we’re really doing this. “Yeah,” I manage to say, and I don’t even recognize my own voice. “But I don’t have them with me.”

“I can pull out, but it’s risky.” A slow smile curves his mouth. “Or you could just sit on my face.”

Matteo smiling is a revelation. My heart leaps in my chest, twisting into an unfamiliar shape. “Shut up,” I say, and we both know, from the soft, husky way it comes out, that it’s not what I mean at all.

“Get your clothes off.” It’s a sensual command that vibrates through me, all the way down to my cells. “I’ll keep you warm.”

He scoots aside while I obey, not even pretending not to watch me, his eyes devouring me the same way his mouth did. By the time I’m naked, the flesh between my legs is throbbing.

As soon as I lie back down, he moves over me, balancing on his good arm. Taking himself in hand, he rubs the tip of his cock over my clit and down between my folds, coating himself in my wetness, then back to my swollen nub.

Sensation sparks from my clit to my nipples and back again, flooding my pussy. My eyes roll back in my head. “Matteo,” I moan, and he seats himself at my opening and begins to claim me.