Ryan had been calling Emily for hours. He’d also sent her about a dozen texts. When he couldn’t reach her, he resorted to pacing outside the room where his father’s body was still reanimating. It did no good. It changed nothing. But it made him feel better to be close.

“Ryan.” The soft, sweet voice behind him made him spin around so fast he nearly lost his balance.

Suddenly, there she was, in the flesh, though he hardly believed it. In fact, he blinked. “Emily?”

She smiled as she leaned her shoulder against the wall in the hallway. “You know a lot of women who look enough like me to cause confusion?” A twinkle in her eye made his pulse pick up.

He rushed forward, grabbed her around the waist, and lifted her off the floor. The next second, his lips were on hers. He didn’t care who saw them.

When he finally let her go, she slid down his body, planting her hands on his chest. She was grinning. “Good surprise?”

“The best. What are you doing here? I’ve been calling you all day.”

“I thought I would surprise you. Also, my phone died.”

“I told you to charge it every night,” he teased. “Smartphones can do a lot of stuff, but they run the battery down fast.”

She tipped her head to one side. “Yeah, and you still haven’t told me what I owe you for buying the phone. How did you set up a plan for me? I’ve never seen a bill.”

He’d purchased it for her himself, and he’d put her on his plan. He hadn’t told her because he didn’t want her to feel weird about it or pressured in any way, especially since he’d done all that within weeks of knowing her. It had been presumptuous. “Don’t worry about the phone right now. Tell me why you’re here.”

She sighed loudly. “Someone found me. They were camped outside my parents’ home when we returned this morning. I gave them a piece of my mind, as did my dad, but I knew they would come back soon and bring their friends.”

Ryan frowned. “I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t want my parents’ lives disrupted. Not to mention all their neighbors. So I left. I called Temple, and she sent someone to pick me up. I intended to hide somewhere, but she insisted I come back here for a few days until we can decide where I should go next.”

“A few days?” He stiffened. Why did she need to leave again so soon?

She flattened her small hands on his chest and lowered her gaze to the spot. “I’m in limbo, Ryan. I can’t just stay here forever taking up space. I’m the reason this facility is surrounded by media and zealots.”

He set his hands on top of hers and squeezed. “Of course you can stay here. There’s no way Temple is going to kick you out. It wouldn’t be fair, and it doesn’t make sense.” He knew his superiors were working with the government and the military to come up with a variety of options for the twenty-two souls about to reenter society, but he didn’t know what most of those choices were going to look like yet.

She still wasn’t meeting his gaze. Something was bothering her. Something she needed to say. “There’re a lot of people hovering outside the compound.”

“I know.” He had been watching the monitors. He wasn’t worried. “There’s plenty of security. The entire grounds are surrounded by electrical fencing. Four acres. The gate is secured and heavily guarded. It doesn’t matter how many reporters and religious zealots gather outside.”

“There might come a time when it’s not realistic for me to stay here.”

He couldn’t imagine that eventuality. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

She sighed as she set her forehead on his chest. “I’m sure you’re right.”

He smoothed his hands up her back to thread them in her hair. If he could just hold on to her. After glancing through the window to the room where his father was currently being reanimated, he eased back a few inches. “Come on.” He needed to be alone with her in his suite, not standing in this hallway where anyone could walk by.

She followed without a word.

Minutes later he had her inside his suite where he spun around, pressed her against the door, cupped her face, and kissed her. He couldn’t stop. It seemed like it had been months since he last tasted her.

This kiss was not nearly as chaste as their first one or any of the others he’d given her that night. When he pulled back, she was panting, her hands gripping his forearms. “Somehow I thought it had been a fluke. I thought I imagined it,” she whispered.

He smiled, kissing her nose. “Apparently not.” He closed the distance between them and touched her lips with his again. Longer this time. He didn’t pressure her, but he did learn the feel of her mouth, the way she parted her lips for him, the way she moaned softly against him.

Yeah, there was a god.

He was breathing heavily when he separated their lips, giving her only inches to breathe. He needed to read her expression, get a feel for where she was. If it was up to him, he’d take her to his bed.

For long moments, Ryan stared at her. She held his gaze, not moving. And then her thumb on his bottom lip stroked ever so slightly.

Was she ready to take the next step?

* * *

She didn’t know what to say or do next. She knew what she wanted to do, but she was not the kind of woman who would take that kind of risk. She hadn’t been before being vitrified for ten years, and that aspect of her personality had not changed.

She considered herself awkward at best when it came to confronting men. She had little experience doing so, and she felt rather foolish now. A twenty-nine-year-old woman who couldn’t bring herself to make a move on a man.

She had dated a few men in college and medical school. She wasn’t completely innocent, but it had been a long time since she’d had sex—even if she subtracted the decade in suspension.

He smiled down at her, tightened his arms around her waist, and hauled her flush against his body. For a long time they stood there, not moving. He set his forehead against hers, bringing them closer. When his eyes slid closed and he kissed her again gently, she leaned into him farther.

She could feel his arousal against her belly, and it made her tingle all over. She affected him. There was no reason to doubt that, but they simply hadn’t discussed or defined their relationship.

As the kiss deepened, he tipped his head to one side and teased her bottom lip with his tongue. She opened for him, her heart beating faster. He ran his tongue along the ridge of her teeth and then dueled with hers. Gently. Slowly. Seductively.

She moaned into his mouth, unable to stop herself. Not caring.

This kiss lasted a long time while her body reacted accordingly. By the time he pulled back only enough to separate their lips, her breasts were heavy, her nipples were tight, and her panties were wet.

She inhaled long and slow, her gaze darting back and forth between his eyes as she brought her palms to his chest.

She could feel his heart beating rapidly against her touch. His hands flattened on her back.

“Emily,” he whispered. “Baby…” That term of endearment made her pulse pick up even more. He was panting. “We should talk.”

“Maybe a little less talking would be better right now.” Those might have been the boldest words she’d ever spoken in her life. It wasn’t that she was worried he didn’t return her feelings, but damn, he needed a nudge.

Ryan’s mouth lifted on one corner in a coy grin. His eyebrows rose. “Not going to argue with that plan, as long as you think you’re ready.”

Lord, is that what he was worried about? “I’ve been ready for weeks, Ryan. Stop treating me with kid gloves. I won’t break.” At least she hoped not. Surely all her parts would work the same as they had before she’d been preserved. She was far more concerned with her heart than her physical body.

His fingers spanned so wide against her back that she felt enveloped. The way his eyes hooded sent goose bumps all down her body. He had no idea how sexy he was. His darker skin, a gift from his Indian father, was one of her favorite features. That and his thick dark hair.

She had never been bold enough to run her hands through it before, but now she slid her palms up his chest, over his neck, and onto the back of his head. The moment she threaded her fingers in the soft thickness, she fulfilled a fantasy. The first of many.

He leaned his head back a few inches to study her face. “You’re sure? I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

“I couldn’t be any less pressured, Ryan. My feelings have been growing for you from the moment I opened my eyes and found you hovering over me.” More boldness. He seemed to like it.

He smirked. “You won’t win that contest. I had pictures of you to study before you were reanimated, plus notebooks full of your clever thinking and sharp mind.”

She rolled her eyes. “Semantics.”

He spanned her waist with both hands and then groaned. “I’m totally unprepared. I don’t even have condoms in my suite.”

“Lucky for you I’ve been on the pill for over a month.”

His eyes widened. “Seriously?”

She glared at him. “Yes, big guy. You weren’t privy to every single aspect of my medical chart. Mina and I discussed it early on. We decided it would help jump start my body and get it back in action.”

“Ah.” His cheeks darkened. Had she embarrassed him? “Did it…work?”

She grinned. “Yes. All parts are in working order. Now can we stop talking?”

A heartbeat passed, and then he surprised her, dipping down to tuck one hand under her knees to lift her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. It took only moments for him to carry her into his room, and he lowered her onto the bed.

Finally. This was really happening.

Before she could decide what to do next, he took charge, climbing over her and straddling her body. He set his hands on her waist and smoothed them up her body until he cupped her breasts.

She grabbed his forearms, arching her chest upward on a moan. Every inch of her body was on fire. It had been so long, and not just in real or suspended time. It had been a long time since she’d met Ryan and known she wanted to sleep with him. Six weeks was an eternity when you saw the man you lusted after every day and spent nearly every evening sitting next to him or talking for hours on the phone.

Lord, six weeks was a long time for her to lust after a man period. She’d never once in her life let her mind be so consumed with another human being. Even the few times she’d had sex in her younger years had been spur of the moment and uneventful. Not worth remembering. Somehow she didn’t think this joining with Ryan was going to be quite so unmemorable.

She assumed for the last several weeks that he was trying to be a gentleman, but he’d gone too far. She had needed more from him for several of those weeks. It was about time. By now, her pent-up arousal made her feel quite sure she was going to come embarrassingly fast. If she was lucky, he would too, and then they could start round two in a far more leisurely fashion.

As his fingers slid to pinch her nipples through both her sweater and her bra, she bit her lower lip, releasing it at the same time he slid his palms back down to tuck them under her sweater.

He pushed the material up her back and whisked it over her head. And then he stared down at her navy lace bra, the one she’d purchased one day when she was out shopping with her mom.

Slowly, reverently, he set a finger in the V of her cleavage and stroked the sensitive skin of her breast.

“Ryan…” He was killing her.

“Yeah?” he asked, not lifting his gaze.

“I’m dying here. Could we possibly do fast and furious the first time?”

He smiled, shaking his head. “Not a chance.”

She groaned, squirming between his legs. She grabbed his hips and lifted her ass off the bed to grind against his length. “You sure?”

With his free hand, he tugged on one of her wrists and pried it off his hip. “Don’t rush me, baby. We’re going to create a memory here. I don’t want to look back and visualize nothing but a flurry of clothes and a hard fuck.”

She shuddered at the crude word, surprisingly turned on even more instead of chilled. “What’s wrong with a hard fuck?”

This time he groaned, leaning over her, his hands at the sides of her head. “Where on earth did this naughty girl come from all the sudden?” He smirked. “I was misled into thinking you were all sweet and innocent.” He didn’t look the least bit disappointed.

“I ditched her about two minutes ago when I realized you were finally going to make a move.”

His smile grew wider. “I think I like this racy Emily. She’s hot as hell.”

“Good. Now take off your jeans.” Yeah, she was so totally out of character. It was weird, but she kind of thought she might like the new Emily too.

Ignoring her request, he rose back several inches and returned his hands to her waist. Never breaking her gaze, he reached for the front clasp of her bra and expertly flicked it open.

She arched again as her breasts popped free. For several more moments, he kept his gaze on hers, and then he dipped his head toward her chest at the same time he cupped her swollen flesh in both hands. His thumbs grazed over her nipples maddeningly.

She gripped his hips tight, unable to convince her hands to slide under his shirt. Her entire focus was on the way he worshipped her breasts. A moment in time froze, and then he lowered his face to suckle a nipple.

Maybe his way had merit. There was no doubt an imaginary camera was flashing every few seconds, captivating this memory for all time. The way he tipped his head to one side, flicked his tongue over her distended nipple. The way he shifted his mouth to the other bud and treated it to the same torturous pleasure.

Her legs were pressed together between his, but she couldn’t keep from squirming, rubbing her thighs together, and lifting her butt off the bed.

Finally, he slid down her body, kissing a path to her belly and then dipping his tongue into the waistline of her jeans. She arched again, threading her fingers in his hair.

He ignored her silent urging and threw one forearm over her belly to hold her down. Exquisite torture. Her sex clenched. If he ran a finger over her clit through her jeans, she would come.

Instead, he single-handedly popped the button and lowered the zipper. His tongue dipped lower to trace the seam of her panties. “You are so sexy. All this creamy white skin against this navy lace is making me so hard I can’t think.”

She wished she could have come up with another quip to tease him, but her mouth no longer functioned as a means of communication. She had no choice but to endure his touch, savor it.

Finally, he sat up and reached over his shoulder with one hand to haul his shirt off. His chest was amazing. Hard and sculpted in a way that made no sense since she knew for a fact he hadn’t had much time to work out in the last fifteen years. Somehow he must, though, and she found herself smoothing her hands up to flatten them on his pecs and enjoy the feel of his warm skin.

His nipples stiffened when she stroked over them. He let her peruse for a while, and then he grasped her wrist and lowered her hand down his body to plant it over the bulge in his scrubs.

The wetness between her legs increased as she cupped him. “Take these off,” she whispered.

He slid off the bed, breaking the contact she had with his length and dragging her body around so that she was lying across the bed sideways. Her feet hung off the edge, but only for a moment. Ryan grabbed the sides of her jeans and tugged them down her body. Before she could wrap her mind around it, she was completely bare to him except for the tiny swatch of lace and silk that covered her sex.

Ryan stared at her until she gripped her legs together. He still stared as he shrugged out of his scrubs, taking his underwear with them.

When his thick length popped free, she bit her lip. It had been a damn long time. In this particular instance, it might very well matter that although she hadn’t aged, it had been more than a decade since she’d had sex. More like thirteen years in truth.

Ryan gripped his erection and slid his hand up and down the shaft a few times before releasing it and stepping closer. He didn’t say a word as he pressed her knees wide and then, holding her thighs apart with both hands, stroked his thumbs along the seam of her panties, edging her folds.

Her eyes slid closed, and she gripped the comforter at her sides, concentrating on every feeling as he continued to explore. When he drew one finger up the middle of her panties to flick it over her clit, she arched her hips off the mattress. “Ryan…”

“You’re so wet for me.”

She flushed at his words, not so much embarrassed as aroused.

When he released her knees to tug the lace over her hips, she lifted her butt again to help him. And then she was naked. Head tipped back, mouth hanging open, eyes still closed, she noted every single touch, every sigh, every breath he took. “You’re so beautiful.” His voice was rough with need.

She had to see his expression, so she lowered her chin and opened her eyes. He was staring at her most intimate parts, reverently, worshiping her with his gaze until he suddenly lowered his face and drew his tongue through her folds.

Emily dug her heels into the edge of the mattress and moaned. Nothing had ever felt so good. No man had ever gone down on her. Her sexual experiences had been few and far between and left her needing more.

Not today. There wasn’t a chance in the world she would be left needing anything when Ryan was finished.

Her thighs quivered, and he gripped them again, holding her down while he thrust his tongue inside her. “Oh God.” She was on the edge that quickly.

His lips wrapped around her clit next, suckling the little nub while he flicked his tongue over the turgid tip.

That was it. Without warning, she came. Hard. Her hands flying to grip his shoulders. Strange noises coming from her mouth.

And then she was panting, riding the waves of pleasure, and wondering how the hell this man she’d known for six weeks had so thoroughly controlled her body in such a short time.

It wasn’t until her vision cleared that he released her clit and nibbled around her inner thighs and belly. Finally, he slid his hands up to her waist and pushed her slowly across the bed until he could climb up between her legs.

He leaned on one elbow next to her face and brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes with the other hand. “Sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispered. “Thank you.”

His huge body was nestled between her legs, his thick erection resting at her entrance, casually. The warm hardness of him made her squirm against the tip. “Thank you. Now it’s your turn. I want to watch your face while you come undone. Please, Ryan. Now.” She bucked against him, but he was too heavy to accomplish much.

“So demanding,” he tsked, still stroking her face with one finger. “Let me enjoy this moment first.”

She tipped her face into his hand and then turned her head to kiss his palm.

“Damn. Everything you do is sexy.”

She turned to face him again, smiling. It would do no good to plead with him. He obviously had his own agenda and would not be rushed.

His lips lowered to hers, claiming her mouth in a kiss steamier than their earlier masterpieces. His tongue thrust in unapologetically and tangled with hers, devouring her as if she were his last meal.

Her brain was mush, her sex craving his touch again by the time he finally pulled back. “I love how you kiss me. Like I’m the most important person in the world and the only way you can tell me is to show me.”

He smiled. “I like that. And it’s true.” He shifted his weight until he rested on his elbows at the sides of her head, and then he expertly stroked through her folds with the tip of his erection.

She spread her legs wider and then wrapped them around his waist, hugging him tighter with her thighs, silently begging him to enter her.

After glancing down at where their bodies were about to come together, he eased the tip of his erection into her. He was going to stretch her to the point of pain, but she reminded herself it would only last a moment and then pure heaven.

The friction at her entrance alone brought her back to the edge. She grabbed his biceps and dug her fingers in.

Gradually he entered her farther, his lips tucked between his teeth as if it took a great deal of strength to keep from slamming into her.

She was grateful for his effort, though. For as much as she’d insisted she wanted to get the first time out of the way, his plan was much better and far less painful. Every thrust went slightly deeper, stretching her gradually and driving her arousal back to full-on crazed.

“You okay?” he asked, searching her eyes.

“So much yes.” She moaned around his next pass and then sighed as he pulled almost out before inching even deeper.

“I’m not gonna last,” he gritted on the next thrust.

“We have all night to try again,” she pointed out.

He groaned and then thrust the rest of the way home.

For a second she held her breath, accommodating his girth.

His fingers were in her hair again, stroking her forehead. “You okay?” he asked again, his voice strained with either concern or arousal or both. Probably both.

She smiled as she released a breath. “Yes. Move.”

He cupped her face with both hands. “Look at me. I want to watch your face while I make love to you.”

She met his gaze again, her vision a little blurry. And then he moved, pulling almost out and then sliding back in to the hilt. The next time he did the same thing her channel decided to relax and except him without complaint. By the third thrust, her sensitive walls were gripping his erection, milking him.

He drew his lips in between his teeth again and picked up the pace. When he slid one hand between them and circled her clit, every sensation multiplied. His fingers brought her right back to the edge and kept working her while he stroked in and out. “Come again for me, baby.”

Shocking her, another orgasm took over her body at his command. The moment her channel gripped his length in delicious spasms, he groaned out his own release, holding himself deep inside her, his body rigid, his eyes rolling back.

She swore she could feel every pulse of his erection inside her. He was breathing heavily when he blinked his eyes back into focus and met her gaze, a slow grin spreading. “I’m gonna need to do that again in a few minutes.”

She giggled, releasing his biceps with stiff fingers and circling his torso in her embrace. “I can’t wait.” The truth was this was the most amazing moment of her life. She’d witnessed a lot of exciting medical breakthroughs in the last few years before she was preserved, all of which left her giddy. None of which compared to this sexual encounter with Ryan.

She was in so much trouble.

She hadn’t meant to fall for him.

Their lives were too complicated to consider a future at the moment. Why couldn’t she just enjoy a night of great sex?

Instead, it clutched at her heart and scared the hell out of her.

She shivered, partially from a chill and partially because her mind was racing.

Ryan quickly rolled her to one side, tugged the covers out from under them, and tucked them both in. He held her close to his chest, still breathing heavily. “Better?”

“Yeah.” She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent. Masculine. His soap. His aftershave. Ryan.

“Stay.”

She twisted her face to see him. “What?”

“The night. Stay here. In my room.”

“Mmm. My stuff is still by the front desk. I dropped it off and came to find you.”

“I’ll go get it.”

It seemed too…soon. On the other hand, they’d just made love. She didn’t want to leave yet. She wanted to snuggle into him and hold on a little longer. The thought of moving to another suite to spend the night alone in a cold bed didn’t sit well.

“Okay.” She was still riding the high from two fantastic orgasms. “Do you need to go check on your dad?”

He chuckled. “You want to talk about my dad right now?”

She flushed. “No. Of course not. I was just…”

He gave her a squeeze. “It’s okay. No. I spend a lot of time pacing outside that room. It doesn’t do anyone any good. It changes nothing. Each person needs to spend four weeks in the chamber. Watching is a waste of time. But I can’t seem to concentrate on anything else.”

“Seems like I might have taken your mind off cryonics for at least a few minutes,” she teased.

“Oh hell yes, you did. And I intend to forget the world again as soon as I catch my breath.”

She was one step ahead of him. As long as she was having the boldest night of her life, she might as well pull out all the stops. She smoothed her hand down his body from his chest to his waist and then lower. Holding his gaze, she bit her lower lip as she wrapped her fingers around his stiffening erection.