I stepped into the kitchen of the cabin, a little before seven in the morning. No matter how exhausted I was or how hard I’d tried, I couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was all the craziness of past forty-eight hours keeping my mind active. Or the fact that a sexy-as-sin man slept in my bed. Whatever it was, I had to get my ass up when I’d started counting the chirps of the birds outside my window in hopes of lulling myself to sleep.

Tightening my robe over my naked body, I stepped farther into the room. A yawn escaped my lips, and I lifted my arms and stretched high, trying to release some of the aches in my body. My muscles were sore, but it was a good kind of sore. Ones achieved from four rounds of bone-melting sex.

Last night, Ashur had taken me as a man who knew what he wanted and how to get it. The sex wasn’t the innocent-and-gentle lovemaking I’d had with him when we were oh-so young, but all-consuming and filled with a passion and dominance I’d never experienced before.

I gripped the counter near a set of windows and licked my lips as a slow hum began to beat deep inside me.

Seriously, Tara. Get a hold of yourself. You’ve gone years without needing sex and now you’ve become a fucking nymphomaniac. Stop thinking about his cock. You’re the first lady, for God’s sake. Keep your shit together!

I shook my reprimand from my head and gazed out the window toward the Colorado River. Birds flew about, and their feathers shone brightly against the glow of the sunrise. Two deer raced past the fenced yard of the cottage’s gardens, jumping over the bushes without a single pause.

God. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d spend my honeymoon in a remote cabin, albeit a very large one, in the woods near Austin, Texas.

I was the furthest thing from outdoorsy. White sand beach, swimming in the turquoise water, and sipping cocktails was more up my alley.

But there was a beauty to this area I’d never appreciated in all the years I’d lived in Texas. I felt a sense of peacefulness, something I hadn’t experienced since…I paused, thinking about when I’d last felt calm or peaceful. Had it been so long that I couldn’t remember?

Well, shit. Ashur had fucked my brains out enough to allow me to enjoy woodsy nature. What was the world coming to?

We’d always been opposites. Where he enjoyed camping, I loved a spa. I was high fashion and he was sports and outdoors. And then there was his obsession with high-end scotch, whereas give me a bold Brunello, and I was in heaven.

One of the few topics we agreed on was our mutual love for all things meat. Give us a juicy filet and we were in heaven. It probably had to do with the fact both of us were Texans.

I wasn’t sure how long I stood at the counter gazing out the window, but I moved when my stomach made a very un-first-ladylike rumble.

I glanced at the phone on the wall and then decided against calling the compound staff to bring breakfast.

For years, I’d cooked for myself, and it wasn’t as if I’d forgotten how to feed myself, even with all the fancy dinners and galas of the past two years. Besides, it was something I enjoyed wholeheartedly. No one would ever think that hardnosed, take-no-one’s-shit, human-rights attorney Tara Zain…em…Tara Kumar would enjoy watching cooking shows and making the delicious meals she saw on television during her alone time.

Maybe Ash still remembered.

For the short summer we’d been together all those years ago, I’d made many a dish for him to try. Some had failed epically and others had come out phenomenal successes. I’d remembered how Ashur had complained he was going to gain too much weight, all the while stuffing his mouth.

I sighed. What had happened to that sweet and thoughtful man? I couldn’t have been the cause of him becoming so hard or the asshole as he’d like to call himself.

Then a vision of the tattoo-covered scars that ran along his abdomen and shoulder came to mind, and I knew it probably had more to do with all that he’d experienced during his tours in the military.

I knew I’d been the reason he’d joined the military. He was trying to escape the memories of me, and because of me, he had nearly died.

I flinched inside. I couldn’t go there.

I walked to the satellite radio console and selected a station. I needed some old-school hip-hop to keep my mind from thinking too hard. As I selected my station, I smiled and began to sing along. There was nothing like 90’s Salt-N-Pepa.

Ameera and I used to dance around our apartment when we were between assignments to let off steam. We had an eclectic taste in music that had no rhyme or reason. Our only steadfast rule was that whoever chose the music had to start the dance-off.

God, I missed her. Soon. I’d see her and then deal with whatever the future held for both of us.

You hang on, Ame. If I have to bring you back myself, I’ll get you home. I won’t ever give up.

As the music kicked on, I refocused on the task of making breakfast. I searched the pantry and cabinets, gathering all the ingredients to make hazelnut chocolate French toast, something I knew Ashur enjoyed. Samina had told me that she was so glad I taught her how to make the breakfast indulgence. Especially since Ashur would require her to make the dish whenever he visited her in Seattle.

Setting each item on the island, I pulled out the mixing bowl and created an eggy batter with the right amount of vanilla and cinnamon for the gourmet bread I’d use to concoct my masterpiece.

I danced around the room, gyrating my hips and rapping the lyrics of “Push It.” After a few minutes of trying to imitate the moves from the 90’s videos, I scooped out a hefty serving of hazelnut spread into a glass container.

Taking the spoon out of the chocolate, I stuck it in my mouth and moaned. This was heaven. I reached for the frying pan and jumped.

A bare-chested, impeccably chiseled Ashur, wearing only a pair of low-lying pajama pants leaned against the doorjamb, watching me with an intensity that made my already rapid heartbeat jump to an even faster rhythm.

“Don’t stop on my account. The cooking show is spectacular.”

“Ashur,” I gasped, pulling the spoon out of my mouth. “How long have you been there?

A smile tugged his lips. “Long enough.”

I felt the heat creeping up my body and setting like flames over my cheeks.

“Still love 90’s hip-hop, I see.”

He rose from his perch on the wall and walked toward me.

“What’s not to love? It’s fun and makes a girl want to dance.” I backed up as he advanced, and I found myself caged between the island and Ashur’s hard body.

He plucked the spoon from my hand and glanced at the bowls on the counter. “Were you making French toast for me?”

“Maybe.” I pressed my fingers to his chest, watching him warily.

He gazed into my eyes with a soft look and then said, “Thank you. Sam tries but she never could make it the way you did.”

“Want to do this with me? This way you can make it whenever the mood hits.” I tried to duck under his arm, but he crowded me against the counter.

“No. I’d rather do something else.” He lifted the spoon he held, dipped it in the container of hazelnut spread, and then ran it down the slope of my throat before dropping it back into the bowl.

“Like what?” I asked, feeling arousal pulse to life inside me.

His bent his neck and then licked along the path the chocolate coated my skin. I let out a moan and arched into his touch.

He lifted me onto the counter, pushing all the bowls and utensils to the other side of the island.

“Like have my breakfast.”

Ashur untied the belt holding my robe closed, pushing it off my shoulders and exposing my naked body underneath. The fabric pooled at my arms, but when I moved to free my hand, Ashur shook his head.

“Leave them right there.” A wicked gleam entered his gaze that made my pussy flood with desire. “Now flatten your palms. I don’t want you falling.”

“What are you going to do if I move?”

He reached over and grabbed the container of the hazelnut spread next to me.

“It’s simple. I won’t let you come.”

I lifted my chin. “I don’t need you to make me come.”

“Yes, you do, Tara.” His voice grew gruff and he brought his face a hairsbreadth from mine. “Your orgasms belong me and I won’t share. The only time your hand gets to pleasure your body is if I’m watching.”

His words had my core clenching as my nipples beaded to hard points.

“I see the idea appeals to you.” He pulled back and stirred the contents of the bowl with the spoon.

I licked my parched lips, focusing on the tented front of his pajama bottoms and said, “As it does for you.”

My breath was coming out in short pants, and goosebumps prickled my flesh. I felt the urge to slide off the counter, coat his cock in the spread, and blow his mind.

I jumped as a cool droplet of chocolate drizzled onto my shoulder, making my attention return to Ashur.

“You’re going to make me sticky.”

Another glob of hazelnut fell into the valley of my breasts and over my nipples and down to my glistening sex. “That’s the point. I want you sticky, wet, sweaty, writhing under me, and begging me to let you come.”

“Ashu, are you going to keep talking or are you going to do something?”

Ashur growled, dropped the container and spoon onto the counter with a sharp rattle, and cupped my chocolate-covered breasts. He massaged the mounds and then pinched the tips as he brought his mouth down to nip the buds with his teeth.

I cried out as he engulfed a nipple in his mouth.

“Does this answer your question?” he murmured as he moved to the other breast. “Now be a good girl and let me enjoy my morning wakeup.”

He flicked and swirled his tongue, lapping at the sugary concoction and making my clit throb for the attention he was lavishing on my breasts.

I gasped and bowed as he feasted on my breasts and upper body. By the time he licked down my stomach, I was on the verge of coming, and he hadn’t even grazed my clit.

“Ashu—” my body was on fire, “—I need you to make me come.”

“Sorry, love, but you moved your hands.”

Instantly, I realized my fingers were clutched in his hair and I’d been using his head as leverage to keep me from falling backward. I released my hold on him and gripped the edge of the granite.

He looked up my body and smiled against my abdomen.

He held my gaze as his chocolate-covered tongue dipped into my bellybutton and then trailed to the swollen folds of my labia.

Spreading my thighs apart, his attention moved to my soaked sex. He circled the sensitive bundle of nerves of my clit three times before spearing deep into my sopping pussy. He ate me like a man starved, bringing me to the edge of orgasm too many times to count.

“Please,” I whimpered, throwing my head back. Tears rimmed my eyes as my need was to the point I wouldn’t be able to go on any longer without release. “I can’t take it anymore.”

“I know, baby. I won’t make you wait any longer.” He rose to his feet, pulling me to the edge of the counter.

He cupped my face, thumbing the tears of frustration dampening my cheeks, and kissed me hard and with a passion that had my head reeling.

“Do you want me?”

“Dammit, Ashu. I never stopped wanting you.”

“I know. I just needed to hear you say it.”

Reaching between our bodies, he pushed down his pants and freed his thick, hard cock. He positioned himself at my entrance and slammed in to the hilt.

We both cried out at the same time.

“How is it you’re so tight? I’ve fucked you six times in less than two days.” He pulled out and hammered back in.

“Why are you asking me stupid questions? I need to come. Will you fuck me already?” I bit his shoulder but kept my hands on the island.

The sadistic bastard would probably stop if I moved them.

“Sheathe the fangs. I’ll make it good for you.”

Ashur fisted my hair with his fingers and gripped my hip tight, ensuring I’d probably have another bruise or two to add to the ones Casey gave me from sparring. Then he set a hard, unrelenting pounding that had me sliding up the stone counter to only be brought back again to meet his thrust.

The friction ignited the almost painful ache Ashur had stirred, and I erupted, bowing my back as my hard nipples scraped against his chest.

Sensations of falling filled my mind, and my pussy clamped down on his pistoning cock.

Just as I was coming down, Ashur changed his pace and my need started again. He made me come one more time before he let go and collapsed against me on the granite.

“Damn. This is incredible.”

I shook my head at Ashur as he inhaled his sixth piece of French toast. The way he was eating it was a wonder his body was still so rock hard.

“Want me to make another batch? I have the ends of the loaf left.”

He looked up from his plate. “Are you saying I’m eating like a pig?”

“Oink, oink.”

He picked up my plate and set it in front of him. And then preceded to eat again.

I gawked at him.

He looked up. “What? Fucking you senseless worked up an appetite. I need my energy if I’m to keep up with a wife who is five years younger than me and has an insatiable need for my cock.”

“If you want to use me as an excuse, go right ahead.”

He gave me his heart-stopping grin. “Can I use that excuse when I want a blowjob in my office between meetings?”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“Yes, but it still doesn’t take away from the fantasy of having my wife sucking my cock in the middle of the Oval Office.”

“Not going to happen.” I scrunched up my face in exaggerated disgust. “A distant predecessor of yours already took that idea.”

Ashur used the last piece of French toast to sop up the maple syrup before bringing it to his mouth. He licked his lips and hummed.

How did a man make eating a kid’s breakfast look so damn sexy?

“Want to go for a run?” Ashur said, as he pushed back from the table.

Glancing toward the Secret Service agents patrolling the grounds outside the giant bay window of the breakfast nook, I said, “Are we allowed to leave the cabin?”

“Tara, I own this property, including the land. We aren’t prisoners, we just happen to be two people who require a lot of security.”

“Won’t it cause a logistics nightmare for Jake and the rest of the Secret Service agents?”

“They know the drill. It would surprise them more if I holed up inside the cabin. I’m known for my runs in the middle of winter, with snow and ice on the ground.”

“Yeah, you are a bit obsessed with running. I’ll stick with martial arts and yoga. The only reason my ass gets out to run is because my trainer makes me do it as part of my required bi-weekly training sessions.”

Fuck, why’d I say that?

He studied me for a moment, and I held my breath. Please don’t have picked up on the last thing I said.

“I’m sure I could get you to enjoy runs.”

I nearly sighed in relief.

“The only way I’d enjoy long runs was if there was a giant piece of chocolate cake waiting for me at the end as a reward.”

“Would a bout of hot, sticky, raunchy sex do?”

My pulse jumped.

He laughed, reached over to cup the back of my head, and planted a hard kiss on my lips. “Like I said, insatiable.”

“Ashur?” I murmured, pulling back a bit and staring into his eyes.

“Yes.”

“I love being here like this. It’s simple and…” I paused. “I’m not sure how to say this. It’s easy. Does that make sense?”

“Yes, it does.” He rested his forehead against mine. “You don’t have to always be on guard with me. You can talk to me.”

Tears burned the backs of my eyes.

“I want to. I’ve never had anyone to truly share things with, but I’m worried that once you know my secrets, you’ll…” I trailed off, turning my head away.

“You can trust me.” He tilted my chin up. “Tara, we all have secrets. Yours can’t be any worse than mine.”

“I’m not squeaky clean like you are. I don’t do the right thing even if it will cost me.”

“You think I don’t know that you’ve circumvented numerous international laws in your pro-bono work? Honestly, I’m impressed no one besides Edgar ever challenged you on it.”

“I’m a liability to you.”

“I’ll worry about that. Your need to protect and fight for the underdog is what has endeared you to so many around the world. Although, I’d appreciate if you would refrain from joining any underground organizations of crazy crusaders until I’m out of office.”

I winced inside. Oh boy. I was up shit creek. The plans to get Ameera back were as crazy and vigilante as they got.

He must have noticed my reaction to his words. “Tara, trust me. I trust you.”

Trusting him was something I never thought I could do. Now I wanted to so desperately confide in him, find comfort in him, to know that he would still be there in the end.

“I’ll try,” I whispered.

“That’s all I can ask. I’ll fight for you, T-Rex.”

My heart skipped a beat. He’d said the one thing that would put a crack in my defenses against him.

“I swear I’m going to kick Tyler’s ass,” I muttered. “Why do you call me that? You don’t even know why he gave me the name.”

“I know. It’s because you are tiny, with little arms, but could bite anyone’s head off if they got in the way of your causes.”

“I’ll show you tiny arms.” My fist flew out to punch his shoulder, but he caught it in the palm of his hand.

“Fast, but not fast enough, young Padawan.”

“Young Padawan, my ass. My days as an apprentice are long behind me. I’m a full-fledged Jedi Master.” I beamed at him.

And here was another thing we had in common. Our mutual, geeky love of all things Star Wars.

“Come on.” He ran a thumb over my knuckle. “Let’s see if you can keep up with this old man. For the next few hours, it’s just you, me, and nature.”

I turned up my nose at the last word of his sentence, which resulted in an eye roll from Ashur.

Ashur stood, scooping me up and then throwing me over his shoulder.

I screamed. “What are you doing? Put me down.”

“To change. We’re going to go for a run, and the hell if I’m going to let anyone see you in a bathrobe, Jedi Master or not.”

“You really are a Neanderthal as Tyler said, Mr. Kumar.”

“Never denied it, Mrs. Kumar.”