“Learn something new every day.” Roscoe grabbed Ally’s hands and backed her up against the kitchen counter, enjoying the new blush darkening her cheeks. “You’ve got a crush on me.”

“What?” she said. Her perfect breasts brushed against his chest, rising and falling with her breath. “I think you misheard.”

“Doubt it.” Roscoe slid a hand behind her, palming her ass. His fingers toyed with the frayed denim of her cutoff shorts, grazing the skin beneath the curve of her ass. Damn, she was so soft. “Oh, I get it. I’m totally crushable.”

“Full of yourself, maybe. But crushable?” She wrinkled her nose and laughed, awkward as hell, and Roscoe was a damn goner.

Everything got real quiet after that, no sounds but the soft ticking of the bird clock on the wall and Ally’s steady breathing. She was still grinning, her eyes catching the late afternoon sunlight that filtered in through the kitchen windows.

“What are you thinking?” she finally whispered.

“You’re so beautiful it hurts.” Then, because the lump in his throat choked off anything else he might’ve said, he kissed her.

Ally melted against him, her arms looping around his neck as their bodies came together, warm in the summer heat. The taste of her sweet mouth drove him wild; he’d never get enough of it. Of her.

“Is she coming back?” he whispered, barely breaking their kiss.

“Clarissa? No. And the kids won’t be back for hours. And I’ve got no plans, just in case you were wondering.”

“Good.” Roscoe grinned. “So let me tell you what I’d like to do.”

Ally shivered, breath catching as he ran his thumb along her jaw, his fingers sliding into her hair. He didn’t trust his voice not to betray everything he was feeling inside. So he leaned in close, his lips against her ear as her hair tickled his nose, and whispered everything on his mind.

“I’d like to run my fingers over every inch of your body,” he said, “starting with your shoulders and working my way down to your breasts. I’d like to take your nipples into my mouth, one at a time, and suck on them until you beg me to stop. I’d like to slide my hand between your thighs and find out just how wet you are for me. And after that, I’d really like to lay you out on the bed and fuck you with my mouth until you’re hot and drunk and dizzy from the pure pleasure of it.”

He waited a beat, gave her a minute to catch her breath. Then he undid the top button of her blouse, skimming his fingers over her collarbone. “But first I need to take off your clothes.”

Ally nodded, breath ghosting over her lips, her eyes dazed and dreamy as Roscoe stroked her skin.

“It’s been a long time since…” she began, fighting off another shiver, “…since I’ve done anything for… for the pure… whatever...”

Roscoe let out a low chuckle at her sudden inability to speak. “Pleasure isn’t a dirty word, gorgeous. Not unless you want it to be.”

Ally closed her eyes and moaned at his touch, a desperate, needy sound that made his dick throb. “I want it to be,” she whispered, her nipples pebbling beneath the thin fabric of the blouse. “Please.”

“Well, since you asked so nicely…” Roscoe unfastened her remaining buttons to reveal the lacy black edge of her bra. The soft, full mounds of her breasts peeked out over the top, an invitation Roscoe would not refuse. He leaned forward, brushing his nose across the lace and her silky-soft skin, inhaling the sweet lemon-sugar scent that was all Ally.

She moaned again, sending another pulse of heat to his dick. His tongue darted out from between his lips, tasting her soft flesh.

“Sorry,” he said, “but this shirt has to go.” He slid his hands beneath the hem and lifted it over her head, tossed it onto the kitchen table behind them. He palmed her breasts through the lacy bra, her nipples poking against the fabric, stiffening further at his touch. Unclasping the bra and letting it drop to the floor, he took the weight of her breasts in his hands, savoring the sensation and warmth.

Leaning down to taste her again, Roscoe captured one stiff peak in his mouth, rolling the other between his fingers until Ally was panting and weak.

But she wasn’t begging him to stop. Just the opposite.

“More,” she said, arching her back and pressing her breast against his mouth. “Harder.”

He obeyed, flicking her nipple with his tongue, then sucking it into his mouth, grazing her lightly with his teeth. His cock throbbed inside his jeans, aching with need, but it wasn’t about Roscoe right now. This was all for her. His woman.

Dropping to his knees, he unfastened and unzipped her shorts, sliding them down her hips and pressing his face to the damp silk of her panties. Heat radiated from between her thighs, her scent enveloping him as he bit and tongued the fabric, teasing her. Ally fisted his hair, tugging him closer as he slid the panties down to her feet, leaving her exposed and vulnerable and so, so sexy.

Jesus, he wanted to bury his tongue inside her. Worship her flesh until she couldn’t remember anything but his lips on her sweet pussy.

“Roscoe…” His name was a whisper on her lips, floating out like a feather as she leaned back against the counter. He kissed her thigh. Her hip bone. Her belly. Slowly, he worked his way up her body until he was standing again, taking her face in his hands.

“You take my breath away,” he said, his gaze lingering.

Ally smiled, a little shy, then turned slowly, letting him see her fully, showing off the remaining tattoos Roscoe had only glimpsed in pieces before now—a wing here, a flower petal there, a heart and swirl over there. But now he took it all in, the tapestry of her life painted on the canvas of her skin, and it was just as gorgeous and alive as she was.

Delicate flowering vines crept up the left side of her body, starting at her hip and climbing the curve of her waist close to her back, then curving back along the outer edge of her ribcage, slinking up the side of her luscious breast. Two interlocking crescent moons graced the back of her thigh. The bottom of her shoulder blade bore a stylized heart pierced with three swords, the tips blooming not with blood, but flower petals that fell into a garden of tangled vines. Beneath that was a poem:

Reclaim your wild woman self,

for she calls to you

in every beat of your heart.

“Did you write this?” he asked, tracing the words with his fingers.

Ally nodded, turning around to meet his gaze again. “When I was twenty. I had it tattooed on my body so I would never, ever forget.” She gave him a sad smile. “Maybe I should’ve had it tattooed on the front, where I could see it.”

Sunlight still streamed in through the window behind her, lighting her up again, and somewhere in the distance a group of neighborhood kids screeched and laughed, probably running through a lawn sprinkler, and Roscoe couldn’t remember a moment in his life that had felt so singularly perfect.

Roscoe took her face in his hands, searching. Was she scared? Embarrassed? Hopeful? He didn’t want to mess this up. Didn’t want to pressure her.

“Ally?” he whispered.

“I’m here,” she whispered back. She was trembling now, her eyes shining with sudden emotion, raw and vulnerable. But her smile was warm and inviting.

“For the record, you’re the wildest, most passionate woman I’ve ever met.”

This got a laugh. “Maybe you need to get out more.”

“I was thinking I need to stay in more. Preferably with you.” He kissed her, soft and sweet. “But before we take this any farther, I need to know you’re okay with this.”

She looked up at him again with those beautiful brown eyes, and Roscoe swore his heart stopped. How had this even happened? One minute he was wrangling a bunch of kids on the ice, trying to figure out how to get back into his coach’s good graces, and the next she came charging into his life. No matter what she said next, no matter what happened or didn’t happen today, nothing would ever be the same for him.

He was falling in love with her. That’s all there was to it.

“I told you it’s been a while for me,” she said. “Being with a man.”

Roscoe nodded.

“You were worth the wait,” she whispered, pulling him close. “But Roscoe?”

“Yes, beautiful?”

“I don’t think I can wait much longer.”

Roscoe laughed, wrapping his arms around her and lifting her onto the countertop. Her legs wound around his hips, and he kissed her again, hot and hard and intense. He felt her go boneless, melting into his embrace.

He was losing control; he felt it spiral out from inside him and slip away, knowing there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. Ally was all that mattered now. The silk of her hair brushing against his cheeks, the whisper of her breath as she panted and sighed. Wet heat emanated from between her thighs and warmed his belly, making his cock throb. She leaned forward and reached for the button on his jeans, then the zipper, nimble fingers sliding down to glide over his shaft.

Fuck, she always felt so good. Her touch, her kiss, all of it had the power to completely undo him. If he let his dick call the shots, he’d already be balls deep inside her, both of them halfway to oblivion, but no way was he letting that happen. Fast and easy? Not with Ally. It was never that way with Ally. He’d waited too long for this moment—a white-hot fantasy that had started after their first meeting on the ice, finally made real. Here. Now. They had the house to themselves. All the fucking time in the world.

And he intended to use that time very wisely.

Reaching for her hand, he pulled away from her touch, ignoring the angry protests of his dick, hard and hot and more than ready to rock.

“Not yet,” he said, silencing her protests with another kiss. Her moan rumbled through his mouth, and he deepened their kiss, sweeping his tongue across hers, losing himself. Pulling back to look her in the eye, he grabbed her delicate wrists in one big hand, pinning her hands behind her. With his free hand, he traced the shape of her lips, her chin, her throat. The frantic beat of her pulse throbbed just below the skin.

Ba-dom, ba-dom, ba-dom…

He’d caged her in, no escape from his powerful grip, no getting past his muscled chest. Anyone who walked in on the situation would’ve thought he had the upper hand, but Roscoe knew the real deal.

He was utterly powerless. This woman owned him.

Completely.

She stared up at him with those beautiful honey-brown eyes, open and vulnerable, and he knew right then what she was offering him. What a gift it really was.

“You can trust me,” he whispered, needing her to know it.

Ally bit her lip, nodded once.

“This only goes as far as you want it to. Any time you want to back off, we back off. If you feel even the slightest bit—”

“I know, Roscoe.”

“Scared or—”

“Roscoe.” She cut him off with a gentle kiss. When she pulled away, fire sparked to life in her eyes, and Roscoe felt the heat of that gaze all the way down to his damn toes.

“I want this,” she said. “You. All of you. I’m ready.”

Lowering her hand, Ally reached for him again, the sensation of her touch unleashing a fresh torrent of desire.

Roscoe groaned, eyes rolling skyward as he fell deeper under her spell. He was playing a dangerous game, letting her have her way, giving in to her touch, but now that she was stroking him, slow and tight in her soft, warm hand, he couldn’t pull away. Not this time. Heat coiled in his belly, his balls tingling, and Christ he had to kiss her again, to taste her, to devour her lush, wet mouth.

He pulled away from her touch right before he came, forcing himself to count backward from ten, talk himself back off the ledge.

Still locked in a passionate kiss, he lifted her into his arms, her legs tight around his hips as he carried her upstairs to the bedroom.

He’d never been inside the room before, but he wasn’t here for a tour. He set her down on the edge of the perfectly made bed, then pulled a few condoms from his pocket and set them on the night table.

Ally grinned. “Presumptuous, aren’t we?”

Roscoe laughed. “I’ve been carrying them on every date since you mauled me at the old folk’s home.”

“What? You were the mauler in that scenario. I was just an innocent—”

Her words trailed off as Roscoe stripped off his clothes. It was the first time she’d seen him completely naked, too, and he liked the way her gaze trailed down his body, the way her mouth parted when he fisted himself, the way her eyes darkened with lust.

“Come,” she whispered, inching backward on the bed, and that was all it took. He couldn’t even pretend to resist, to deny the effect she had on him.

Roscoe dropped onto his knees in front of her, gripping her thighs and gently urging them apart.

“Ever since I met you, all I could think about was touching you,” he said. “Tasting you. God, Ally. You drive me crazy. Everything about you drives me absolutely fucking crazy.”

“I tried to warn you. I’m all over the map, Roscoe.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“But I’m—”

“Beautiful.” He kissed her thigh, savoring the sweet-and-salty taste of her skin. “Amazing.” Another kiss, this one lingering a little longer, a little closer to her center. “Powerful.”

They’d been dating for weeks, and though she’d already put her mouth on him in ways he’d be dreaming about well into his nineties, this was the first she’d let him see her like this, the first she’d let him taste her bare flesh.

He pressed a kiss to clit, savoring the moment.

Ally moaned softly, sliding her fingers into his hair and pulling him closer. Her touch was like none he’d ever felt, so sensual, so deliberate, he’d never tire of it. She touched him like she was tasting him through her fingertips, hungry and greedy, sucking up every little bit he had to offer.

And he was glad to give it to her.

No more savoring, no more lingering. He needed her like a drug. He licked her wet heat, losing his mind at the way her body shuddered beneath him. Her taste was intense and heady and every time he pulled back, his mouth watered, desperate for more of her. He kissed her again, gently sucking her clit between his lips, flicking it with his tongue until her thighs trembled. He pulled back, blowing a hot breath across her bare flesh, holding her down on the bed while he drove her wild with his mouth.

“Roscoe,” she moaned, her head lolling back on the bed, back arched like a cat as her hips rocked against his face. “Don’t tease me. I… I can’t… Please!”

At this, he grabbed her ass and pulled her close, burying his tongue deep inside her, urging her with every thrust to just let go. Let go of her inhibitions, let go of her fear, let go of everything bad or scary in her life. He wanted her to take whatever she wanted from him, whatever she needed, whatever she’d been dreaming about since their very first kiss. He wanted to fuck her senseless with his mouth, to make her feel so fucking good she’d never allow another man’s face between her thighs.

He wanted to find that passionate, uninhibited, untamed wild woman inside and make her fucking scream.

So that’s exactly what he did.