Sadie so completely lost herself in Caleb’s kiss that when she pulled back for air, she was shocked to find she’d tugged his shirt free from the waistband of his pants and unbuttoned it. Her hands were flat on his scrumptious abs trying to decide between heading north or south.

No slouch, he had one palmful of her ass, his other beneath her shirt cupping a breast. When his teeth grazed her ear, need slid through her like fine wine. She was taking short ragged breaths, but his breathing wasn’t any more steady than hers as he slowly loosened his grip on her and gulped in some air.

She’d wanted to see his control slip, and it thrilled her.

“Sadie. Tell me you want this as much as I do.”

It was cold enough in her place that their breath crystallized. Staying close for body heat, she slid her fingers into his hair to tug his face back to hers. “I want this,” she said against his lips and then she kissed him. “I want you tonight, Caleb.”

His eyes heated when she said his name. “Just tonight.”

It wasn’t just a statement, it was also a question. “Yes,” she said. “Is that enough for you?”

He made a sound, low and deep, which rumbled through his chest, vibrating against hers, making her nipples go hard. He looked like a man being offered a present he’d dreamed of but hadn’t expected to ever have. “It’s enough for now,” he answered. “Be sure, Sadie.”

“Oh, I’m very sure.”

With a groan, he took over, hoisting her up his body, wrapping her legs around his hips, heading with her to her bedroom. Her room was lit only by a slant of light from her living room lamp. It was chilly, very chilly, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long, she thought as he let her slowly slide down his body. His chestnut eyes, darkened to the deepest pools of brown, met her gaze with a dizzying amount of heat.

Then he kissed her and they both went up in flames.

She was the sexiest thing Caleb had ever seen. He let his hands settle on her hips, holding her still for him as he lowered his head, his mouth dragging wet hot kisses across her collarbone. He stopped briefly at the hollow of her throat where his tongue dipped in for a taste while he lifted her shirt over her head and tossed it aside. “It’d be warmer at my place,” he said.

“Too far away. Just leave some clothes on, and I’ve got lots of blankets.” She tried to tug his shirt from his shoulders but he was too busy working her camisole down to bunch at her waist. When he stroked a hand over the low-cut black lace bra, his fingers slipping beneath the lace to tease her nipples, her breathy moan fueled him. Then her bra fell away and she sucked in a breath. “You’ve got a hidden talent.”

“I’ve got several.” He’d had many, many fantasies about this, but Sadie in the flesh was better than any of his fantasies had ever been. He nudged her to the bed and followed her down, crawling up her body, leaving no question about his intentions.

She didn’t shy away. Instead, she reached for the top button on his pants. “Off,” she demanded.

Going up on his knees to assist, he froze when he found Lollipop in the doorway, staring at them. Specifically him, her head cocked as if she was puzzled.

“It’s bedtime, baby,” he said. “Go to your bed.”

“I am in my bed,” Sadie said cheekily, laughing when he rolled his eyes at her smartassery.

Lollipop whined.

“Ignore her,” Sadie said. “She doesn’t sleep on my bed so she isn’t expecting that.”

He grimaced.

“Are you kidding me?” she asked. “You still let her sleep with you? I told you not to do that.”

“Hey, I did the research,” he said. “There are lots of valid reasons why you should let your dog sleep with you.”

“Name ’em.”

He ticked them off on his fingers. “They keep you warm, they relieve stress, reduce depression, help you fall asleep faster, make you live longer, and there’s always free hugs available.”

“Wow,” she said, coming up on her elbows. “Maybe we should agree to temporarily shelve how ridiculous you are and get back to you making me a very happy woman.”

“Absolutely.” Then, hands planted on either side of her head, he lowered himself to her and—

Lollipop whined.

“Ignore her,” Sadie said against his mouth.

It was heaven, she was heaven, but he could feel the weight of Lollipop’s stare and he let out a breath. “She’s watching.”

“She has no idea what we’re up to. Look, you’re even still dressed.”

Caleb turned his head and met the dog’s knowing eyes. “She totally knows what we’re up to.”

Sadie nudged him off of her and sat up to look at Lollipop. “She’s just afraid she’s missing out on some fun.”

“That’s because she is.”

Sadie laughed. “You’re awfully sure of yourself. I’ll reserve judgment until after.”

A challenge, one he was most definitely up for. Wrapping his hands around the back of her legs, he tugged so that she fell to her back. He lowered himself over her again and bent to lave some attention on her bare breasts, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught movement.

Lollipop had sidled up to the bed and was bouncing up and down like she was a pogo stick.

“Don’t look at her,” Sadie whispered breathlessly, her fingers in his hair.

He dropped his head to her gorgeous bare breasts. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I don’t think I can perform with an audience.”

Sadie snorted and pointed at the dog. “Lollipop, go to your bed.”

Lollipop panted happily, and proving she didn’t see herself as disabled in the slightest, took a flying leap on two fallen pillows, using them as stairs to get all the way up onto the bed. Very proud of herself, she pounced on her two favorite people in the world.

“Ohmigod, you’re so effing cute,” Sadie said.

“Yeah, she’s the cutest cockblocker on the planet.” Caleb scooped the dog up, let her nuzzle in for a minute, hugged her tight and then . . . took her out to the hallway.

“Smooth,” Sadie said with a laugh when he—carefully—shut the bedroom door on the dog’s nose.

“I’m motivated,” he said and dropped trou.

It was now even darker in her room with the door shut, just some ambient lighting coming in from the window, but he could play connect the dots with the best of them. She’d wanted to leave some clothes on to stay warm so he tugged off her boots and bunched her skirt up to her waist. “Hold this,” he said and she took the material in her hands. He admired her pretty little lace panties, before they flew over his shoulder. When he dropped a knee to the bed and crawled up Sadie’s body, he took the time to kiss every inch of her as he could get to. Her calf. The inside of her right thigh. Then he turned his head to do the same for her left and caught sight of some ink. Tattoos high on her thigh, written in a beautiful script that he strained in the dark to read.

And . . .

He took his time there, kissing each, feeling his own heart and mind open up to her in a way he hadn’t expected. But then he realized she’d froze at the first touch of his mouth to the ink. Froze, and then squirmed in a way that had him lifting his head to meet her gaze, which was filled with sudden nerves and anxiety.

“They’re beautiful,” he said, running his finger over the words. The two tattoos were lined up vertically, one beneath the other. And beneath them both was a two-inch-long scar that was at least several years old. “As beautiful as you.”

She closed her eyes and he knew what that meant. Sadie retreated inward when she got uncomfortable, which was the last thing he wanted here. “Hey,” he murmured, lifting himself up to rub his jaw to hers, dipping his head to press a kiss to the spot beneath her ear that he knew drove her wild.

And indeed he felt her breath hitch, felt her arch up into him, her fingers sinking into his hair. Her mouth sought his and when they finally broke apart, they were both taking short ragged breaths. “Still with me?” he murmured, his hands cupping her breasts, causing her to bow her back for more.

“Yes,” she gasped, wrapping her legs around him.

“Are you—?”

“I’m sure! I’m 100 percent that sure I’m going to kill you if you stop now!”

He laughed against her and slid down her body again, nudging her thighs open so he could taste her. “I’m not going to stop.”

And he didn’t, not even when she went off like a firecracker, fingers gripping his hair, body arching up into his, nearly bringing him along with her and he hadn’t even gotten inside her yet.

And that’s when he remembered. Condoms. He didn’t have any. Shit. He couldn’t believe it. How stupid was he for not carrying a Just In Case condom? Though to be fair to himself, it’d been a while since he’d needed one.

“In,” Sadie said in a husky voice. “In me. Please, Caleb, get inside me now .”

There was nothing he wanted more, but he lifted his head. “I don’t have a condom.”

She met his gaze and bit her lower lip.

“What?”

“I have one,” she said. “I have several, but you can’t laugh.”

“Babe, I’m about as far away from laughing as a man can get. In fact, if you’re teasing me, I might just cry.”

“Top drawer of my nightstand,” she said.

Holding her gaze, which was a sexy mix of desire and hunger, along with a pinch of embarrassment he didn’t understand, he pushed up on his hands and reached for the drawer.

Her gasp stopped him cold and he twisted back. “What?”

She covered her mouth, no longer looking dazed with lust, but like she was going to smile. “Your shirt hem rose up when you stretched. You’ve got a tramp stamp!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Dropping her hand, she laughed outright and pointed to just above his right ass cheek. “Then explain that.”

“If you’re referring to the very regal, perfectly rendered—”

“—Turtle,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “You have Rafael the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle tramp-stamped on your ass!”

“Hey,” he said. “Rafael and Nintendo got me through some really difficult times when I was sixteen, okay?”

“Someone tatted you when you were sixteen?” Her smile faded. “That’s against the law.”

“I lied about my age and I had a fake ID,” he said.

“And some regrets?” she guessed.

He shrugged. “The incident might be the reason why I’m no longer friends with vodka. Are we done discussing my early digressions and stupid mistakes yet?”

“Not by a long shot,” she said, reaching into his opened trousers and wrapping her hands around the part of him that was currently harder than any of his other parts. “But we can certainly agree to table them for the moment.” She stroked him.

His eyes nearly rolled up in his head. “Oh, this is going to take more than a moment.”

“I certainly hope so . . .”

He opened her nightstand drawer. There was a phone charger cord. A lip balm. A box of cookies. Correction, half a box and a few scattered crumbs. A People magazine. And . . .

A string of neon-colored condoms.

“From a friend’s bachelorette party,” Sadie said. “I won a gift basket. Seemed like a waste to just throw them away.”

“Waste not, want not,” he said with a smile.

Her mouth curved. “Exactly.”

He tore off a condom, an eye-popping pink. Not exactly what he’d imagined for his first time with her, but he was the master of invention and making the best of any situation, so he rolled it on, incredibly aware of the way Sadie watched his every move, her breath catching in the back of her throat. At the sight of his erection encased in glow-in-the-dark pink, she laughed, low and knowing and eager, and he felt something inside him click.

Just as he knew Lollipop had been meant for him, so was this woman.

She lifted her smiling eyes to his and pulled him down to her. “Now, please,” she said, the words so sweet and so utterly contrasting with her tone, which was an absolute order.

With a low laugh of his own, he slid in deep, making her gasp in gratification. He did the same, staring down at her, into those deep blue eyes, filled with the same mix of shock and pleasure.

Like coming home, he thought, and almost lost it right then. He had to force himself to go slow. Long, slow, deep thrusts that had her fingers digging into his ass as she rocked up to meet him stroke for stroke. Reaching back for her hands, he slid them above her head, fingers entwined, so that his entire body caressed hers with their every movement. He felt her start to tremble, heard her panting his name just before she shattered.

Watching it happen, taking in the sweet shudders that shook her body, how her head flew back, her eyes drifting shut, his name on her lips . . . he let himself go.

After, not wanting to lose the connection, he rolled to his back, taking her with him. Limp and sated, she went willingly, in a way she never did when she was fully aware and in charge of her faculties. But for now, he took advantage of that, loving the way she curled into him, her heart beating in time to his as their breathing slowly returned to normal.

Sadie had no idea how long they lay there after, Caleb stroking his fingers over her cooling body, before he spoke.

“I’m curious,” he said softly, his touch making her stretch and purr like a cat. “You’ve got the small tats on your left upper thigh, and one on the back of your shoulder and around your ankle, but that’s it.”

She understood the question. Most tattoo artists sported much more ink than she did. But she was as naked as she planned on being tonight. A further reveal wasn’t going to happen. Knowing he’d most likely expect more than she could give, and then leave when she wouldn’t give it, took down the warm afterglow quite a bit, replacing it with a wave of sadness. Rolling away, she pulled the covers up over her shoulder.

He was quiet a moment but not still. He rolled too, so his heated, sinewy body hugged up against her, his chest to her back, his legs interweaving with hers, an arm coming around her waist. “Where did you just go?” he murmured.

“I’m right here.”

“And yet you’re a million miles away. You don’t want to talk about your tattoos, just say so.”

Even though he couldn’t see her face, she closed her eyes. “I thought guys didn’t like to cuddle after or talk. I thought they liked to get down to business and vámonos .”

His hand, flat on her belly, slid up between her breasts, over her throat to gently cup her jaw and turn it so she was looking at him. “Do you want me to go?”

She opened her mouth to say yes, but she knew that he’d do it, he’d respect her wishes and go. And though she didn’t want to talk, she also didn’t want him to leave.

“Sadie.”

“No,” she said, turning to face him, letting her fingers do the talking southbound from his chest. “I don’t want you to go.”

He sucked in a breath when she wrapped both hands around him again. “Because you want . . .”

“You,” she said. And then she pushed him flat and straddled him to do some more of their special brand of show-not-tell.