When it came to sex, there were a lot of things Eva Fiorini didn’t know.

She didn’t know exactly what it was that drove men wild, though she’d spent a lot of this night finding out the answer to that from Jack Bennett, sexual education professor of epic proportions. She didn’t know quite where to put her hands or how to touch a man, though Jack’s instructions were proving very enlightening.

And before tonight she’d had no clue how hard it would be to turn herself off, once she’d been turned on.

The answer? It was damn near impossible. For the first time in her twenty-six years, she was ready. She had Jack, the only man she had ever really wanted. Here. Naked. Condom on. Go time.

But if anything could change a moment in the blink of an eye it was fear—the stone cold variety coursing through her veins. A strange man had just broken into her apartment. And according to the cell phone call she’d just received from American Security, the man was still there, looking through her things. Maybe even looking for her.

Her heart raced painfully as worry tripped through her still-turned-on body.

While she and Jack were getting ready to get down and get dirty, an intruder had bypassed her state-of-the-art security system and was prowling around, pawing through her home, hunting for something to steal.

She shuddered at the image.

Meanwhile, the security team had instructed her to sit tight and wait.

Right.

“I have to go,” Eva said, sitting up in bed, ignoring the way her body protested the thought of leaving the hotel. The frustrated place between her legs was desperate to continue what she and Jack had started. She was scared, but she was also at the mercy of a kind of arousal she’d never felt before.

Jack, however, remained as controlled as ever, seeming to have no trouble switching his agenda from sex to assuring her safety.

He rolled swiftly off the bed and reached for his boxer briefs. “No. You stay put.”

Eva squeezed her legs together as a chill fell over her naked body, still flushed from the way Jack had made her burn. She tunneled her feet under the blankets. “But I—“

“But nothing, Eva. I’ll go. I don’t want you anywhere near your apartment until I’m sure it’s safe.” He strode through the room, leaving her nearly salivating over his gorgeous, naked frame—the lean, sinewy muscles of his arms, the gym-defined pectorals and backside, the wondercock that was every bit as wondrous as the rumors…

When clothed, Jack was easily the most handsome man in any room, but seeing him naked brought Eva’s appreciation to a new level. And she wanted to be free to appreciate him at leisure, not stuck freaking out about who was breaking into her apartment.

God, who had done this to her home? And why?

She thrust her chin up, feigning confidence. “There’s nothing you can do that I can’t, Jack. And I want to see this creep who had the nerve to break into my home.”

Jack met her gaze in the mirror as he buttoned his shirt. “What if it’s more than that? Didn’t you say earlier that you felt you were being followed?”

“Well yes, but…” A chill skittered down her spine. She let out a nervous laugh. “But that’s all in my head, I’m sure. Too many thrillers. Too many detective novels. I mean, why would anyone want to stalk me? It’s hilarious, really. I’m the most boring person I know.”

Jack didn’t answer, but it was obvious he didn’t see the humor in it. The more she studied the stony look on his face, the more she had to admit this wasn’t all that funny.

When he finished dressing, he returned to stand beside the bed, reaching out to lightly touch her chin. Even that simple touch was enough to send fresh ripples of desire all the way to her toes. “You were very precious to your family, Eva. Your safety is not something that they—or I—would ever joke about.”

Her heart, which had been pounding an urgent but steady beat ever since the phone call from American Security, suddenly fluttered. She could’ve melted right there. Could have brought him back into bed with her and let him take care of her, and screw whatever was happening outside the hotel room.

If she kept him here, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about him getting into danger on her account.

And she did worry. As much as she’d told her friends Georgie and Nelson that she wouldn’t get emotionally wrapped up in Jack Bennett, she couldn’t help it. He was the closest thing to family she had left.

She curled her fingers around his. “I don’t want you to go,” she said. She’d meant to sound sexy, seductive, but the words came out small and scared. “I mean, it’s my apartment. I should go with you.”

“That’ll accomplish nothing, Eva. I’ll sort it out. Stay here. Be safe. I’ve got this.” He threw his jacket on and tucked his cell phone into his pocket. “I’ll call you when I arrive.”

She wrapped the sheets tightly around her naked body as he left and closed the door behind him. In the silence of the strange hotel room, everything that had happened in the past few hours slowly sunk in.

She had been so nervous for her “date” with Jack, but somewhere between giving Jack her awkward first strip tease, and clutching his hair as his mouth worked between her legs, she’d become lost in pleasure. Now, there were signs of his presence everywhere, from the whisker burn his stubble had left on her chin to the delicious spice of his aftershave still hanging in the air. He had awakened a wild, hungry part of her that had lain dormant her entire life.

She felt electrified, on edge, and desperate for more of the primal connection she’d just discovered. Combined with the unbearable quiet, the solitude of the impersonal hotel room became too much to take.

Shivering, she pulled the covers over her shoulders and dragged them from the bed, using them as a makeshift shawl as she padded to the window. She pulled back the heavy curtain in time to see Jack standing under the marquee, hailing a cab. A light rain had fallen, making the concrete shimmer in the streetlights. She’d always thought the rain made the city beautiful, but in the past few hours her view of everything had shifted.

She now saw another side of New York—a menacing, dangerous one.

Someone had been following her. And maybe that same someone had broken into her apartment.

She didn’t want to be alone. She couldn’t be. Not now. She closed the curtains and quickly began to dress.