I came to consciousness with Ryan’s arms around me, and for the first time in years, I felt at peace. The cold morning light was filtering in through my bedroom window, and there was condensation on the pane. Outside, I could hear birds chirping in chorus, and a low sound of wind.

I could feel the warmth of Ryan’s body against me, and hear the steady beat of his heart through my own chest. Still half-asleep, I drifted in and out of consciousness, thinking of what had happened.

The previous night had been unexpected, and yet now, in the morning light with his arms around me, I’d felt like it was always going to happen, more than I could ever have believed. We’d been talking, laughing, sparring, flirting, then all of a sudden, as if by flicking a switch, our passion had been unleashed, and neither of us could resist.

Speaking of flicking a switch, I thought. I was aware of a pleasurable ache and a feeling of intense satisfaction within me, one I could never get on my own. I do not want to know where he learned to do that.

Ryan stretched against me, and I could feel the pattern of his breathing change. Softly, I turned around within his embrace to face him.

“Good morning.” One eye flickered open, closed, then opened again. One corner of his mouth quirked up.

“Good morning.”

“You’re a heavy sleeper.” I was barely aware of what had happened during the night, but I knew Ryan had never so much as moved once.

“It’s one of my many appealing traits.” He breathed out slowly, stretched, and kissed me on the forehead. “How are you feeling?”

I nestled against his chest. “Good. Very good.” His arms gathered me in, and for a moment I wanted just to fall asleep all over again, so I could experience the sensation of waking up with him one more delicious time. One of my hands was on his chest, and the steady sound of his breathing filled my ears. “I think we may have some more clearing up to do downstairs.”

A low chuckle. “I think so. But maybe not just yet.”

I snuggled into him closer. “Maybe not just yet.”

After a while, I opened my eyes and looked up at him. “That was…unexpected.”

“It was. I hope you’re not experiencing any…discomfort.”

I shook my head. “No. Well, a little, but not in a bad way.” I wasn’t entirely able to remember every detail of what had happened last night, but judging by the feeling in my thigh and calf muscles, I’d had quite a workout, and it hadn’t been from the dancing.

Ryan’s hand stroked my hair, and I turned in his embrace a little, enjoying the feeling of him all around me.

“Did we really…?” He tailed off.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think we did.”

“Wow.”

“Just what I was about to say.” This was probably a bad idea. In fact, it was probably in my list of Catherine’s All-Time Top 5 Bad Ideas. But right now, it really didn’t seem like it. It seemed warm, and comforting, and sleepy, and happy, and I could do with more of that in my life. “How the heck did you manage to do that to me?”

Ryan looked sideways at me, nestled in the crook of his bicep. “Do…what, precisely?”

“Well,” I made a vague hand motion, “that. Talk me into, well, that.”

“Talk you into that? Was that gesture,” he copied what I’d just done, “supposed to symbolize the act of convincing you to engage in hanky-panky with your house-guests on top of the bar?”

“It sounds a lot less appealing when you put it that way.”

“I’m a scientist.” He tried to shrug one shoulder, and succeeded only in looking like Quasimodo for a moment. “Sue me. Precision is important in my line of work. Anyway, I don’t remember talking you into anything.”

“You talked me into dancing. I still can’t believe I did that.”

His smile was the deeply satisfied expression of someone recalling a fond memory. “Oh, I can. I’m not going to forget that for a long time.”

Downstairs, I heard a soft knocking sound. “Damn. Who’s coming to a bar at this time of the morning?”

“Damn indeed. What time of the morning is it, exactly?” Ryan sat up slightly, and looked out of the window. “The change of seasons makes it hard to tell down here.”

I shrugged, enjoying the feeling of pressing into his chest. “Not sure. My phone is…elsewhere.” I have no idea where it is. Along with my pants. Wowee. Looks like Miss Restraint went on a pretty long holiday, and she’s not answering her calls.

The knocking sounded again. Reluctantly, I wriggled out of bed, shivering in the cold. “I’d better see who it is.”

Ryan sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Want me to come?”

“I’d rather have you,” I looked significantly at him, “right here, actually. You stay here, and I’ll sort it out.”

Slipping into my robe, I padded along the hallway and down the wooden stairs. As I did, the knocking came for a third time. “Coming, coming,” I grumbled under my breath. “You’d better have a good reason for not just going away and assuming we weren’t here.”

We weren’t here. The unconscious use of ‘we’ stuck in my mind for a moment. There hasn’t been a ‘we’ for a long time; just an ‘I’.

The curtains were closed, and I resisted the urge to surreptitiously pull them aside to see who our visitor was. Getting to the door, I slid back the lock and opened it a crack. Farrah’s face appeared, looking determinedly perky.

“Hey, sleepyhead. You took a while to answer.”

I scowled at her. “Yeah, I was…still in bed. What the hell are you wearing?”

Farrah was wearing a pair of gym pants, a spandex top and running shoes. For a woman who routinely never went below a two-inch heel, this was a very unexpected appearance.

The redhead beamed. “It’s activewear.”

“Yeah, I guess it is. Are you being…active?”

“That’s the idea, genius. Want to come for a walk with me? I’d popped into town to do some shopping, and I thought we could go to the beach.”

I took a deep breath. Normally I wouldn’t be averse to the idea, but right now the prospect of going back to bed with Ryan was a lot more appealing. “Sorry, Faz. I’m a bit slow this morning. You have fun, though. Besides,” I stepped back and opened the door a little to indicate the bar, “I’ve still got clearing up to do.”

Farrah glanced inside. “Looks like it’s not too bad. How was last night? Sorry I couldn’t make it; May’s sleepover fell through at the last minute.”

“It was…good.” Do I really want to talk about this right now? “Yeah. Good. It was very successful.”

“I knew you’d—” Farrah stopped, and her eyes widened. Her face assumed a look of fiendish glee. “Looks like it was very, very successful, babe.”

Uh-oh. Following her eyes, I turned around, and my heart sank. Damn.

Next to the bar, my jeans and panties were still on the floor where they’d been discarded the previous night. My high heels lay scattered a few feet away.

Farrah opened her mouth and I shook my head vigorously. “Oh, no. Not right now.” I began to close the door in her face. “Definitely not.”

“But—”

“Nope. Later.” I made a placating hand gesture as the door closed. “Later, okay. Not now.”

“B—” The door closed, and I could hear Farrah still talking outside it, with muffled indignation. Shaking my head ruefully, I went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. Yeah, this is going to be one of those in-depth conversations. Great.

* * *

By the time I went back upstairs with the coffee pot, two mugs and milk on a tray, Ryan was sitting up in bed, reading. I took a moment to admire him, bare-chested in my bed. How the hell did this happen?

Engrossed in his book, he didn’t notice me for a minute until I put the tray down on my bedside table. “Hey. Coffee?”

He looked up and smiled at me, a pure, uncomplicated expression that made me want to get straight back into bed with him, despite myself. “Hey, you. Everything okay downstairs? Coffee would be lovely.”

I made a face as I poured. “Well, sort of. It was Farrah wanting to go for a walk.”

“Oh, yeah? How is she?” Ryan took the cup from me carefully.

“She’s great, now. Unfortunately, we forgot to clear up a few items after last night, and they’re still on the floor. I think that discovery just made her day.”

Ryan gave a snort of laughter. “Whoops. Hope I didn’t put you in a difficult position.” He sipped his coffee, and looked at me over the rim of the mug. “Although, come to think of it, we did…”

“Oh, not you too.” I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m already up to my ears in innuendo thanks to Farrah, and now I’m going to have to tell her what happened, or she’ll never leave me alone.”

“And very nice ears they are too. Are you coming back to bed with your coffee?” He patted the mattress next to him.

I made a show of deliberating. “Weelllll…okay.” Slipping out of my robe, I slid between the sheets again and pressed myself up against him. “Maybe just for a little bit.”

“Mmm, that is very nice.” Ryan made appreciative noises. “In fact, it’s every bit as nice as seeing you get out of that robe. You must do that more often, you know.”

“Hmm. I think that can be arranged.” I smiled at him, and he kissed the top of my head, lightly, as if he’d done it a hundred times before, and this was how every morning started.

This all feels so natural, so right.

I was amazed at how un-awkward the whole thing felt; had I thought about it, I would have expected that normally when you wake up with a strange man in your bed, after having hot sex on top of the bar with him the previous night, there’d be at least some sense of awkwardness or discomfort, but there wasn’t. Just a sense of warm comfort, and the deep, visceral satisfaction of being close to him.

A small part of my mind kept turning over the problem of who he was and what he was doing here.

He’s only here because he might want to demolish my bar. Then he’s going to leave.

I couldn’t shake that slight feeling of worry, but right now all I wanted to do was push it to the back of my mind, lose myself in this moment, this easy, uncomplicated feeling of being precisely where I wanted to be.

I’d never felt like this before; with Kirk, there was always somewhere for one of us to go, something which required our attention and focus, every moment of being awake. Before this, the idea of just spending a morning in bed with a man sounded to me like something that happened in a chick-flick.

The sort that Farrah would watch and then come back and tell me about the dirty bits. It’s a miracle her daughter hasn’t grown up traumatized with some of the things she hears.

“So,” Ryan closed his book and propped it against the window, “what have you got to do today?” Part of me wanted to talk about what happened last night, to try and make sense of it, but I stopped myself.

This is only a temporary thing, and I’d better get used to that. He’s never made any secret of the fact he’s not staying. Don’t spoil things by asking questions all the time. Just enjoy it.

“Just cleaning up the bar and doing a stock-take, I think. I do remember we ran out of limes last night, and I’ll bet there’s a bunch of other stuff we’re running low on. What about you?”

Ryan leaned back and put his arms behind his head. “This morning, I’m at the library. I’ve found…well, some background information about the site.” He looked away for a moment. “Then, I need to go and visit Daisy to get on with these repairs I’m doing for her. Every day it rains, that place accumulates more water, and I shudder to think what it’s like in the attic right now.”

“That was a really kind thing you’re doing for her, you know.” I leaned over and kissed his shoulder, which was all I could reach of him.

He grinned. “I do have my moments.” Sliding an arm around me, he brushed my hair down again, and I resisted an urge to purr. “Hey, thanks for letting me help last night. It really was great to be part of a team, you know.”

“Well, thank you for doing such a great job. I got a bunch of people telling me how good my ‘new bartender’ was. I didn’t have the heart to tell them who you really were. In fact, I think you’ve missed your calling.”

Laughing, Ryan pulled me into him. “Maybe I have, come to think of it. I will be expecting breakfast in bed from now on, you know.”

“Don’t push your luck. You’re still paying my bills, remember. Mind you,” I stretched a hand out beneath the covers, “there is one way I could thank you properly for something you did last night…” I found his shaft, and delighted in how he hardened at a single stroke of my fingers.

With a deep groan, Ryan pushed himself into my hand. “Damn, Cat. How can you do that to me so quickly?”

I wrapped my hand around him, stroking him gently. “I was going to ask you just the same thing, as it happens.” Feeling a tingle beginning inside me, and sensing my own wetness, I slid beneath the covers. “Mmm, just as nice as I remember.” This time, I wanted to give him the same kind of pleasure he’d done so expertly to me the previous evening, and I wouldn’t stop until he’d given himself up to me completely. My mouth slid over him, and Ryan hissed involuntarily.

“Fuuuck, Cat…” His hands played in my hair, and I inhaled the warm, masculine, woody scent of his skin. Moving my head up and down with exquisite slowness, I felt him swell yet more, until he was almost too big for me to take completely. My tongue swirled around him, and with every stroke I felt him pulse, again and again, all for me.

The wetness between my thighs was growing, and I pressed myself into him, enjoying the sensation of grinding on him as I swallowed him whole, in and out. My other hand stroked him, and he shuddered with pleasure. I loved being able to please him this way, feeling him helpless to his own desire, just as he’d made me helpless last night. I began to move my head faster, sucking him more hungrily, and he thrust up into my mouth, unable to stop himself. With each stroke, I felt him building towards his orgasm, throbbing and urgent. His breathing was ragged, and I knew he was going to be mine before much longer.

Lifting my head, I looked up at him. He took one long breath.

“Cat…”

“In my mouth. I want you in my mouth, right now.” I dived back onto him, licking and sucking without pause, until within a few seconds Ryan gave another deep groan and began to shake. I felt him begin to come, hot and urgent, up through his shaft and into my mouth, giving me everything as he shook in his orgasm. Holding on to him as he came, I kept him in my mouth, until finally he’d given all he had.

Licking my lips, I looked up at him again. “Good morning again, Dr. Sanders.”

His eyelids fluttered, and he looked down at me blearily. “G-good morning.” Raising me up from his waist, he wrapped his arms around me. “Come here, you.”

I breathed out, enjoying the last of his taste in my mouth, and the sensation of pleasing him so fully. “Coming.” I nestled into him again, just as when we woke up together. I could do this every morning, I really could.

A little later, he looked down at me. “I hope you enjoyed that half as much as I did. I may need health insurance if we make a habit of this.”

“I did.” I stretched, remembering the delicious masculinity of the way he groaned with pleasure as he came for me. “I’d been thinking about doing that since last night.”

Ryan drew in a breath. “Had you, now? I’m glad I didn’t know that while I was working, or I would have dropped something for sure.” Stroking my shoulder with one hand, he turned toward me. “I hate to say it, but I’m beginning to think we should get up.”

“Mmmph.” I gave a reluctant nod. “I’d rather just stay here, preferably for about a year or so. But I suspect you’re right. Besides, people would come looking for us sooner or later.”

“They would, that’s true. Oh, the wickedness of the world.” Kissing me on the forehead one last time, Ryan peeled back the covers, shivering briefly. “Damn. Okay, now I’m out of bed, I need to get some clothes on.”

I admired his back, angular hips, and strong buttocks, and resisted the urge to whistle. “That is a pity.”

By the time Ryan was back from his room, dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt, and carrying his jacket, I’d gotten up, put my robe back on, and was heading downstairs to refresh the coffee pot and retrieve my clothes.

“More coffee?”

He shook his head, striding to the door. “I’d love to, but I’d better get out and see Daisy about this roof. I’ll be back soon.”

I watched him leave. This time, I didn’t draw back when he looked behind him. For a moment, our eyes met, and he smiled. “Take care of yourself, huh?”