Three little words . . . Other women had told Tyler they loved him, but never had three little words packed a greater wallop that that soft “Neither have I” did from Charley. He was making progress in convincing her that she belonged with him. But this was no time to get cocky. No, it was time to buckle down and get serious about the one thing he hadn’t yet had a chance to give her—romance.

His Charley was jaded when it came to men and romance. It was up to him to show her that not all men were selfish jerks who said whatever it took to get what they wanted from a woman and then moved on when they’d used her up. He’d never been that guy, even in college when he’d had friends who epitomized that guy.

They’d teased him then about being too serious and too focused, but that was how he’d been then and how he was now. He was a one-woman-at-a-time kind of guy, and if he had his way he’d be a one-woman-for-all-time kind of guy before too much longer.

When Charley shivered in his arms, he used his foot to grab the throw blanket from the end of her bed and covered them with it. She snuggled deeper into his embrace, which was exactly where he wanted her. He took advantage of the opportunity to run his hand over the warm, soft silk of her back, letting his fingers learn the grooves of her backbone. At the base of her spine were two enticing dimples. He couldn’t wait until she was able to move more freely so he could become intimate friends with those dimples.

His mouth watered at the thought of dipping his tongue into each tiny groove. And just that quickly, he was hard again. Christ on a stick, thinking about her got him hotter than actual sex ever had before her. When his cock hardened against her hip, she moaned. Naturally, that sound coming from her only added to the problem.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered.

“Excuse me?”

“You. That.” She bumped her hip against his erect cock, making him hiss from the thrill of the contact. “Again?”

Tyler laughed at the disgusted tone of her voice. “I wouldn’t dream of inconveniencing you again so soon after the last time.”

Her snort of laughter was his new favorite sound. Well, one of several new favorite sounds. She lifted her head off the pillow to look at him. “What’s got you all revved up again?”

He flattened his hand on her belly. “You do.”

“And what exactly did I do?”

“I believe you were breathing next to me while naked. That’s about all it takes.”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re kind of easy?”

“I’ve only ever been this easy with you.”

“Right . . .” She rolled her eyes for emphasis.

“Charlotte.”

Glancing up at him, she raised a brow.

“I’ve never wanted any woman the way I want you, which is pretty much all the time. Remember when I made you dance with me at the Grange?”

“How could I forget?”

“I had to leave after that because I was a walking, talking hard-on.” As he spoke, he moved back to his new favorite place—between her legs. “I had to go home and jerk off in the shower. All because I had the supremely sexy and exquisitely mouthy Charlotte Abbott pressed against me for five whole minutes.”

“You ought to see someone about that.”

“I am seeing someone.” He cupped her breast and toyed with her nipple until it stood up tall and tight. “I’m seeing the cause of all my problems, and she’s doing an excellent job of fixing what’s wrong with me.”

“What about all the things that are wrong with her? What’ll you do about them?”

“I’ll take them one at a time until she’s no longer convinced there’s a damned thing wrong with her. I think she’s absolutely perfect exactly the way she is.”

“You’re a sex-drunk stalker perv if you honestly believe that’s true.”

He pinched her nipple tightly between his thumb and index finger, making her gasp. “I’m totally sober, and I honestly believe that’s true.” Before she could come up with another reason why he was crazy to want her, he replaced his fingers with his lips and sucked hard on her nipple, dragging his tongue back and forth across the tight tip.

While he tended to one breast with his mouth, he gave the other equal time with his fingers. He could easily become obsessed with her gorgeous breasts and the pale pink nipples that darkened to a deep rose color when she was aroused. Tyler loved knowing that about her. He loved knowing that when he sucked on her nipple he rendered her mute except for mewling notes of pleasure that came from the back of her throat.

He loved the way she fisted handfuls of his hair and tried to direct him. Always so bossy, his Charley. She was his, even if she wasn’t yet willing to admit it to herself or to him. Though he knew she wanted him to move on, he kept up the sensual assault on her breasts until she was nearly sobbing from the unbearable tension that had her legs moving restlessly as she tried to seek relief.

“Tyler,” she gasped after he sucked hard on her left nipple. “Come on!”

“What’s wrong?”

Her broken laugh made him smile, but he hid that from her as he moved to the right side to continue “torturing” her.

“I want . . . I need . . .”

“Tell me,” he said without letting up on her poor nipple.

“More.”

“We’ll get there. Eventually.”

Her protracted groan made his cock ache from the desire to give her exactly what she wanted, but he wasn’t ready. Not yet. He tightened his teeth around her nipple while rocking his cock against her pelvis. Her wet heat coated his rigid flesh, which had him forgetting all about his plan to torture her.

Taking himself in hand, he surged into her with one smooth, deep stroke that made her come instantly. God almighty . . . Not only was she gorgeous and sexy and mouthy, but she was the most responsive woman he’d ever been with, too.

As her muscles clamped down on him, he lost his mind, hammering into her with no thought to her comfort or her injury or anything other than slaking the burning need she aroused in him every damned time he went near her.

When she came again, crying out from the pleasure, he went with her, drowning in her sweet sexiness.

“Ah, Charley . . . God, I’m sorry.”

Her hand on his back soothed him ever so slightly. “For what?”

“I . . .”

“Fucked my lights out?”

The unexpectedly saucy comment drew a shaky laugh from him. “Something like that.”

“Don’t be sorry. I loved it.”

“So did I, but I didn’t hurt you or anything, did I?”

“No.”

“Good,” he said as relief flooded through him. The thought of hurting her in any way was unbearable to him.

“Can we stay here tonight?”

“What about your pain meds?”

“I have stuff I can take if I need it, but my knee is fine.”

“We can stay put if you want to.”

Her arms encircled his neck as her fingers continued to play with his hair. “I want to.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do.”

They never left her bed that night, except for the twenty minutes it took Tyler to cook a pizza he’d found in her freezer. Working in her small but tidy kitchen, he cut the pizza into slices that he put on a plate to carry back to her room where he kissed her awake.

“What time is it?” she asked as she blinked him into focus.

“After eight. I thought you might be hungry.”

“Mmm, I’m starving, and that smells awesome.” Keeping the covers tucked in over her bare breasts, she pushed herself up against a stack of pillows. The girl liked her pillows.

When she was settled, he handed her the plate and returned to the kitchen, hoping against hope that there might be a beer in her refrigerator. Pay dirt. She had an entire six-pack of Sam Adams. He opened one and took it as well as a glass of ice water for her back to the bedroom.

“Give me some of that,” she said, pointing to the beer. “And before you can object, I haven’t had pain pills in more than twenty-four hours.”

He handed over the beer and watched her take a long, lusty drink that had his cock standing up in response to the movement of her throat.

Of course she noticed and up went her eyebrow. “Knock it off.”

“What?” He laughed as he got back into bed and took a slice of pizza before she finished off the whole thing on her own.

“You know what.”

“I’ll stop getting hard every five minutes if you stop being constantly sexy.”

“I’ll work on that,” she said dryly, smiling at him.

They ate the pizza and shared the beer, which was gone within minutes, so he got another one when he went to put their empty plate in the kitchen sink.

“That is so good,” she said of the new beer.

“I had no idea you were such a beer lover.”

“I’m not, really, but something about not being allowed to have it for weeks makes it extra good.”

“Careful. It won’t take much for it to go straight to your head.”

She sent him a sly, sultry smile. “I get horny when I’m drunk.”

“Then by all means, drink up.”

Her lusty laugh was added to his new list of favorite sounds.

Then she surprised the shit out of him when she reached out to tug him closer to her. “What’s that look?” she asked when he was curled up to her.

“What look?”

“I don’t know what to call it. You just looked at me funny.”

“I like that you want me right here next to you.”

“Only ’cuz I’m cold.”

“Ouch,” he said with a chuckle.

“Ty?”

Those closest to him called him that, but to hear it from her . . . “Yeah?”

“I was kidding about being cold.”

“Were you?”

“Uh-huh.”

“So you wanted me for something else then?”

Her hand moved over his arm, restarting the slow burn. “Maybe.”

“Do you think you could handle lying on your belly?”

“How come?”

“Just wondering.”

“I could try.”

Working together, they managed to turn her over. Tyler made use of the huge selection of throw pillows to put one above and one below her knee. “How is that?”

She looked at him over her shoulder. “Feels fine.”

His gaze immediately zeroed in on the adorable dimples at the base of her spine. He wondered if she knew they were there.

“What’re you doing?” she asked after a full minute of silence.

“Admiring the view.” He ran his hands from thighs to supple cheeks, squeezing and shaping them to fit his hands. His thumbs delved into the dimples. “Did you know you have two sexy-as-fuck dimples right here?”

“Do I?”

“Mmm-hmm.” He bent over her to touch his tongue to one and then the other, groaning at the sweet taste of her skin and the way she trembled under him. “I love the way you respond to what I do to you.”

“I love what you do to me.”

More words added to his list of favorites. Hearing her say she loved what he did to her gave him ideas about things he wanted to do. “Would you let me tie your hands sometime?”

“Are you into that?”

“Only if you are.”

“What else do you like?”

He cupped her ass. “Have you ever been spanked?”

“Hardly. I haven’t yet met a guy who thought it would be a good idea to spank me.”

“Now you have, but again, only if it turns you on, too.”

“What else?”

“Toys.”

“What kind?”

“All kinds. You name it, I’d probably like it.”

“To give or receive?”

“Mostly give, but I’m not opposed to experimentation.” As he spoke, he continued to run his hands over her back and bottom, making her squirm. “Hold still.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because! You’re making me crazy.”

“That’s how I want you.” His lips skimmed a path down her backbone. “Tell me what you like. I want to do everything with you.”

“I . . . I don’t know what I like. I haven’t done that stuff.”

“None of it?”

“No,” she said on a long exhale that made him smile as he continued to kiss her back.

“Mmm, we’re going to have so much fun.” Cupping her cheeks, he let his thumbs delve between them to discover how wet their conversation had made her. “I think it’s safe to say you like to talk about it.”

Her soft moan was the only reply he got.

Moving her good leg farther away from the leg that was propped on pillows, Tyler lowered himself and guided his hard cock into her tight, wet heat.

Her head came up, and her hands fisted the comforter.

“Easy, baby. Nice and easy.” The position made for a tight fit, which had him trembling to hold still until her muscles yielded to allow him in. “Is this okay?”

She groaned and pushed back against him.

“Words, Charley. Give me words.”

“It’s okay. It’s . . . Ahhh, God. Don’t stop.”

“Those are good words.” Wrapping his arms around her so she couldn’t move and possibly hurt herself, he slid deep into her before retreating and doing it again and again and again until her entire body seized up and her internal muscles clamped down and finished him off, too.

His forehead dropped to her back as he fought to catch his breath while aftershocks from her release fluttered like butterfly wings against his sensitive flesh.

“Charley.”

“Yeah.”

“You okay?”

“Mmm, yeah. I’m good. Really good. You?”

“I’m great.” He wanted to wallow in the scent of her, the feel of her soft skin, the heat of her. But he was afraid to put too much weight on her, so he lifted himself up and withdrew before helping her to turn over. Brushing the hair back from her face, he gazed down at her as she looked up at him, her expression one of wonder and disbelief.

“What’re you thinking?”

“That I can’t believe what a dirty dog Tyler Westcott turned out to be.”

Her comment drew a huge smile from him. “I’m just full of surprises.”

“Yes, you are.”

“I hope these are good surprises.”

“They’re very good surprises.”

Tyler caressed her face and leaned in to kiss her, loving how her hand curled around his neck to keep him there for a deep, searching kiss. Her tongue sought out his, and he hardened again, like he hadn’t just come five minutes ago. That’s what she did to him.

Rather than give in to the reawakened desire, he gathered her in as close to him as he could with her leg positioned on the pillows. “Comfortable?”

“Very.”

“Tell me something about you that I don’t know,” he said, his hand moving from her belly to her breast, because he couldn’t resist her gorgeous breasts.

She winced ever so slightly.

“Sore?”

“A little. You gave them a hell of a workout earlier.”

“Want me to kiss them better?”

Laughing, she said, “That’s probably not the best idea.”

“I thought it was a great idea.”

“You would. And I thought you already knew me better than I know myself?”

“I’m still finding out all sorts of new things.”

“Like what?”

“I love that you do this cute little snore when you’re asleep,” he said, imitating the sound.

“I do not!”

“Yes, you do. It’s not all the time, just once in a while, and it’s so cute. And then there’s the way you set your jaw when you’re pissed about something, which seems to be often when I’m around.” Again, he mimicked the expression to show her what he meant. “And let’s talk about the sounds you make when you come.” He shivered. “I love those.”

“Let’s not talk about that. Ever.”

“Why not? They’re on my list of favorite sounds in the whole world.”

Charley put her hands over her ears, making him laugh. “Stop it right now, or you’ll never hear them again.”

“Never?” He slid his hand down to cup her, dipping a finger into the well of moisture between her legs. “Never, ever?”

“Ugh, stop. You’re out to kill me, aren’t you?”

Kissing her shoulder, he said, “Not even kinda.”