Thad wouldn't look at Lena. He couldn't. Her ability to put herself in front of him to use pissed him off. That wasn't one of the things he was attracted to with her. He wanted the fascinating woman who had stood up to him and demanded asinine rules in a relationship.

Lena acted like she was doing him a fucking favor. He'd thought better of her.

"Get in bed. Go to sleep." He turned around and took off his Notus jacket, his boots, and stripped down to his boxers.

Not pausing at going ass naked, he ripped off the last piece of material on him and turned around. If she wanted to know what was going on with him, she could look at his limp cock and figure it out herself.

"Thad?" She stepped toward him.

He shook his head, stopping her from touching him, and crawled into bed. "Not interested."

"You don't want me?" she asked.

"Nope."

"So, our little talk moments ago was for nothing? Great," she mumbled, shutting off the light.

The mattress compressed as she crawled up onto the bed and stole half the covers. In the darkness, knowing she was close, and even pissed at him accelerated his pulse and his cock stirred to a half-assed woody.

"You know, you're nothing like I thought you would be or how you were when we had our dates." She pounded on her pillow and squirmed on the mattress.

"Right back at you, babe," he muttered.

She huffed. "Sure, whatever you say. I just love dealing with someone who goes from age twelve and needing his parents to forty-four and set in his ways in the space of a half hour. You wanted sex. Now you don't want sex. Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. Tomorrow, when you change your mind again, I'll be gone. I'll be back at my house dealing with real-life problems and living an honest life where people don't demand anything from me. So, enjoy your sleep, Thaddeus."

He opened his eyes at the use of his name. Amusement hit him. She was one to talk about his mindset. She was silly and unreasonable.

"Are you laughing?" she said.

He let it all out. The tension. Their stupid agreement. The hopelessness in the case of the drifter. The way he'd bent over backward to treat Lena differently than the way he treated women in his past.

And, she had the guts to call him Thaddeus.

Thaddeus.

A name he defended on the playground growing up. A name he'd beaten many men over for uttering. A name only his mother was allowed to call him.

Lena smacked him on the chest, making him laugh harder. He captured her hand and shoved it underneath the blanket to his cock. Touching him, stopped her from arguing and pushing him away.

He held her fingers around the width of his dick. "I liked the woman you gave me when we first met. The one that kept me thinking about her twenty-four/seven. The one who interested me to the point you ruined my days and nights because I couldn't think about anything else."

"There's more to me than what you originally learned," she whispered.

Without letting go, he stroked himself, using her hand. "I plan on learning everything about you. If that means calling bullshit on the way you act when you push me away, get used to it. That's how relationships—regardless of the fucked-up rules—work. Now, your hand feels real nice on me, Lena. That's how it should feel between us. Not the other stuff that distracts us. Why don't you do whatever you want to make yourself feel good, so I know what you like, huh?"

He stretched his legs as blood rushed to his cock. Letting go of her hand, he relaxed and enjoyed the pleasure of her continuing to stroke him.

Lena exhaled loudly in another stubborn show of not wanting to listen. But, her hand never stopped moving.

He wanted her softened and willing. He wanted her open to him and not battling whatever baggage she carried with her. He wanted inside of her because once he made sure it was only the two of them in the bedroom and not the shit she was dwelling on, she'd see what he was talking about. She'd learn from him. She'd believe in what he could already feel happening between them.

Then, he'd deal with her ridiculous reasons for rules.

Lena's strokes slowed and grew longer, feeling him tip to root. He wanted to push her hand away because he wouldn't last much longer if she continued. Instead, he rolled to his side. He hooked her hip and pulled her closer, letting his hand wander down her thigh and up her inner leg until the heat of her pussy warmed the back of his fingers.

He dipped his finger inside of her and lowered his head to her neck, growling his pleasure. "Smooth. I like it."

Unlike the clothes and beautiful, almost black, curtain of hair she used to hide behind, she shaved her pussy. He never pictured her as the type to bare all.

"You're wet." He trailed his finger from clit to ass. "Do you get off on fighting?"

"No. I hate fighting." She sighed, arching her back. "I'm not even sure I like you, but you...God, that feels good."

"Yeah?"

She turned her head toward him. "You're a sexy man, and you're taking care of me. That's a hard thing to ignore, even when you're an asshole."

That's all he wanted to do was take care of her. He closed his eyes an extra beat. Protect her. Keep her safe.

Lena pressed her sex against his hand. He circled the pad of his finger around her clit, amazed at how responsive she became and wondering if it had to do with how she was feeling or if she was exceptionally sensitive to touch.

She slithered her hand up his chest, around his neck, and pulled him down, lifting her mouth. He captured her lips and continued rubbing her between the legs. His cock pulsed and hardened against her hip at the brush of her breasts against his skin.

He deepened the kiss, stroking her with his tongue. His hand was on her pussy. His leg pinned hers to the bed. In return, she held him down against her. He didn't care that he was tired. He didn't care that he was confused. He didn't care that tomorrow he had to deal with her shit. He didn't care because Lena moved against him and made soft moans that reminded him of the thrum of a V-twin.

Pulling back, he gazed down her body. Her hard nipples called his name. He dove in and bowed his back, his lips latched around her nipple, and he sucked hard.

"Yes," she said panting.

That voice. Her voice. Pulses shot straight down his spine and settled between his legs.

He removed his mouth from her and reached over for a condom on his nightstand. Normally, he had the woman put the protection on him. Not only because he enjoyed the step, but to make sure his sexual partner understood he was covered.

With Lena, he needed to do the job because an extra touch from her hands would have him shooting early and he hadn't even gotten started yet.

She reached for his head. He ducked, moving to the end of the bed. He picked up her leg and slid under, settling between her thighs. He swiped her pussy with his tongue and caught her fisting the blanket at her hips before he closed his eyes and lapped at the folds of her sex.

Her body quivered, and her hand found the back of his head again. He slid his hands under her ass, lifting her up and dipping his tongue in her. She moaned, and in the expression of pleasure, she vocalized everything he was feeling. Being between her legs was like coming home. No fight. No argument. Total acceptance.

Her thighs clamped his head in place, and she shuddered her release. He licked until her body melted in his hands and he pushed up on his knees, wiping her arousal off his mouth onto his shoulder.

She blinked up at him with half closed eyes, reaching blindly for him and finding purchase on his chest. He lined his cock up at her entrance and looking down onto her face, he pushed his way inside of her, inch by fucking inch. Deeper than imaginable, he pulled out and plunged into her harder, staying put. He groaned at the tightness surrounding him.

Lena's nails scratched his skin. His pelvis spasmed in response and he pulled out and rammed in again. Over and over, he drove home. Feeling her orgasm for the second time around him had him exploding hard. He went down on his elbows and buried his face in her neck.

His heart pounded in his chest, and he sucked in air, trying to catch his breath as his body rocked out every drop he'd saved for her. "You need to listen to me before I pull my cock out of you, Lena. Tonight's bullshit isn't going to happen again. You see what it could be like between us. Don't fucking make excuses or push me away by acting like someone else."

She stopped breathing.

"I think you're scared of yourself, and I don’t know why. But, I'm going to figure you out and make you feel what I feel." He pushed off her and rolled out of bed.

Walking to the bathroom, he removed the used condom. The first thing he needed to do was get the target off Lena's back and make sure Tigres left her alone. Then, he was going to convince her that the life she'd planned for herself wouldn't work if he were going to be involved with her.

He had no fucking clue if they'd end up loving each other after time or if marriage and kids would be a goal, but she damn well needed to open up to him in the meantime. He needed more than sex.