The truck stopped and Mira jerked. She leaned up and away from Jake, brushing her hair out of her eyes, and looked at him.

He pushed the gearshift into park and reached for the keys to turn off the engine. Mira stopped his hands.

“Wait.”

Jake stared at her. “Why?”

She glanced toward the hotel, and then blew out a breath. “Let’s drive around to the other side. Come in the back door. Okay?” She couldn’t afford to be seen coming in the front door with a guest.

Jake didn’t respond and she glanced back to his face. “Please?”

“I don’t understand.”

She shrugged. “I work here. Right? It could be…complicated.”

He tilted his head. “Ah. No cavorting with the guests, huh?”

Nodding, she replied, “Yeah. Something like that. Do you mind?”

He shook his head. “Not at all. Show me the way.”

“Over there.” She pointed to the right side of the building. “We can go in the door to the rear. Your room is up one floor and to the left. Easy-peasy.”

“Like you.” Jake laughed.

Mira grinned to herself and looked out the window. “Shut up and drive, Jake Remington.”

“Yes ma’am,” he returned.

****

In the room, the door locked and dead-bolted behind him, and the drapes pulled tight against the Texas sunrise that would no doubt penetrate the room entirely too early, Jake turned out one lamp, then another, while Mira stood by the bed. He left the light on in the bathroom behind him—just enough illumination filtering through so that he could see every curve of Mira’s body, and every expression on her face—enough to soften the atmosphere and set a bit of a mood.

In all practicality, mood really didn’t matter. All he wanted to do right now was make love again to Mira. The lighting wasn’t important. What mattered was that they had the rest of the night, they had plenty of room, and they had each other.

Dammit. Listen to yourself Jake Remington. You’re getting all sappy over a woman.

Damned straight. That, I am.

And for some crazy reason, he was okay with it.

“Come here,” he whispered, and crooked a finger at Mira. “I want to hold you.”

Mira stepped forward, almost shyly. She grasped his hand and he gathered her close into him, one arm circling her back, the other caressing her face.

“You are beautiful,” he whispered. “I’ve been captivated by you since the first moment I laid eyes on you this morning.” She tipped her head up and his lips landed softly on hers. Her mouth was soft, pliable, moist and warm. He dipped his tongue past her lips and probed inside, tangling his tongue with hers.

Mira made a little squeaky sound and he smiled and withdrew his tongue. Pulling back, he framed her face with both of his hands, brushing strands of hair away from her face. “I want you to know that I am captivated by you, Mira Featherstone. I’m not sure why or how it all happened so quickly, but I am.”

Her eyes grew slightly rounder and she gave him a small grin. “I think that is a good thing?”

He nodded. “Very good. I just want you to know…” Dammit, should he even go there now? He wasn’t sure but… “Mira, I really feel something for you. I don’t want you to think that you’re just another girl in my bed tonight.”

She tilted her head and leaned back. “What?”

“You know. The condom you saw this morning. I… well, it happened. But this? You? Tonight? It’s…”

“Different?”

He exhaled. “Yes. You make me feel…different.”

Mira’s gaze played over her face. “Jake, whatever you did last night is none of my business. Just like anything I did last night is none of yours. This is just…tonight.”

Just tonight? But what if I want more?

Jake swallowed. Something stirred in his gut. Wait. “You did something last night?”

Mira grinned and cocked a brow. Then leaning in, she whispered, “None of your damn business, Jake Remington,” she said, jerking at his belt. Slowly, she knelt before him, undid his buckle, and unzipped his pants. “I told you I wanted to do this earlier, right?”

She unleashed his cock into her hands. He looked down to see her looking up smiling, eye-level with his crotch. Her velvet fingers stroked up and down lightly and Jake couldn’t help but close his eyes and just feel. After a moment, she took him into her hot little mouth—wet and slick—and he had to open his eyes and watch her take him deep. Her red lips stretched over his cock, sliding up and over his head.

He trembled. Literally, shook. “Jesus, Mira…”

Her big brown eyes looked back up at him, her tongue lapping at the side of his cock, then popping the head back between her lips.

“Sweet mother…”

Jake stood there and let her run her mouth all over him, taking his dick in deeper and sliding out again. He waited as long as he could, savoring the sensation rolling over him, but his legs were growing weak and the urge to come in her mouth was powerfully strong.

No. Not yet.

He reached for her. “Mira, come here.” He grasped an upper arm and hauled her up so he could kiss her. Her breath was hot and she was trembling. He fought the urge to throw her to the bed and just fuck the hell out of her.

Not this time.

He gently caressed her face with both hands, kissing her like she was his last breath. His last hope at life. At least a life that was meaningful and fulfilling in ways other than business deals and frequent-as-hell happenstance sexual encounters.

And maybe she was.

The thought of Mira being more to him sent a frenzy of emotion throughout his body—emotion he wasn’t sure he knew what to do with, but also knew that he liked.

Mira was more. And he wanted to show her exactly how much she meant to him.

She fumbled with the buttons of his shirt and together, they quickly rid him of it, then jeans, boots, socks, and underwear. Jake kicked them aside and looked at Mira standing before him. She reached for the hem of her skirt.

He stopped her. “Don’t. Let me. Turn around.”

The dress was made to stretch and fit over her curvy form, almost like a second skin. There was a zipper in back, which he realized he had totally ignored earlier in the evening. Jake lowered the fastener inch by sinful inch revealing her beautiful, tanned back. He had to wonder if she sunbathed in the nude and hardened even more at the thought of ogling her from afar while she lay naked in the sun.

He smiled at that idea and spread the filmy fabric aside. Sliding his hands underneath the straps, he skimmed his hands down over her shoulders, peeling the dress lower as he did. He kissed down her spine, one gentle kiss at a time. One vertebrae at a time. Skipping over the band of black fabric of her bra, he moved toward the small of her back. There, he lingered, tickling that sensitive area with his tongue, while the dress descended and settled at her hips.

Mira shivered slightly and sighed. Jake physically felt and heard her reaction.

He skimmed his palms over her curves and slid the dress south. It eventually fell to the floor revealing her ample derriere and a thin strap of black string arching over her hips and separating the crack of her ass. Mira stood before him in nothing but the thong and a lacy black pushup bra. Her ass was fucking awesome and he couldn’t wait to bury himself there.

His hands went to her fleshy cheeks and he exhaled as he drew closer. He flicked at the string of fabric in his way and tugged the thong off her hips and down her legs. It dropped to the floor. Mira stepped out of it and started to turn around but he halted her.

“No,” he whispered. “Stay right there.” He wanted her facing away from him.

Kneeling now, Jake massaged her ass with both hands. “Bend over a little, Mira,” he said. “Put your hands on the bed and spread your legs a little.”

She did and his libido zinged. Her musk, mixed with the scent of their earlier lovemaking, wafted toward him and hit him like a ton of bricks. He loved everything about this woman. How she felt. How she smelled. How she fit his body like a glove.

Jake spread her ass cheeks apart to reveal her luscious pussy. Knowing that he could probably never get his fill of her—and didn’t want to—he pressed into Mira’s pussy from behind, drawing her labia into his mouth. Being buried into her center not only thrilled him sexually but also gave him a heady feeling of possession.

He wanted her. All of her. And as his tongue found her clit, he flicked and rubbed over that firm bit of flesh he knew was the center of her universe right now. Knowing that he was doing everything in his power—consciously and perhaps even more subconsciously—to claim her, to inundate her with pleasure, that’s all he wanted. Give her pleasure. Be her pleasure.

Yes. To claim her and make her his.

She moaned and trembled a little. Jake grasped her hipbones, holding on to that hollow place between her hip and leg, and buried his tongue as deep as he could get into her vagina, thrusting in and out while his lower lip pushed and rubbed against her clit.

“Jake…” Mira gasped his name. “Oh God, Jake…” Her thighs quivered. “Oh fuck… Please.”

Jake pulled slightly back. “Not yet, love. Soon.”

“You’re…driving me crazy.”

“Good. That’s exactly how I want you. Crazy for me and how I make you feel.”

She huffed out some jumbled words and Jake smiled.

His response was to spread her cheeks more fully, find her clit again, and suck hard on it and the surrounding tender flesh. He wanted to bury himself inside of her. Feel her come on his face.

And fuck, she did just that. Exploding pleasure mounted all around him as her body jolted and she cried out. Jake lapped at the sudden juiciness of her creamy folds and the quivering aftershocks of her orgasm.

Mira groaned and fell forward on the bed, lying flat on her tummy. Jake, smiling and satisfied, made a deliberate and wet trail with his mouth up her back again toward her neck. He reached for his wallet then and slid out another condom, rolled the thing hurriedly on, and then nudged her legs apart slightly to settle between them. She squirmed and squeaked out a response, mounted her from behind, and slowly eased his now aching and pounding cock into her pussy.

She didn’t protest. Of course, he hadn’t expected her to.

Jake lowered himself until his face was flush with hers. “I love fucking you, Mira,” he whispered. He noticed the rugged rasp to his voice that wasn’t there earlier. She affected him in ways he didn’t know he could be touched.

He did love fucking her. His brain though, kept turning around those words in his head. I fucking love you, Mira, his brain said. Love? So soon?

Did he?

Consumed. He was just consumed with her. Right?

Her breathing was even, methodical, and he thrust in and out of her again, echoing the same rhythmic cadence of her slowing pants. She angled her face a little, so her lips aligned with his. She kissed and nibbled at his mouth, their breath mingling.

“Fuck me, Jake Remington,” she said, her voice a whisper, perhaps softened by the aftershocks of her powerful orgasm, he thought. She was pliant and willing. There was no way he could not fuck her.

“Take me,” she repeated. “Make me yours tonight, Jake.”

The words were few and barely whispered but powerful. Jake heard them with this heart, more than with his ears. And he continued to fuck her, his belly flat against her ass, his cock buried deep in her pussy. Their arms both splayed out flat against the bed, his on top of hers with their fingers clasped, and all he wanted was to take her to places she’d never been before.

Perhaps, he was taking himself there, as well.

Fucking Mira was like placing a brand on his heart. His mission had been to claim her, and in turn, she had laid claim to him.

In the process, she had unknowingly ruined him for any other woman. He wondered if she realized that. Likely not. Thing was, he could not imagine another woman to come after her.

The thought was not in the realm of possibility.

I fucking love you, Mira, his brain said again. And he exploded with one of the most powerful orgasms he’d ever experienced.

****

Mira lay spent underneath Jake, one side of her face flush against the bed, the other with Jake’s hot mouth pressed into her temple. He was heavy lying over her but she didn’t care. She loved it. Loved having his body wrapped around her and pinning her tightly to the bed. His breathing was evening out now; earlier, she had felt the rapid-fire cadence of his heart beating hard against her back.

She didn’t want him to move. Ever. She wanted to stay like this for a long, long time, his cock deep inside of her and his body protecting her.

It hit her like a lightning bolt that this feeling of protection was something she had craved. Maybe it was the reason why she didn’t stay around long with men once she’d been fucked. It was fun getting off, getting them off. She loved getting physical with a man, and the orgasms were a necessary and explosive plus. But that empty feeling that came after always made her leave. No one had ever made her want to stay.

Ever.

Until now. Until Jake.

He stirred and rolled off her, pulling out from between her legs. She groaned and sighed. “No. Please,” she said softly, reaching out for him.

Jake didn’t go far. He gathered her into him and wrapped his arms around her. She shifted, resting her head on his bicep, her face close to his chest. Jake threw a leg around her hips possessively and drew her even closer into the protective shell of his body.

She was in heaven.

Mira heaved out an immense sigh. She felt encompassed by everything that was Jake. His flesh. His scent. His entire being.

“I love fucking you,” Jake whispered into her hair.

Mira didn’t say anything for a moment, but squeezed her eyes shut even tighter. Finally, she softly echoed, “I love fucking you back.”

Jake groaned and reached between their bodies to unclasp her bra.

“I need every inch of your skin against mine.” His voice rasped.

Mira suddenly felt free of everything. Her bra undone, her breasts spilling out between them. She pressed up against Jake’s hot chest, desperate to be as close as possible to him.

But Jake wanted something different.

“Mira…”

Her name fell from his lips like a feather-soft breath. Mira tilted her head back to look into his eyes. Jake palmed her left tit and then lowered his face between her breasts. She heard his deep intake of breath followed by a long, healthy sigh.

She clasped his head to her chest and held him there. Jake angled to where he could tongue a nipple. They lay there and he suckled at her softly, teasing her nipple with his teeth, drawing her deeper into his mouth. He stretched to take as much of her inside as he could and Mira watched his lips move over her.

Moaning, she laid her head back and let Jake play. As his hand moved between her legs, her eyes closed and she let the sensation roll over her.

Jake moved his fingers in and out of her pussy, teasing her clit much like he was teasing her nipples. He played her body like it was an instrument until she hummed again, on the brink of orgasm. And all she did was lay back and take what he had to offer.

She could get used to this.