Linc rose to his feet, barely keeping it together. That was amazing. Ashley tasted better than he’d ever imagined. “We need to move to your bed.”

She gazed up at him with a warm, thoroughly satisfied expression on her face. Christ. He was in trouble.

“Your bed,” he repeated, as he bent to scoop her in his arms, her soft, supple—hot—curves testing his control like no other. “Now.” Moving as swiftly as possible, he carried her into the bedroom and deposited her on the bed, groaning as he watched her breasts bounce.

Killing him.

In the space of a minute, he stripped the rest of the way, rolled on a condom he fished from his jeans, and joined her on the bed, crawling up that incredible body of hers.

“Linc?”

“Yeah?” he asked against her belly, swirling his tongue over the center.

“I…um…oh.” Need lowered her voice and it throbbed straight to his tip. “What are we doing?”

He smiled against her ribs, then nipped. “I should think that was obvious, otherwise I’m doing it wrong.”

She chuckled. “No, you do it right.” She choked on a laugh when he sucked a glorious nipple into his mouth. “God, that feels good.”

He grunted his concurrence, loving the feel of her body trembling beneath him. He trapped the tight bud between his tongue and the roof of his mouth. She moaned and rocked against him.

Damn, she was so responsive.

“Linc.” She squirmed. “Linc, wait.” Her fingers slid into his hair and tugged.

Stiffening, he lifted his head and met her gaze. Ah, hell… “You want me to stop?”

Please, God, say no…because he wasn’t above weeping if she said yes.

“What? No.” She shook her head, and he released a breath, and a silent thank you. “Sorry. It’s just that I realized we never talked about, you know. This.” She waved a hand at them. “I mean, we’d be stupid to expect a lot. I mean, I’m leaving in a few weeks, and you don’t do relationships, right?”

He slowly nodded, not sure where this was going, but knew it was important to her, so he put his ravishing on hold.

He hoped.

“I think you should know I don’t have a ton of experience. I haven’t been with anyone other than Neil.” Her face was crimson by this time. “I just don’t want to disappoint you.”

Ah, hell.

“Ash, you could never disappoint me. Ever.” He gently brushed the hair off her temple. “And don’t read anything into my single status. It doesn’t mean I’ve had sex with a ton of women. It just means none stick.”

“Because you don’t want them to.”

Until now.

“And that’s okay,” she rushed to say. “Because I can’t have one either. So, a friends-with-benefits kind of thing is good.”

It was a start. But he’d play along. “Yes. I’d say it was going to be very good.”

And to prove it, he dipped down to take the other nipple into his mouth, and this time, the hands in his hair loosened to lightly hold him in place. He released her nipple to kiss a path up to her throat, biting the soft spot at the curve of her neck, seeing stars when she let out a long moan and rocked against his raging hard-on.

“Linc. I…need.”

He lifted up, nudging her legs apart with his thighs before placing his tip at her center. “Me, too,” he told her before slowly pushing inside.

Ah, damn, she was sweet. So damn sweet.

Ashley’s gasp turned into a moan as she rose up to meet him, pulling him closer, her fingers clutching his arms, digging into his flesh as he began to move. “Knew you’d feel good.”

Mindless, he drove into her, over and over, the pleasure so intense his brain cells were on the endangered list. She was zapping them right and left with her sexy little mewls.

How could she think she wouldn’t measure up? No other woman made him feel so much. Her throaty moans, sweet sighs, his name on her lips, lush curves, warm, sweet heat surrounding him…everything about her caused sensations he never knew existed.

“Linc.” She was just as lost. He could hear it in her hitched tone.

“Right here.” He was filling more than just her body and she knew it. God, she knew. He sped up their pace, and she met every thrust with equal passion.

His heart about pounded out of his chest, and when she cried out his name, and her body pulsed and throbbed, tightening around him, his control snapped. He thrust into her one last time and followed her right over the edge.

When the ringing finally subsided in his ears and he sucked in enough oxygen to find his one, lone brain cell, Linc reluctantly pulled out of Ashley’s sweet heat, his ego inflating to a crazy ass level at her soft cry of protest. Smiling, he kissed her temple before disappearing into the bathroom to take care of business. When he returned a minute later, he pulled back the covers and gathered her close, then covered them, loving how she fit against him.

“You okay?”

“Mmm.” She slid her leg across his and snuggled closer. “So okay.”

He caressed her arm, his eyes drifting closed. He wanted to do that with her and hear her say that for so long now. A very long time. Decades. Now that they had, it changed things. Big time. And yet, no amount of wanting and wishing was going to change the fact she was leaving Texas soon.

But, right now, with Ashley’s soft curves pressed into him while she held him close, her contented sighs warming his skin, Linc was content too. It was enough.

For now.

***

Ashley’s eyes fluttered open, and the first rays of the morning sun sliced through the shades, bathing Linc’s skin in a warm glow her fingers itched to touch. He had great skin. There wasn’t an inch of it she hadn’t touched last night…and vice versa.

Heaven help her, she wanted to touch him again. It would be so easy. Her face was on his chest, listening to the steady, sure beat of his heart, while her palm curved over his obliques. Even his love handles were sexy. Hers were kind of soft and squishy. A smile tugged her lips. He didn’t seem to mind.

She was new to this hooking up thing, so she wasn’t sure if it was protocol to sneak out and head to work, or just play it cool and let him have the lead. Considering the cowboy was toasty warm, and well, just too dead-sexy to leave, she snuggled closer and smiled.

God, it felt good to smile. Good to feel pleasure again. To give pleasure, too. No. She definitely wasn’t ready to leave this bed just yet.

Her phone, apparently, had other ideas. It rang on the nightstand behind her. Sending Linc an apologetic look as he stirred, she rolled off him to answer the cell, frowning at her business partner’s name on the screen. It was still dark back on the west coast.

“Hey, Bev. What’s up?”

“Not me, that’s for sure,” came the reply, followed by a yawn. “Sorry. Haven’t mainlined any caffeine yet, and I was up past one finishing a deposition.”

Guilt flittered through her chest at not being there to help, but she knew her partner would’ve insisted on working her own case anyway.

“How are you doing?” Bev asked.

“Good.” Great, actually, she silently amended when she glanced over her shoulder in time to watch Linc step into the adjoining bathroom in all his morning glory.

Oh, Lordy. Her mind blanked. It just up and blanked.

“…Turnbachs want to move up their meeting.”

Shoot. She caught enough of that to know it sucked. “To when?”

“Monday.”

She stiffened. No. She wasn’t ready to leave. “It was scheduled for the end of the month.”

“I know, but apparently they’ll be out of the country at that time.”

Crud.

She didn’t want to deal with wills and estates and bickering spouses. It all still made her stomach roll.

“Would you like me to take the meeting? Or can you come home sooner?”

Relief eased the burning in her gut. “I’d appreciate it if you could, Bev. I’m in the middle of a remodel here, and I’d rather finish before I come home.”

“Sure, no problem.” Her friend yawned again. “I just didn’t want you to think I was trying to steal your clients.”

“Goodness, no.” Ashley had gone through law school with Beverly. She knew her friend had scruples. And even if her partner did want this client, right now, Ashley didn’t care. Let her friend have them. “I appreciate you taking them on.”

“Thanks, Ashley. I appreciate you trusting me with them.”

“Of course. Now go get some sleep,” she said after the poor girl yawned in her ear a third time.

“Okay. See you in a three weeks.” Bev hung up before she could reply.

Or get her heart out of her throat.

Would she be ready to leave in three weeks?

Still contemplating that, she set the phone back on the nightstand as Linc returned to the bed.

“Come here, gorgeous.” He held the covers open in an invitation she was not about to pass up. Scooting close, she happily returned to resting her head on his chest, her insides warming as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. “Good morning.” His sexy morning voice rumbled through her, waking all her good parts at once.

“Morning.” She sighed. “Sorry the phone woke you.”

“No worries. I was up, just enjoying my blanket.”

Chuckling, she lifted up to stare at him. “Were you now?”

“Mhm.” He nodded, brushing a strand of hair from her temple, his gaze never leaving hers. “You okay?”

Her pulse hiccupped. She knew what he was asking. Was she beating herself up for sleeping with a man other than her husband? No, she wasn’t beating herself up. Neil had never entered her mind the whole time she was with Linc.

Did she feel guilty about that?

A little. But mostly, she was good. Better than good. He was so sweet. And his concern touched her deep down in her healing heart.

“Yeah.” She nodded with a smile. “I am. Thanks for asking. That was sweet.”

“Sweet’s my middle name,” he said, twirling that strand of hair around his finger.

She laughed. “Lincoln Sweet McCall? I’m going to have to ask Logan if that’s true.”

“How about no?”

“Okay, but only because you asked nicely. And because I want to thank you for last night. You were amazing.” She ran back of her knuckles lightly down his jaw. “But I should probably get to work before my client wonders where I am.”

When she made to sit up, he flipped her onto her back and smiled down at her.

“I can get him to go easy on you.”

Fighting a grin, she traced a finger down his abs and headed south to glory. “I’d much rather he went hard.”

Heat darkened his gaze to a gorgeous smoky hue. “I think that can be arranged.”

Then he proved it.

***

Late Sunday afternoon, Linc followed Logan into the house, happy to see the end of weekend drill, even though it put him that much closer to Ashley’s departure.

Saying goodbye was going to suck.

This weekend proved it. He’d never had an issue leaving a woman’s arms to go play Army…until now. Leaving her last Friday and not tasting her all weekend played havoc with his mind and concentration. A problem he’d never faced with the women he’d dated.

Ashley was different. She was the exception.

The sweet woman captivated him.

For some foolish reason, he thought watching her walk away after a few weeks of “friends-with-naked-benefits” wouldn’t affect the organ in his chest.

Wrong.

That organ was the one most affected. Without his knowledge—or permission—his stupid heart had cracked open and let the woman wind her way deep inside. Again. She filled his thoughts all day long, and heated his nights better than his wildest fantasies.

“Logan!” Chloe came barreling down the stairs and launched herself at his brother who dropped his gear just in time to catch his eager wife. “I missed you.”

“We were only gone two and half days,” Linc pointed out, but shouldn’t have bothered. The two were already locking lips.

“Forget it, Linc.” His dad chuckled, cracking open a beer in the living room with Hick. “They’re still in the honeymoon stage.”

Although he hated to admitted it, Linc feared he was in it too, if the fierce need to grab a quick shower and rush to Ashley’s side so he could hold the beauty in his arms was anything to go by. Yeah, he was sunk.

He tossed his gear in his room, then headed for the can his dad offered, and it dawned on him the men were there to watch the big game.

Shit.

Every year, the four of them sat down to enjoy the game. It’d never been an issue with Linc before. But today, he didn’t give a shit who won. He’d much rather spend time with Ashley.

That meant something. Linc knew it did, but given the fact his heart was already in big trouble, it was best left ignored.

“Any word from Mac yet?” He watched his father’s smile fade and worry cloud his gaze.

“No.” His dad shook his head. “I put in a call to Kyle Chancellor.”

Jesus.

The governor?

Linc sat up straight as alarm raced down his spine. Kyle was not only the Governor of Texas, he also founded and operated a company of former military men who work as a security/rescue team. “You think Mac needs to be rescued?”