Lucas checked his watch again. It’d only been twenty seconds, but it felt like an eternity since the last time he looked at the unmoving digital numbers. Finally Harper emerged from the building, and he immediately exploded on her. “Where the hell were you?”

She was obviously taken aback by the harsh words, literally stepping away from him. “Excuse me?”

“I thought you were going to be right behind me. It’s been like five minutes. We’re supposed be working as a team here. This doesn’t feel very team-like.”

Harper set a hand on her hip and glared at him. “What exactly is happening here? Because I feel like I’m in bizarro land.”

“What’s happening here is that you’re supposed to be helping me, and instead I drive you two hours so you can flirt with some old high school friend of yours. That’s what’s happening.”

“Flirt! There was no flirting happening back there. We asked him to help us, and he agreed.”

“Then what the hell took you so long? What exactly did you have to talk about while I wasn’t there?”

“Nothing. He left almost immediately, and I was waiting for his little hostess to box up our food for us.” She held up the plastic bag in her hand accusingly, and he kicked himself for not noticing that earlier.

Fuck, he must sound like a crazy person. Hell, at this point, he was a crazy person. What the hell was wrong with him? So what if she stayed an extra five minutes to talk to a childhood friend? She was an adult. She could do what she wanted. He wasn’t the jealous type. Usually he wasn’t the jealous type. Fuck.

“We have a few hours until Leo gets us any information about what Lily was doing at his club. Until then, we can head up to these other places she stopped to use her credit card.”

“We need to find a hotel so we don’t end up sleeping in the car tonight.”

“We’re not here to sleep. We don’t have a lot of time. We need to make sure every second we have is spent looking for Lily.”

“Harper, we don’t know each other very well. I think the past two days have tricked us into believing we were closer than we are. Right now, I’m at a ten. If you want me to be functional at all, I’m going to need a few minutes to decompress, hopefully away from you. Got that?”

“Fine. I got it.”

He should feel bad for hurting her, but right now, he couldn’t feel much of anything. Just anger and annoyance all blended together into one unhealthy combination. He wasn’t kidding. He wasn’t any good to anybody in this state of mind. Hopefully with the quiet drive to the hotel and a few minutes to be by himself, he could pull his shit together.

But it was becoming abundantly apparent the longer Harper was around him, the harder it was for him to get anything together. He drove to the hotel in silence. He knew his way around the city well enough that he didn’t need Harper to give him directions. He already knew a place they could stay. The city was known for being expensive, especially around the campus areas where Lily spent most of her time. Luckily he knew a place off the top of his head that was usually under two hundred bucks a night. Considering his life was at stake, he should be worrying less about prices, but he was constantly aware of the dangerous state his bank account was in. As if he were on autopilot, he put the rental car in the overpriced parking structure, went to the lobby, paid for one room for two nights, and then went to the elevator. It wasn’t until he was on the elevator that he realized Harper was right next to him. “What are you doing?”

“Umm.... Bringing my stuff to our room?”

“No, you were supposed to get your own room.”

“That’s ridiculous. I didn’t leave you last night and I’m not leaving you tonight.”

“Last night, we were staying in a home owned by two crazy people. Tonight, you can go a few hours without being around me.”

“Well, excuse me for being unable to resist your animal magnetism. I thought we were partners in this together, and that meant watching each other’s backs.”

The elevator hit the floor and dinged open. “Yeah, but right now I need someone to watch my back to keep me away from you.”

“Whoa. This is totally uncalled for. I have done nothing but help you and be your friend. I don’t know why you’re being such a dick about it.”

“I’m not being a dick about it!” he screamed as he strode down the hall. “I told you I need a couple fucking minutes to decompress. I don’t know why you can’t even give me that.”

“Hey, if you were my friend, I would totally give you a few minutes to decompress. But you’re just some jerk I don’t even know right now.”

He shoved the key into the hotel room door, and as soon as the light flashed green, he yanked the door open. If Harper weren’t so close behind him, he would’ve slammed the door shut in her face. “If I’m such a big jerk, why don’t you leave me the fuck alone?”

“Are you kidding? I came all this way, go out on a limb to reach out to my connections to help you and now, just because I left you alone for a few minutes, you’re going full dick on me.”

“I swear to God, Harper, if you call me that one more time....”

“What? Dick? Stop acting like one and I’ll stop saying it.”

That was it. Before he even knew what he was doing, he twisted around and his palms shot out, slamming into the wall and caging Harper, leaving her precious little space between the wall and his body. “I think it’s time for you to learn that I don’t give idle threats.”

“And I think it’s time for you to learn what happened to the last guy who tried to put his hands on me.” She stared into his eyes, not one ounce of fear showing.

He shook his head. “Don’t even fucking do that. Don’t compare me to some son of a bitch like that. You know I’m different.”

She let out a laugh. “Oh really? And what exactly makes you so different?”

“The difference is you want me to.”

Her mouth fell open, and for once she appeared speechless. “Are you crazy? I don’t want you. How can I make myself more clear?”

Lucas bent down, running the tip of his nose along her neck, and took in a deep breath of her scent. Even with that tiny bit of skin contact, he could feel her heart beating away. It was beating so fast, he was pretty sure he could feel the ripples in the air around him. “If you don’t want me, why is your heart a little jackhammer right now? I know you’re not afraid of me. You’re not afraid of anything.”

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to hurt you.” Her shaky voice gave her away just the tiniest bit.

“If you were afraid of me, you wouldn’t be here right now, would you? Walking alone into a hotel room with a strange man.... Not a smart move.”

“You’re not a strange man.”

“I’m a stranger,” he said harshly into her ear. “You barely know me, and yet here you are, all alone with me. And you want to know what makes this worse?”

“Yes, please continue to blame all this on me,” she said dryly.

“What makes this worse,” he continued, “is that you know exactly what I want from you. You know how close I am to the edge, and you know that I’ve been unable to stop myself from imagining taking every last stitch of clothing off your body and exploring every inch of you with my fingertips and my tongue and my cock until neither of us can walk anymore. And yet you still came in here with me. So what exactly am I supposed to think?”

“You’re supposed to think....” She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

“So, Harper, for once in my godforsaken life, I’m going to pretend I’m a decent man for three seconds and let you walk out of that door. God help us both if you don’t. Three.”

Harper blinked and glanced toward the door. “You’re blocking me.”

Using every ounce of strength he had, he forced himself to remove one arm from the wall. “Two.”

Against all odds, Harper still stood there. She always seemed so put together and confident, but right now she looked like a deer in headlights. Frozen with indecision.

“One.”

“Lucas, I—”

It was too late. He’d given her a chance to make her choice, and she’d chosen wrong. It wasn’t his fault. He gave her every opportunity. From now on, he couldn’t be held responsible for anything that happened. As if possessed by some other force, his hand slammed back to the wall as he leaned his body in, closing the distance between them. He let out a small groan of approval as his body pressed against hers.

Everything about her felt perfect. Even through her tight jeans and leather jacket, he could feel the curves of her body pressed against him. She seemed to fit in the right areas and was soft in his favorite places. When God had been creating women, this was the pinnacle of what he’d been working toward. The perfect female body, the perfect person, and now here she was in his arms. He still expected her to start screaming or breaking his ribs any moment, but when his lips pressed over hers, to his surprise, she parted for him.

He kissed her softly at first, going against every instinct he had. He’d been with so many different women, and he knew every different way to make them scream. But with Harper, as corny as it sounded, it was like his first time. Not just how every sensation felt new and startling, but he seemed to forget everything he knew. Instead of working through it like a math formula, he followed his senses. Right now, kissing her was enough to send his thoughts spiraling out of control.

Tilting his head, he opened his mouth and let instinct take over. He kissed her with everything he was worth, removing one hand off the wall to cup her jaw as he held her in place. His tongue just touched hers, and then she nipped his bottom lip, letting him know that she was just as much under the spell as he was.

He didn’t know how long he stood there kissing her. Exploring her. Could’ve been a minute—it could’ve been ten. Nothing made sense with her.

But soon, even this amazing, earth-shattering kissing wasn’t enough. Harper pressed herself against him, her hips rubbing rhythmically against his cock, and he knew there was no way in hell she was getting out of his hotel room without him being inside her first. Removing his hand from her jaw, he wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up as he strode deeper into the room toward the king-size bed.

As soon as she hit the bed, Harper started to tear at her clothes, but Lucas didn’t give her a chance. He went down on top of her and immediately covered her with his body, spreading her legs at the same time so he could press his cock right against her hot core.

He couldn’t think coherently anymore. There were no sentences or goals. Just single words, like hot. Wet. Naked.

He buried his head in Harper’s neck, inhaling her scent as he nipped her flesh lightly. She started to pull at his shirt, and he didn’t fight it. He sat up just enough for her to get the material off, and he threw it away. Then he gave her the same treatment, pulling at her shirt and tossing it aside.

He took a second to enjoy the sight of Harper beneath him, wearing only that black lacy bra and jeans. He bent down slowly, like a predator, and pressed a kiss in the hollow of her throat before traveling down her breastbone. Once in the valley between her breasts, he cupped one mound in each hand, enjoying the weight and feel of the soft, warm flesh. He couldn’t wait any longer. He pushed the bra up and got to work kissing, nipping, and licking each rosy peak. He thrived on the sensation of Harper wiggling and thrashing beneath him. This woman drove him crazy, and now he was going to repay the favor.

When she finally looked as if she were going to lose control, Lucas pulled back altogether. He was going to make this the most pleasurable experience she ever had and make her suffer at the same time. He pulled away from her, taking his hips away. Before she could ask what he was doing, he grabbed her by the hips and flipped her over. Harper, always one to surpass his expectations, didn’t even ask what he was doing. She simply reached beneath her to undo her jeans so Lucas could peel them off her ass. Goddamn, it was a perfect ass, too. Just the right amount of jiggle to it, firm and perky all at the same time. The perfect little peach. He scraped his teeth along the soft curve, biting down just enough to make her moan.

As he pulled away, he gave her rear a firm tap, making just enough noise to echo off the room and earn a gasp from Harper. He undid his own jeans and reached for his wallet when a horrible realization struck him. “I don’t have a condom,” he admitted. Why didn’t he have a condom? He always had condoms.

“I’m on the pill. Please. Lucas, I need you.”

Damn, any thoughts about safety flew out the window at the sound of her pleading for him. Her wish was his command. He shot forward on the bed, just enough to arrange himself behind her. Then, as soon as he was at the right angle, he slid in and with one swift stroke, his cock was surrounded by her wet heat.

Lucas let out a loud groan. Holy fuck, she was perfection.

Harper sighed as the front of her body went down farther, as though her arms had given out.

He had to hold it together. He had to make her come. If it was the last thing he ever did on this earth, he was going to make this woman orgasm around his cock.

He reached around her body until his fingers found the tight nub at the top of her sex. Then he pressed down hard as he withdrew and slammed back in. Harper let out a high-pitched scream, and it was like dumping a bucket of fuel on his fire. He was nothing but an animal at that point, holding her clit firmly as he thrust in and out. And then, the second he felt her tighten around his cock and she screamed her release, he followed suit with his own. His arms went around her and held her impossibly tight as wave after wave of orgasm went through every muscle in his body.

He struggled to catch his breath as he rested his forehead against Harper’s back.

He had to go back to work soon, but for now, for just these few minutes, he didn’t think he was capable of moving.