The sun was coming up when Bianca’s eyes flew open. She was on her stomach, cheek against the pillow, naked. Her nudity alone would have shocked her fully alert, but the warm hands running up and down her back and the gentle lips following in their wake sent panic rushing through her system.

Grayson must have felt her entire body react by stiffening because he whispered against her skin as his hand trailed down over her butt and then her thighs, “Shhh. You’re okay. It’s just me.”

She inhaled slowly, fisting her fingers in the pillow at the sides of her head. She didn’t think she would ever get used to having him so blatantly stare at her back. “Gray…” she pleaded.

“Baby, you’re so beautiful, inside and out.” His mouth moved lower, sending a shiver down her spine with every kiss. “I’m so damn lucky.”

She relaxed her grip and forced her body to follow. He wasn’t feeding her a line of shit. He cared about her. He didn’t care about some stupid scars.

As his hand smoothed up and down her backside, she calmed. She also wanted to flip over so she could face him. Luckily, he let her, his fingers trailing around to her belly as she rolled next to him.

He was staring down at her with a sexy smile. “Good morning.” His hand eased up to her breast and then higher to cup her cheek. “You slept hard.” His erection was pressed against her thigh.

She hummed, unable to keep from smiling. “You wore me out.”

He smirked. “I’ll do so again as soon as you’ve recovered.”

She lifted a brow and reached to run her palm up his arm. “Who says I need to recover?” She didn’t sound like herself at all. Who was this woman tossing out sexual innuendo?

He chuckled and leaned down to kiss her gently. “Trust me. You were so tight you scared me.”

She shrugged, feeling a flush rush across her cheeks at such an intimate conversation. “I got over the initial shock fast.”

“I noticed, but you’ll be sore this morning.” He nibbled a path to her ear. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“For what?” Her eyes slid closed as he flicked her earlobe with his tongue.

“For letting me love you. For trusting me. For giving me that most precious gift. I will never take it for granted.”

She shuddered. “Thank you. For being so patient with me. For helping me see that I’m okay and I can have a normal relationship.” Without him, she doubted she ever would have gotten to this point. Another man wouldn’t have had the stamina to wait her out.

She closed her eyes and squirmed against him, not caring if she might be a little sore this morning. She wanted to feel that same intensity again. Now. “Gray…”

He moaned and kissed a path to her lips. Instead of kissing her mouth, he held her gaze and murmured against her lips. “I love that husky voice you use when you say my name.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s sweet, but you’ve unleashed a beast, and now I’d kinda like to have sex again.”

His smile grew against her lips. “Would you now?”

“Yeah.” Was he going to make her beg? The flush resumed, and she turned her face to one side to swallow her embarrassment.

His hand left her cheek to trail down her body, his fingers dancing across her skin as they landed on her breast. When he tapped her nipple, she arched into his touch and squeezed his biceps. “Gray…”

His hand strayed lower, slowly, too slowly, tickling her belly until she wiggled. She wasn’t laughing, though. She was aroused. Waking up in his arms with him kissing her back so reverently had turned her inside out. She didn’t care if it hurt, she wanted him to make love to her again.

When his fingers reached her sex, she parted her legs for him. She was wet. She didn’t need any foreplay, but he obviously had other ideas. Before she knew it, his fingers dragged through her moisture and then circled her clit.

Nothing about his attention indicated she might be sore. The bundle of nerves he tapped swelled maddeningly under his brief contact.

“You are so damn beautiful,” he breathed. “You have no idea. I could torment you like this for hours just so I could watch your face as you unravel.”

Her mouth fell open as she squirmed beneath his touch. If he would just hone in on her clit and stop circling it…

He set his nose on hers. “So beautiful,” he whispered again. And then he shifted, wedging one leg between hers as his fingers applied pressure to her clit.

She moaned, her fingers digging into his arm. “Gray…” That one word. It was all she could manage.

His hand slid lower, and he entered her with two fingers, sliding his palm down to rub against her swollen nub.

She cried out, her eyes rolling back. Was it like this for everyone, or did they have a special bond? If everyone experienced this level of ecstasy when they had sex, why did anyone ever leave their homes?

“That’s it, baby. Let it go.”

Bianca was falling. Falling from someplace very high, but floating, like a feather. There was no fear, just the weightlessness of her tumble.

When Grayson lifted his palm and pulled the two fingers out of her tight channel to flick them over her clit, she came. Hard. Gasping. Maybe she said something. Maybe she repeated his name. She wasn’t sure. All she knew was at that moment a parachute opened and she jerked back up toward the sky, no longer falling. Instead, she started gliding gracefully back and forth, the sound of the wind all around her.

As her body gradually stopped pulsing around his fingers, she sucked in a breath and blinked her eyes in an effort to focus.

He was smiling down at her, mouthing those same words again. “So beautiful…” Or maybe he said them out loud. Maybe her head was still in the clouds surrounded by air that was devoid of enough oxygen.

Eventually, she heard her own sigh as she melted into the mattress.

Why had she ever denied herself this pleasure?

Bianca showered first, turning down Grayson’s offer to join her when she realized how small the bathroom was and how much smaller the shower. She giggled as she shut him out of the tiny room, instructing him to make her some breakfast.

When she emerged from the bathroom wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, she found him barefoot and bare chested, his jeans hanging low on his hips as he reached to set two plates on the table. “Good timing,” he said, and then he reached for her and hauled her against his chest.

His lips found hers immediately, and then he trailed kisses to her ear and inhaled. “I love how you smell right after a shower. Floral. Fresh. Delicious.”

She giggled again as he nibbled on her neck and then spun her around and shoved her into a chair. “Sit. Eat. Before I change my mind about breakfast and drag you back across the room.”

This new dynamic between them was filled with hope and promise. She could get used to it. All she had to do was pretend they weren’t hiding from a madman and running for their lives.

All she had to do was ignore reality and watch Grayson as he settled on the chair next to her and devoured his breakfast.

All she had to do was ignore the fear seeping back into her consciousness like tiny needles crawling up her spine.