Connor jerked awake. The pile of papers he was resting on fluttered to the floor, and a pen he’d been using to underline anything that caught his eye clattered lightly as it hit the floor. He looked over at where he’d last seen Scarlett. He didn’t know who had fallen asleep first, but somewhere along the line, they’d both succumbed. She was slumped in an armchair, her head falling back, a stapled bunch of papers still sitting in her lap and a computer balanced precariously on a side table next to her.

He stood, muscles cramping, and reached his arms up to the ceiling, stretching so hard that his vision blacked out for a few seconds. He grabbed at the edge of the table for support. God, how long had they been asleep?

They’d arrived home just before lunch and had spent the rest of the afternoon chasing after Scarlett’s lead. When daylight had started leaching from the sky, he’d paused long enough to order a large pizza, the remains of which sat in a greasy mess still in the box on the floor near the couch. After that, things became more of a blur.

A beer bottle sat in front of where he’d been napping, but one wasn’t enough to send him to sleep. Connor pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned on the screen. Two a.m. Okay, that would explain it. With the near-constant calls and . . . ahem, other things . . . he and Scarlett had both had seriously little sleep in the last week. It seemed that with pizza and a beer in his belly, sitting and reading police reports had finally been enough to make him succumb to sleep.

He pushed the chair back, wincing when the legs scraped across the floor. It was barely a noise, but in the quiet of the apartment, it seemed to echo off the walls. Scarlett jerked awake. She repeated his earlier motions, eyes narrowing when she realized they’d fallen asleep. “What time is it?”

Connor gathered up the papers he’d be napping on, stacking them in a haphazard pile. He’d deal with it in the morning. “Just after two in the morning,”

Scarlett rubbed at her eyes and stood, but instead of heading to the bedroom she turned back into the kitchen. “You want a fresh coffee?”

She couldn’t be serious. She’d been working practically non-stop for over a week, hadn’t even taken a day off when she’d been shot, for God’s sake. Connor wanted to catch these assholes just as much as Scarlett, but he wasn’t going to stand by and watch her run herself into the ground in the process. He followed her into the kitchen, wrapping his arms around her waist, smiling when she dropped her head back on his shoulder. Damn, it felt good to just hold her, to be trusted enough that she’d let him be there, to take comfort in him. Connor just hoped she’d still be talking to him when he did what he was going to do next. Instead of wrapping his hands around her, he reached out and laid his hands gently over hers, stopping the motion of filling the coffee filter. Scarlett turned her head and looked up at him, her eyebrows furrowed, and he leaned forward and dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose. “Sleep time, Gorgeous, before you fall over.”

Scarlett slipped her hands out from under his. “I’m f—”

Connor smiled. “You’re fine, I know. You’ve also had about five hours sleep the last two nights combined.” She opened her mouth to rebut, but he continued. “I know, I was there.”

Scarlett’s eyes rolled skyward, but she couldn’t keep the smile from her face. “My not sleeping last night was all your fault,” she said.

He bent over and swept an arm under her knees, his smile widening at the small shriek Scarlett let out as he picked her up. Leaving the coffee half-prepped on the kitchen counter, Connor turned and walked out of the kitchen and down the hall, ignoring the mess on the dining table, too. It would all still be there when the sun was up. For now, his girl needed to rest. “As I recall,” he said as he pushed open the bedroom door with his foot, “you started it.”

Scarlett giggled as he laid her on the bed. Connor stepped back and stripped off his shirt. He was toeing off his jeans when he looked up, the sight before him taking his breath away. Scarlett had also disrobed for bed, but instead of stopping at her underwear, as he’d planned to do, she’d stripped naked. She lay stretched out on the bed, her eyes hooded and pupils dilated. Her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip, and he groaned out loud. A grin spread across her face. “Think I can convince you again?”

Connor fell onto the bed, pulling her body flush against his, and took her mouth in a long, searing kiss. His tongue thrust into her mouth in imitation to what his dick wanted. Fuck, with just one look at her naked body, he was so hard he could pound nails. His cotton boxer briefs were no match for his erection, his cock fighting its way out the waistband.

Scarlett reached her hand out and pushed them down over his hips, wrapping her hand around his cock. Pleasure rushed through him, and his lips faltered, nipping Scarlett softly on her bottom lip. She responded by gripping him harder and moving her hand up and down his length, twisting her fist at the top around the sensitive crown. “Fuck, yes, Baby, just like that.” His mouth fell away from hers as he groaned, and with a few more strokes, Connor felt a shudder run over his body, and his balls pulled up tight. There was no way he was coming until he was buried deep inside her.

Scarlett seemed to read his mind as her hand moved to his chest, pushing him back to lie flat on the bed. The blood pulsed through his veins, heating his body and making his cock lengthen further as he watched her swing lithely over his thighs. She rested her hands on his chest, toying with the flat disc of his nipples while she ground herself over him. Her eyes glazed over as she took pleasure for herself. A bead of precum leaked from his dick at the sight. Damn, there was nothing hotter than watching Scarlett using him to get herself off. Her breasts swung gently as she moved over him, and Connor couldn’t resist touching her. He took one in each hand, tweaking the tight buds of her nipples and reveling in the way his touch made her move faster, harder, over him.

She leaned down, touching her lips to his, and Connor moved one hand to the back of her head to hold her to him as he assaulted her mouth. He felt wetness slick against his skin where she was taking her pleasure, and he gripped her hair as his hips thrust forward, moving without conscious thought. God, he needed to be inside her, or he was going to come all over his abs. “Ride me.” His voice was gruff, deepened with arousal.

Scarlett’s eyes gleamed at his request, and her hand snaked in between them, gripping him again as she continued to grind against his thigh. A litany of curse words fell from his lips as pleasure flooded through him. The sight of her positioned over him, working him up to a frenzy while taking her own pleasure was almost overwhelming. “Gonna come if you don’t stop,” he muttered even as he thrust into her hand.

Connor grit his teeth, but perhaps mercifully, her hand fell away. He sucked in a breath, forcing himself to hang on long enough to give her the bliss she deserved before he blew his load like he was nineteen all over again. His relief was short lived, as Scarlett rose on one knee and then gripped him again, this time guiding the tip of him inside her. Moisture coated his dick as she slid it through her folds, and when he slid inside her, his head fell back against the bed as heat enveloped him. Connor didn’t take his eyes off her as she rose on her knees before sinking down again, taking more of him inside.

Finally, after three exquisite passes, she sat down on his thighs as his length slid balls deep inside her. His hands flew to her hips, gripping tightly as he resisted the urge to thrust up into her. This was Scarlett’s show, but God, how he was enjoying the view.

Her hands moved to his shoulders as she leaned forward and began to move, impaling herself on his cock over and over. Moans and grunts fell from both their lips. Connor raised his head and felt his balls tighten again at the sight of his dick disappearing into her pussy, the shaft glistening with her juices as she raised up to withdraw him almost to the tip, only to slam herself back down against him. Her fingers ran through his hair, tightening their grip as she slammed her lips against his. Connor couldn’t resist any longer, and his hips punched upward, meeting her thrust for thrust as their tongues tangled together.

Scarlett moved upright and her head flew back, and Connor’s hand tightened on her breast as he pushed up inside her, as deep as he could go. The wet heat and pressure on his dick filled him with an intense need to come, but he almost never wanted it to end, the expression of bliss on Scarlett’s face as she fucked him just about the best thing he’d ever seen. Trying to slow things down, he sat up, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to his chest as he kissed her again. Not willing to forgo moving entirely, he thrust up inside her almost leisurely, stroking the walls of her pussy in slow, even measure as his mouth kissed and licked every part of her he could reach.

Before long, the pressure in his balls grew again and he had to move. Keeping his arms wrapped around her, Connor lowered them down on the bed, lying on his side with her tucked up against him, her back to his chest. A dreamy look spread over Scarlett’s face as she dropped her knees to the bed, opening herself on display for him. That was all the invitation he needed. Connor rose to his knees and gripped her hips, lifting her up to rest on his lap, and then thrust into her pussy in one deep stroke. A cry of pleasure tore from her mouth as he pushed in, and he felt her pussy ripple around him. Thank God, she was as close as he was. Taking her hands in his and entwining their fingers, he held them out beside her head on the bed as he moved within her, fast and deep. At the beginning, watching Scarlett take her own pleasure was as hot as hell, and this position was more of the same. Holding her beneath him as he thrust furiously was almost enough to make his eyes roll back in his head. His orgasm threatened, and Connor moved one hand to her clit, rubbing furiously as he pounded into her core.

Scarlett’s moans quickly turned to cries, short and breathy, as he pushed so deep inside her, her body nearly moved up the bed. He felt her pussy tighten around him, and he couldn’t take another second. Bracing himself with his foot, he pushed as deep as he could go and held himself against her, grunting his pleasure as he followed her over the cliff into ecstasy.

* * *

The next time Connor opened his eyes, the sun had breached the horizon and was filtering in through the blinds. His body was a little sluggish from only a few hours’ sleep, and for a moment, he wasn’t sure what had awakened him.

Scarlett was lying tucked up to him, her head on his shoulder and one arm flung across his chest. She was entirely relaxed, still asleep and breathing deeply, her hair a complete mess from their earlier lovemaking. Sleeping and sated, she was absolutely gorgeous. Her face looked as though she didn’t have a care in the world and Connor didn’t want to change that by waking her.

It was still early. They could catch a few more hours sleep before he’d have to get out of bed and face reality beyond finally having Scarlett in his bed. He was hopeful that this time, she’d stick around. Whatever had been making her keep her distance from any kind of relationship seemed to have melted away, a fact for which he was supremely grateful.

He moved his hand to gently caress and then rest on her hip, his eyes just drifting shut again when a low buzzing noise entered his consciousness. Connor ignored it. The feel of her silky skin beneath her fingers as her chest moved slowly up and down against his side was the best feeling on earth. The only thing annoying him was the constant buzzing coming from the side table, like a gnat that wouldn’t stop sounding right near his ear.

Still half-asleep, Connor reached out a hand to swat it away. When his hand came into contact with wood and then smooth metal, his eyes flew open. Wincing as he was forced to twist his body to grab the offending object, he hoped Scarlett would stay snoozing. When he read the screen, however, he huffed out a breath. As much as he didn’t want to, he needed to wake her. He had a feeling the person on the other end was going to keep calling until she answered.

He laid the offending object down on the bed and nudged her gently, then ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it back from where it had fallen across her face. The phone fell silent for a few moments before the incessant buzzing started up again. Glaring at it, Connor leaned forward and dropped a kiss on Scarlett’s forehead. “Gotta wake up, Sweetheart. Your boss won’t stop calling.”

A frown on her face, Scarlett’s eyes opened a crack at first, but then flew open wide as Connor’s words sunk in. She snatched up the offered cell as he held it out and clicked to answer. “Morning, sir.”

Connor watched as a myriad of emotions passed over her face. First Scarlett becoming more alert as she woke up properly, then curious, followed by puzzlement, incredulity, and lastly pissed the hell off. He reached out a hand to hold hers, but she moved away and stood, pacing across the room, her face growing grim. Every instinct in Connor was set alight, and his hands clenched the sheets as a poor substitute for being able to hold Scarlett and protect her against whatever the hell had put that look on her face.

A few moments later, she hung up her cell, but before he could speak, she launched it across the room. It hit the headboard and then bounced back onto the bed. Fortunately, the phone was still in one piece. Could Connor still say that about Scarlett?

He stood and walked over to her, opening his arms and enveloping her. Her body was tense for a long time, but she finally relaxed a little into the embrace. Her hands, however, stayed balled into fists, her jaw tight even as he brushed a hand up and down her back. Connor looked down at her, the storm still written all over her face. “Want to talk about it?”

She pulled away and moved to the bed, sitting to yank on her pants. Connor’s borrowed shirt followed, then she stood, likely hunting for her shoes. He stood, waiting for her to tell him what she needed, but it looked like it wasn’t going to happen. He strode over to her and took her hands in his, forcing her to stop for just a second. He looked into her gaze, hating the feeling in his gut when he saw her eyes. She was still furious, that much was obvious, but hurt simmered there, too, and they shimmered as if she was holding back tears. “Scarlett. You’re scaring me. What can I do to help?”

“Absolutely nothing,” she ground out, fire burning in her eyes again as she spat out the words. “I’m off the damn case.”