“Jason,” she keened.

He grabbed her hips tighter, his fingers biting. “I know,” he panted. “Another deep breath. We’re so good together. Once you let me in, I’m going to fuck you deep and make you feel so good. Just let me…yeah. Like that,” he groaned as he slid completely inside her. “Oh, baby.”

Gia grabbed his shoulders and mewled, moving in perfect rhythm underneath him.

“You feel so damn good. I couldn’t think about anything all day but you.” He caressed her lush ass and withdrew in a torturously slow stroke.

“I imagined this,” she moaned. “I fantasized about us.”

Her pleading expression fueled his urge to thrust deep once more. His need to spur her climax drove him to action. Once he finished, he intended to do it again and again until they were sated and spent and smiling.

Determined, he shoved deep inside her once more. This time, submerging was as easy as diving into a warm pool of water.

“Please.” Her nails bit into him. “It feels so...”

“Perfect. Yeah.” He thrust a fist in Gia’s silky dark hair and fastened his mouth to hers, drinking her in and filling her every way he could.

Her whimper made him harder. His balls tightened and his heart twisted. He did his level best to undo her one relentless thrust at a time. Her spice filled his nostrils. She made love the way she lived life, with caring and honesty—throwing her whole self into it. Her pussy clung to him, as if she couldn’t bear for him to leave her for even a moment. The sensations had him flirting with orgasm. And with every thrust, he only craved her more.

Gia tore her lips from his with a gasp. “Faster. Harder!”

Normally, he didn’t take orders well from anyone, especially a submissive. But tonight, he couldn’t disagree. “Hold on.”

Jason slammed back inside her, deeper than he could ever remember being. His cock prodded her cervix. Her nails clawed his back. She cried out in pleasure. He set up a merciless rhythm, chasing their pleasure until his heart pounded in his ears and his legs trembled. Fuck, he wasn’t going to last, and he had to make sure that she didn’t either.

Jason slid his hand between them, fingertips circling her clit. Gia tightened and clawed at him, her cunt clamping down. She blinked up and held her breath, silently begging, every muscle braced in anticipation. Then she wailed out her climax. The sound bounced off the tile walls and floors, ringing in his ears. He wanted more of that.

“Come for me, baby. Yes…” he groaned as she sucked him deeper. “So. Fucking. Good.”

As her peak stretched on, unrestrained and beautiful, his spine tingled, his balls tightened. Jason’s self-control broke.

He wanted to be the man who gave her more pleasure than she’d ever known, the person she turned to when she needed someone to laugh with, someone’s hand to hold, someone to share her tears. Whatever it took, whatever energy he had to expend or money he had to burn, he would be that man for her.

With a last long stroke, Jason centered his world entirely on Gia and let go. Her scent filled him. Her flesh surrounded him. His heart beat with hers as he shouted her name in a hoarse groan and gave her everything.

Chapter Five

Nine days later

Gia padded down the stairs, weak morning sunlight drizzling into the kitchen through the thick clouds. Mid-November had turned a bit cooler, and she curled her arms around herself, huddling in Jason’s T-shirt, wishing she’d donned warmer clothes. Then again, he’d take them off in nothing flat. After all, she didn’t need a stitch in bed.

As she landed in the big open space of the first floor, she found him pacing the great room wearing a pair of sweat shorts. He’d doffed his nylon tank and slung it over one thick shoulder as he pressed the phone to his ear. Even the sight of him made her tingle like a girl in the throes of her first crush.

“I need a report,” he demanded as he stared out the window.

Residual sweat from his workout slicked his wavy hair from his face. The muscles of his back rippled and moved every time he shifted his weight, breathed—or made an angry gesture with his arm, as he did now.

“What do you mean there’s no progress? That’s not acceptable.” Jason paused. “Time is the one thing I lack, so don’t tell me to be patient. It’s been a week. If we’re not getting results, we need another tactic.”

He walked to the other end of the room, toward the front door. Gia continued to gawk. His broad shoulders tapered into a lean waist, narrow hips, and muscled legs. The thin fabric of his shorts clung to his incredibly appealing backside. He had an athlete’s body, one he pushed to its full potential nearly every morning in the gym downstairs. Today, he’d added extra cardio, making love to her before his workout until she’d screamed—repeatedly.

“You’re asking me for suggestions? Isn’t this your area of expertise?” Jason opened the front door, and his Wall Street Journal waited there. He bent to retrieve the paper and clenched it in his fist. “Do you need more money?”

The party on the other line said something, and Jason tensed even more.

“Then I don’t want to hear excuses. Solve the problem.” He turned just enough to reveal a chiseled profile and his flush of quiet rage. “You’ve got seventy-two hours before I cut you loose and find someone who can do what I’ve asked.”

Her husband conducted business full throttle. She’d been privy to a few of his calls. It shocked her that he spoke fluent Japanese, at least when it came to money management. Whoever he talked to now didn’t quite understand that Jason was used to getting what he wanted and would drive hard until he got it.

That described their relationship. She’d been trying to hold her heart separate from her body, but every night Jason rocketed her to the stars, urging her on and up until she was spent and dizzy. Then he held her close, their hearts beating together, until she wondered if she could separate from him again without crumbling.

For so long, Gia had coped by dealing with only the most pressing issues. The future and its associated problems, she’d shoved into a mental compartment marked “later” and locked away. Little by little, Jason pounded at her mental safety barriers like a battering ram. Gia felt perilously close to caving in. The possibility of parting ways with him for good on their anniversary filled Gia with dread.

“Try that. Spreading the word is critical, but do it carefully,” he insisted, then turned back toward the kitchen. The moment he spotted her, his eyes darkened. “I’ll have to call you back.” Jason didn’t wait for a reply. He simply hung up. “Good morning.”

“Morning.” The word came out breathy, and she kicked herself. She sounded almost as love struck as she felt. A man like Jason could use her feelings to wring all the sex and devotion from her he desired.

Would giving in be so bad? He no longer seemed to want revenge or simply to bang her out of his system. In fact, the way he talked to and touched her, studied her, and spooned her each night made her wonder if he had something else entirely in mind.

A shiver wracked her, part cold, part desire as she remembered how he’d bent her over the sofa last night to pump her with ferocious strokes of his thick cock as they looked out over the city’s glittering lights. He’d growled in her ear that he craved her—and that she belonged here with him always.

It wasn’t smart, but her body had flowed with his, her pleasure rolling up to him like the ocean at high tide. And damn it if her heart hadn’t yearned to stop resisting and surrender.

“Sleep well?” he asked.

“Yes.” She always did when she curled up beside him. “You?”

Jason smiled faintly. “A few hours. You know me.”

She did. Mentally restless, he always worked on ways to make money grow or plot some business scheme to his advantage. Gia knew damn well his thoughts were hardly limited to commerce and interest rates. Every day he found some new way to engage her until she felt like the most interesting topic he wrapped his thoughts around. When Jason focused on something, he did it with single-minded fervor, and she couldn’t deny how much she loved being the center of his attention.

If she could experience that every single day, it would be a dream come true. Then again, hadn’t hoping for the fairy-tale ending and ignoring reality landed her in this mess?

Gia averted her gaze. “I can make breakfast this morning. What would you like?”

“No worries. I had a few things delivered. I’ve got fabulous breakfast burritos in the warming drawer and fresh fruit in the fridge. Give me a minute, and I’ll have a surprise, too.”

He never let her lift a finger. The pampering had been nice at first. Now, she felt without direction. Even if she wasn’t staying forever, she had to contribute. “You know, I’m not useless.”

He frowned. “Of course not. You’re very capable.”

“But you see to everything around here. Why won’t you let me pitch in? I cook, Jason. I clean. I do laundry. I can even garden.”

“But you don’t have to. I employ people. Let them do their jobs. You’re here to focus on us.”

“I have. But what’s the point of me having nothing to do? If it’s to take a vacation, believe me, I haven’t slept this much in a year. I haven’t eaten this much ever. I’m ready to be productive again. You’re still conducting business. Since you don’t want me working on my brother’s case, at least let me contribute in some way.”

He sent her a sly grin with a flash of white teeth. “If you think you’re not playing a vital role, let me assure you otherwise.”

“By being available for sex?”

The smile fell off his face, replaced by a chilly warning. “By being my wife.”

Suddenly, his ploy made sense. “You’re trying to show me how you envision every day of our married lives.”

On the one hand, she was more than a little touched. On the other, she couldn’t live this way. Did Jason think that the “job” he paid her for in luxuries and physical pleasure was to be at his carnal beck and call?

He stiffened. “Would that be so terrible?”

“So if we stayed married, you’d insist I hang around and be available whenever you wanted me naked? I wouldn’t do anything vital, like work?”

“I would take care of you in every way. Keep you safe, adored, and—”

“Bored out of my damn mind.” She gaped at him. “I need purpose.”

He stalked closer, eyes narrowed. “You came here exhausted and half starved. If that’s what ‘purpose’ does to you, I won’t tolerate it. I’m not expecting you to do nothing. I understand you’re a determined woman with goals. I know your submissive nature drives you to help others. You’ve given a lot to your family. That’s admirable. But you can’t do it all at your own expense, Gia. Let me help you. Why should you give up food and sleep when I can provide them so easily and let you turn your attention to something else important?”

A half dozen relevant responses raced through her head. Her family wasn’t his responsibility. But they’d already had that argument. She understood his point. They hadn’t been married long, but did the length of time matter? Spouses were supposed to be partners in life. If her mother ever needed help and didn’t tell her father, he’d be very hurt. Fine. Message received.

Naturally, Jason didn’t want her important task to have anything to do with bringing Tony’s killer to justice. Hunting Ricky Wayman down alone and cuffing him would bring her immense satisfaction…but the task was dangerous almost to the point of suicidal. And in the back of her head, Gia worried that even if she could manage to arrest the thug and a grand jury indicted him, the trial wouldn’t see right served. Her brother’s former partner, Patrick, had quickly recanted his statement that pinned the blame for Tony’s murder on Wayman, so she couldn’t rely on the lone eyewitness account to convict him. But last week she’d learned from another friend in the precinct that Patrick had bought a fancy new boat this past spring. She could guess where that money had come from, and it left a bitter taste in her mouth. She’d called Internal Affairs to report the incident, but hadn’t yet heard a thing. Frustration was setting in.

If Jason didn’t see her filling Tony’s shoes again to care for Mila and the kids, and if she accepted that trying to bring Wayman to trial might be exasperating—not to mention risky—where did her husband think that left her? Just a guess, but she figured he would be much happier if she didn’t strap on a badge and gun every day and patrol the streets of South Dallas. Gia had mixed feelings about that.

“I appreciate what you’re saying,” she began. “I just don’t know where that leaves me.”

Jason didn’t answer immediately, and she tensed, watching him open the warming drawer under the oven with a couple of breakfast burritos inside. “Bacon or sausage?”