Finally…finally…that was all Finn could think as they tumbled through the door of the little guesthouse. Finally he could touch Lisa the way he wanted, without holding back any of his wild lust for her. As soon as the door thudded shut behind them, he whirled against the wall and kissed her with the intensity of a tornado. He ran his hands down her sides, reveling in the feel of every sweet curve.

He cupped his hands around her ass, digging his fingers into her firm flesh. God, she felt good. Better than he’d even imagined all those nights. He pulled her legs around his waist, bracing his thighs to hold her up.

The sound of her rapid panting in his ear made his pulse rev even higher. “God, I’ve been craving this moment for so long,” he groaned. “I have no control over myself. I want to just touch you everywhere. All at once.”

A tremor ran through her body. “Me too. My God. This is insane.” Surprising him, she wriggled from his grasp. “You can’t hold me up like this. What about your scars?”

“Don’t even feel ’em. What do you think all that training’s for?” He helped himself to a handful of her long hair. It slid through his fingers in a silky waterfall. “But that’s fine, I can adjust. Come on. Bedroom. Let’s go.” He tugged her hair back, gratified to see her eyes haze over with the same lust raging through his system.

“Make me,” she murmured.

“Is that a challenge?”

“It’s whatever you want it to be.”

He walked her backwards in the direction of the bedroom. All day long he’d been thinking about the fact that she’d slept in his bedroom. He’d pictured her naked body against his sheets, her hair spread out on his pillows, her skin flushed with sleep. “I think it’s an invitation. I think it’s you wanting me as much as I want you.”

“Maybe even more,” she teased, gliding her hand down to his crotch. He groaned loudly, the sheer pleasure of her touch almost too much to bear. She ran one finger under the waistband of his jeans. “Why don’t you check and see?”

He did as she said, sliding his hand between her leggings and her soft, sweet pussy. “Oh my God. No underwear.”

“I haven’t had a chance to open my new undies yet.”

He maneuvered her through the open door of his bedroom. “It’s too late now.”

Her legs hit the edge of the bed. She sat down abruptly, then lay back. He bent over her, lifting her legs as if she were a doll. He peeled off her leggings then tossed them over his shoulder. He gazed down at her bare legs and the soft nest of hair at the juncture of her thighs, so dark against her pale skin.

She laughed self-consciously. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“You do?”

“You’re thinking ‘there’s no way she comes from Texas. She must be the palest person in the Southwest. Everyone always laughs at me.”

“That’s not even close to what I’m thinking. I’m thinking you’re fucking beautiful and there’s a strong chance I’m hallucinating this entire thing.” As she laughed, he put one knee on the edge of the bed between her thighs. “But you still have too many clothes on. I really need that t-shirt back, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is. You take in a helpless fire victim, clothe her, then take it all back. Nice going, hotshot.”

He snorted loudly as he lifted the shirt over her head. “Helpless fire victim? Not hardly. I’m the helpless victim in this scenario.”

“Excuse me? How are you a victim?” She spoke from behind the fabric. When her head popped free, static electricity clung to the long strands of her hair, plastering them against her face. She tried to push them away from her eyes, blinking madly. She was so adorable, his heart hurt.

“Because from the first moment I saw you, I couldn’t think of anything else. That’s still true. You keep pushing me away, but it doesn’t make any difference. I’m starting to feel sorry for myself, I really am.”

“Oh stop.” She reached for him with a soft look in her eyes. “Does it look like I’m pushing you away? Come here.”

He braced himself over her while she ran her hands up and down his arms. She didn’t even flinch when she passed the ridge of scar tissue along his right biceps. Something in him relaxed, and he realized he’d been holding on to the fear that his scars made him sexually unappealing. He hadn’t slept with anyone since the burnover.

But Lisa was touching him as if she couldn’t get enough. She pulled off his t-shirt and feasted her eyes on his torso. Her hands ran across his abdomen, dipping between the ridges of muscle, making him go hard as a fricking rock. Then she planted a hand on his chest and pushed him into an upright position. “You can come back down here when your pants are gone.”

He snorted. “You’re kind of a mean nurse, you know that?”

“Nurses always know best,” she tossed back, all saucy. In mock revenge, he lifted her foot to his mouth and nipped her big toe.

“No arguments here.” He nibbled her foot until she squirmed and gasped. Then he released her foot and dropped his hands to the waistband of his jeans. His cock was so engorged with arousal that he actually had trouble with the zipper. He struggled with it, finally managing to get it over the massive bulge underneath. “If I injure myself because I’m so turned on, you’ll take care of me, right?”

She laughed, a flush coming and going in her cheeks.

Finally the zipper slid down and he shucked his jeans and underwear. He stood naked before her in all his scarred, aroused glory.

She scanned his body, the moment stretching until it felt endless. A faint trace of smoke still clung to them both, and it mingled with the perpetual potpourri smell of the guesthouse. He realized that from now on, for the rest of his life, this smell would bring back this exact moment. The moment when he and Lisa were completely naked together for the very first time.

“I don’t want to rush you, but there’s an urgent situation I need to address.” He slid back over her body, hovering over her the way he had before. But now, with no clothes on, the electricity crackling between them felt a hundred times more intense.

Her dark gaze captured his, so he felt like he was falling, falling. “I just want you to know that I don’t usually do this.”

“This?” He lowered his head so he could touch his tongue to her nipple. She trembled as he circled it tenderly, using the sharp point of his tongue to tease the little nub into a hard peak.

“Or maybe this?” He moved to the other nipple. She tasted so sweet against his tongue that he lost track of time as he lavished attention on her beautiful breasts, with their deep red areolas and responsive tips.

He didn’t stop until she was squirming and moving her legs restlessly against his. He shifted lower down on her body, nipping his way along her torso, tasting the softness of her belly, the sleek curve of her ribs.

She whimpered and dug her fingers into his hair. “Finn, we don’t need foreplay. I’m ready. I want you. I want this.”

“You keep saying that.” He reached her intimate curls and dropped a kiss on the downy mound. “I’m just trying to figure out what ‘this’ is. Is it maybe something like…” He set his hands on her upper thighs and spread them open. The glisten of moisture between her legs went right to his head, and he had to take a deep breath. His erection pounded with arousal. He wanted her with every cell of his body. But he wanted to make this so spectacular she’d never want anyone else.

So he dipped his head to her clit, using the gentle, warm pressure of his tongue until he felt it swell. She tasted so amazing, like honey and passion all intermingled in one intoxicating flavor. He lapped at her, exploring with his tongue and lips and mouth. Her hips were making little bucking motions and her inner thighs trembled. The muscles strained against his grip, but he held firm. He wasn’t ready to end this feasting yet. He loved this, loved having her open beneath him, loved hearing her soft whimpers and moans.

“Finn,” she begged. “Please, Finn, please.”

He loved that even more. His name on her full lips, the heavy flush in her pale skin, the dark wine of her nipples standing at attention. She was a feast for every one of his senses.

Then her movements got more rapid as she pushed against his mouth. She wanted to come. She was ready to come. And he could explode right this second. Instead, he stayed with her on her roller-coaster ride to orgasm. He increased the friction and pressure of his tongue, moved with her rhythm, tuning into the speed she wanted. He felt as if all his senses were synced with her, and all he had to do was listen, watch, smell, respond, touch, lick, gorge, and hang on for the ride when she cried out and arched against him.

Looking up, he drank in the dazed expression on her face, the rise and fall of her chest. Even though his cock ached with need, he knew this was what he really wanted. This intimacy, this closeness. He wanted to reach past her defenses and make her come apart. He’d wanted her to fly free and forget all the worries that made her keep her distance.

“Wow,” she finally murmured. “That was…thank you.”

He smiled. He could still taste her sweetness on his tongue. “My pleasure. Seriously. You have no idea what a pleasure it was.”

He rolled over and rested his head on his bent arm. His cock brushed against her hip, make it ache even more painfully. Seriously, he’d have to get the thing looked at if the pressure didn’t get relieved soon. But his satisfaction could wait. He wanted her to come again, maybe a couple of times, before he took his own release. He wanted this to be the best ever for her. The kind of “best” she’d never forget.

If he had to bury his cock in an ice bucket to bring down his erection, he would.

She rolled over onto her side and frowned at him. Not the reaction he was expecting. “Don’t you have a condom around?”

“I do.” He grinned at her. “But maybe I’m not done making you come yet.”

She sat up, her hair falling around her shoulders. A damp sheen of sweat covered her chest. “Half an hour ago you looked like you might explode if we didn’t go to bed.”

“I can control myself.”

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and would have jumped off if he hadn’t wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Hang on, buttercup. What’s going on here?”

She kept her back to him. “I thought you wanted me.”

“Have you seen my hard-on? Fuck yes, I want you. Why would you have a single second of doubt?” Just to prove it, he took her hand and wrapped it around his cock, even though there was a big risk he’d come all over her hand if it moved so much as a millimeter. “Yeah, I want you. Like crazy. I might lose it if you so much as breathe on me. So what’s the problem? Walk me through it.”

She took her hand away and scooted around to face him. “This doesn’t feel right, Finn. You’re trying to prove something to me. You’re trying to impress me with what an amazing lover you are. The Mighty Finn.”

His jaw clenched tight. “That’s not me anymore. I just want this to be good for you.”

“Finn, listen to me. I don’t want to be impressed. I want you. When we came in here, I thought you were going to take me against the wall. And I wanted that.”

She put her hand back on his cock and slid it lightly up and down the length of his erection. He gritted his teeth to keep his focus.

“But honey, you deserve more than some screw against the wall. You’ve been through a lot the past couple of days. I wanted this to be incredible. Something you’ll never forget.”

Was he apologizing for that? Christ, she had him all mixed up. And all he could think about was her hand on his cock. Focusing on her face, her words, was nearly impossible.

She scooted on her knees right up close to him and smoothed her hands gently down his shoulders, his upper arms. “It was incredible. You’re incredible. But this is sex, not romance. I can’t start a romance right now. My life is nuts. You’ve seen it yourself. I have to figure out what I’m doing, where I’m going, how to handle this mess I’m in.”

He started to speak, but she put a finger on his lips.

“I want hot, reckless, crazy sex. I want to get down and dirty and wicked and wild. I want you to lose your mind like I just did.”

She gripped his cock again and ran her thumb around the tip. His eyes nearly crossed from the blinding pleasure of it. It blocked the sting of her words about “no romance.” That hurt, he couldn’t lie. But right now, with her hand on his shaft, he was fine leaving that conversation for another day. Now that he had her in bed, he could work on the rest of it.

“Lose my mind,” he murmured. “I can do that.” He reached for her, but she held up a hand to show she wasn’t finished.

“Also—stop treating me like some fragile person who just lost her entire home and all her possessions and is really quite frankly kind of pathetic.”

He stared at her. Message received. Lisa was a strong, resilient, kickass, sexy woman who gave as good as she got. And damn it, he’d give it to her.

“I think I’ve heard enough here.” He flipped her onto her back. She squeaked in surprise, eyes going wide.

He reached for the nightstand next to the four-poster bed and felt around for a condom. “If I want to try to impress you, I’ll do it. If I want to make you come before I get a chance to put on a condom, I’ll do it.” He rolled the condom onto his dick. “I don’t think you’re pathetic, you haven’t lost all your possessions, and I don’t think you’re fragile. But if I want to help you stay safe, I’m going to fucking do it.”

She stared up at him, her pupils so dilated her eyes looked midnight black. “Unless I tell you to fuck off.”

“Right.” He hefted his cock in one hand. With the other, he stroked the insides of her thighs and across her soft mound, still damp from her orgasm. “So what’s it going to be? Can we fuck? Or should I fuck off?”

She burst into laughter even as her legs fell open under his touch. “You really have a way with words, you know that?”

“Words are just one of my talents. Make the call. Because if I wait another goddamn second to get inside you, I will lose my mind.” His blood pounded in his ears, his cock pulsed inside its latex sheath.

“Fuck me,” she whispered. “Fuck me the way you want to. However you want.”

Like water bursting through a dam, his control snapped. He spread her legs apart. He touched her clit with the pad of his thumb, feeling an answering pulse of heat. Still wet, still juicy and swollen. Grabbing onto every last bit of his willpower, he inserted the tip of his cock inside her and gritted his teeth against the intense pleasure. Don’t come, don’t come. Hang on, you motherfucker.

He must have muttered part of that out loud. “What did you call me?”

“Nothing. I was talking to myself. God, you feel good. Fuck.”

She arched back so he could ease himself into her, inch by thick inch. “Do you always swear this much during sex?” she gasped.

“Fuck if I know.”

She choked out a laugh as he seated himself fully inside the deep warmth of her channel. The walls fluttered around him, little pulses surrounding him with electric thrills. “Goddamn,” he breathed.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Her head fell back on his comforter. He bent her legs back toward her chest and put his hands on her knees so he could deepen his strokes. Her breath came fast. Her eyelids closed halfway, her lips parted. She was a wet dream spread out beneath him.

And he couldn’t hold back. He pumped into her, dizzy with pleasure from the tight clasp of her body and the way she met each thrust with a tilt of her hips.

“I’m not going to last long.” His vision went starry at the edges. “Fuck, Lisa. You feel so good. So damn good.”

And then he was plunging down the final drop of the roller coaster, going faster and faster, the wind rushing past his face, pleasure jolting through his spine, and when she stiffened and cried out, he lost it. He detonated into a blinding, soaring orgasm, almost like a leap off a cliff at the end of a bungee cord. Even when it seemed to end, the spasms kept coming, little aftershocks of ecstasy. He kept his eyes shut tight. He wanted to collapse on top of her, but he didn’t want it to be over.

Because with Lisa, there was never any guarantee there’d be a next time.