“Okay.” I let my head fall back against the bed’s headboard and clench the phone so tightly my knuckles turn white. “This is a really big change. Is there a reason for it?”

“You’re a pilot,” the manager on the other end of the call snaps. “You don’t have to worry about why you’re being told to fly somewhere. The only thing you have to do is concentrate on getting the plane there on time. Got it?”

“Yes, sir,” I respond. The amount of restraint it takes for me not to tell the guy to take a flying leap while fucking himself causes acid to churn in my gut.

“The computer says you’re flying with a new co-pilot,” the voice says.

“I am.”

“I don’t want to have to make this call twice, so make sure you tell them about the change in plans.”

In other words, he wants me to do his job for him. Typical. Sometimes it seems like every single person on the Northwest management team refuses to anything but the absolute minimum. Why make a two-minute phone call to Ronan when it’s far easier to have me do it?

“Is there anything else?” I force the words out from between gritted teeth.

“If there is, I’ll let you know.” Without another word, he disconnects the call.

“Bastard!” I toss my cell phone on the bedside table. If I didn’t need this job and wasn’t afraid that the company would sue me for breach of contract, I’d quit today. It’s simply not possible that any of the other airlines have the same haphazard, misogynistic management as Northwest. Working for them is more hassle than it’s worth.

Speaking of hassle …

I glance at the closed bathroom door. The sound of running water drifts through it. I bite my lip and try to work out my thoughts about Ronan.

I don’t regret sleeping with him. But … I’m not at all sure how I’m supposed to face him. I’ve had a few bouts of casual sex in my life, but none have been as intense as what I experienced with Ronan, and it’s always been with guys that I knew I was never going to see again. Those kinds of nights I know how to handle. What I don’t know is how to deal with a guy who I’ve slept with, had the best sex of my life with, and still have to work with for at least a few more weeks.

Based on how well he flew yesterday and since I doubt he’s signed a contract, I don’t expect him to stick with Northwest once we return to the States. He’s going to jump ship and move onto one of the bigger and better airlines. Lucky bastard.

The sound of running water ends. A few seconds later, the bathroom door swings open and Ronan steps into view.

My mouth goes dry and all thought flees my brain.

Ronan in Northwest’s ugly flight suit looked far better than anyone has a right to. Last night, wearing nothing but shadows and a few narrow bands of moonlight, he was a thing of beauty. Right now, with a bright white towel riding low on his hips, his short dark hair slicked down against his skull, and water droplets clinging desperately to his skin, he looks like a Greek god.

His eyes meet mine and brighten. His mouth stretches into a wide smile.

He walks across the short distance that separates the bed from the bathroom. “Good morning.”

I’m way too distracted by his appearance to be able to answer.

Acting more on instinct than anything else, I crawl across the mattress toward him. His gaze bores into me as I hook a finger around the top edge of the towel and tug. It unwinds and pools on the floor around his ankles.

My breath quickens as I stare at his male glory. “Beautiful,” I whisper.

He inhales sharply and tenses as I close my mouth over him.

“Dear God,” he hisses, sounding almost like he’s in pain, even as his fingers tangle in my hair and hold me in place.

Heart pounding wildly, I moan around him as his hips make a shallow rolling motion, lightly thrusting against me.

The tip of his cock pushes against the back of my throat as I roll my eyes upward just in time to see him close his eyes and shudder with pleasure. It turns me on nearly as much as the taste of him does.

His grip on my hair tightens as he increases the tempo of his short, quick thrusts. “Fuck, baby!”

I tighten my lips, loving how the increased suction causes him to moan my name as if his life depends on it.

Perspiration builds on his skin as I lightly scrape my teeth along the underside of his cock and cup his scrotum, my fingers lightly tracing mindless patterns on the soft skin as I revel in his sounds of animalistic pleasure.

“Fuck,” he roars and reaches for my shoulders, pushing me backward onto the mattress. Before I can push myself upward, he crawls up on into it and places a hand on my chest. “Stay,” he commands.

His gaze holds mine as he uses his free hand to slide my flannel pajama pants down my legs and off the end of the bed before grabbing the bottom of my thin Flintstones T-shirt and rolling it up and over my head.

I gnaw on my bottom lip as he drinks me in.

“Beautiful.” He repeats my earlier statement, causing me to blush.

He drops to his side next to me and runs his mouth over the curve of my breasts.

“Ronan,” I cry out as he takes first one nipple and then the other into his mouth, using his tongue to tease them into diamond-hard points, triggering sensations that are so intense they walk the line between pleasure and pain.

His wicked tongue glides lower, the cool air blowing over the damp trail he leaves in his wake striking an erotic contrast to the heat of his mouth as he makes his leisurely way toward the apex of my thighs.

“Your turn,” he purrs, his velvety voice almost as erotic as his mouth.

He thrusts a hand between my thighs, guiding them apart.

I expect his mouth to go straight to my clit, but he avoids it, moving instead to the inner curve of thigh. He nips sharply at the flesh, causing me to gasp before his tongue darts out to soothe the reddened skin.

“Hey!” He taps a finger against my lower stomach, drawing my eyes down until they clash with his. His eyes glow with primal satisfaction. The corners of his mouth tip up in a wickedly sensual smile. “I want you to watch as I get you off.”

He doesn’t give me an opportunity to consider his words before his fingers tease my lower lips apart and he lowers his head. His magic lips close over my clit and start to suck.

My stomach roils. Oh. My. God! It’s too intense. Too incredible! I don’t think I can stand any more of this.

My back arches off the bed as press against him, desperate for more even as I worry the electric sensations pulsing through me, sizzling against every single pleasure point within my body, will be the death of me.

“Fuck me,” I cry out.

Sensing that I’m about to go over the edge, Ronan frees my clit and lifts my leg, hooking it over his shoulders as he rises, the tip of his cock presses against me. I have just a split second to shiver in anticipation before he slams into me, the force of his blow scooting my back against the mattress until the top of my skull bumps into the headboard.

My pussy convulses around him as he rides me. Our eyes stay locked together. In his, I see all the things I want him to say, but which I sense he never will. My heart aches for him even as my body tenses, preparing itself for the pending climax that builds each time Ronan rocks his hips.

“Cassie…” He says my name as if his life depends on it. His thrusts become deeper, quicker, until his back bows and he empties into me. I clench around him, holding him fast as my orgasm takes me under.