Miranda’s mouth fell open for a second before she seemed to catch herself and snapped it shut. For Miranda, that was a pretty big reaction. Cody knew she’d be pissed at herself for showing him that much. He resisted the urge to push her back inside the bathroom and lock the door behind them.

But only barely.

He grinned at her and then dropped one hand and stepped aside, letting her escape if she so chose. She didn’t move. Green eyes that weren’t hers watched him evenly. Her hair was wet and slick against her head, putting the emphasis on the planes of her face. She had delicately arched brows, creamy skin, and a finely carved nose set above full lips and a firm chin. She looked delicate and too pretty to be useful, but he knew that none of that was true.

Miranda Jane wasn’t delicate or useless. She was beautiful and lethal. And sexier than fuck, damn her.

He’d had no intention of going there with her again. He’d only wanted to stop Cash-Money from getting there—but hell, after that conversation with her earlier, it was pretty much all he could think about. Her mouth on his dick. His mouth on her pussy. His cock sinking into her sweet body as her eyes dilated and her lips fell open with pleasure.

Her breaths and moans as he began to move. The way her fingers curled hard into his arms and then harder into his shoulders before slipping to his ass and gripping that too. Her hips lifting as she slammed against him, trying to take him deeper.

Damn, it had been good with her. So good that he hadn’t fucked anyone since that night. Of course, he’d never thought he’d get to fuck her again. But he could. She was going to let him. He could see it in her eyes, in the pulse that throbbed wildly in her neck. She was his for the taking.

And he was going to take her. Every which way he wanted, damn her. Every which way that made her beg him for more. And then he was going to walk away and never think about her again.

If that hurt her feelings, well, she deserved it. Not that he thought she had any feelings to hurt really.

“There’s not enough water,” she said.

“Not enough for what?”

“Not enough to shower together.”

“Honey, I’d think showering together would save water.”

She nibbled her lower lip, and he had to work not to groan. “Not if we lost track of time.”

“True.” He stepped into her space, breathed in the clean scent of her skin. “If you’re in the room when I get done, you’d better be naked.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open just slightly. It wasn’t shock he saw there. It was desire. Her gaze swept his body quickly, and then she stepped out of the doorway to let him inside. She was clutching her dirty clothing to her chest like a shield. He doubted she realized it.

“You planning to be there, Jane?” he asked softly as he backed into the bathroom.

“I don’t know.”

He shrugged as he trailed a lazy hand down his torso. “Your choice as to when—but make no mistake, it will happen eventually.”

For the first time, she stiffened slightly. “You seem so certain. Am I that easy to read?”

He started to tell her yeah, it was precisely that, but something stopped him. Instead, he told her the truth. “We both are. There’s something that won’t let us stay away, something deep inside that drives us to seek pleasure in each other. We’re like magnet and metal, water and life, yin and yang. Something in you needs something in me—and it’s the same for me. It’s probably only temporary, but it’s right now—and neither of us is going to deny that part of ourselves any longer. Are we?”

He was almost as surprised as she was by his words. He’d said more than he’d intended, that was for sure.

It took her a long moment to respond, but she shook her head. “I don’t intend to deny anything.”

* * *

Miranda didn’t know what she was doing. She stood in the room she was sharing with Cody, her heart tripping in her chest, her back to the door as she waited with arms folded over her body and stared out the small window set high in the wall. All she could see was sky, but that was enough. It was blue, so blindingly blue it would hurt if she was outside and looking up without the protection being inside provided. A white cloud drifted lazily across the sky like a ship on the ocean. It was beautiful and sad at the same time.

Why sad, Miranda? Why?

Because it made her feel her loneliness so acutely. The sky had always made her feel lonely and restless. Maybe it was crazy, but when she’d been a girl, she’d stared up into that sky, that bright blue Alabama sky with the haze of heat shimmering over it, and felt like she didn’t belong. Like there was so much more to life and she didn’t know how to find it.

The sky made her dream. And her dreams were never enough, never quite right. She’d never yet found what she wanted, what made her feel safe and complete.

So why was she standing here, waiting for a man who had the power to wreck whatever peace of mind she had?

Because Cody had that power. She didn’t know why or how, but he did. He’d said there was something between them, something that drew them like metal and magnets, something in her that needed something in him.

It made her shudder at just how right he was. Because something in her did need him. She came alive when he was near. Deep down, she felt an excitement she hadn’t felt in years. A desire to love and be loved.

No. Absolutely not. Stop this.

She didn’t trust love. Never had. Her parents hadn’t loved her or her sisters enough to stop being the broken, selfish people they were. Mark hadn’t loved her the way she’d wanted. If anything, he’d loved her like a friend, like a buddy who made you feel happy and comfortable but not as if your skin might split if you didn’t do something with all the feelings your body contained.

Feelings. What crazy things they were. How they’d gotten so tangled up over a man she hardly knew was beyond her. But he excited her and made her feel hopeful—a thing she thought she’d forgotten.

The door swung open behind her and her skin prickled. She didn’t turn. She didn’t need to. It was him. She could feel him. His presence called to her, gave off heat and so much magnetism she thought she might burn up in the pull of it.

“You aren’t naked,” he growled.

She didn’t turn. “No, I’m not.”

She felt him move rather than heard him. And then she felt him behind her, so big and beautiful and solid. A protector. A dangerous, hardened SEAL warrior.

His hands settled on her shoulders, ran down her arms and then went around her waist, tugging her back against his hard body. His mouth dipped to her ear, and shivers ran down her spine and into the warm, wet recesses of her body.

“But you’re still here.”

“I am.”

His tongue flicked her earlobe and she gasped. Then his lips were on her neck, his tongue gliding over her flesh. “Do you want me, Miranda Jane?” he breathed against her skin.

“You know the answer.”

“I want you to say it. I need to hear it.”

“I want you, Cody,” she forced out past the lump gathering in her throat. God, why was she so emotional with him? Why did he drag things from the depths of her soul that no man ever had?

She thought he might turn her in his arms. And if he did, she might lose it. She might sob with the emotion choking her.

But he didn’t. As if he knew she needed the time to process this thing between them, he did not make a move to face her. Instead, his hands went to her breasts, cupping them, his fingers finding and tweaking the stiff nipples beneath the fabric of her shirt.

Her body was on fire. Lightning streaked beneath her skin, popping and sizzling and sparking until she was on edge.

“Such beautiful breasts,” he murmured. “So sensitive.”

He reached for the buttons of her shirt, deftly slipping them free as he stood behind her, his body crowding hers in the best way. And then he slipped the shirt from her shoulders. When his fingers went beneath her bra straps and tugged them down, she didn’t protest. His mouth was on her shoulder, licking and kissing her skin as he unsnapped her bra and pulled that free as well.

Then his big hands cupped her breasts, bare skin to bare skin. When he tugged her back against him this time, she felt the hard bulge of his cock in the small of her back and she shuddered.

“Kiss me, Miranda,” he said, and she shifted slightly to the side, tilted her head back, and met his mouth. It was as if someone set off an incendiary bomb. The fire exploding in her body was immediate and intense. Cody groaned as their tongues met. She tried to turn, tried to get better access, but he held her in place, devoured her mouth this way, drinking her in while she drowned in him.

“Cody,” she gasped when he finally let her breathe.

He spun her in his arms this time. “Goddamn, sunshine,” he said, “you make me ache. You make me willing to walk on hot coals just for a taste of you.”

She slipped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him. “You don’t have to walk on hot coals. Just— God, just fuck me, okay? Make this stop. Make it better.”

“I wanted to do this differently,” he growled, “but I need to be in you. Now.”

“Yes, please. Please now,” she begged.

She reached for his pants at the same time he did. And then his hands were on hers, holding them tight. He swore. “No condoms, baby. Shit.”

She blinked. “It doesn’t matter, Cody. I get birth control shots. And you’re the only man I’ve had sex with in over a year.”

He was looking at her with a sort of stunned expression. What if he didn’t believe her? What if he said no?

“I never fuck without a condom. Never.”

She put her hand on his cheek and smiled even though she wanted to cry inside. “It’s okay. I understand. We’ll find another way.”

He blinked. And then he laughed before he started to unbutton his pants again. “No, baby, no way. I was just telling you that I’m safe. That you don’t have to worry. But I’m going in there. If you really want that, I’m going in bare. I want to feel you wrapped around me.”

Heat pulsed through her. “I definitely want that. You have no idea.”

He shoved his pants down his hips at the same time she divested herself of hers. Then he bent to lift her up, gripping her bare ass in his big hands. She automatically put her legs around his waist. A second later, his cock was there, nudging into her slick heat. Miranda wiggled until she was in a better position and then sank down on him until they both groaned.

“Oh God,” she said as he slid home.

“Too much?” he asked worriedly.

“No. No way. Just feels so amazing.” And it did. Her heart was out of control, zooming like a fighter jet on a mission, and her skin prickled with heat. She felt so full of him. Perfectly, wonderfully full.

“I couldn’t wait,” he said, his voice deep and growly in that way she loved. “Need you too much.”

“Then don’t wait.”

He lifted her up and then plunged her down again and again on his cock. Miranda grasped his face in her hands and fused her mouth to his. Their joining was hard and almost violent, but in a good way. Violently good as he rocked into her over and over, his cock splitting her just right, rubbing against all the nerves in her G-spot. She moaned. He moaned. She wasn’t sure who made what noise, but they both did as he moved even faster inside her.

Her world tilted abruptly, and she found herself on her back on the lower bunk, Cody looming over her like a mountain of muscle, his cock still deep inside her. If it had been perfect before, it was even better now. He hooked her knees wide and drove into her. She was so close, so unbearably close to shattering into a million pieces.

He thrust again, and as if he’d flipped a switch, all the pressure inside her detonated. Her orgasm rolled through her like a wave, obliterating everything in its path. The aftershocks reverberated into her limbs, her toes, sapping her of strength and reason.

He came soon after, warm liquid filling her as he shot himself deep inside her. They were both breathing hard when he lifted his head to look down at her. He looked about as confused as she felt. She held her breath, wondering if he would leave her now. And then she got brave and lifted her fingers to his lips, tracing them softly.

“I still want more,” she said, and he shuddered, his cock still inside her, still hard.

“So do I.” His brows drew together for a second. “I don’t understand this. But I’m not ready to stop.”

“Then we won’t.”