Pressing her rigid nipple between his thumb and forefinger, he tugged in a way that sent pleasure skyrocketing through her body. She locked her legs around his hips and pressed herself as intimately as possible against his erection.
And still it was not enough.
Tears seeped out of her eyes as her pleasure and frustration built in tandem.
His mouth broke from hers. “Josette? Josie, what’s wrong?”
She looked up at him, too dazed to really focus. “Hmm?”
“Why are you crying?”
“I never cry.”
His tongue traced the path of wetness up her cheek to the corner of her eye. “It sure tastes like tears to me.”
“Do that again.”
He tasted her other cheek in the same way, kissing her temple when he’d reached the source of her tears.
“I like that,” she said with a sigh as she melted farther into him.
“But why are you crying?”
“How should I know? I’ve never done this before. You’re the expert.” She was getting annoyed by the interruption. Who cared why her tear ducts were engaging? “It’s not because I’m sad, all right?”
She squeezed her thigh muscles, and his big body convulsed.
He frowned down at her. “Don’t do that.”
“Why not?” She liked it.
“I’m on the edge of taking you here and now.”
“Taking me where?” Then it clicked what he meant. “Oh, that. Okay.” She didn’t care where they made love; she just wanted to feel his body completely naked against hers.
His bark of laughter surprised her. “We’re in the middle of the park, Josette. I’m not into exhibitionism, and I’m pretty sure you aren’t either.”
She looked around her, her gaze focusing finally. A family of ducks waddled along the edge of the pond. Small children swung on the play equipment across the green expanse, and a jogger was on the path, headed their way.
“Oh, my gosh,” she choked, unlocking her legs from behind him and vainly reaching for the ground with her feet. “Um, Daniel…”
“What?” He was looking predatory again.
“You need to let me down.”
He did, and she took a quick step backward, needing distance from that Adonis-like body. But her muscles weren’t cooperating, and she fell flat on her bottom.
He laughed again, and this time, it made her mad.
This was all his fault. He was the one with all the experience. He’d seduced her into total wantonness with his lips and body and had the nerve to laugh about it.
She swept out with her foot and brought him down to the ground with her. Rather than abating, his laughter just increased, the amusement in his brown eyes immobilizing her. She’d never seen Nitro like this.
He rolled toward her, and she had to maneuver quickly to avoid letting him pin her like he had in her hallway. She was on to his tricks now and willing to try a few of her own.
With a two-step execution he clearly had not anticipated, she had him facedown under her in a position most men would have found impossible to get out of. Anticipation thrilled through her at the prospect he wasn’t one of them.
“Say uncle,” she demanded.
“I don’t think so.”
He tried to reverse positions, and while she was able to avoid landing underneath him, she wasn’t able to maintain her position of superiority either. She moved, and he counter-moved, never once letting her have the upper hand, but he didn’t go in for the kill like he could have. They ended up rolling around in the grass, their laughter mixed as she engaged in her first ever noncombative tussle with a man.
Finally, she was laughing so hard, she just gave up and lay on her back in surrender. It was a totally new experience for her, but she didn’t mind. She’d decided a nanosecond into the kiss that she wanted to try a lot of firsts with him.
He came over her, his mouth creased in that smile she so rarely saw. “I’m the better soldier. Admit it.”
Now, that was taking it a step too far.
“No way.”
“I’m on top.”
“Only because you sucked all my strength from my body with that devil’s kiss you plastered on my mouth.”
“Are you saying I fight dirty?”
She felt her own lips curved in a goofy grin. “Yes.”
“So do you; you said so. The fact you’re still under me must mean I’m the better fighter.”
“In your dreams.” Then, reaching up, she did something she’d never done before—she tickled his ribs, and Nitro’s body contorted as if she’d touched him with a live wire.
The tickling match that ensued could only have one outcome because she had absolutely no desire to hurt him. He ended up on top again, but this time he didn’t give her a whole bunch of victory machismo. Instead he leaned down and kissed her again.
He kept his mouth closed and the kiss short, but by the time he raised his head, she was panting with something more than exertion.
“Are you going to let me make love to you, Josette, my small warrior?”
As they walked back into the house, Daniel was still reeling from Josie’s yes. She hadn’t stalled for time, or given him a song and dance about not getting involved. She hadn’t even asked for any promises or declarations. She’d simply said, “Yes.”
A word he discovered he liked very much on her lips.
“Why don’t you read through your dad’s journals while I call Wolf and check in with Hotwire?”
“But I thought…”
“If I make love to you right now, nothing else is going to happen until tomorrow at the earliest. We’ve got too much to do today to let that happen.”
“You’re right.” She smiled shyly at him, looking about as feminine as a woman could look. “But I wish we didn’t.”
“Me, too.”
“I think I’ll read in my bedroom. Less distraction.”
“Good idea.”
As soon as he heard her door close, he picked up the phone and started making calls.
He began with a search in the Yellow Pages for a local florist. He discovered that for enough money, they delivered pretty much anywhere and anytime. The owner was also kind enough to suggest a shop that might deliver another item he wanted as well as a historic hotel in the city to deliver it to. Reservations made, he put a call through to the hotel concierge, who agreed to take care of the delicate matter of having a box of condoms available in the nightstand drawer beside the bed.
Once his preparations for the night ahead were completed, he went into the kitchen and made a pitcher of brewed iced tea. He put it and a glass on a tray for Josie and took it to her.
She was lying on her stomach on her bed, her ankles crossed and up in the air.
He put the tray on the small table beside the bed. “Drink something.”
She looked up, her expression endearingly vague from reading her dad’s most private thoughts. “You made me tea?”
She didn’t have to sound so shocked.
Daniel might not be the cook Wolf was, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t take care of his woman. “I thought
