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“This is a nice place to grow up,” she murmured.

He smiled. “Glad I could share it with you.”

She leaned back on her elbows and glanced up at the stars, which were barely visible through the haze and clouds. “Did you ever wish upon a star?” she asked.

“Can’t say that I have. I’m more of a practical, make-my-own-luck kind of guy.”

She shook her head in mock pity. “You really missed out on one of childhood’s great moments.”

“Star light, star bright?” he asked lightly.

“First star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.”

As he studied the delicate features he’d come to adore, he suddenly found a reason to indulge in whims and fantasy. He stared upward and found the brightest star in the night sky, the one that called to him in a way that the others did not. The same as Sophie did, Riley thought.

He shut his eyes and wished for what he desired more than anything else. “Sophie-”

“Shh.”

She placed her finger over his mouth to silence him and his lips tingled beneath her touch.

“Don’t tell me your wish or it won’t come true,” she said.

“That means you can’t tell me your wish, either,” he said, unable to contain his disappointment. He’d wanted her to let him inside her heart.

“But I can tell you that it’s the same wish I’ve been making for as long as I can remember.” A wistful smile passed over her lips, vanishing as fast as it came.

He pushed her long curls off the back of her neck. “It hasn’t come true yet?”

“Nope.” She tipped her head, obviously enjoying the brush of his fingertips against her skin, so he kept up the soft contact.

“But I keep hoping it will.” Her lashes fluttered closed.

He swallowed hard. He wanted to be the one to make her dreams come true, but first she had to believe in him.

Goal in mind, he leaned over and nuzzled his face into the sweet spot between her neck and shoulders. She smelled delicious and when he licked her soft skin, he discovered she tasted even better. A seductive purr escaped the back of her throat and she trembled against him.

God, he loved just being with her, Riley thought, and he refused to contemplate what he’d do if she pulled away after tonight.

A quick sweep of his hand over the front of her shirt and he felt her hardened nipples, proof that in Sophie, when it came to passion, he had a willing partner. Riley decided it was a damn good start.

He wrapped one arm around her waist and drew her down, protecting her from the hard ground by rolling her on top of him. Her full breasts pressed hard against his chest as her lower half settled into the vee of his legs.

He groaned aloud, unable to control his reaction to having her exactly where he wanted her.

She grinned and wiggled her hips enticingly, causing his erection to swell.

“Tease.” He laughed.

“You love it,” she whispered, planting kisses over his face until her lips settled over his.

He loved her. Thinking it at the same time he held her in his arms caused a rush of warmth and a sense of rightness to flood through him. His heart pounded hard and heavy in his chest with the desire to make himself one with her overwhelming.

His tongue tangled with hers. Heat flared to life in his belly, the friction of their twisting, grinding bodies bringing him too close too fast. He didn’t want to come without being inside her, deep inside her, so she’d feel how right they were together. How wrong they were apart.

He slipped his hands up the back of her shirt so he could embrace her bare skin. He also managed to still the rhythmic motion of her hips that had him teetering on the edge.

She eased a bit, allowing her breath, hot against his neck, to slow, giving him time to take over. After a couple of tries, he managed to unhook her bra, then watched in fascination as she maneuvered enough to pull the female contraption out of one sleeve and then toss it onto the blanket beside them. Her shirt came next.

He took a moment to relish the sight of her naked in the moonlight. Then he reached out and cupped her breasts in his hands, feeling them heavy and aroused.

She arched her back, pressing her taut nipples into his palms. Seeking to enhance her arousal, he responded by rolling each bud between his thumb and forefinger. He wouldn’t last long once they began and he needed her tightly wound and ready to explode. Because he sure as hell was ready to blow.

Sophie’s entire body shook and trembled, on the edge of something so much bigger than she’d anticipated or experienced before, even with Riley. He knew just where to touch her to make her burn, exactly how hard to squeeze in order to push her past reason and sanity.

Unable to wait, she reached down with shaking hands and unbuttoned Riley’s jeans. She hooked her thumbs into the waist and quickly helped him shove them down his legs and past his ankles, until they joined the growing pile on the ground.

She was crazed with wanting, practically panting with desire, yet she was still partially dressed. Riley’s eyes were glazed and dark with need, but he didn’t reach to help her. Instead he clasped his hands behind his head as if he were relaxed and composed, with all the time in the world.

But his penis thrust upward, demanding attention, making a mockery of his so-called composure.

“Undress for me,” he said in a gruff voice.

At the request, a liquid trickle of desire pooled in her panties. A desperate throbbing pulsed low in her belly and she vibrated with unfilled longing. She rose to her knees and slowly, deliberately, wiggled her jeans down her thighs, stopping when they reached her ankles.

Sophie was braver than she’d given herself credit for but she couldn’t muster the courage to strip completely in the great outdoors. She glanced at Riley and saw only understanding in his eyes. He wasn’t going to push her further than she could handle.

His understanding was enough to bring her to tears. The little things-like the way he read her mind, and the way he understood her and accepted her anyway-chipped at the walls around her heart. But all his sweetness and decency couldn’t change the differences between them that would drive them apart in the end.

Sophie feared loss more than she feared anything else, but she couldn’t lose what wasn’t hers. Her wish upon a star had been for someone to love her and cherish her forever. That might be in the cards one day, but not with Riley. Not with a man who’d tried and failed at marriage, and who’d decided he wasn’t someone to be closed in by rules. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have him now.

And once again, being with Riley made her want to push beyond her security level, beyond her normal comfort zone. For Riley, she wanted to be braver than she’d ever been before. And she couldn’t wait a minute more.

She rose over him, his thick head poised between her legs. Then his erection disappeared as she slid down, fusing their bodies and filling the emptiness inside herself with everything that was Riley. She enclosed him completely, feeling him all the way through to her soul.

“Sophie.” He called out her name on a rough gasp, his pleasure evident in his tone.

Sophie shut her eyes and let herself feel. She rose upward, squeezing her inner muscles around him, and released as she slid back down. The friction between them was sweet and intense, taking her by surprise. Her throat filled with emotion with every slick glide up and down, with each thrust of her mound against him.

His breath quickened without warning and she realized he was near his peak. She wasn’t far behind and when he grabbed onto her hips and pumped his body up into hers, slick, hot and harder each time, he took her closer still. He found the rhythm she needed, and she soared up and over, wave after wave of the most intense climax washing over her, pummeling her relentlessly, until finally, she peaked and saw stars brighter than those she’d wished upon all these years.

Just when she thought she was sated, he thrust upward once more and she squeezed him tight, causing one last wave of ultimate sensation to sweep through her body.

She thought she’d heard herself scream but was too embarrassed to ask. All she knew for sure was that, once again, Riley had engaged not just her body but her heart and soul.

Heaven help her when he walked away after this.

SOPHIE AWOKE, her body aching in sinfully delicious ways. When Riley had said good-night outside her bedroom door, the kiss had been achingly slow and beautiful. She’d felt so cherished and loved, even without the