Anything but Love

his jacket collar before he had a chance to answer. They kissed with the same intensity of the kiss that had launched the fated shag against the wall, peeling off their coats, their scarves, without breaking contact.

Rae came up for air. “I thought about this, you, all day.”

“Same here.”

“Why are we wearing so many layers?” she asked as they continued to peel away clothing.

“Ten below out there with the windchill factor.”

“Hot as hell in here with the horny factor.”

Luke smiled at that. “Come here.” He swept her off her feet, whisked her across the room, and gently tossed her on the bed.

“I’m going to miss you,” she said as he unlaced her boots.

“I’ll have to give you something to look forward to for when I get back. A sampling of things to come.”

“Like what?”

“Like this.” After peeling off her jeans, he flipped her over on her stomach.

She expected an erotic entry from behind, she was primed, but instead she felt the dizzying assault of feather-light fingertips trailing down her bare back. Tickling. Teasing. He skimmed lower, to the small of her back. Circling. Soothing. Then she felt a tug on her thong, felt the fabric sliding over her skin, down her legs, past her ankles.

Naked. She was naked.

Luke was naked, too. Straddling her now, tracing his fingertips over her shoulders, down her arms.

“Want to see you,” she said.

“Not yet.”

He repeated his initial path down her back, over her butt. Goose bumps prickled every inch of her skin as she shivered with erotic delight. Blissful torture.

Then it got worse.

He shifted down, parted her legs, trailed his fingers over the back of her thighs then—oh, God—over her inner thighs. Skimming up and down. So close to the part of her that ached most to be touched. But he didn’t touch her there. Not for the next ten minutes. Or maybe it was only ten seconds. She had no concept of time, let alone rational thought. Her vocabulary had trickled down to four words.

Touch me. Take me.

Wait. That was only three words.

Then she felt him flick her nub. Once. Twice.

Rae exploded. She actually screamed into the thick comforter as Luke fingered her to a blinding orgasm.

“Ah, Reagan,” he said in a husky voice as he rolled her onto her back and rained kisses over her belly. “That was too easy.”

“Easy?” She was supposed to hold out longer? Was he mad? She was still catching her breath when she felt him push off the bed. She knew his mind. “No condom. I want to feel you. The real you.”

“I thought you’d be concerned.”

“About what?”

“I’ve been with a lot of women.”

“Oh, that.” She forced herself up on her elbows and drank her fill of his stark naked body. She ached to explore every plane, every ridge. “Are you clean?” she asked bluntly. She didn’t know how else to handle this and she wanted to move the conversation along. Actually, she didn’t want to talk at all. Especially not about the other women in his life. She knew they existed, but she didn’t want them in their bed.

“I’m clean.”

“Come here.” She reached out and grabbed Luke’s arm, yanked him down on the bed. She pushed him onto his back. “I’ll have to give you a sampling of something to look forward to for when you get back.”

“Like what?”

“Like this.” She kissed her way down his magnificent torso—every plane, every ridge. She teased him with feather-light brushes of her lips and an occasional hot flick of her tongue. She wondered if the ritual was working magic on him the way it was on her. The more she savored and dominated the greater her desire to be taken.

He groaned when she took his hard shaft in her hand, tensed as she stroked, gasped when she took him in her mouth. She didn’t have a lot of experience, but that didn’t mean she was inexperienced. She knew what to do and by Luke’s reactions she knew she was doing it right. The crazier she made him, the greater her excitement.

Then he shifted, and in a heartbeat, he had her on her back. “Keep that up,” he said, “and we’ll be done too soon. I need to be inside you, Reagan.”

She parted her legs and crooked what she hoped was a teasing smile. “Who’s stopping you?”

The tip of his shaft grazed her slick folds as he gazed into her eyes. “I think I need to spend the night.”

The man was mesmerizing, but she somehow found her voice. “Have some other things to share, samplings to hold me over until you get back?”

“Got a dozen or so tricks in my repertoire. You?”

“Not so many. But I could make some up.”

He arched one brow. “I’m definitely spending the night.”

And with that he plunged deep—the first stroke of heaven.

TWENTY-TWO

“Daddy, I’m f-f-freezing!”

Sam’s eyes flew open. Not that he saw too much. It wasn’t pitch-black in his bedroom, but it was pretty damn dark.

He instantly knew three things. His daughter was standing beside his bed, the sun was on the verge of rising, and, holy hell, it was cold.

“Da-deeee!”

“Hold on, honey.” He grabbed his Blackberry from the nightstand. Six fifty a.m. Eleven degrees. Outside anyway. Inside? Not that cold, but fricking cold. “Must be a problem with the heater, Mina. Let Daddy check.”

“But—”

“Go wake Ben. We’ll get a head start getting ready for school. I’ll make pancakes.”

She hugged her favorite teddy bear tight to her chest and frowned. “Don’t wanna go to school.”

“Mina—”

“Too cold.”

“Okay.” Sam had already thrown off the covers. He slept in boxers and a tee. He used to sleep in the buff, but that didn’t seem right now. Not when the kids could walk in unannounced at any hour. The privacy talk he’d given them had faded from their memories, since he didn’t have the heart to enforce it. He squinted down at his daughter. “Why are you wearing a boa?”

“The feathers keep me warm—like a bird.”

“And the sock monkey sock cap?”

“Wool keeps me warm—like a sheep.”

“Ah.” He plucked her off the floor—teddy bear and all—and onto his lap. “How about I hug you warm—like a daddy.” He squeezed his daughter tight, his heart bouncing when she giggled.

“Can I sleep with you Daddy?”

“I need to check the furnace, sweetie. But go ahead and crawl in.” He lifted the covers. “I warmed it up for you.”

“Yaaaaay!”

“Dad.”