But now she didn’t care. Why not get the number one man that she wanted the most, instead of settling for the one that seemed safe enough?
Dimly, she remembered that Jackson Carey had gotten her number a couple of weeks ago. She was pretty sure she had missed some calls from him. She just didn’t care. It was like hedidn’t exist. And she felt so relieved that she hadn’t slept with him, because to be that apathetic about somebody that was interested in her…
That wasn’t what she wanted.
She wanted this. She wanted lightning, even if it was dangerous.
She wanted the landslide, even if it might bury her.
She wasn’t the brave one. Not historically.
But right now, she was being brave.
Then, he kissed her again, and her neck, down to her breast. He circled one nipple with the tip of his tongue, and she gasped. It was so… decadent and indulgent, and just the hottest goddamn thing she had ever experienced.
He moved his hands down her body, and she shivered at the way his rough palms felt against her stomach.
Then he pulled her away from the wall and carried her back down the hallway, into his bedroom.
He lifted her away from him and set her on the edge of the bed. Then, he moved away from her, gripped the back of his T-shirt, and pulled it up over his head, the movement fluid and fascinating.
She had seen his body before, but now she could touch him. Now, he was so close…
She reached out and put her hand on his stomach. He sucked in a sharp breath, his ab muscles shifting with the movement.
“Careful,” he said, warning.
His hands moved to his belt buckle, and she jerked her hand away. He undid the belt, whipped it out, and threw it down onto the floor. Then he kicked his boots off and stripped the rest of the way down. Quickly, unselfconsciously. And hell, anyone who looked like him shouldn’t have an ounce of self-consciousness. He was total masculine perfection. Hard-cut muscles, with darkhair sprinkled over his chest, thick, muscular thighs, and his…
Granted, she had nothing to compare it to. But he was the most beautiful, masculine sight she’d ever seen, and she would be shocked to learn that he wasn’t larger than average because he was so big he was giving her heart palpitations.
Beautiful, yes. But a bit scary.
Her eyes met his, and he looked… Regretful. That was the only word she could use to describe him right now, and she really didn’t like that.
“Zane…?”
“I didn’t want… I didn’t want to do this to you.”
“What the hell?”
“I want you, don’t mistake me. But I was trying to protect you from me.”
“You were trying to protect me from what? Your amazing kissing technique and your perfect body?”
He growled, which seemed to be the most readily accessible noise available to him when he was hard. He moved quickly and lay her down on the bed, moving over the top of her, pinning her wrist up over her head.
“All of this,” he said. “Because I’m a mess. Because I don’t know how to connect with anybody. Because the only kind of relationships I’ve ever had have been one-night stands. Do you understand that? You live here. I live here. You… You’re practically family to Cody. And he… Oh, he does not like us hanging around each other.”
“I don’t care what Cody likes,” she said. “I mean that. I don’t need anybody to suddenly swoop in and be protective of me. I’ve been taking care of myself, my mother, for a long time. I know what I want. I don’t need anybody else weighing in or giving their opinion. Understand?”
He nodded once. “I do. But do you understand what I’m telling you about me?”
“I didn’t think that you were looking for a relationship. You’ve made it pretty clear that you’re happy being by yourself.”
Although the word happy felt like the wrong word.
He nodded slowly. “All right. As long as you understand that.”
