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I gave him another slow turn, just out of reach. At The Hot House he’d tried so hard to keep himself in check. Here, I wanted him to look all he liked. But looking wasn’t going to be enough. Not in our room, with the door shut and nobody he had to behave for.

“We should put a pole in here,” I said.

“I’d never get any work done.”

“Your ops room is in the garage.”

“That’s not enough distance, sweetheart.”

I came close enough to brush my fingers over his shoulder. He reached for me and caught air. I laughed. The next time I passed, he stood and took my hand.

“You going to keep running?” he asked.

“That depends. Are you going to keep letting me?”

He drew me against him. I felt his laugh against my neck before he kissed it. Then he held me there, both arms around me, until the song ended. Another started as I turned in his arms and kissed him properly before looking up at him.

“I love you,” I said.

He closed his eyes for a second. “I love you too, songbird.”

He took his time undressing me. I took mine with him. When I reached for the lamp, he caught my wrist. “Leave it on. I want to watch you come undone.”

I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled him between my legs by the hips. He was already hard. I looked down and closed my hand around his dick, giving it one slow stroke.

“You’re beautiful,” he said.

“You’ve told me.”

“I’ve got a lot of missed days to make up for.”

“Then you should get on with it.”

He put a hand on the mattress beside me and kissed me, then lifted his head before I was finished with him.

“What?” I asked.

“You told me to get on with it. I’m trying to decide where to start.”

“You never used to have trouble.”

“You and Sparrow live here.” His mouth brushed the corner of mine. “I’m trying to decide how to thank you.”

His thumb brushed my nipple. “You could start there,” I said.

He kissed me again, then followed the line of my jaw to my throat. His hand moved from my waist to my hip, slow enough to make me impatient.

“Or here?” he asked as his hand wandered lower.

I touched his face. The stubble rasped against my palm, and his eyes closed for a second.

“Yes,” I said. “All of it. More, please. But if this is a thank-you, get on your knees.”

He chuckled but he went down. He set his hands on my thighs and held me there.

He kissed the inside of my knee. Then higher. Then the top of my thigh. I got a fistful of his hair.

“I missed you,” he said into my thigh.