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  More than ready, actually.

  He pulled her to stand, then skimmed his hand down her back. His touch made her shiver in all the right ways, the wickedly, deliberately hot look he gave her making her damp in all the right places.

  "All night, Chelsea. And all day tomorrow. No running. You're either in or you're out. Decide before we get started."

  Her eyes widened. "All day tomorrow?"

  His lips curved in a sexy smile that melted her feet to the floor.

  "I'm very thorough. This isn't going to be a once-and-done thing."

  She swallowed, her throat gone dry. She was already imagining the things they could do together with all that time. "Oh. Okay, then. All day tomorrow, too."

  "Good." He slid his hand into her hair, gripped a handful of it like he meant business, and put his mouth on hers. At the same time his other hand slid down to her butt, cupping it and drawing her body close to his.

  It shocked her senseless. There was nothing tentative about the kiss. It was a man taking possession of a woman, and it was everything she'd fantasized about. Her heart pounded, she felt damp and weak and all those things she'd read about when she read the love scenes in her favorite romance novels, but had never experienced before. She'd been kissed, but not like this. Not the kind of kiss that made her feel light-headed, that made her clutch Bash's shirt and hold on for dear life as he plundered her senses with relentless intent. She felt feverish with desire, with the need to tear off all their clothes and get to the really good stuff, but at the same time she wanted to linger, to feel his lips on hers, his tongue sliding against hers, to feel the way his body pressed into hers as he moved them toward the sofa.

  He pulled away from the kiss only long enough to bend down, scoop Lou off the sofa, and gently set her on the floor. Lou scampered out of the room, and Bash pressed Chelsea down to the sofa.

  "Shouldn't we head to the bedroom?" she asked as Bash lay on top of her.

  "We'll get there. Eventually. I've had fantasies about you on this couch ever since I kissed you here that night."

  She palmed his chest, felt his raging heartbeat against her hand. "Is that right? What kind of fantasies?"

  "Lots of them. Like getting you naked and licking you all over. Or bending you over the sofa and taking you that way. You have a great ass, Chelsea. Have I ever mentioned that?"

  Could a woman die from hearing a man talking dirty to her? Or how about her heart exploding when he pulled her shirt up and laid his hand on her stomach, then inched his fingers up to cup her breast over her bra?

  They hadn't even gotten to the really good stuff yet and she was already close to hyperventilating. She let out a whimper.

  "Shh," he said, hovering over her as he pulled one of the cups of her bra down, his thumb brushing over her nipple. "We'll take it slow so you can breathe a little."

  She gasped as he teased and tweaked her nipple. "That ... is not taking it slow."

  One corner of his mouth lifted. "It's not?"

  In a flash he had her top lifted over her head. He was straddling her hips and she had an opportunity to look her fill at the way his T-shirt fit so tightly over his chiseled chest, and the oh-so-prominent erection that wasn't concealed by his sweats.

  "Shirt off," she managed in between breaths.

  "Yes, ma'am." He pulled his shirt off and tossed it in the nearby chair where he'd thrown hers.

  She couldn't resist sitting up to span her hands over his flat, muscled abs, his wide chest, and his amazing shoulders.

  And, suddenly, he'd unhooked her bra and slid the straps down her arms.

  "Now, we're going to have some fun," he said, resting her back against one arm. "You're so beautiful, Chelsea."

  He swept his hand over her neck, her collarbone, then her breasts, touching her, inflaming her as he teased her nipples to tight, hard points. He put his mouth on one of the throbbing buds, making her moan his name. She was his for the taking, and damn if she cared.

  She arched up toward him, needing more of the pull to temptation, of his wet, hot mouth on her.

  It had been so long since her body had been worshipped like this, since a man had wholly focused his attention on her. Bash was a man on a mission, and as he slid off the sofa and removed her shoes, then undid the button and zipper of her jeans and pulled them off, she felt his undivided attention.

  But there was no hurry, just a slow, languorous inspection of her body as he took off her clothes.

  He grabbed her hand and drew her up to stand. She thought he'd lead them to the bedroom, but all he did was turn her around.

  "Your back is this beautiful canvas of soft, creamy skin, Chelsea," he said. "Do you know how much I've thought about getting you undressed and touching you?"

  She'd had no idea. But she loved his hands on her.

  He swept her hair to the side and put his mouth on the nape of her neck, kissing his way along her shoulder and using his hands to map the skin of her back. When he cupped her butt, she laid her head on his shoulder.

  "I like your hands."

  "You're going to like them a lot more when I make you come." He swept his hand around, teasing her stomach and the rim of her underwear with his fingers. When he tucked his hand inside her panties and cupped her sex, she gasped, arched, her body damp with need and desire.

  She shuddered. This was what she needed. This was what she came for. To be touched by Bash, to delve into this mind-numbing response. She'd danced around him for years, watching him date all the wrong women.

  She wasn't the right woman for him, either. They weren't right for each other.

  But tonight she was his, and she intended to take everything he offered.

  And what he offered was pure, unadulterated erotic bliss. His fingers slipping inside of her while his other hand caressed her breasts. His hard body rocking against her. His mouth on her neck making her tingle all over. It was sensory overload in the best possible way. And as Bash whispered in her ear, dark words coaxing her to give in, she was connected to him in ways she had never imagined.

  She climaxed in a wild rush of quivering sensation, grasping his wrist to hold his fingers in place while she rode the wildly out-of-control pulses that threatened to drop her to the floor. But Bash was right there, continuing to hold her, caress her, and murmur dark, sexy words to her until she finally settled and found some semblance of calm.

  Then he turned her around and claimed possession of her mouth in a wild, passionate kiss that took that calm and shattered it. She wound her arms around his neck and held on, diving deep into the pleasure he gave her, the crazy lust he'd awakened inside of her.

  This was just the beginning, and she wanted so much more.

  Chapter 20

  Bash had barely touched on the flame burning deep inside Chelsea. She was a carefully banked fire and he intended to ignite her into an inferno tonight.

  As he kissed her, he could feel the tightly coiled passion she held in check. Even after one orgasm, he knew she had more. He wanted to give her more. He also wanted all of her for himself. Selfish, he knew, but if she hadn't found some guy to release that tension, then he intended to benefit.

  He pulled away and looked into her eyes. Fiery green, and yeah, there was that fire.

  He rubbed his thumb over her bottom lip. "Pretty mouth. Sassy mouth. I like the things that come out of it when you talk."

  Her lips curved. "I can do a lot more with this mouth."

  His cock tightened. "Yeah, I'll just bet you can. Come on. I need to stretch you out on my bed and get you naked."

  After a quick search for Lou, who he found in the kitchen next to the island, asleep on the kitchen towel that she'd pulled off the cabinet door, he led Chelsea down the hall and into his bedroom.

  It wasn't a fancy room, but he wasn't a fancy guy. He had a king-sized bed, because he liked to sprawl. There was a dresser, and enough room for him to walk around in there. That was pretty much it.

  He yanked the comforter down to the end o
f the bed, and Chelsea sat on the edge of the bed.

  "No, that's not good enough," he said, then used his hand to give her shoulder a gentle push. "Lie down in the center of the bed."

  She did, and he shrugged out of his sweats and underwear.

  She was up on her elbows eyeing him when he came back to the bed.

  "You have one hell of a body, Bash," she said.

  He grinned. "Thanks. So do you."

  He grasped her panties and pulled them down her legs, shaking his head in awe at the thatch of red hair covering her sex.

  So damn sexy. So hot. And he was so damn hard and eager to be inside of her, but he knew she was picky about men, and she'd chosen him. So he was going to take this slow. Make it good for her. They had all night. And, because he'd bargained with her, they had all day tomorrow, too.

  He was going to need it, because he wanted a lot of time with her. Chelsea was not a one-time-only kind of woman. Or maybe he just wanted more than once with her. He knew he was only going to have tonight--and tomorrow. He was going to make good use of his time with her.

  He stood at the edge of the bed and grasped her ankles, absorbing the soft, silken feel of her skin under his work-roughened hands before sliding them up her legs, memorizing the feel of her strong calves, her sweet thighs, spreading her open.

  He sucked in a breath at how beautiful, how utterly sexy she was. He pulled her legs forward, letting them dangle over the bed, then dropped to his knees and draped those gorgeous legs over his shoulders so he could align her sweet sex with his mouth.

  Chelsea rose up on her elbows again to watch him. He liked that she was bold, that she wanted to see what he was doing. He put his mouth on her, breathing her in as he took a long, slow swipe of her sex. The sounds she made told him he was in the right place, so he followed the map of her responses.

  Chelsea was vocal about what she liked and where she wanted him, which not only drove him crazy with lust--it also helped him spiral her up. She had her hand in his hair, her hips working overtime arching into him.

  There was nothing he loved more than a sexually enthusiastic partner. A woman lying there limp while he tried to pleasure her made him think he was doing it all wrong. But as Chelsea's cries increased and she writhed against him, he figured he was doing something right. And when she let loose with a loud cry of completion, he knew he'd hit the right buttons.

  And damn near tore himself apart in the process, because a turned-on woman made his dick harder than stone.

  After her quivers died down, he crawled up her body and kissed her. She grasped the sides of his face with her hands and held him still for a deep, hot kiss that left him in no doubt that she appreciated the orgasm.

  He rolled over onto his side, petting her nipple as he let her come down and relax.

  "If I'd known you were so good at that, we'd have been doing this a lot sooner."

  He laughed. "It was my pleasure."

  "Oh, hell no, it wasn't. That, Bash, was all about my pleasure."

  She climbed on top of him, and he had to admit, seeing her fully naked and sitting on his body was sweet as hell. "Now, we need to see about your pleasure."

  She slid down onto his thighs and grasped his cock in her hands. He had to hold his breath for a few seconds, because just looking at her and feeling her sweet, soft hands touching him was almost more than he could bear.

  Though if she kept her hands on him, he could definitely bear it for a long, long time.

  "You know what your problem is, Bash?"

  He grasped her hips. "What's my problem?"

  "Your problem is you've been dating girls. Girls who are way too young for you. What you need is a woman. Someone who knows what she's doing, who's had some ... experience."

  He arched a brow. "Is that right?"

  "Yes."

  She wedged herself onto her belly between his legs.

  "I'm interested now."

  "A woman who knows how to pleasure a man. The right way."

  She got up on her hands and knees, then took his cock between her lips and showed him all the reasons he should have had her in his bed a long damn time ago. The visual of her beautiful breasts dangling in front of him, her hot, wet mouth going down on his throbbing cock, coupled with the way she made him feel, blew his goddamned mind, and nearly his control as well. It took every ounce of restraint he possessed not to let go and release.

  The way she teased him, taking him deep, then letting go, giving him a saucy smile before enveloping his cock between her lips again, made him grab tight to the sheets and hold on, because in this, Chelsea held all the control.

  Yeah, she was all woman, and she knew exactly what she was doing. And he wasn't the only one doing the moaning, which only heightened the experience for him.

  "Chelsea," he said, reaching forward to sweep her hair off her face. "You're gonna make me come."

  Her only response was to hum against his cock. After that he lost all control and lifted against her mouth, grasped her hair, and gave her everything. When he came, she held on to the base of his cock and took everything. And that was so damn hot, so damn sweet, and all he could do was hold on and watch, because he was shaking all over.

  Now he was the one who needed a few minutes to get his head on straight. Chelsea crawled up his body and planted a kiss on his lips. He tangled his fingers in her hair and lingered on the kiss, needing to hold her there, still unable to believe she was really in his bed in the middle of the night.

  She snuggled against him and he felt the thump thump of her heart against his ribs. He was just going to close his eyes for a minute, then he was going to rock her ever-loving world again.

  He was asleep within a minute.

  Chapter 21

  "Shit."

  Chelsea blinked her eyes open, unaccustomed to hearing a man cuss first thing in the morning.

  She was also not used to being wrapped up in a tangled puzzle of naked body parts. She was on her side, and Bash's warm body was pressed against hers, their legs intertwined.

  She rolled over to face him.

  "What's wrong?"

  "I fell asleep."

  She smiled at him. "So did I. We had quite a bit going on before that."

  "Yeah, but not the main event. Sorry about that." He brushed his lips over hers. "Good morning."

  "Good morning. As I recall, I hit you up pretty late last night to start with. And we had some rather entertaining pre-main-events."

  He laughed. "We did, didn't we? I just don't want you to question my stamina. I have plenty."

  "Your secret is safe with me. I won't let the female population of Hope and the surrounding communities know that you're unable to keep it up after a long night at work and pre-pleasuring your female company with two orgasms at four in the morning. Though I'm sure the city newsletter would be very interested in that juicy tidbit of gossip."

  He kissed her shoulder, then took a little love bite, which made all her feminine parts tingle.

  "Which part? The two orgasms? I'll be happy to give an interview about that."

  She laughed. "You would latch on to that part."

  He turned her over, then cupped one of her breasts, lazily teasing her nipple with his fingers. "Well, yeah. My intent is to make you happy."

  Her stomach tightened at his words. This was a one-time deal. Just today. Then it was over. But she'd had a wonderful time last night, and she'd slept better than she had in a long time. She and Bash had both instantly drifted off, and then he'd held her all night long. Or for however many hours they'd slept.

  "What time is it?"

  He paused. "I'm playing with your nipple and you're asking the time? Do you have somewhere you need to go?"

  She laughed. "No. I'm worried about you getting enough sleep."

  He rolled over on top of her. "Trust me. I get plenty of sleep."

  Chelsea heard a bark and rather urgent whine at the foot of the bed.

  Bash sighed, then rested his forehead against her
s. "Lou needs to go outside." He gave her a quick kiss. "I'll be right back."

  He hopped out of bed, grabbed a pair of jeans, and climbed into them, but not before giving her a stellar view of his naked ass.

  "Come on, princess. Let's go pee."

  The dog wasn't the only one with urgent bladder needs, so Chelsea got out of bed and used the bathroom, then came out and grabbed one of Bash's T-shirts and put it on. It was miles too long for her. She didn't care. She had a sudden need for coffee, which trumped sex.

  They had all day anyway.

  She went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, then scrounged around for sugar and found cream--thank God--in his refrigerator.

  "You are not in my bed."

  She looked up to see him leaning against the doorway.

  "I am not, because I need coffee."

  He pushed off the wall and headed into the kitchen. "That does sound good. And I'm glad you're not bashful about rummaging."

  "Not much will get in the way of my need for caffeine. And if you have an issue about me going through your drawers and cabinets, I guess that's too bad, because it's already a done deal."

  He laughed. "I don't have anything to hide. No dead bodies, no love letters from former girlfriends. The only thing I have lying around is a dog that some crazy ex foisted on me."

  Chelsea bent and petted Lou. "She's such a sweetheart, too." She looked up at Bash. "The dog, not the crazy ex-girlfriend."

  He smiled down at her. "I knew which one you meant."

  When the coffee was finally ready, Bash poured both of them a cup. Chelsea fixed hers up with cream and sugar, then took a long couple of swallows, letting the caffeine do its job.

  "Ahh. Now this is exactly what I needed."

  Bash put his cup aside to pour food in Lou's bowl. She attacked her food like she hadn't eaten in three days, tossing nuggets around on the floor.

  "Is she always like that?"

  "Yeah. She's kind of sloppy. But she'll get the remnants after she finishes up what's in the bowl."

  "The two of you have bonded well."

  Bash looked down at Lou. "I guess so. Never thought I'd end up with a Chihuahua, but now that she's here, I can't imagine not having her around all the time."

  This was a new side to Bash. She'd always seen him so ... solitary, so alone. And he'd always seemed to prefer it that way. Now, though, while he didn't have a person in his life, at least he had a dog. And he was so good with her, taking her to work with him and being so caring with her. She'd put Bash in this "big and tough" box in her head. He'd always been kind of a badass, in her opinion. It turned out that while he was big and tough, and definitely a badass, he was also caring and tender.