“I was hoping the long robe would cover them,” she explained with a wicked grin. She deliberately stretched her legs and showed him her toenails painted a hot pink.

Hunter ran a hand up one bare leg, from the strap around her ankle to the top of her thigh. Her skin was silky smooth and the lightest fragrance teased his nostrils. One he couldn’t name, but from now on he’d always associate it with Molly and this moment. “I had no idea you were so daring.”

She raised an eyebrow. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”

A definite I dare you to find out more if he’d ever heard one. He hooked one leg around hers, intending to move up and on top of her, but she stopped him by pinning his shoulders to the mattress.

“I owe you from this afternoon,” she said and shrugged off her robe, giving him a full view of her sexy body encased in the lace.

A tremor rippled through him and his hand stiffened on her leg. He refused to glance down at his erection, knowing he was rock hard and ready for whatever she had to give.

“Only an idiot would say no.” Hunter barely recognized his own voice.

Before he could blink or steel himself, Molly hooked her fingers into the waistband of his briefs. She slid them over his groin and down his legs. Then she cupped her hand around his shaft and he let out a guttural groan. He gave up trying to watch, ceded control and leaned back against the pillows so he could just enjoy.

Eyes shut, he felt her fingers curl around him, teasing him with just the right movement and he grew and swelled inside her palm. Without warning, her warm, wet mouth replaced her hand. His body bucked and his hips nearly lifted off the bed.

She pulled him deep inside her mouth while her hand slid lower to the base of his erection. The dual movement of her tongue and mouth sucking him deep and the gliding motion of her hand up and down his straining shaft sent his body into sensation overload. He gripped the sheets and groaned, feeling the wave wash over him, bringing him higher and higher still.

He knew he wouldn’t last much longer, when he was suddenly deprived of the warm wet heat, and he forced his eyelids open. Molly now held a foil packet in her hand.

“I’d be happy to continue what I was doing or we can finish this another way.” She held up the condom. “Your choice.”

What a woman, he thought, deliberately not saying the words aloud. “Condom. Definitely,” he bit out, knowing there was no way he’d regret this choice.

Her eyes blazed with heat at his reply, and between them, they managed to take care of protection. Then Molly continued to take control, straddling his thighs. “Did I mention that I’m not wearing any underwear?” she asked in a teasing voice.

“You’re kidding.” He reached for the hem of her nightie and she playfully swatted his hand away.

“Actually, I’m not.”

And if he’d moved his hand an inch higher, he’d have realized it earlier. He swallowed a groan.

Then, as he watched, she lifted the gown up and over her head until she was nude but for the sexy heels still strapped to her feet.

Hunter’s eyes opened wide and Molly reveled in his reaction. She didn’t know where her courage came from, but he certainly seemed to enjoy it, which only made her bolder.

From the moment she’d taken Hunter into her mouth, her own desire had been building and now her body craved his in the most intimate, primal way. She inched closer to him, until he was poised directly beneath where she needed him most.

She was hot, she was wet and she was ready, but she was still taken off guard when Hunter reached between them, sliding his finger through her slick heat. She shuddered at the intimate touch, made more so because of how long they’d been building toward this moment. Not days, or months, Molly thought, but years.

She met his gaze as he thrust upward at the same time she took his erection deep into her body. Molly hadn’t been celibate but she was picky and it had been a long time since she’d been with any man-but not so long that she’d forgotten what it felt like. And it had never felt like this. She and Hunter, fully connected, his body swelling inside of hers.

She closed her eyes, needing to break the emotional connection that threatened to overwhelm her, because her emotions were the one thing that could get her in trouble with this man. Instead, she merely felt more of him and more for him.

Thankfully he started to move and she picked up his rhythm, taking her mind off of things she couldn’t control and bringing her focus back to something she could. The sensual feelings overwhelming her body grew with each rapid thrust of his hips and she began to find the movement she liked best.

Molly clenched her inner muscles around him as she slid her body up, feeling his hardness and the ridges of his shaft, then released as she melded their bodies once more. Each time she relaxed, it felt as if she took him harder and impossibly deeper inside her, the thrusts joining them and bringing her closer and closer to a building climax.

Suddenly his hot hands closed over her bare breasts and she opened her eyes just as he slowed them down, stilling her frenzied movements. He circled her nipples with his thumbs, then rubbed the tight peaks between two fingers, causing her to clench her legs tight and whimper aloud.

“That’s it,” he said in a rough voice. “I want you to come-and keep coming until you scream.” In fact, Hunter wanted her to come so hard that she would never ever forget this moment or him. He knew she’d stay with him long after his time here was done.

Her cheeks, already pink, flushed darker at his comment. “We wouldn’t want to wake the house and have company.”

“I’ll take care of that. You just do what comes naturally. Those noises of yours turn me on.” So much so that holding back now took every ounce of effort he had.

But as long he focused on Molly, on her full, luscious breasts in his hand, and not on the point where their bodies connected so perfectly, he was able to prolong her enjoyment and wait her out.

To make his point, he levered himself up onto his elbows and coaxed her to lean forward, so he could lick her breasts and suck one of her nipples into his mouth, pulling and teasing with his tongue.

She uttered a low sound from the back of her throat and started to rock her hips back and forth, thrusting her mound into the base of his shaft.

That did it. Hunter couldn’t hold back another second. He gripped her hips in his hands and began to match her movement and thrust upward at the same time, pumping his hips, rocking his body in and out of hers.

Without warning, she started to come. Before she could scream, he rose and somehow-he’d never know how-he managed to topple her onto her side, then onto her back, switching positions so he could cover her mouth with his and quiet any loud noises she might make-and he hoped she’d try to make plenty.

Securely on top now, he captured her lips with his, and kissed her senseless at the same time he thrust inside her, deeper and harder, now knowing how badly she needed the contact between their bodies.

Her breathing grew ragged but she kissed him back, her nails digging into his shoulders. She milked his body, her muscles tight and wet around him.

Hunter was almost there and swept his mouth over her cheek so he could whisper in her ear, “Come for me, Molly. Now.”

She moaned and wrapped her legs around his waist. He felt the hard ridge of her shoes digging into his lower back, an unlikely turn-on.

Suddenly she tilted her pelvis and met his thrust with one last one of her own until he was buried completely, lost inside her, totally gone.

The first loud groan came not from Molly but from him and would have woken the house if not for her quick action. She sealed her lips over his at the same moment his climax hit, at the same instant she came apart, her entire body stiffening before she began to roll her hips into his, seeking deeper contact, harder pressure. He gave her what she wanted and he gave it eagerly because it was what he needed, as well.

His climax was unlike anything he’d ever felt before in his life and Molly’s screams were lost in their kiss along with his own.


***

AFTER THEY CAME BACK to earth, Hunter pulled Molly tight against him, his exhaustion obvious. Molly fought sleep, knowing she had to tiptoe back upstairs before they were caught together, but she couldn’t resist a few more minutes in his arms. He snuggled into her from behind, his arm around her waist, his face in the crook of her neck, his breathing finally slow and even.

So now she knew. She knew what it was like to make love to Hunter and the experience had exceeded her wildest dreams. She’d been more uninhibited than she’d been with any man in her life, more open, more giving, more concerned about his needs and desires. Everything with Hunter could be summed up in one word.

MORE.

Which also translated into not enough, but Molly knew even a lifetime with this man wouldn’t satisfy her. She’d been offered that lifetime and turned it down.

Hunter had responded by going on with his life in a way Molly had not done. He’d been with other women since his proposal. She’d avoided all men. He’d partied. She’d found family and stability. And now that she wanted a future with Hunter more than anything, now that she could give him her heart with no qualification and no reservation, she understood he’d just shown her the extent of what he was willing to give.

He’d sleep with her again, that much she knew. But no matter how good it was between them, no matter that she’d fall more and more in love with him each time, she wouldn’t delude herself into thinking he’d offer her his heart ever again. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to convince him otherwise.

Because, she knew now, she was in love with him. Maybe she always had been, but the depth of that love was finally clear to her.

And if Hunter woke up feeling just a little of what she felt, he’d run far and fast. Today’s birthday party had shown her why his walls were so high and how much damage she’d done. If Molly had held out hope of convincing Hunter she’d changed, that she was ready for everything he had to give if only he’d offer it to her again, his reaction to the party told her how difficult her mission would be.

His past had seen to that. Her rejection had merely compounded his long-held beliefs. His parents had abandoned him, but not before convincing their child that he wasn’t worthy of love. What his parents hadn’t destroyed inside him, foster care had. The celebrations for others, the exclusion from family events, the lack of love and affection, had all bruised Hunter’s heart worse than she’d ever realized.

Her eyes filled with tears, not for herself and all she’d thrown away, but for Hunter and how much he needed the love she could give him. Love he’d never accept or believe she’d give for the long haul. And she had nobody but herself to blame for that.

With regret, Molly lifted Hunter’s arm off her and rolled away from his touch. He groaned, turned to his other side and curled into a ball with his pillow in his arms. Warmth rippled through her. Still watching him, she unhooked the straps on her sandals and slipped off her heels, not wanting to make noise in the hall this late at night.

He muttered something in his sleep. She leaned over and brushed a kiss against his back, still smiling. She was determined to keep smiling, not dwell on the past, but she couldn’t help thinking about how for one brief moment he’d tossed his fears aside and opened his heart to her. And she’d stomped on it.

Somehow, someway, she needed to get around his walls, or else she feared his body was the only thing he’d ever make available to her again. When she wanted so much more.


***

MOLLY NEEDED the carbs in a bagel like she needed a hole in the head, considering she hadn’t had time to work out lately, but Edna had bought fresh ones and she couldn’t resist. A little cream cheese, the commander’s hazelnut coffee and she was ready to start the day.

She sat down at the table in the quiet kitchen, enjoying the peace, knowing from the creaking noises of movement upstairs that it wouldn’t last long. She took a sip of the delicious brew and let the liquid warm her as it went down. Of course, she didn’t need the heat. Hunter had generated enough inside her to last for a long, long while. Just not enough for the rest of her life; she wondered just how to tackle what had to be her one of her biggest personal challenges.

“So what’s going on between you and the hunk?” Jessie’s voice broke the silence.