to miss that opportunity with you, Simone. I’m not asking you to marry me. I’m just asking you not to end what’s growing between us. And I don’t want you to go to Canada because you feel guilty over it. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you.”
He pulled her from the bed and gripped her hands. “Take a chance on me, Counselor. You might be surprised at what you find.”
“I might end up in a padded cell.”
A smile curled one side of his mouth. “Wouldn’t be so bad if we were there together, would it?”
“Mitch—”
“Just think about it, okay? Think about you and me and what could just be the best thing in your life.”
“I have a sinking suspicion that’s all I’m going to be doing for the next few days.” She frowned, but she didn’t pull her hands from his. And he took that as a good sign. “You’re like a tornado, you know that, Mathews? Devouring everything in its path and not caring about the consequences.”
“I care about you. And Shannon, and keeping you both safe. Promise me you won’t go to Canada.”
She didn’t answer, only curled into him, then slid her arms around his waist and held on. And as her heat enveloped him, his heart took one hard roll. Because right then he knew she wasn’t going to do what he wanted. And that meant any plans he’d made for the next few days were going to take a drastic turn.
Hopefully not for the worst.
***
“What are you doing?”
Kate jumped from her spot on the floor in the living room and swiveled toward the stairs. Ryan stood on the bottom step, wearing nothing but faded denim low on his hips. His feet were bare, his eyes sleepy, and his blond hair had that tousled just-woke-up look.
She pressed a hand to her chest. “You scared me.”
He walked into the room. “You were expecting someone else?”
Early morning sunlight glinted off his bare chest. Her skin tingled as she remembered tracing the lines of those muscles last night with her fingers, with her lips.
“Katie?”
Tearing her gaze away from his exquisite male body, she glanced up at his amused face. “What?”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She turned back toward the stack of journals she’d been flipping through and bit her lip as heat crept up her face. Sex was supposed to sate a person, not turn them into a randy teenager.
He slid to the floor behind her, one leg on each side of hers. Warmth radiated from his body. She shivered, itching to be touched, wanting those hands on her like they’d been last night. When his fingers slipped around her waist, she drew in a breath and smiled as his lips grazed the nape of her neck.
That’s what she wanted. But oh, man. If he kept that up, she’d never get through these journals.
“There’s my shirt,” he said, trailing his hands under the cotton and up her ribcage to cup her bare breasts. “I was looking for it.”
Desire pooled in her core. A low fire built when he pinched her nipple. She swallowed hard. “Sorry. I just grabbed the first thing I saw.”
His chest vibrated at her back when he chuckled. “In the office? Across the hall? I think that’s where it landed when you ripped it off me last night.”
She bit back the smile, remembering the night before. She’d never been so aggressive, hadn’t known she could be so passionate. Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the sensation as his teeth nibbled her neck and his hands continued to tease her breasts. “It’s soft. And it smells good. You can have it back in a minute if you want.”
“I do,” he mumbled against her. His hand grazed her hip, slid down between her thighs. “I don’t like waking up alone. I want you back in my bed.”
His fingers danced across her mound. Made her shiver with anticipation. “I think it’s my bed.”
“Minor technicality. What are you doing down here, anyway?”
She looked back at the journal splayed in front of her, tried not to moan as his finger rested against her clit. Even through the thin fabric of her panties, he had to feel how turned on she was. “I couldn’t get Dr. Murphy’s conversation out of my head.”
“Babe, don’t—”
“No, not that. He said he remembered reading something on a study about Tabofren. Ryan, I read it too.”
“You did?” He moved his hand from between her legs, reached for a journal in front of her.