diamonds. And he knew she felt it, too—not just the adrenaline rush, but that profound feeling of rightness. That what they’d done mattered. It was the most important thing in his life.
And right now, it was something they shared.
If they’d had sparks before, in the weeks leading up to this, they now had a downright electric current arcing between the two of them like a Jacob’s Ladder. He reached his hands out, slowly, almost hypnotically, stroking down her arms. Lifting one hand to cup her cheek, stroking the downy softness beneath his thumb. And her hands went to his chest, smoothing her palms up his shirt before linking behind his neck. She tilted her head up, those full lips parting, and his body, honest to God, trembled as he grasped her hips, tugging her until she was pulled flush against him.
She closed her eyes, and he felt her go up on her toes just the slightest bit.
It was all the agreement he needed. He pressed his lips to hers, and what started as a slow, smooth, delicious exploration turned explosive the moment he teased her mouth with his tongue and she opened to him. He crushed his mouth to hers, tilting his head to get better access, holding her tight and taut against his quickly hardening body. He heard her give a little moan of excitement as she pressed herself against him, her fingers tangling in his hair to hold him against her.
He barely registered the fact that they’d fallen against his car until the car alarm went off, jolting them both. He growled, his breathing hard and uneven, as he shut the damned thing off. He looked back at Summer, whose eyes had gone luminous and large in the early morning light.
“Oh my God,” she murmured. “I knew you’d be like this.”
“Like what?” He was having a hard time keeping thoughts together.
Her smile was almost shy. “Irresistible,” she half-whispered.
His arms tightened around her, and he couldn’t help pressing one more hard, fast, fierce kiss against her already kiss-swollen mouth. Against his chest, he could feel her heart beating just as fast and out-of-control as his own.
“Maybe… there’s something else we can do?” he suggested. “Besides breakfast?”
He couldn’t believe he’d put it out there so bluntly. But their chemistry was so explosive, and he was already so punchy, any filters of propriety or even common sense had long since disintegrated.
She grinned. “Maybe we could go to your place?”
That brought him up short. If she’d reacted curiously to his car, his penthouse condo would probably cause more problems and questions, ones he could ill afford. “My place is a mess,” he quickly lied. “Maybe yours?”
“I live pretty close, just follow me.”
There was no traffic at 4 a.m., so they made it to her place in no time. She lived in a crappy apartment building ten minutes away from the hospital, a three-story walk-up with a view of a dumpster. “It’s not much, but it’s home,” she said.
He glanced around. It was neat as a pin, but somehow strangely impersonal. No family photos, very few mementos. His own condo was rented, and he was only staying there for a few months, but he still traveled with some framed photos of the family he missed so dearly. Was she just minimalist?
He was about to ask her, when he turned to find her standing in front of her open bedroom door. She smiled at him, a beckoning smile, full of sensual promise. He watched as she pulled her sundress over her head, revealing sky-blue boy-cut panties and a white bra. It wasn’t deliberately enticing matching lingerie, but somehow it revved his engine more than any seduction gear ever could. Especially when she bit that full lower lip, looking just the tiniest bit hesitant, waiting for his approval.
“Wow,” he breathed, and her resulting smile made him feel like a goddamned hero.
He toed off his shoes, shed his shirt, and then pounced, glorying in her laughing response as he nuzzled her into the bedsheets. She buried her hands in his hair, tugging him to her, her body writhing underneath his as he covered her like a blanket and pressed hot kisses over every inch of skin he could reach. He felt surrounded by her, her smell, her softness, her intoxicating taste. As soon as their lips met again, that explosive chemistry going off like a neutron bomb, all thoughts fled.
Two hours later, Nic couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so sated. He thought maybe he