came to women. So was he protecting her because she was a woman or because she was his woman?
Shut up, Julie. Don’t ruin this.
When they got to her apartment, Nathan made her stay behind him until he made sure no boogeymen were prepared to jump out of her closets. She might have found it endearing and amusing if she weren’t so edgy.
He moved around her apartment like he was comfortable and at home. Lord knew he’d spent enough time there even if they’d never made the leap to official cohabitation. She frowned. Maybe she should have asked?
Screw this. She was a mess. She was tired and she wasn’t going to analyze stupid girly feelings when she was feeling particularly hormonal. Someone ought to market stupid pills. They’d make a damn fortune.
Nathan followed her into her bedroom, and before she could head to the bathroom to do her thing, he pulled her back and hauled her into his arms.
His mouth crashed down on hers. He stole her breath and devoured her lips in a greedy, passionate kiss. His hands fumbled carelessly at her clothes, ripping without care.
“Lose the pants,” he rasped between kisses.
Even as she hopped on one foot to get rid of her pants, he pulled frantically at her shirt. He forced her hands away from her jeans long enough to raise her arms over her head so he could get her shirt off. Then when she resumed shucking, he tore at her bra, ripping the lacy cups.
Even then the material didn’t come completely away, but her breasts spilled free and he cupped them roughly in his palms.
With one foot, she kicked the pants several feet away just as his mouth closed over a nipple.
Her breath escaped in a hiss as pleasure exploded through her mind.
“God I love your breasts.”
“I love that you love my breasts,” she gasped out.
She clutched his head, holding him tighter.
“You’ve got too many damn clothes on,” she complained.
“Easily fixed.”
He picked her up, his mouth still sucking her nipple, and walked to the bed, where he dumped her onto the mattress. As she lay there, he loomed over her, his hands going to his pants.
God, she loved it when he stripped in front of her. She rose to one elbow, watching appreciatively as he yanked off his shirt. His muscles rippled as he moved his arms. His chest flexed and bowed and his six-pack quivered.
Finally his pants came off, and he stood in front of her, his huge erection fisted in his hand. His eyes glittered with promise as he stalked toward her.
She gulped and edged backward.
He merely smiled and crawled on to the bed. His hand closed around her ankle, and he yanked her back toward him.
“I believe I promised you we’d have a talk,” he murmured when she was completely underneath him. “And I’m pretty sure I said it would take place with you naked. Underneath me.”
“Well here I am,” she said breathlessly.
He cupped her cheek in his palm and stroked over her skin, gently pushing her hair behind her ear. His intense gaze roamed over her face as if he was searching. For what?
“Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
Before she could answer—and really, what could she possibly say to that?—he lowered his mouth to hers in a surprisingly tender kiss.
Heat blistered over her skin, but the warmth went deeper, beyond her heart and straight into her soul.
“I love you,” she whispered against his lips.
He drew away, still stroking her cheek with careful fingers. “I love you,” he said seriously. “Do you know that, Julie? Do you believe that?”
He kissed her again, sweeping the words away before she could speak.
“I wonder sometimes if you aren’t waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like maybe you don’t think I’m in this for the long haul.”
She let her hands wander up his arms, to the thick column of his neck and then down to his chest. One thing she wouldn’t do is lie. Not to Nathan. He was the one man she could be herself with, and that meant letting him see straight into her heart.
“Sometimes,” she admitted. “I don’t doubt you, Nathan. I’m just scared. I know I can be difficult, and I worry that one day you’ll decide I’m not worth it.”
He parted her thighs with one insistent hand and found her heat with his fingers. She arched helplessly into him, her mouth falling open in a tortured moan.
He stroked. Petted. Slid his fingers insider her and then eased up