you get that?”
“My back pocket.”
“Good thinking.”
“I like to be prepared for anything.”
So did Liv, but she wasn’t prepared for him to hoist her in his arms, press her against the apartment door, and enter her with a powerful thrust. Maybe he hadn’t exactly been prepared for it either because he didn’t move for a moment. His forehead dropped to her shoulder, and he made a noise that was half pleasure, half pain, and lord did she understand that. The door handle dug into the curve of her butt cheek, but the feel of him inside her was so intense that she didn’t care.
And then he started to move. Hard thrusts that pounded her harder against the door, which made her intimate muscles start to pulse again like the rockets’ red glare. Mack covered her mouth with his to smother the sound of her bombs bursting in air.
Mack grunted, his hands digging into her backside where he held her. She clung to him, arms around his neck, legs around his waist.
“Liv,” he suddenly groaned. “Ah God.”
He came with a final hard thrust and another grunt.
She had barely returned to Earth when she felt him yank up his pants with one hand and then start carrying her toward the bedroom.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you to bed.”
“No. Nu-uh. You’re not staying.”
“Yes, I am. I don’t do this kind of thing. I don’t do the sex-and-run thing, Liv.”
She expected him to drop her on the bed, but he didn’t. He bent and gently lowered her, shedding the tough-talking alpha thing as quickly as he’d shed her pants from her body. He gazed down at her in a way that reminded her why she’d avoided him for two days, because a girl could get attached to a look like that, and wouldn’t that be the dumbest thing in the world?
“I just want to wake up next to you,” he said quietly. “Is that all right with you?”
She didn’t actually agree before he lifted the shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor. His jeans quickly followed. She barely had time to scoot out of the way before he pulled back the covers and slid under them. Liv clutched the comforter to her chest.
He rolled his head and let out a laugh. “You scared of me?”
Scared? Yes. He terrified her.
“Night, Liv,” he yawned. And then the bastard closed his eyes. His breathing slowed to an even rhythm within minutes. How the hell could he sleep? Her entire body was on fire. One prompt, and she would climb on top of him. But he seemed completely unaffected by their proximity.
Men. They could turn their emotions on and off like faucets. It wasn’t fair.
“Jerk,” she whispered.
“What did I do this time?”
Liv gasped. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I know. I was letting you admire me.”
“I hate you.” She flopped on her side to face away from him. Behind her, the bed dipped and shifted, and a heavy arm fell across her waist. He tugged her against his chest. The contours of his rock-solid body molded against her. If she scooted her hips back just an inch, she’d probably feel his you-know-what.
“I’m sorry for scaring you,” he said quietly. Sincerely.
She rolled over to face him. “I’m sorry for not calling.” She could at least give him that much.
Mack slid his hand up her side until it framed the outline of her jaw. She didn’t need encouragement. She leaned into his kiss. Into him. Until she found herself on her back once again. He slid his hand down her side, hooked his hand behind her knee, and drew it over his hip.
“I used to think I knew what I was doing with women, Liv,” he whispered. “But then I met a certain pastry chef, and my whole fucking world turned on its head.”
Sometime later, she fell asleep in his arms, wondering whether he knew what he’d done to her with those simple words.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
She awoke sometime later with the heavy weight of his body on her.
What the—?
“Be quiet.” His hand covered her mouth, and his lips brushed against her ear as he whispered. What the hell was he doing? Was this some kind of kinky sex game? She squirmed beneath him, but he held tight.
“Is this payback for hitting you?” she hissed.
“Just listen to me,” he ordered. “There’s someone downstairs.”
She rolled her eyes. Yeah, right.
“I want you to lock yourself in the bathroom—”
What? No way. She shook her head beneath his hand.
“Jesus, Liv. Just listen to me for once!”
And