She laughed as he took her hand and pulled her behind him as he headed for the house.

They managed to miss tripping on animals this time and he closed the doors in their wake to avoid having a cat jump up into bed while they were in it. He flipped on the bedside lamps because he wanted to see her as she got undressed.

“Off. I need you naked and I’ll rip stuff if I do it.”

She’d already got rid of her glasses, so it was one easy movement to pull her shirt off and then get back to looking at him.

Truth was, Tuesday wasn’t sure there’d ever be a point where she didn’t want to stop and stare, openmouthed at the wonder of his body, so she didn’t even try to hide it when he started getting naked.

“You keep looking at me like that and I’m going to injure myself getting out of my pants.” His shirt had been tossed aside, resting against hers in a far corner.

His upper body gleamed in the low light and she sucked in a breath. “I can’t seem to not look at you like that. You’re so hard and masculine and hot. It drives me crazy.”

She stepped to him after she whipped her bra off. “But the last thing I’d want is for a game-ending zipper injury. Let me, then.”

He held his arms wide, giving her access, which she quickly capitalized on because, hello, he was amazing and she wanted to lick him up one side and down the other.

“Like the best present under the tree,” she said, pulling his zipper down carefully.

His cock sprang free as she parted the front of his jeans.

She looked up at him and he waggled his brows.

His pants were off a few beats later, leaving him totally naked.

“I didn’t notice the puma on your calf.”

He stalked her to the bed where she fell back and he pulled the rest of her clothing off.

“We only have about forty minutes until we have to be over at Paddy’s so I suggest we use our time wisely. This round I mean.” He cupped her pussy. “I’ll be back to this again later on.”

Oh. Well she certainly had no intention of arguing with that.

“Get to it.”

He laughed and then before she knew it, he’d rolled her over and slapped her ass three times. Her laughter died as she realized she liked the way the burn wisped away and left a wash of sensation.

He caressed her hips and thighs as he slid his fingers through her from behind. She pressed her face into his blankets and let herself enjoy and feel what he did to her.

And then he was pushing into her pussy, sending all those feel-good chemicals to run riot through her system. She arched to take him deeper. Needed more.

He put a hand between her shoulder blades to hold her in place. She squirmed a little and he lessened his pressure in response. But she wanted that pressure.

Frustrated, she moaned into the mattress and he pulled out, rolling her over to peer into her face carefully. “Are you all right?”

“What?” She was all confused. “Why aren’t you in me? What are you doing?”

“You sounded upset. If I’m holding you down and you sound upset, I’m going to check in. It sort of comes with the permission to hold someone down.”

“I don’t want to have a discussion right now! I want you in me. Thank you for checking in. I’m great. Or I was and now I’m not and you’re at fault for both those states. I can tell you which one I prefer, but perhaps you can figure it out.”

“Why did you make that sound?”

She lowered her lashes a little. “I liked it when you were holding me down harder. You let up a little. It wasn’t awful or anything. Just a sound because you were taking care of all other aspects of the situation. Yeah?”

He turned her over and was back inside in half a breath. His hand at her back returned and he pushed until she groaned when he got to the place she liked it best.

“Each.” He thrusted. “Time.” Again. “We’re.” He continued his sentence, emphasizing his point with harder and deeper presses into her. “Together and we...we do this, I want to be sure everything is all right with you. If I can’t be bothered to take care of the trust you give me, I don’t deserve it.”

The palm at her back gave a little more weight and she groaned from a place deep in her belly. She wasn’t sure how it was she got so freaking turned on by something like that, but she was.

He wasn’t rough so much as he was in charge. Which made her tingly—she wasn’t about to lie.

And then he reached around and found her clit. She’d been close already, but just that last bit of direct contact was exactly what she’d needed.

He growled and then snarled a curse as she came so hard it surprised her probably as much as it did him. She writhed, tightening around him as orgasm sucked her in and didn’t let go. His free hand ended up at her hip, holding her as he fucked into her hard and fast until he came.

* * *

“NOW I THINK I can handle a movie with my brother as he moons at Natalie for hours,” he murmured as he came back into the room from his bathroom. “Would you like to walk or drive over?”

“A walk sounds nice. I wore sneakers just in case you wanted to do something active. Outside the bedroom anyway. I’m always dressed for that.”

He whistled and Loopy trotted out the door. “She likes to walk along. I need to stop by Vaughan’s place first. I promised him I’d water his plants and check his mail.”

It was adorable the way he stepped up to take care of things so his brother could handle his business in Gresham. She refrained from telling him so, but she thought it just the same.