Matt swallowed hard. He couldn’t imagine.

She put her hands in front of her face a moment and then pointed at him angrily. “Don’t. God, don’t look at me with pity in your eyes. I didn’t tell you that for pity, I told you to underline the differences between us, Matt. Other kids had it worse. At least I had a bed to sleep in. I have a good life now. I own a business, a home. I don’t need pity.”

He looked down at her, small, her hands fisted at her sides. Damn, when did he start feeling so protective of her? Need welled up then as he reached out slowly to cup her cheek.

“I don’t pity you.” He bent to kiss her but when she was barefoot, he had to bend his knees to reach her. Instead, he picked her up and sat her on her kitchen counter, making a space between her thighs to get to her. “Give me your mouth, sweetness. I need that.”

Tate didn’t quite know how to handle it when he did that. He heard the bad stuff and still wanted her. Not out of pity. It unnerved her. And yet, she still wanted the hell out of him. Giving in to her desire, she reached up, sifting her hands through his hair and fisted, grabbing him and pulling him to her.

His kiss was eager and passionate. A moan of approval came from him as his hand swept up her neck to cradle her head while he continued his sensual assault on her lips.

He broke away long enough to speak against her mouth. “You taste good enough to eat, Tate. I think I need a snack to tide me over,” he murmured as he moved up to nibble on her ear lobe. Tate gasped as he ran his tongue around the outer edge and dipped it inside.

Waves of warmth headed down her neck, over her ni**les, straight to her pu**y. She melted, molding her body to his.

The coffeemaker beeped that it was done and he sighed softly, stepping back and helping her down off the counter.

“Let’s take that into the bedroom, shall we? We can sip between smooches.”

Blinking quickly, she gulped and poured two big mugs, adding sugar whether he liked it that way or not.

She took both mugs and led the way down the hall to her bedroom. He watched as she placed them on the small table in the corner and turned shyly.

She laughed. “You sure you don’t want to run away?”

He got serious and shook his head. “I don’t want anything but to be inside you, Tate Murphy.” He paused. “You don’t have any idea what you do to me do you?”

“I don’t understand it. Why me?”

Remaining there in the doorway, he knew she was nervous. She picked up the mug of coffee she’d just put down and took a sip. He didn’t fail to notice the slight tremble of her hands as she did.

“Sweetness, I want you so much I think I’m going to have a stroke. All the blood in my body is now in one spot and I’m slightly dizzy from it,” he said with a rueful grin as he motioned toward his cock. “Can I show you how much I want you? What you do to me? Again? Because if you recall, we were in a similar situation last weekend. Only now we’ve got condoms.”

She nodded, staying silent. He took one step and then another and another until he reached her. He switched on the light and took a sip of the coffee. “Ahh, nice and sweet like a proper Southern woman knows how to make it.” He winked.

She smiled, shaking her head at him.

“I want to see you,” he said, coming to stand in front of her. Finishing the last of the coffee, he got down to business, popping buttons on her dress one by one.

“Turn off the light,” she whispered.

“No, I won’t be able to see you if I do that. I want to see your curves, sweetness. We did it your way last time. Let me see you.”

“But…” She blushed and he paused to quickly pull his own shirt off, tossing it in the nearby chair.

“See, I’ll go first.”

“Yeah, like that’s a comparison,” she grumbled but he couldn’t help but love the way she stared at his body. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been sized up by the fairer sex before. But this was different, this was Tate looking at him like he was the best thing since Christmas morning.

“Sweet holy f**k. Oops, sorry, my f**k problem again. You’re beautiful. Matt…” she hesitated, wringing her hands, “…I’m not…my body isn’t like yours.”

He chuckled and kissed her quickly. “I should hope not. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” With a grin, he took her hand and put it over his cock. “This is what your body does to me. I’m not lying when I say you’re sexy.”

He got back to work until the last button on her dress slid free. Slowly, gently, he slid the dress back, letting it drop. She stood there for a moment, blushing, her eyes screwed shut tight.

Reaching out, he drew a fingertip down the curve between her br**sts, right along the lace of the sexiest red lace bra he’d ever seen. Her panties matched, high cut on her hips. She was a little Venus there, delicate and yet larger than life.

“You still with me, sweetness? You’re so damned beautiful, so sexy. I can’t believe you wanted to hide yourself in the dark. Your skin is amazing, flawless.” He smoothed his palms over her arms, down her stomach and around to cup her ass briefly.

Her eyes opened a little bit but she still looked dubious. He’d have to change that. Tracing the lace of her bra, he reached around and undid the hooks, letting it fall and join the dress.

Such pretty, alabaster-pale skin. He saw the faint tracery of blue veins just beneath. Her br**sts were large and heavy in his hands, ni**les hard and dark pink. They hardened further when he brushed his thumbs across them. He looked up to see her catch her lip between her teeth. Still, nervousness vibrated through her and he could tell by the way she stood she wanted to cover up.