His hands smoothed her soft hair. “God, babe, that feels so fuckin’ good I don’ even have words to tell you.”

Sometimes, he found, with her mouth working him, he got hard again and she took care of that as well. Other times, like now, it felt so loving and tender he actually felt a lump in his throat and a burn behind his eyes.

She sat back on her heels and inspected him carefully, making certain he was totally clean before she leaned forward again and brushed a kiss across the head of his cock. “I’m glad.”

“You make me feel like you enjoy takin’ care of me,” he said.

“I do or I wouldn’t do it.” She sent him a small smile and then rose gracefully to make her way to the connecting bathroom.

He heard the water running. She didn’t know. She didn’t yet understand that his body could remove the biochemical for a time, giving her a respite. She thought it was the sex. He didn’t want her thinking that. He wasn’t taking chances she might turn to someone else.

He walked to the doorway and leaned his hip against the wood. “Babe.” He waited until her eyes met his. She had a warm washcloth in her hand and was slowly washing his seed from her thighs and between her legs. She didn’t have a stitch on and her small waist emphasized her full breasts. As she bent to use the washcloth, her breasts moved invitingly. Everything she did was invitation.

“Somethin’ else I haven’ told you. I’ve been figurin’ thin’s out. How it works with your body and the heat cycle.”

Her hand paused and she swallowed. “Can you fix me?”

“Sugar.” He said it like a reprimand. “You don’ need fixin’. No, not like you mean. You secrete a biochemical that goes into your system slow and begins to build. If you don’ have sex, your body overloads on it. You have to release it. When we have sex, that helps, but more than that, it’s in your mouth, on your fingers and palms. That’s why when you touch a man, he can’t get you out of his head. It’s addicting.”

She took a deep breath and looked as if she might cry. “You? Have I done that to you, Wyatt?”

“No. Not through the biochemical anyway. My body seems to be a magnet for the biochemical. When you touch me, or put your mouth on me, my body draws it away from yours. I seem to absorb it. I’m addicted to how you transfer it to me, but not the biochemical itself. That’s why I can stay in control.”

He kept his gaze on her face, watching her process the information. “Babe? Look at me. I want to see your eyes when I tell you this. I want you to hear in my voice and see it on my face that I’m being brutally honest.”

She nodded, her eyes meeting his.

“No other man can do that for you. There’s me for you. That’s it. That’s your option. You can’t get that anywhere else. Do you hear what I’m sayin’?”

“Yes, Wyatt. I don’t know why you would think I’d want another man. I’m not attracted to anyone else.”

“Maybe if you’d get off the fuckin’ fence, Pepper, and give me your word you’ll stay, I can get a handle on my own shit. I despise bein’ jealous of my friends when you’re close to them. If I knew for certain you weren’t goin’ to walk out at the first fight we have, first disagreement, I could relax around the boys a little easier.”

She stood up, tossing the washcloth into the sink and coming straight over to him. When she moved, it was sheer poetry. His heart tripped and gave a little stammer. His greedy cock stirred. She put her arms around his neck, curling her fingers into his hair, leaning in close to him, rubbing like a cat.

“I’m sorry, Wyatt. I don’t want another man, only you.”

She hesitated just for a moment. He could feel her brace herself, but she continued to look up at him. He knew whatever she said to him would really matter.

“I don’t want you to be with me for my body. For sex. I want my man to love me the way men love their wives. I don’t even know what it is, or how to do it myself, but I want it. Not for the children and not for sex.”

He tucked her hair gently behind her ear and smiled down at her, his heart turning over. “I want you for myself, Pepper, for all the reasons I gave you. I thought I loved one woman some time ago and I realized what a mistake she was. She was all wrong for me. The thing is, what I feel for you is a million times more than I ever felt for her and we haven’t even begun yet.”

He felt her relax into him. Her gaze didn’t waver. “I’ll commit to you fully. I’ll be your wife and live in your home and burn with you as often as you want me. Because that’s what I want. I’ll take care of our children and have a dozen more if you really want them. I can’t promise I won’t be scared and do silly things, but I’ll do my best to come to you first before I panic. It has nothing whatsoever to do with your ability to take away that horrible clawing need and everything to do with the man you are.”

He found himself grinning, pulling her close again, his hands sliding down the slope of her back to her rounded buttocks. “You just put your scent all over me on purpose, didn’t you?”

He massaged his fingers into her firm muscles, deliberately pushing her mound against his thigh. “There are goin’ to be days, babe, when I make certain you’re wantin’ me and I’m goin’ to make you wait so you’ll come screamin’ for me five or six times. I may even go for a record.”