She shuddered around me, her eyes taking more time to focus as if we were high. Fuck, maybe we were. Maybe she was a dream.

“I trust you.”

I hissed, her words hitting the center of my chest. I slid inside her and growled as her tight walls hugged every inch of my dick with slick, molten heat. She clawed at my back as she rocked her hips up and down, matching each thrust I gave her with vigor. This woman was a match for me in every way, giving more than she took, meeting every challenge with one of her own.

“Fuck, Red. You feel amazing.” The words came out more like a growl, but I couldn’t help it. Something primal inside of me wanted to claim this woman for my own in a way I’d never felt before. With each of her moans, I felt like fucking Superman, the gratification of her clenching around me, over and over again, was better than winning ten championships. Better than the feel of a good fight, better than the ice beneath my skates and a stick in my gloved hands. My blood was on fire, my skin electric, all because of her.

I pulled my head back, just enough to catch her eyes. They locked onto mine as I slowed our pace and I knew she could see through me, see where my head was at. The moment was charged, a current connecting us on more levels than physical.

Fuck, I’m a goner.

I shifted, holding her weight with only one arm, taking my free hand to cup her cheek as I slowly pumped inside her, never losing those gorgeous green eyes of hers. Her breath quickened, another wave crashing over my dick as she tightened around me. The look in her eyes before she gently set her mouth against mine had me crashing right alongside her—coming in the instant she did—and it was so hard I nearly lost all balance I had.

Shit! I flinched as the blood rushed back to my brain and I realized how fucking perfect I felt—bare—inside her.

“What is it?” she asked breathlessly.

“I didn’t grab a condom,” I said, glancing down like I could magically turn back the moment. Panic rippled through my blood as all the heat from my body drained. I cursed myself for getting so lost in the moment with her, something that had never happened before. I always remembered to wrap it up.

She chuckled, the motion making me hard again, and a mental battle instantly warred as I slowly moved inside her because it felt so fucking good. “I’m on birth control, and I’m clean,” she said and the heat came rushing back in such a huge relief I almost high fived her.

“Me too. The clean part at least.”

“Well, now that we’ve got that settled.”

I grinned, steadying myself, and held her close. With the city I loved at my back, and still being inside the woman of my dreams, I realized just how absolutely fucked I was.

There would never be another woman who saw the heart of me, past the uniform and the trophies. Paige didn’t need my money, my name, my position—hell, she wanted me in spite of those things. She rocked me to my core, more than physically—though I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to have sex again without seeing her face, calling out her name. She knew my demons and held me anyway. She trusted me, believed in me. I hadn’t just crossed off an item on her list—I’d let her in. All the way in. And now I didn’t want to let her go. Ever.

And I had less than three months to get her to feel the same way.

I kissed her again before leaning my forehead against hers, allowing my eyes to close as we caught our breath.

 

 

Chapter 10

 

 

Paige

 

 

Don’t think about Rory. Don’t think about Rory.

I chanted the mantra over and over to myself, trying to drown out the still hot and fresh memories from my mind. Rory’s Greek-God-like body, cut in all the right ways, moving in all the right ways against me, inside me…on the balcony, in his bed, in his kitchen. I was still sore, and it had been two days. The best sex of my life by far, but I couldn’t deny something more had happened than just world-bending orgasms that night. Something had shifted inside me, and it wasn’t just his perfect cock. The last piece of me that had been holding back, keeping Rory locked in a file with nothing but a contract, fell. I fell. And it had left me terrified.

Sweat popped on the back on my neck as my skin flushed from the memory and again I forced myself to concentrate. If I didn’t, I’d end up blurting out how perfect Rory’s body was at the press conference.

Focus!

I gripped my iPhone; the prepared speech pulled up on the screen as I stepped out of the company car. This—right here, this was where I would make a difference. Where I would leave my mark. Tears bit the backs of my eyes as I took in the perfect location for my shelter, but I kept them on lockdown right alongside thoughts of Rory.

A warm shiver danced across my skin just thinking his name.

My black pumps crunched against the gravel as I made my way to the massive brick building that had once been a company that made phonebooks. The place had long been on the market, and it needed work, but I could see the potential where other buyers hadn’t. I’d signed the papers last week.

A slew of reporters waited outside the front of the building ready to take my statements on what exactly I was doing with the place. The site was also crowded with workers, already implementing the plans I’d discussed with the contractor, electrician, and code manager I’d hired. The hustle of steps and sounds of power tools thrilled me to the point of being giddy. My dream finally bursting with life. It wouldn’t be long before it would serve this community in ways no shelter ever had before.

“Ms. Turner!” Reporters started shouting the minute I stepped up the concrete stairs to address them.

“Yes?” I pointed to the first journalist I’d heard.

The crowd hushed and waited. “Are the rumors about you and Mr. Jackson true?”

My mouth went dry, but I straightened my spine, offering them a soft smile. “This is a press conference to discuss the objectives of the newest undertaking at CranBaby Organics, not a tell all on my personal life.” Not that I was trying to hide Rory—we’d been caught on camera holding hands and even kissing—but I wasn’t prepared to be vetted about him here. This was about my shelter, not my “relationship.”

The fact that I still couldn’t think of it as a real relationship had my stomach sinking in ways it had no right to. Rory and I had made a deal. A business deal, and just because something had changed inside me that night, didn’t mean Rory’s feelings had. He was still the notorious bad boy of the Shark’s and would return to his playboy status once our three months were up. I’d simply have to guard my heart more carefully and enjoy the time I had.