“Meaning…we’ll be having sex?”

“Oh, yes, little wifey mine, we’ll be having sex. Lots and lots of sex. Sweet sex, raunchy sex, shower sex, sex on the floor, sex against the wall, sex in bed, sex in the truck, sex in the barn, sex on the tractor, and sex on this table.” He smacked it hard.

Her silver eyes went wide.

“And in case that wasn’t clear, I’ll say it plain. I like sex. A lot of sex. Morning, noon, and night.” He leaned closer. “It about killed me, laying next to you the last couple nights, not touching you. Not even able to hold you, my wife, in my arms. I want you, Celia, want you like f**king crazy. Make no mistake that I’ve waited for you for a long damn time and I’ve held off. But now that you’re legally mine and we’ll be playing house for the next six months? I won’t hold back. We will be intimate on the most basic level. As often as possible.” Kyle was breathing hard by the time he finished.

Celia didn’t appear to be breathing at all.

“Say something.”

“All right. If we’re having sex I expect you not to have sex with anyone else.”

Kyle bit back a snarl. She really believed he’d cheat on her? Then it hit him. Breck had always played around on Celia. Why wouldn’t she expect that he’d do the same? Especially since he’d once had a reputation for being as much of a horn-dog as Breck was?

But this was different. They were married. “Celia, I promise to be faithful to you. You’re my wife. Even if this marriage has an expiration date, I would never disrespect you that way. I promise to honor our wedding vows. I’m not like Breck.”

“I know that. I just wanted to hear you say it.”

He attempted to lighten the mood. “So you’re giving me the green light? I can seduce you at will, sexy wife of mine? I can put all my fantasies revolving around you into play?”

“Yes. But I have one other condition.”

Don’t groan. “Which is?”

“I want a new bed,” she blurted out. “And all new bedding that is ours before we have any sex. Because a used bed is just nasty.”

Kyle grinned. “Done.” He ran his knuckles down the side of her face. “I’m dyin’ to touch you. Dyin’ to show you how it can be between us. But I can tell every time you move how sore you are. So despite my earlier statement about being all over you, all the time, I won’t be exploring this heat with you tonight.”

She licked her lips and granted him a come-hither look that made his dick hard. “So now you’re being a gentleman?”

“Gentleman?” He kissed the line between her eyes, then her succulent mouth. He brushed his lips across her ear. “Not. Even. Fucking. Close.”

She trembled.

Oh hell yeah. Over the last two years, whenever he’d spoken in her ear, she’d trembled. He intended to have her trembling in his arms as often as possible. “Celia,” he whispered against the side of her neck, “tell me you want me too.”

And rather than squirming away, she offered more of her neck to his exploring mouth. “I want you.”

“You smell good. You taste good.” He nuzzled the base of her throat. “I could just eat you up, sweet wife. From head to toe and everywhere in between. Especially in between.”

Celia stepped back. Her cheeks were such a pretty shade of red. “Stop teasing me.”

“But I don’t wanna stop.”

“Tough up, cowboy, because we can’t do anything about it tonight.” She crossed her arms over her chest, but not before he caught a glimpse of her hard ni**les. “So to recap…as far as everyone knows, we’re married for real?”

As far as I’m concerned we’ve been married for real since the second you put on that wedding ring.

“Yep. We’ll be all lovey-dovey tomorrow when we talk to your brothers.” He crowded her again so his thumb could trace the outline of her full lips. “That won’t be hard to pull off. Me wearing the lustful look of a man who can’t wait to get his new bride back to bed.”

“After that we’ll go get my truck and stuff. But I’m leaving my horse until I figure out a place to put him. And you should know that I have four other horses besides Mickey.”

Kyle blinked at her. “You’re tellin’ me we have nine horses?”

“Ten soon, ’cause my mare Blue will foal this spring. But don’t worry. I’ll deal with the horses.”

He shook his head. “I have to learn how to do everything, so there won’t be a division of labor between us.”

“Okay, if there’s no division of chores, that means we have to do a grocery store run in the next few days.” Celia smirked at him. “And it’s your night to cook supper.”

Celia wasn’t in their bed when he’d gotten out of the shower, but he noticed she’d made the bed more user-friendly. More cozy.

He dropped the towel and grabbed the remote before sliding beneath the covers. When Celia sauntered in, she stopped, picked up the wet towel, and pointedly held it out.

“Here’s a news flash, bucko: I hate wet towels on the floor. And no, I won’t hang it up for you.”

Forced to leave his warm nest, Kyle hung the towel in the small master bathroom. Celia didn’t avert her eyes from his groin and urge him to put on clothing. Which made his c**k eager to prove how fast it could go from soft to hard. It pouted when she wasn’t impressed.