“Your hidden key.” His magical hands began stroking her, while at the same time he pressed hot kisses against the back of her neck. “Do you mind?”

She loved being in the circle of his arms. Loved the way he touched her so knowingly and sure, and since he was actually licking her now, she couldn’t concentrate on anything beyond his tongue. Did she mind? “Only if you stop.”

His hands were hypnotic, his palms a little rough with calluses, his long talented fingers tracing over her breasts, teasing her nipples.

One thing she’d come to know about him, he was incredibly physical. Whenever they were together like this, he wanted to touch and taste and see . . . everything. There was no hiding, not that she could remember to. He was an incredibly demanding lover, but also endlessly patient and creative. She never knew exactly what to expect from him but he always left her panting for more. “Aren’t you tired?” she asked.

“I can sleep when I’m dead.” He slipped his fingers inside her panties to cup and squeeze her ass, and then wriggled them to her thighs.

And she was a goner.

“Missed this,” he murmured in her ear.

She’d been hoping for sleep. Now she hoped for this to never end. “It hasn’t been all that long,” she managed. “A few days.”

“Four. Too long.” Her T-shirt and panties vanished and then his hand was back to its serious business of driving her out of her mind. In less than a minute she was thrusting against his fingers. And in the next, she came so fast her head was spinning.

“God, I love watching you come,” he said, and then proceeded to show her what a true force of nature could accomplish.

Mother Nature had nothing on him.

Later Pru lay in Finn’s arms, her head on his shoulder, her face pressed into his throat, knowing by the way he was breathing that he was out cold, dead asleep. Poor baby, being a sex fiend was exhausting.

He’d left work and had come here, to her. And there in the dark, she smiled, her body sated, her heart so full she almost didn’t know what to do with herself.

Had she ever felt like this? Like she just wanted to climb into the man next to her and stay there?

Being with Jake had been good. She’d had no complaints, but she wasn’t for him. When they’d split, he’d moved on with shocking ease.

And in truth, so had she.

But it’d left her feeling just a little bit . . . broken, and more than a little bit unsure about love in general.

But then Finn O’Riley had come into her life. She knew that she had no business feeling anything for him at all. But apparently, some things—like matters of the heart—not only happened in a blink but were also out of her control.

She felt her heart swell at just the thought and before she could stop herself, she mouthed the words against his throat. “I love you, Finn.”

She immediately stilled in shock because she hadn’t just mouthed the words, she’d actually said them.

Out loud.

She remained perfectly frozen another beat, but Finn didn’t so much as twitch.

It took a while but eventually she relaxed into him again, and there in the dark, told herself it was okay. He didn’t know.

He didn’t know a lot of things . . .

The panic that was never far away these days hit her hard. She’d been telling herself that she’d waited to tell him the truth in the hopes he’d understand better once he knew her. But deep down, she wasn’t sure she’d done the right thing. Telling him now was going to be harder, not easier.

And the outcome felt more uncertain than ever.

As always, Pru woke up just before her alarm was due to go off at the shockingly early hour of oh-dark-annoying-thirty. But this time it wasn’t thoughts of the day ahead that woke her. Or the knot of anxiety wrapped in and around her chest.

It was the fact that she was wrapped around a big, strong, warm body.

Finn had one hand tangled in her hair and the other possessively cupping her bare ass, and when she shifted to try and disentangle herself without waking him, he tightened his grip and let out a low growl.

Torn between laughing and getting unbearably aroused—seriously, that growl!—she lifted her head.

And discovered she wasn’t the only one wrapped around Finn like a pretzel.

Thor was on the other side of him, his head on Finn’s shoulder, eyes slitted at her.

And she did laugh then because it’d been Thor who growled, not Finn. “Are you kidding me?” she whispered to her dog. “He’s mine.”

But no he’s not, a little voice deep inside her whispered. He doesn’t yet know it but you wrecked this—long before it’d even begun.