He was already in so deep she didn’t know if she could ever get him out, but thankfully he didn’t know it. She had tasted the forbidden and she knew she should leave it at that, but his lips were firm and warm and his body hot and strong and she wanted to know. She had to know. She parted her lips.

Hot. Wet. Commanding. He just swept in and took her over. The world dropped away and she clutched his shoulders, holding on so that she had something solid, an anchor to bring her back. He could kiss. And he did. Over and over. Robbing her of breath, stealing her heart, claiming her body, first with gentleness, then with aggression, then with tender and then with rough.

She melted into him. Became part of him. Let him in further. He lifted his head, his amazing eyes glittering down at her, and there was no mistaking the stamp of possession on his face.

“You can’t leave, Catarina. We’ll figure this out. I know you’re tired and you’re scared, but we’ll find a way. There’s always a way. I want you here, not on the run where I’d worry every minute of every day whether or not you were alive or safe.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “I’m asking you to wait a day or two, let me try to figure something out so I don’t lose you.”

She wasn’t going to argue with him, try to make him see reason when she couldn’t explain Rafe Cordeau to him. She couldn’t mention his name. A man like Ridley would go head-to-head with Rafe, and Ridley would lose. She wasn’t losing him. Not like that.

She snuggled into Ridley’s warmth so she wouldn’t have to lie to him. He was adept at reading lies, and she wanted him to think she’d wait.

“You’re a pretty good kisser, Ridley,” she said, touching her fingers to her lips. “Just in case none of your many women failed to mention that to you.”

She felt him relax. He thought he’d won. The tension went out of all that corded muscle. “Baby, if I’m your first kiss, how would you know?”

Amusement tinged the velvet smooth of his voice. Affection. She let it wash over and into her, pulling the memory into a secret part of herself she would hold on to forever.

“I know,” she said firmly.

He shifted her to the bed. She curled onto her side and was a little surprised when he stretched out beside her. He seemed to take up the entire bed. It was only a twin and he scooted her over to the edge, laid back and then tucked her into his side. His hands slid up behind his head, as if he couldn’t trust himself not to touch her.

“Your bed’s too small.”