She took the matter out of his hands by sliding off the counter and wrapping her pajama top tight around herself. Disappointment flashed through him for a moment, before she grabbed his good hand and tugged him to follow her up the stairs to her bedroom. He went willingly.

Her bed had a purple satin duvet and mauve sheets. There was a large cream armchair in one corner with a reading lamp and an ereader on a small side table. She went over to the drapes to close a narrow gap in the material.

He followed her across the room and when she turned around, he stopped her, pressed her up against the covered glass and kissed her deeply.

She obviously had no idea what she did to him with her little tattoos and the totally unexpected red fucking thong. She was like his favorite Christmas gift and he wanted to unwrap her over and over again.

She sank her fingers into his hair and he hoisted her higher until her legs were around his hips.

“Your arm,” she protested.

“Is fine.” He turned them toward the bed and came down on top of her. The room was dark except for the light from the hallway which was more than enough to see the heat in her gaze. He pulled back and removed his SIG and Glock from their holsters and placed them on the nightstand.

She struggled to sit up and opened the drawer. He placed both weapons out of sight and she relaxed back onto the covers again.

He tossed his wallet on the table, grateful he always carried condoms for survival purposes and also because sometimes men were weak when it came to the opportunity to get naked and lucky. As she’d said, occasionally his job was lonely as fuck.

It had been a long time for him.

He’d been caught up with work and avoiding anything that smelled even vaguely like commitment.

But, really, no one lived forever and Grace’s tears were proof of that.

Emotion clogged his throat and he didn’t want to think about his dead friend. He wanted to think about nothing except burying himself inside this woman with her beautiful brown eyes full of shadows and secrets.

Yael’s gaze followed the movement of his hands as he slowly unbuckled his belt and stripped off his boots and pants.

The appreciation in her gaze almost made him blush, but he was more interested in her body. She had the most mouth-watering curves that he wanted to spend all night exploring.

He sank down onto the bed and felt the mattress give. He kissed her mouth and she released a sigh. Then he moved lower, careful not to catch her with the rough edge of the cast on his left arm.