She breathed my name against my neck, and I shuddered. A good kind of shuddering, the kind that made me want to melt into her until we became one. I buried my nose in her hair and inhaled, feeling as if I would never get enough.

“This is insane,” I said.

“What is?”

“Wanting you so fucking much.” It was like she wore a pheromone with my name on it. “We can’t do this, Alex. There are a million and one reasons why this is a bad idea.”

Her breaths puffed against my skin in rapid succession. “Name one.”

“The shit you’ve been through.”

“You’re doing a good job of distracting me.” She nuzzled my jaw, and her fingers fisted in my hair.

“Fuck,” I said with another tantalizing shudder. “This isn’t the way to deal with it.” But my hand shared Alex’s agenda. It wedged between our bodies and freed my cock from my boxers. “Tell me to stop.”

“Never.” Her teeth lightly scraped along my scruffy face until she reached just underneath my ear, where her moan vibrated through me.

“You’re killing me.” I tugged her panties to the side and dipped a finger inside her wetness. “I don’t have any condoms.” Or if I did have some, I didn’t remember where they were. She moved against my hand, moaning, and I added another finger.

“You fucked me before without them,” she said with a gasp.

I halted. “This is more than fucking.”

She arched her spine, a silent plea for me to keep going. “God, Rafe, it’s never just been fucking between us. Not for me.”

I clutched the back of her head, and we stared at each other, mouths parted, the air warming between us. I hooked my fingers inside her, eyes trained on her face to watch her reaction.

“Rafe!” Her nails dug into my damp shoulders, and she trembled all over. “I need you inside me.”

Her desperation slammed me back to Earth. “No, sweetheart, you need to face what’s happened.” Reluctantly, I withdrew my hand from her tempting pussy. “Whatever this is between us, we have time to figure it out.” Letting her go, I rolled off the couch and took a spot on the floor, where I folded my arms around my knees. She propped up on one elbow, curls falling into her eyes, and glared at me. I understood her frustration, but fucking her wasn’t going to fix anything right now. My cock throbbed, pissed with my decision. I was sure Alex and my wayward dick had forged an alliance against me.

She flopped onto her back with a groan.

“You know I’m right,” I said. “I can’t remember shit, and your psycho brother is still out there somewhere.”