This time there was no mistaking that hard thrust—sweetly painful. Her fingers dug into his back, slick now with sweat. The delicious burden of his body pressed down on her. Into her. Deep and deeper still, this tight, powerful breaching.

A crazy fracas broke out behind her eyelids. Inky swirls orbiting into a whirling vortex that spun faster and faster until it erupted into a perfect supernova.

He thrust on, full press. Her head thrashed. She cried out. His hips drove deeper. Stilled.

Finally... The silent howl of his arched neck. Muscles convulsing. The long shudder of his body.

And then the quiet.

They calmed. When she could breathe, she maneuvered for a more comfortable position only to send them both to the floor.

They lay there for a few moments, on their sides, wedged between the couch and his flying saucer coffee table. His finger circled the breast he’d neglected while he’d been busy with other parts. “You felt like a virgin.”

“It’s been a while.” She rested her head in the crook of his arm and gave in to the inevitable. “This can’t interfere with work.”

“Absolutely not,” he said, even more vehemently than she had.

“Because if it’s going to...”

“It won’t. We’re too smart for that. And we both know this had to happen. Now we’re going to see it through.”

“Lovers when we’re naked,” she said. “Business associates when we’re not.”

“I couldn’t have phrased it better.” He wedged up on one elbow. “Have I mentioned how much I like you? When I don’t feel like killing you.”

She smiled. “I like you, too. Most of the time, anyway, and that’s rare. I’m much too critical of your sex.”

He tweaked her nipple. “From the way you were screaming, I think my sex did pretty damn well for itself.”

“Definitely better than last time.”

“You aren’t going to let me forget, are you?”

“I’m not that decent.” She tugged hard on a piece of his hair. “You’d better not try that spanking thing again, because you won’t get away with it twice.”

“I’ll treasure the memory.”

She traced her fingers down the hard slope of his arm. “You should know I’m not usually so selfish. I believe in giving as well as taking.”

“You’ll have to prove that.” He nuzzled her neck. “Let’s hop in the shower so I can see if you’re all talk.”

“So soon?”

“I’m a highly trained athlete. I have powers far beyond those of mortal men.”