“I know the score, Kane. I know you won’t love me.”

I’d have to be okay with that. Wrap my heart in stone and steel so I didn’t fall in love with him.

He moved closer. His chest heaved.

His air conditioner kicked on, the hum startling me right before cool air skated across my skin. I shivered from the chill in the air and my nipples tightened into painful points.

Kane’s gaze fell straight to them and his jaw ticked as he took another lethal step toward me.

“The things I want to do to you…” He shook his head, as if he needed the moment to clear it, and our eyes met. “Tell me to stop if you change your mind.”

“I promise—”

His hands cupped my jaw, silencing me.

“Good.”

He lunged.

Maybe it was me.

The next thing I knew, his strong, warm arms were wrapped around me and I was plastered to his body. My breasts pushed against his, nipples scraping lace and his chest. A mewl escaped me as he plunged his tongue inside my mouth, held me hostage with his hands and turned me, walking forward while he forced me backward.

“Fuck,” he groaned. “Your mouth is heaven. I can’t wait to taste the rest of you.”

He was hard as steel, his entire body including his erection that pressed against my stomach, and yet he held me with a tenderness that made my head spin.

This man could do anything to me, and I would probably enjoy every moment of bliss.

“Kane,” I rasped against his mouth, my hips rolling with need when I finally pressed the backs of my legs to his bed.

“Ready to stop?” There was a hint of humor in his tone, but deeper than that, desire.

I shook my head and climbed up backward onto the bed until I was on my knees in front of him. “Not a chance in hell.”

“Good.” He chuckled and kissed my throat, sending goose bumps skating down my limbs.

My stomach tightened as his hands went to the sides of my nightgown, but he didn’t lift it. His hands learned my body through the thin cotton fabric, cupping my breasts and running a thumb over my nipples until I gasped with need.

“Feel good?”

“So good,” I moaned into his throat, inhaled the fresh spicy scent of him and kissed my way up to his ear while he played my barely clothed body like he’d already memorized every part of me.

When his hands drifted down to the hem of my nightgown, my thighs tightened. Nerves and that stupid fear made me gasp and look down the length of my body.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured against my throat, dipping down to suck a nipple and lace in between his teeth until I bucked with pleasure. “So fucking gorgeous. I’ve been wanting you ever since that first breakfast.”

It was his words that made me relax, and as I did, he lifted my nightgown with one hand, tucked his knuckle of his other hand beneath my chin and lifted my face until our eyes met. “So beautiful, Em. You shouldn’t ever doubt that.”