He pinned her arms over her head. Held them there with one hand. His cock was already lodged between her thighs, ready to drive inside, but he didn’t go in, not yet. With his other hand, he stroked her clit, rubbing her over and over the way he’d already learned she liked. Just the right pressure, just the right speed, just the right—

She arched up against him, and his cock sank deep.

So much for slow. So much for careful. He was driving in and out of her as fast as he could go. Sinking deep. Plunging hard. Her legs wrapped around his hips as he took her mouth in a ferocious kiss. The silken sheets slipped beneath him as he drove into her, over and over, and she came, her sex contracting around him with the ripples of her orgasm.

He poured into her, firing on another orgasm so intense his whole body quaked.

And he kissed her. Kissed her with a hunger that he was fearing would never be sated. Just as the wild desire he felt for her—he wasn’t sure that desire would ever end.

Once, he’d told himself that if he ever had Piper, if he ever got her beneath him or on top of him—or any way he could freaking get her—the fascination she held for him would end.

The challenge would vanish.

She’d just go back to being…Piper.

Not the woman who haunted him. Not the woman who invaded his dreams.

He’d been so wrong.

She was always going to haunt him. She was his dream.

He withdrew from her. Rose. Stared down at her. Then, without a word, he turned and headed for the bathroom. He had a claw-footed tub in there, a big, giant beast of a tub. One that could easily hold two people. He turned on the water, let the steam drift into the air, and then he exhaled slowly.

Stay in control this time. The third time was the charm, wasn’t that the old saying?

He headed back into his bedroom. Only…

His bed was empty.

What the fuck?

And the bedroom door was open.

“Piper!” He hadn’t meant to bellow her name. Okay, maybe he had. And maybe he had meant to run after her, but when she whirled in the hallway, staring at him with wide eyes and the faintest trace of fear in her golden stare, he got his shit back in check. Fast.

“Baby…” Okay, his voice was lower and way more controlled. He was never the type to bellow. Or at least, he hadn’t been. He’d just panicked for a moment. “Why did you leave?”

She’d put back on the white shirt. Only buttoned one button. “Uh…I thought we were done. You left.”

Done? Ha. “I was just getting a bath ready. I figured you’d like a soak.”