“Not naked yet,” he said as he tossed the box near the pillows on the bed, which was neatly made. “But I like those.” He indicated her lingerie.

“You’re not naked yet either.”

In a single quick move, he shoved his jeans and underwear down his legs and stepped out of them, and God’s truth, his body was even more spectacular than she’d imagined the other night and a thousand times since. She stepped back enough to look him up and down, appreciating every inch of taut skin over muscle on his chest, abs, thighs…

She moved forward again and reached for his erection, barely sliding her fingers over it before he backed up.

“Naked,” he repeated. “Need help?”

So that was how he wanted to play it. With a smug grin, Sierra walked a few steps to the end of the bed and faced him, out of his reach. Cole cocked his head sideways, no doubt wondering what she was up to, and then she unhooked her bra, pulled the straps down her arms, and let it fall to the floor. An appreciative growl came from Cole.

“Is this what you were after?” she said as she playfully grasped her breasts.

He took a step toward her and she held out a hand. “Nope. Stay there till I say.”

She was a little surprised when he stopped as she’d ordered. Her body was on fire from the way he gazed at her, lust and approval burning in his eyes.

Her eyes on his angled face, she hooked her fingers in the sides of her bikinis and pushed them slowly down her thighs, calves, ankles, then stood. Before Cole could move, she went to the opposite side of the bed from him, pulled the bedding down, and positioned herself on her back in the center, propped up on pillows, one leg straight, one knee bent up in invitation. It wasn’t a move she would normally make, so bold and confident, but the look in his eyes drove her.

“Is this what you wanted?” she asked coyly.

Without answering, he was on her in a millisecond, kissing her lips, his hands all over her body as if making up for the few seconds she’d made him stand back and watch from a distance. She responded in kind, running her hands over that magnificent ass as she’d been dying to, pulling him into her body, beyond ready for him to be inside of her.

Taking one hand away momentarily, she felt around the mattress for the box of protection, pulled out a foil packet, opened it, and sheathed him. In the next second, she welcomed him into her body, closing her eyes as that feeling of rightness once again washed through her.

Chapter Twenty-Three