Once he was fully seated, he paused, held his head up, and gazed into her eyes in the near dark. The intensity in them twisted something in a different part of her body—in her chest—and there was the vague thought that she was in trouble, but then he started moving, out and then in, and all thoughts escaped her.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, held on to his upper body as well, gave herself over to him completely, and it didn’t take long for another orgasm to build in her. They came at nearly the same time, with her riding the euphoria as he thrust a final time, stiffened, and rasped out an impassioned swear word before collapsing on her chest.

Several heartbeats went by as she relished the weight of him on her, the pulses of him in her, the scent of sex and Cole enveloping her, the sound of his labored exhales.

“Was that a good swear?” she asked eventually, unable to keep from smiling.

Without lifting his head, apparently too wiped out, he said, “Was a good swear.”

Then, a few seconds later, he rolled to the side and pulled her with him. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, her nose, then her lips, lingering there.

The tenderness in his kiss made something in her chest dip, but she chose not to think about it. Focused her attention instead on every detail of Cole—the intensity in his eyes each time he looked at her between kisses, the light sheen of sweat on his skin that tasted salty when she touched her tongue to it, the heat of his body pressed along hers, their legs tangling together. He was so unguarded in that moment, so unlike the man she worked side by side with every day, the strong, capable, confident but contained man. The work version of Cole was appealing, sexy, but this private Cole… He had the power to turn her inside out.

He burrowed his nose along the side of her neck and mumbled, “Oranges. Never going to think of them quite the same way again.”

It took her a second to realize he referred to the citrus scent of her shampoo. “I like to think of it as Creamsicle. Oranges and vanilla and sugar.”

“Definitely sweet.” He nibbled on her earlobe, sending a shiver through her. “Also sexy.” After another kiss to her lips, he untangled himself from her. “Be right back.”

As he walked away from the bed toward the hallway and, she assumed, the bathroom, she mourned the fact that it wasn’t light enough to check out the view. Later, she promised herself. Whether later tonight or another time, she would get the chance to roam her eyes over his naked backside at leisure.

She hoped.