She turned to walk to my bedroom, but I grabbed her hand and tugged her into my embrace, then I brought her down to the floor, surprising even me. I was so not an impetuous guy when it came to women, but Annabelle was different. She let out a startled gasp, and I braced for her to push me away. Naturally, she flipped the script, and pulled off her dress in one sweeping motion, leaving herself mostly naked beneath me.

“Are you sure?” she whispered.

“Positive.” Since this would be our last night together, I planned to commit every inch of her to memory.

Without even a pause, she unsnapped my jeans and drew the zipper down. She shoved them aside until they rode low on my hips, setting my dick free. It jutted forward, obviously seeking its favorite place in the known universe, and Annabelle accommodated by pushing aside her underwear and then she looped her legs around my waist and pulled me deep inside her. Fucking bliss.

I drove into her, again and again, as if in the euphoria of her, I could obliterate the fact that after tonight, I was letting her go. She made hot sexy noises in her throat that drove me right to the edge and then she whispered in my ear, “I love you, Nick. I love you.”

I was undone.

Annabelle

23

I watched him sleep. His face was relaxed but the chiseled cheekbones and stubborn chin remained, making him ridiculously attractive even while unconscious. There was no drool or snoring or even a case of bedhead to diminish his good looks. It simply wasn’t fair.

His breathing was deep and even. It calmed me a little. The truth was my head was spinning. Had I really told Nick I loved him? Oh man, he was going to shake me off like a bad case of fleas.

I couldn’t blame him. Getting attached had not been a part of our deal. We had agreed, three months and then we went our separate ways. I’d thought I’d be okay with that but—damn it—how was I supposed to walk away from a guy who made me feel all these feelings?

He was so much more than he let anyone see. When he set up Emily and Elijah and the baby with temporary lodgings, I knew it was personal for him. I knew he was the money behind the Sunshine House, and I knew it was his cause because as he’d said he saw himself in Elijah. The things he’d said about his childhood had left me cold. He’d never mentioned his past to me before, but I’d known it was troubled, just like I knew that right now he needed his sister.