I shifted a little, thrusting my breasts out.

His eyes flared as his hands skimmed down the insides of my thighs. "Will it ever be enough?" he said, his voice thick with hunger.

"I don't know." I sighed in rapture as he stroked my breasts, his thumbs dragging over my sensitive nipples. "Do you ever want it to be?"

He leaned down, his familiar scent causing another squeeze of desire in my belly. His lips brushed over mine and he pulled back to whisper, "I'd spend my last hours inside you if I could."

Emotion broke through the desire and I closed my eyes to hold back the overwhelming feeling of euphoria that moved through me.

As if he felt it too and didn't know how to deal with it, Caine kissed me, this kiss much rougher than the last. He only let go of my mouth to trail kisses down my throat and over my chest.

My thighs tightened against his hips when his lips closed around my nipple. He sucked deep, hard, a pleasurable pain rushing through me as he moved against me. As he had done with his hands, he began to play my breasts with his hot mouth until I was on the brink of coming undone all over again.

"Caine," I pleaded, my fingers digging into his back. "Undress."

He looked up, his gaze dark. "Not yet."

And that was when he shifted lower. His lips traveled down my belly to between my legs. I melted into the mattress in anticipation as he nuzzled his mouth against my sex. He licked my clit, pressed his tongue down on it, and sensation blew through me. "Oh God!" I arched back on the bed, my inner thighs trembling.

That coil inside my belly was unfurling, pulling apart until the tension within me grew tauter, more electric, screaming for release- "Yes!" I cried loudly as the tension reached its apex. Lights sparked behind my eyes as I came in overwhelming, hard pulses.

While I lay panting, warmth rushed through my limbs to the tips of my fingers and toes. I vaguely felt the bed move. When I could finally pry my eyes open, I saw Caine undressing quickly.

There was a fierceness, a harsh quality of craving in him that thrilled me. I stared at him in awe.

The men who had come before him had always made me feel attractive ... but not one of them had ever made me feel necessary. Vital. Not like Caine. Like if he didn't have me this very second the world would come crashing down around him.

He put a knee on the bed, his cock thick and throbbing between his legs. His hands curled behind my knees and I let out a little mewl of surprise as he pulled me roughly to him. Angling my hips, gripping tight to my thighs, he held my legs open as he kneeled between them and gazed down at me.

My breath stuttered at the heat of him nudging against me. Eased by my arousal, he pushed inside me, his lashes fluttering as my inner muscles clamped around his length.

With a tenderness that made the air whoosh out of my lungs, Caine caught his rhythm. He watched himself sliding inside me and his chest moved up and down in shallow breaths as his excitement increased. His grip on my legs suddenly tightened and he braced on his knees. Caine began to power in and out of me with harder, deeper thrusts that dragged across my clit and stirred me all over again.

"Come for me, Lexie," he demanded, fucking me harder now, his teeth gritted together as he held his own climax at bay. "Come around me. Fuck, you feel so good ..." His words trailed off as the climax started to take him, and seeing the need in his face was the last jarring smash against the growing pressure inside me.

I split apart, and my inner muscles rippled around him.

"Jesus." His eyes widened at the deep, hard tug of my orgasm on his, and he froze for a second before his hips jerked against me in a long release.

My legs flopped to the bed as he let go of them to collapse over me. Somehow I found the strength to wrap my arms around him and hold him close. The throb of his cock pulsed inside me and an aftershock of arousal moved through me. "Wow," I whispered, still picturing the look on his face when he came.

It was the hardest he'd ever come with me, and it was the sexiest thing I'd ever seen.

I smiled languorously, feeling smug.

"Yeah." He exhaled slowly, easing up off me but holding on to me so that when he rolled onto his back I was pressed against his side and my head rested on his chest.

"So, that was pretty intense," I whispered.

Caine drew circles on my arm with his fingertips. "Yeah," he repeated, sounding staggered.

I laughed softly. "We were both pretty worked up."

"Yeah," he repeated again.

"I don't think this is a night I'll forget anytime soon."

A second later I was on my back. Caine leaned over me and gazed down at me with determination. "No, it's fucking not," he said thickly. "And it's not over yet."

My eyes widened. "I don't know if I can take much more."

He kissed me gently, the gesture at odds with his rough vow. "I'm not stopping until we've had each other in every way we can."

CHAPTER 20.

Light pricked at my eyelids in an unwelcome sensation as I stirred to wakefulness. I groaned, turning my head on the squishy pillow that was much softer than my own.

Where was I?

The night before suddenly hit me in image after image, memory after memory, and my eyes popped open. The fog cleared from them as I took in Caine's bedroom. My hair rustled on his pillow as I looked at him.

He lay on his stomach, facing toward me in sleep.

A little sigh of happiness escaped me at the sight of his face. He looked so peaceful and relaxed.

A smile tugged at my lips.

More like he was exhausted.

True to his vow, Caine had kept us up practically all night and had given me a record-breaking six orgasms.

I was spent.

I was-I looked past him to the clock radio-up way too early.

We'd only fallen asleep a few hours ago.

My instinct was to roll into Caine and fall back asleep curled up next to him. However, I wasn't sure it was wise-Caine and I didn't wake up together often. If we did Caine got us up out of bed quickly because he had work to do. Mostly, though, I woke up and Caine was gone. It would be so easy to let all my fears plague me up out of that bed and his apartment. But then we'd be back where were before, and after all the ups and downs we'd taken to get to this point, it would be a crying shame to let a little fear fuck it all up.

So instead of creeping out of Caine's bed and treating him to his own medicine, I shimmied into him. I slid my arm over his back, rested my head on his shoulder, and closed my eyes.

"Lexie."

The low voice rumbled in my ear, eased its way into my consciousness, and gently woke me.

"Baby," Caine whispered.

I smiled.

It wasn't the most original endearment in the world, but I had to admit to feeling a thrill shoot through me every time he called me "baby."

He chuckled. "I can see that smile of yours, so I know you're awake."

With lazy slowness I opened my eyes.

Caine's face hovered above mine, amusement visible in the little crinkles around his eyes. "Good morning."

I groaned. "Why is it morning? We only went to sleep a few hours ago."

His lips twitched at my grumpiness. "I'm well aware."

I closed my eyes at his masculine satisfaction. "You can thump on your chest with smug pride later. For now let me sleep."

"I would." He squeezed my waist. "But Effie's downstairs and she's making us breakfast."

"What?" I slammed upright and Caine pulled back just in time before my forehead cracked against his. I noted he was wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants. "How long have you been awake?"

"Since Effie let herself into the apartment and I had to move fast to stop her from coming in here."

I blanched at the thought. "She has a key."

He snorted. "It's Effie-what do you think?"

"I think she has a key and a spare," I muttered.

Caine's eyes were bright with mirth and my grumpiness dissipated at the sight. "I thought you loved Effie."

"I do." I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. "I'd love her more, though, if she'd let me sleep a few more hours."

"Her breakfast will make the tiredness worth it," he promised, and grabbed my hand to gently haul me up. I winced and he instantly stopped. "You okay? Did I hurt you?"

Not exactly.

I slid gently off the bed. "I'm feeling a little sore, that's all."

He frowned, understanding. "Oh."

Sensing where his thoughts had gone, I patted his arm in reassurance as I passed him. "It was worth every twinge, believe me."

His arm shot out, sliding around my waist to stop me. I looked up at him in question. He still looked concerned. "You're sure you're okay? I got a little carried away last night."

I grinned. I could still feel the throbbing between my legs as a reminder. "I know. I was there. And trust me ... you can get carried away like that with me anytime."

Caine's hand tightened on my waist.

"Last night was amazing," I insisted.

The tension leaked out of him and a smirk pulled at his lips. "Yeah, it was," he agreed, his voice deep with satisfaction.

"Are you two kids coming down for breakfast or what?" Effie shouted from downstairs.

My eyes widened. "She has quite the pair of lungs on her for an old bird."

Caine tapped his ear. "She also has superhuman hearing, so I'd cool it with the 'old bird' comments."

"Right." I pressed my lips together and looked around the room at my discarded clothes. An uncomfortable thought hit me. "I have nothing appropriate to wear."

In answer Caine wandered into his walk-in. He came out a few seconds later and thrust a Red Sox T-shirt at me.

I stared at it, aghast. "A T-shirt. You want me to wear a T-shirt."

With an impatient huff Caine rolled it up and then none too gently yanked it over my head. "It's just Effie."

Annoyed, I pushed my arms through the sleeves and jerked it down over my body. With my being tall, it only reached the tops of my thighs. I shot him a look. "Are you kidding me?"

He crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly pleased with himself. "It's very sexy."

Ignoring the familiar thrill that shot through me at his appreciative gaze, I retorted, "Yeah, and that would be fine if I were just having breakfast with you. But I'm not. I'm having breakfast with your pseudograndmother."

"And she's the least grandmotherly person I know."

"Not true," I argued. "She bakes and cooks."

"Well, if that's the qualification, every top male chef in the city is a grandmother." He shrugged and moved past me. "Come on, I'm starving."

"Don't you have a pair of sweatpants I could borrow?"

He glanced back over his shoulder at me, his eyes hungrily roaming over my legs. "Nope."

There was no freaking way I was going down to breakfast with Effie half-naked! Knowing exactly what his game was, I put my hands on my waist and cocked my hip. "Do you really want to chance getting turned on in Effie's company?"

He stopped with a grunt and faced me with an arrogant quirk of his right eyebrow. "I'm a grown man, Lexie. As gorgeous as you are I think I can control my libido for a few hours."

I tapped my chin in mocking retrospection. "I'm sure I've heard that somewhere before ..."

"Lex-"

"But if you're sure you'll be fine ..." I shrugged and lowered myself onto the fat armchair in the corner of the room. I slowly crossed my legs and the T-shirt rode up to the tops of my thighs, almost to crotch level. "I mean it's just a little skin. And if I have to bend down"-I stood back up to demonstrate and the shirt rode up, revealing my ass in the high-cut panties-"it certainly won't remind you of the way you bent me over your bed last night and had your wicked-"

"Fine," Caine snapped, a telltale flush visible on his cheekbones. "I'll find you some damn sweatpants."