Okay, so she had lukewarm feet. She'd reminded herself all day this was just s.e.x, yet she knew that was a lie. She'd agreed to sleep with Bryce because she cared about him.

Not part of the ONS rules, Ms. Mitch.e.l.l.

"You worried about me?"

"Maybe," she half whispered. Her stomach had been twisted in a troublesome knot since the downpour hit at five o'clock. Her father had been in a terrible accident on a rainy night when she was little and she'd never forgotten the trip to the hospital, her mom's hand tight around hers, her eyes red from tears she wouldn't let fall in front of Honor.

"Thanks," he said, like no one had worried about him in a while. "But nothing is going to keep me from you."

She liked that. She liked it a lot. But... "I'm not going anywhere," she said. "You should stay put and we'll do this when the weather is better." It wasn't like she had any other one night stands lined up.

The doorbell sounded. Oh no. She hoped her neighbor's yard wasn't flooding like the last time it had rained this hard.

"You want me to stay put?" Bryce asked.

"Yes." Honor jumped to her feet. "It's really storming here." Rain hit the windows in a loud, steady beat. "Hang on a sec, there's someone at my door."

Someone tall, dark and drop-dead handsome. Her legs shook at the sight of him. "You're here," she breathed into the phone before dropping her arm and taking him in. He was over an hour early, but he'd made it, safe and sound. She flung herself at him.

He wrapped her in his arms, his big, strong body curling around hers, and in that moment she knew. Knew she was in way over her head, but she couldn't stop it.

"Hi." His mouth brushed her temple and he inhaled, breathing her in.

She hung on to him until a sharp whistle of wind sent a chill down her body and she pulled back. "Come inside."

"Someone told me I had to-"

She cut him off with a quick kiss, s.e.xy stubble tickling her lips. "Hurry."

The naughty play on his lips made it impossible not to smile in return. He moved around her. "Yes, ma'am."

"How long have you been standing outside my door?" She took his jacket and hung it on the antique coat rack she'd bought last year.

"I didn't think it possible," he said, ignoring her question and taking a strand of hair at her shoulder between his fingers "but you've gotten prettier since the last time I saw you."

Definitely over her head. Especially when she stared up at him and saw the most incredible face she'd ever laid eyes on. That dimple in his chin alone made it hard to breathe, made it hard to talk.

She brushed by him to give herself a few seconds to regroup without his seductive eyes on her. Didn't entirely work because she felt him watching her backside. And c.r.a.p. She glanced down at her yoga pants and sweatshirt. Since he'd arrived early she hadn't changed yet. Not that she had her entire closet of clothes piled on her bed because she didn't know what to wear for him or anything.

The evidence of her indecision layered around her room embarra.s.sed her just thinking about it. She spun around. "Can you give me a minute to, uh, change?"

He took her hand, turned it over, and rubbed his thumb over her pulse. Over Faith. "There's no reason to be nervous around me, Honor. I got here early because I couldn't wait to see you, but if you're having second thoughts I can go."

All this nervous tension wasn't something she was used to. And now with his considerate words and insanely arousing touch, he zapped her of any semblance of control. He made her both unsure and certain at the same time.

"I don't want you to go."

"How about we eat something and talk first, then?"

"That sounds good." She took a step back and turned toward the kitchen. "I'll make us my special grilled cheese sandwiches."

"I happen to love grilled cheese sandwiches. Want some help?"

"That's okay. I've got it." She grabbed the frying pan and needed ingredients. "Did you, uh, have a good day?" she asked. And instantly regretted the inquiry. It made her sound like his girlfriend, not his one night stand. But he had brought up talking and that was the first thing to pop into her head.

He leaned against the counter and watched her. "I did. Spent the morning on the phone finalizing a couple of client appearances, then had a lunch date. Mind if I grab a drink?"

"Date, huh? Was she pretty?" she tossed the question out like it wasn't a big deal. In reality, her heart caved at the thought he might be on the brink of seeing someone.

"What? No." He stepped away from her fridge. "You don't honestly think I'd be here if it was that kind of lunch, do you?"

Honor shrugged.

His warm hands squeezed her upper arms, his chest pressed against her back, and his mouth hovered below her earlobe. "You're the only woman I'm seeing, Honor. The only one I can't stop thinking about."

There he went with those words again. She had zero defenses against them. Red-hot p.r.i.c.kles danced over her skin as her sweatshirt slid off one shoulder.

"If you knew the dirty dreams I've been having about you..." His lips feathered over the curve of her neck down to her bared shoulder.

She closed her eyes and practically melted into him. Her nipples pebbled into tight, achy points, a rush of heat filled her tummy and spread lower. Even though one night didn't const.i.tute any kind of obligation, Bryce gave it to her. At least for right now.

"Ow! Frick." Her eyes flew open as she whipped her arm back from the stovetop and shook her hand furiously back and forth.

Bryce stumbled back. "You burned yourself?" She nodded. "Let's get it under cold water." He turned on the faucet and pushed up her sleeve just before she thrust her hand under the spray. "Sorry," he mumbled, like a little boy who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"You should be," she teased. "You distracted me from what I was doing."

He reached around her back and turned off the k.n.o.b for the burner. That would teach her to let the pan warm up before she was really ready.

"You've been distracting me since the moment our eyes met."

She purposely focused her gaze on her burned fingers, afraid he'd see how much he affected her, too.

"Hey." He tucked his finger under her chin and guided her face toward his. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No." She turned off the faucet and dried her hand with a paper towel. "I really do want to cook for you, though, so sit at the table and let me do my thing."

"You all right?" he asked, nodding at her hand.

"Fine." She waved him off and cooked her special grilled cheese sandwiches-cheddar cheese, bacon, alfalfa sprouts, and ranch dressing on sourdough.

While they ate, they talked about everything and nothing and she relaxed. He'd mentioned he liked hearing her voice, but she could listen to him talk all day. His smooth, deep sound, full of confidence and sincerity touched down to places inside her no one else had reached.

"Middle name?" Bryce asked.

Being with Bryce was so easy she didn't mind his onslaught of questions. "Rosalie. Yours?"

"Honor Rosalie Mitch.e.l.l," rolled off his tongue with such reverence that he wiped out the negative implication she always a.s.sociated with hearing her mom say it.

"Okay, quit stalling and give me yours."

"Aleksius." He gave the cutest squint to go along with the disclosure. "It's a family name."

"You don't like it?" She lifted his empty plate and put it on top of hers.

"Not even a little. Football or baseball?" The sleeves of his charcoal gray ribbed cotton shirt were pushed up to his elbows and she glanced at his strong forearms and hands, imagining them handling her for a touchdown.

"Football. Cupcake or brownie?"

"Brownies plural. But if we're going to talk dessert, I know exactly what I want right now."

Honor knew, too. Yet the tiny thread of self-preservation she'd been clinging to must have shown on her face because Bryce added, "But I can be patient. You're worth the wait."

"You don't know enough about me to say that."

"I know you." He reached across the table and took her hand. "I know you care more about others than you do yourself. I know you don't pretend to be something you're not. You love your brother and movies and antiques. When you laugh your eyes sparkle like a thousand stars tucked inside a gla.s.s jar. The rain isn't your favorite thing. And you make the best grilled cheese sandwich I've ever eaten."

Her heart stopped. With a few candid words he made her feel important. Special. Worthy of someone like him. At least for the next few hours.

For seven long years she'd carried the burden of hurting Lance. Guilt and pain still weighed heavily, breaking her faith and belief that she deserved to belong with anyone. But maybe Bryce saw something in her she'd yet to see in herself. Maybe for tonight she did deserve to be swept away.

She pulled him up by their clasped hands and walking backward, led him down the hallway toward her bedroom. His unwavering stare heated her skin, the fathomless dark pools whispering he was in this 100 percent, too.

No one had ever looked at her like that before.

They stumbled into her room. She flipped the wall switch for the vintage Victorian lamp hanging from the ceiling. Soft light spilled around them.

c.r.a.p. She'd forgotten her closet had vomited clothes onto her bed.

"Hang on." With one giant sweep of her arms, she pushed all the clothes on her bed onto the floor.

He chuckled. "You'll explain that to me later."

"Maybe." She would. He had a unique effect on her, making her a bundle of nerves but willing to share all her secrets at the same time. "Now where were we?"

Bryce cupped her face in his hands and his mouth fused with hers. The kiss started slow and sensual, like a story about to begin, and Honor almost pushed him away. There was no happily ever after for her. Nothing but tonight. But then his tongue slipped inside her mouth and all she could do was lose herself to the sensations his kiss breathed into every cell of her body.

With every exceptional sweep of his tongue, she trembled and craved more. She gave as good as she got, tasting, licking, sucking. One hand held his nape, the other the back of his head to keep him firmly in place.

He broke the kiss to pull her sweatshirt over her head. She tugged his shirt up and off. From the heated gaze he directed at her chest, the lacy pale yellow bra she'd worn in antic.i.p.ation of this evening met with his approval.

"You're so beautiful, Honor. So unbelievably s.e.xy."

She traced her fingers over his chest and down to the grooves of his sculpted abdomen. "So are you. You should go shirtless all the time."

"I will if you will." He cupped her breast and trailed the pad of his thumb over the swell. Her nipples hardened, she arched into his touch.

A split second later he dipped his head and took her into his mouth. Lost in a wave of pleasure as he sucked her through the thin material of her bra, she gripped his shoulders to keep upright.

Openmouthed kisses with his tongue and teeth moved from one breast to the other. His hands roamed up her back and with one flick of his fingers he had her bra unclasped.

"d.a.m.n," he whispered, feasting on her without any barrier. The stubble on his face sc.r.a.ped her skin in the most delicious way. She wiggled out of the lingerie.

Sparks skittered over her exposed flesh as he palmed her aching b.r.e.a.s.t.s, kneaded her, took her nipples into his hot mouth, and lavished her with flicks of his tongue and insanely potent pressure from his lips.

"G.o.d you taste good," he murmured. "Makes me wonder how good you'll taste elsewhere."

"You'd better find out," she said, her voice strained with want. Need. Desire beyond her control.

His mouth slid south and his hands got busy pulling down her yoga pants. He eyed the panties that matched her bra. "I also know your favorite color is yellow," he said.

She swallowed the lump in the back of her throat and nodded. "What's yours?"

"Honor blue." His voice, thick and raspy, she wasn't sure she heard him right. "The color of your eyes. That incredible combination of blue and gray that renders me helpless and hopeful at the same time."

So much adoration for this man crashed over her she thought she might drown.

"Hold on to me." Without waiting for her to comply, he slid her panties off and buried his face between her legs.

The urgent need she sensed from him as his tongue swept over her made her knees buckle. She dug her nails into his shoulders.

Her ragged gasps filled the room. She clung to him like she'd die if he stopped. His lips and tongue worked in perfect sync. Every glide and flick better than the last. He devoured her like he couldn't get enough.

Antic.i.p.ation welled inside her, boiling to the point of pleasurable pain so magnificent she panted, sighed, and said, "Don't stop. Please don't stop."

His fingers found her curls and he brushed her most sensitive spot with the pad of his thumb. That in conjunction with his mouth sent her spiraling into the hottest, longest o.r.g.a.s.m of her life. She shattered and called out his name.

He scooped her up, obviously aware that his oral skills had rendered her unable to stand on her own. She nuzzled his neck until he stopped at the foot of her bed and tossed her onto the mattress. Scrambling to her knees she reached for the b.u.t.ton and zipper of his slacks.

"I'm going to lick and taste every inch of your naked body before the night is through," he said, helping her shuck his pants.

"Okay," she said breathless, "But first I need you inside me." She sat back and watched him take off his boxer briefs. His erection, big, thick, and glorious, made her achy and wet for him all over again. She stared, unashamed. Turned on. Hot. He rolled on a condom and trapped her between the bed and his s.e.xy body.

He lifted her arms above her head, laced their fingers together, and kissed her. His smooth, well-defined chest rubbed hers and his knee nudged her legs wider so she felt the hot press of his length at her center. He made love to her mouth, nibbling her bottom lip, teasing her tongue with his, caressing her lips with devastating tenderness and urgency.

"Look at me," he whispered as he lifted his head.

She opened her eyes and he thrust inside her. Exquisite vibrations thrummed through her body, forcing the breath from her lungs. Bryce's groan of pleasure filled her head. They didn't take their eyes off each other as he drove into her, each robust slide of his hips claiming her. Possessing her. Rocking her world.

"G.o.d, you feel good," Bryce said.

"You do, too. Better than good."

The smile he gave changed his expression from fierce and enraptured to intense and intoxicating and all of them caused her heart major damage. Then his mouth invaded hers again and she willingly gave all of her senses and thoughts over to him.

He released his hold on her hands and cupped her cheek. She wasted no time raking her fingers around his shoulders and down his back. His warm skin felt like silk and she planned to lick and taste every inch of him, too.

His lips kissed over her jaw, down her neck. He skimmed back up to her ear lobe and whispered filthy, naughty things he planned to do to her.