Reaching for the small square packet, she said, "I'll take care of that." A beat later she was tossing the wrapper to the side and reaching for him again. "And don't you dare try to take over for me. I'm dying to get my hands on you." She licked her lips. "To start, anyway."

He deserved a medal for not losing it as her fingers slid over his shaft while she painted mental pictures of her lips doing the same. Gritting his teeth, he somehow withstood her teasing touches until she finished rolling on the condom.

He took her hands again, crushed her mouth beneath his, then sank deep in one hard, desperate thrust. As she wrapped her long legs around him to take him even deeper, they rocked and kissed and whispered each other's names. Pleasure climbed, climbed, climbed. So high that Roman temporarily forgot that they could only have tonight as he lost himself completely to the woman who had turned his world upside down from the very first moment he'd set eyes on her.

Finally-finally-he was loving her the way he'd wanted to love her from the start. Not only with his body, but with every piece of his once-hardened heart as well...and a soul that had been lost in darkness for far too long.

Roman had always vowed not to make the mistake of dreaming about true, lasting love that could never be. But as Suzanne looked into his eyes with pure, sweet emotion and whispered, "I love you," at the same time that another climax began to take her over, he had no choice but to let the forbidden dream become real as he fell heart first into ecstasy, with Suzanne held tight in his arms.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

Suzanne had always dreamed of finding love. But nothing could have prepared her for the pa.s.sion, the pleasure, the joy, the breathless wonder of loving Roman.

She wanted to lie in his bed forever, naked, limbs entwined, their hearts beating like crazy as they worked to catch their breath. But her empty stomach, and its loud growl, had other plans.

Levering up on one muscular arm, he stared down at her. "Sounds like you need that pasta I was planning to make you." He dropped his gaze to her lips, still tingling from his wonderful kisses. "Before you distracted me."

"It was the best distraction ever, wasn't it?"

She loved the way his lips curved up in a smile. "It was."

He hadn't made her any promises tonight, hadn't told her he loved her back, but though she hoped both would be coming soon, his lovemaking had already told her everything she needed to know about how he felt.

He touched her like she was the most precious woman on earth.

He kissed her like he didn't ever want to stop.

And when he made love to her, her heart grew so full it nearly burst from her chest.

She was on the verge of doing her best to distract him again when her stomach rumbled even louder.

"You need to eat"-he stood and pulled her from the bed so that she was standing against his gloriously hard, naked body-"so that you have enough energy for what I'm going to do to you next."

Mmmm. Didn't he know that when he said things like that, the last thing she wanted to do was go downstairs to the kitchen to cook and eat?

But before she could protest that she already had plenty of energy to make love to him again, he was b.u.t.toning her into his long-sleeved shirt, his yummy scent all over it.

After he pulled on a pair of faded jeans-she'd been wrong when she'd thought there couldn't possibly be anything s.e.xier than the way he looked in a dark suit-he slipped a condom into the back pocket, then took her hand and led them out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen.

She loved holding his hand. She felt so giddy that, even though she had the worst singing voice on the planet, she wanted to break out into song. Especially when she thought about the condom he was bringing downstairs, as if he knew they wouldn't be able to keep their hands off each other long enough to make it back upstairs.

"I've never made pasta from scratch before," she said when they got to the kitchen and he threw out the dough that had grown hard while he'd been making her come over and over again. "Show me how."

The look he gave her as he first put the water on to boil, then got more eggs from the fridge and flour from the pantry, told her he'd figured out that she was up to more of her distraction tricks, but she didn't care. Any excuse to have him wrap his arms around her while they broke the eggs and folded them into the flour they'd dusted over the marble countertop. With his hands over hers, they kneaded the dough. She'd never been much interested in cooking before, but now that she saw all the s.e.xy possibilities...

Turning her face to his, she caught his lips in a kiss. The dough was momentarily forgotten as he cupped her jaw and deepened the kiss, his tongue finding every wonderfully sensitive spot on her mouth, her cheek, her jaw. Too bad her darned stomach kept rumbling like a truck barreling down the highway.

With a groan, Roman lifted his mouth from her skin. "The dough's ready for us to roll it out and cut it into ribbons."

He put the heavy wooden roller into her hands, but though she could easily do this herself, she was glad that he didn't move away as she began to roll out the dough. Instead, he stayed with his chest pressed to her back and lifted her hair to the side to nibble at the sensitive skin he'd just bared.

Suzanne had always been rock solid when she was on the job. Nothing fazed her. Nothing ruined her concentration. But there was no way she could stay focused on the job of rolling dough when all she wanted was to turn in Roman's arms, wrap her arms around his neck, and kiss him again. Especially now that she knew how good it was to be with him, to have his hard muscles against her, his hands and mouth all over her while he drove her from peak to peak.

And there was that condom in the back pocket of his jeans, after all...

"Love me again, Roman." She whispered the words against his lips. "Right here. Right now. On the island. I'm a million times hungrier for you than anything else."

The next thing she knew, his hands were on her waist and he was lifting her up onto the counter. Her bottom squished into the half-rolled dough, but she didn't care about having to wait even longer for dinner, no matter how much her stomach rumbled.

All she cared about was finally getting to be with the man she'd been afraid she might never be able to have.

"I can't get enough of you," Roman said as he put his big hands on either side of the shirt he'd b.u.t.toned her into upstairs and tore it open. He cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, then lowered his head to tongue her nipples, one then the other. Though they'd only just made love, he seemed utterly starved for her. He ran kisses down over her stomach, toward the part of her that ached for his touch. "I'll never be able to get enough of you."

She put her hands on his jaw so that he had to look into her eyes. "You never have to."

His expression flashed dark and intense...and then he was putting his hands on her ankles, lifting her legs over his shoulders, and lowering his mouth to her s.e.x.

"Roman." She fell back to brace herself on the counter with her forearms as he turned her entire world inside out. No one had ever made her feel like this.

Like she would willingly give herself over to him, without question, without pause.

Like she would trust him not only with her heart, but with her soul too.

Like she was finally exactly where she needed to be, with exactly the person she was meant to be with.

"Suzanne." The way he rumbled her name against her aroused flesh sent her even higher. "You're so beautiful." He punctuated his words with a flick of his tongue and a slow slide of his fingers inside her clenching heat. "I need you." The French kiss he was giving her between her legs made every last rational thought slide out of her head. "I need you."

Hearing the urgency in his words-and the plea in them that she wasn't sure he'd meant to be there, but obviously couldn't hold back-had her shattering against his tongue and hands.

And then, as suddenly as he'd put her on the counter so that he could devour her, he was carrying her into the nearby living room, and pulling her down over him on the leather couch.

She didn't know when he'd managed to take off his jeans or put on protection, but she didn't care. All she cared about was sinking down onto him so that she could ride every thick, hard, glorious inch of him.

"Oh G.o.d." She had her hands splayed on his chest for leverage, while his were on her hips to help lift her up, then bring her back down onto his erection again and again, until she was nearly delirious from the pleasure of it. "Nothing has ever felt this good." She had never been a talker during s.e.x, but with Roman she couldn't hold in what she was feeling. Didn't want to hold it in. "I never want to stop loving you." He shifted her hips so that every time he thrust deep, new blazes of pleasure rocketed through her. "I never want you to stop loving me." More waves of bliss moved through her when he rolled their hips together. "Please don't stop, Roman. Please."

"I won't ever stop." His hands tightened on her hips as emotion swamped his face. "I can't stop. Not with you."

He rolled them over on the couch so that she was beneath him, his mouth on hers in a deeply emotional kiss, his body taking hers-loving hers-without restraint.

She'd been stunned by how beautiful making love with him had been in his bedroom. Now she was stunned all over again by how raw, how animalistic their pa.s.sion was.

Once upon a time, she would have been afraid of a love this wild, but now she relished every moment of it. She'd finally met her match in Roman, a man whose depth of desire was as boundless as hers.

Her body should have been replete from their earlier lovemaking, but she was starved for as much of Roman as she could possibly have. She'd never slept with anyone she was in love with. The whole act was so much bigger, so much better-nothing else could possibly compare to the way she felt when she was in Roman's arms.

Their kisses soon grew so wild that they fell off the couch onto the rug. Neither of them cared. All that mattered was trying to get as close as possible to each other. Every moment of bliss, every second of ecstasy he gave her as she climaxed, she not only took-she gave just as much.

"I had no idea." She could barely get the words out, as hard as her breath was coming in the aftermath of their fiery-hot lovemaking. Her voice was m.u.f.fled by his broad shoulder, but she didn't want him to move away from her anytime soon. Ever, actually, given how much she loved the feel of his heavy weight over her.

Yes, she'd happily stay right here with Roman on his living room rug forever.

"About what?" Obviously not in any rush to move either, Roman's question rumbled over the top of her head.

"How amazing s.e.x could be."

Still holding her close, he rolled them so that she was lying on his chest again. "I'm glad you didn't know. I'm glad I could be the one to show you."

She hated the flash of jealousy that shot through her. "But you knew?"

He moved a lock of damp hair away from her cheek. "I thought I did. But with you..." His thumb brushed her lower lip as if he couldn't keep from touching her and she instinctively licked out against him, the same way he had when she'd been wiping chocolate ice cream from his mouth. "You make me want things, Suzanne."

"You make me want things too," she said, with a naughty little wiggle of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and hips.

"I've never wanted anyone the way I want you-but I'm not just talking about s.e.x." He ran one hand down over her curves as he gathered his thoughts, and she held her breath for whatever he was going to say next. "I'm talking about-"

Horror suddenly took over his face. "I hurt you." She followed his gaze to her hips. There were red marks where his fingers had gripped her during their lovemaking. "I knew I couldn't trust myself with you."

"No." She put her hands on his jaw and made him look at her. "You took me without holding back. You gave me everything you have. Everything you are." Her body was still buzzing from how good it had been. How good it felt to be as close to him as she could possibly be. "And I loved it, Roman. You know I did."

"I should have been more gentle. I haven't been gentle with you. I haven't been able to control myself long enough to go slow."

"Next time you can be gentle, but only if it feels right to go soft and slow. Because if we need to be wild again..." She kissed him, openmouthed this time, and he immediately brought his arms around her waist to drag her close.

She was more than ready to find out what next time had in store for them when her stomach roared between them. And she was beyond ready for him to tell her what other things he wanted from her besides s.e.x.

But instead of going back to that vulnerable place, he said, "You'd better get some clothes on." He gently ran his hands up her back from her waist before levering them both up from the floor and stepping away from her. "Otherwise, I'm never going to finish making you dinner."

The only reason she went to grab her last clean T-shirt and underwear from her suitcase was because she could see that he needed more time to wrap his head around what he was feeling. Hopefully by the time dinner was ready, he'd be ready to spill the rest of his feelings to her.

Feeling sated-temporarily, at least-and more than a little overwhelmed by all the delicious sensations still zinging around in her body, instead of trying to help cook again when she was dressed, she gladly sat on a bar stool behind a topped-off gla.s.s of red wine. She smiled when she saw the Sullivan Winery label on the bottle of Zinfandel.

"I'm glad you got a chance to meet Marcus and his wife, Nicola," she said after taking a sip of the delicious wine.

"They both seemed like nice people," he said as he stirred his homemade sauce, the pasta already rolled, cut, and in boiling water.

Sitting at his kitchen island, watching him put dinner together, she decided she could get used to this kind of treatment. Not only did everything smell amazing, but the truth was her legs were still kind of shaky after their last very acrobatic round of s.e.x.

"They are really nice. No matter how rich or famous or successful my relatives are, they're all good people. I'm not saying they can't be c.o.c.ky sometimes, or drive you up a wall, but I can't see any of them deliberately hurting anyone. Especially each other."

"How do you think that happened?" He looked up from the stove. "I've met a lot of families doing security, and they spend most of their time fighting and arguing."

"Well, for my eight cousins in San Francisco, their dad died when they were really young, so maybe that bonded them together. I know Marcus did a lot to help raise his siblings, since Lori and Sophie were barely older than babies when it happened. For my Seattle cousins, their parents have always had a great marriage, but as far as I understand, they ran into some pretty big problems when my Uncle Max lost his job a bunch of years back. He wouldn't take any money from his brothers, even though I know my dad kept offering. My cousin Ian-you know, the guy who owns the building I'm living in-gave up a lot to help out. They were always close, but I'm guessing what they went through together helped bring them even closer. And then for my cousins in Maine-" She laughed at herself when she realized she was rattling on endlessly about her big family. "I'm pretty sure you get the picture."

He smiled. "I do. When your family goes through tough times, you band together. Just the way you and your brothers did after your mother pa.s.sed away." His smile fell. "Whereas most families just fall apart."

She hated seeing the pain on his face and so badly wished she could help make it go away. "Roman, maybe if you talked with your father-"

His face was a hard mask as he plated their food. "If you ever met him, you'd understand why there's no point in wasting my time."

Roman had told her when they were making love that he wouldn't stop loving her. She wanted to believe he'd meant it-that it wasn't simply the o.r.g.a.s.ms talking. So if he did mean it, wouldn't that also mean she'd meet his father one day?

Considering they'd just made love for the first time tonight, and that only one of them had said I love you, she shouldn't get too far ahead of herself. But it was difficult not to when she'd always gone after what she wanted without second-guessing herself or letting fear impede her determination and focus.

After putting a loaded plate of pasta and sauce in front of her, he brought over his wine gla.s.s and plate, then pulled up the bar stool beside her.

"It smells incredible." She took a bite and made an embarra.s.sing sound of culinary bliss.

"I take it that means you like it."

She would have answered him if she could have stopped stuffing her mouth long enough to speak. But between how badly she needed food and what a fabulous cook he was, all she could do was nod while she kept eating. And eating. And eating. Until her fork sc.r.a.ped against her plate and she realized she'd mowed through her meal in record time.

Grinning, Roman didn't miss a beat as he slid his still half-full plate over so that they could both eat. It wasn't just delicious, wasn't just romantic, it was also fun to sit in Roman's kitchen in his loft talking and loving and eating. And it felt right.

So perfectly right.

"I can't remember the last time I ate anything that good." She leaned over to kiss him. "Thank you for making me dinner."

"Thank you for being a woman who eats. I can't remember the last time I met one."

She looked down at the two plates she'd cleared. "If I weren't so stuffed from eating half your dinner in addition to my own, I would be licking the plates right now. So, yeah, I'd say I'm a woman who eats. And now that my energy has been restored, what do you say we leave these dishes in the sink for now so that we can-"

The door buzzer cut off the rest of her s.e.xy proposition. "Roman, it's Dad. You home?"

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

d.a.m.n it.

Of all the nights for Roman's father to drop by, he had to pick tonight.

All Roman wanted to do was take Suzanne back upstairs and make love to her. The last thing he wanted to do tonight was face reality. Unfortunately, nothing got him closer to reality than Tommy Huson-a man who had loved too deeply and had never been able to recover when it all went wrong.

Roman knew better than to let himself love like that. And yet, when he'd vowed to keep his heart locked in a cage forever, he hadn't expected to meet a woman like Suzanne Sullivan.