"Sounds nice," he murmured as her hands glided over his skin.

She leaned over and started at the bottom of his back, moving upward, applying pressure, then bringing her hands down the outside of his back with a light touch. She maintained contact without applying pressure as she brought her hands back down. She repeated this technique for about five minutes while gradually increasing from light to medium pressure and warming up his back muscles as well as his neck and shoulders.

Then she began shorter, circular strokes with more pressure, kneading, rolling and pressing. She alternated between using her palm, fingertips and even her knuckles. She did this for several long minutes.

Next she began working her way outward down his arms and back again. Then she worked down along his spine, kneading the muscles on either side of it, and he fought the urge to groan aloud in pleasure.

Every time she leaned over him to work the tightness out of his lower back, her scent would envelope him. It was heaven and hell all rolled into one.

He felt the tension easing out of his muscles as she worked her magic. At the same time, he felt himself getting hard in a different location.

"How is that? Am I pressing too hard or not firm enough?"

"Harder would be good."

"All right. It would help if I straddled you, it that okay? I can get better leverage that way."

Seriously? Hell, yeah.

"Climb on," he found himself answering. A moment later, the bed shifted under him as she kneeled on it, and then she threw a leg over and settled on his ass. Using her body weight, she was able to lean over and do a better job of applying deep pressure. It felt phenomenal.

And this time he did groan aloud.

"Am I hurting you?" she immediately asked.

"No. Don't stop. It feels fucking fantastic."

He could hear the grin in her voice as she replied, "So that was a good groan, then?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely."

Her ministrations went on until he felt all the tightness from the road slip away.

"Damn, this feels good."

"Just relax and enjoy it."

"Oh, I am. Definitely. Maybe too much."

"Too much. What does that mean?"

Well hell, she asked.

He flipped over underneath her until he was on his back, staring up at her with his hands gripping her hips. He saw the look of surprise on her face as he applied slight pressure of his own, pulling her crotch against his and watched her mouth fall open in realization as she felt his all too obvious erection.

"Oh," she said breathlessly.

"Exactly. Oh." He stared up at her, watching every subtle expression cross her face. Surprise. Uncertainty. And then something else, something he hadn't expected.

He watched as one small palm settled on his stomach and slide up his chest as she bent to lean over him, planting the other hand in the bed near his head. Her eyes connected with his.

"I could help you with that, too, if you want."

Before he even gave himself time to consider how stupid it was, he rolled, taking her to her back on the bed. She gasped with the quickness of his movement and the shock of finding herself under him.

At that moment, getting her under him was the only thought that had permeated his brain. Well, that and sinking into her warm welcoming heat. Jesus Christ, what the hell was she doing to him?

He stared down at her, and watched as her eyes fell to his mouth, and that sealed the deal. He dipped in, his mouth settling over hers before he thought better of it. She opened for him, eagerly, freely, like he knew she would. And it was just as sweet as he remembered. Her little tongue sliding forward to tangle with his, her lips soft beneath his. He ate at her, turning his head from side to side, changing his angle, going back again and again for more, until finally he broke off, pressing his forehead to hers for a moment, his breathing heavy as he rasped out the question on his mind.

"Black or red?"

"What?" The word came out breathlessly as she frowned up at him.

He pulled back, lifting up off her a few inches as his big palm slid down over her ass cheek to cup and squeeze and pull her against him. "Black or red?"

And then she knew what he was referring to. He could read it in her face as it dawned on her. The panties he'd bought her.

"Been wonderin' all damn day." His brown eyes, molten with heat, bore into hers.

"Oh, God. You thought about my panties all day?"

"Yeah, brat. All damn day. You gonna tell me?"

She swallowed. And he could read her mind. She was trying to decide if she should admit it or let him wonder. Or just maybe let him discover for himself. Hell, he was up for that.

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

His chin moved to the side a fraction of an inch. "Not a good idea to give out a challenge like that, not to a man like me."

She stared back at him, not giving an inch. Well, goddamn.

He held her eyes as desire coursed through him. No, not desire, unbridled lust, pure and simple, and stronger than he'd felt for any woman in a long fucking time. Maybe lust wasn't the right word either. It was need that burned through him, need that clawed at him to take her fast and hard.

Fuck, what was wrong with him? This was Jess he was on top of.

Suddenly he found himself vaulting off the bed. She looked up at him with obvious confusion. And he answered that look with a fierce one of his own.

"You better think long and hard on what the hell it is you want from me, Jess. You need my protection you got it. This doesn't have to be part of the deal. Some fucked up payment for helping you."

She came up on her elbows, her eyes wide.

"It's not, Ghost. I swear."

"You better mean that. You don't barter your body with me. Fuck, you don't barter your body with any man. You understand me?"

He paused as she flushed from his words that sounded too close to an accusation.

"I'm not a whore."

He ran a hand over his mouth. "I know that, Jess. I'm just sayin' this," he paused, gesturing between them, "this can't be that. I don't want you wantin' me 'cause you're grateful or some shit."

"That's not what this is, Ghost," she whispered in a voice so soft he barely heard the words.

Jesus Christ. Could she really want him? His eyes strayed down her body as it lie on the bed before lifting to meet hers, piercing into her. "This what you want, Jess? Really want? 'Cause once we cross that line, there's no goin' back. You know that, don't you?"

She nodded. "I know."

"And you're gonna be able to handle it? Handle me?"

That gave her pause. He could see it flicker in her eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not that boy you remember, the one who let you walk out of that garage that afternoon."

"I know you're not."

"Do you?"

She nodded.

Just the same, he felt the need to clarify, to make sure she understood. "I take what I want. When I want a woman, I take her. And she doesn't walk out that door again until I'm through with her. You up for that, Jess? Because you better be damned clear on just what it is you're signing up for. I get what I want. And right now I fuckin' want you."

"I want you, too. So what's the problem?"

"What's the problem?" He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, turning away from her, and then just as fast spinning back to pin her with his eyes. "And tomorrow? If this all goes to shit, you gonna be okay with that? You gonna be okay with me? Havin' that between us and then goin' our separate ways?"

"You're already so sure it won't last." It was a statement, not a question, but he answered it just the same.

"Yeah, I am. I know so. Guaranteed. We got no future, Jess. All we got is now. You up for that? Think you can handle that?"

He saw the disappointment weigh in her eyes. Fuck. She had some kind of knight-in-shining-armor fantasy going on in her head, still just as in awe of him as she'd been as a kid. But he was no ones hero. He couldn't be that for her. He would never be that for her. She just didn't know how wrong she was. But she'd find out the truth. Sooner or later, she'd see him for what he was. He shook his head.

"Jess."

"Ghost, it's okay. Whatever you're willing to give, I'll take. And I promise I won't ask for more." She extended her hand toward him. "Please."

Fuck. She was like Eve holding out the apple. An apple he wanted to take. He needed to turn her down. Knew he should. Knew it'd be best for both of them in the long run. But right now, havin' her look at him that way, like he hung the fuckin' moon. Christ, he couldn't stop the swelling in his chest. He wanted that. Craved it. To have a woman look at him the way she was right now lying there lookin' at him? Christ, it was everything.

He found himself taking a step toward the bed, his hand lifting to grasp hers, their fingers intertwining, lacing together. And then he was moving over her again, his weight settling back on top of her, pinning that hand to the bed near her head.

The time for words, excuses and 'what-ifs' was over. His mouth took hers again and she welcomed him, her free hand coming up to clutch at him, pulling him closer. He loved that, the way she made him feel like she couldn't get close enough. His free hand slid into her hair, his fist tightening as he took control of the kiss.

He kissed her a long time, taking his time with her. Enjoying every moment. He'd wanted this for a long time, fantasized about it a million times. Jerked off to the image of her in his head more times over the years than he wanted to admit.

His mind went back to that moment they'd shared in the garage so many years ago. She'd been just sixteen then, she was a woman now. And her kiss proved that. She matched his hunger, kiss for kiss, and he ate it up, giving back as much as he took. Until eventually kissing wasn't enough, for either of them.

He lifted, straddling her and pulling her upright. Then he reached for the hem of her shirt, pulling it up and over her head, tossing it to the floor. His eyes moved over the lacy black bra she wore, the one he'd first seen in that bathroom in Sturgis when he'd bent her over that counter and pretended to fuck her. That was another vision that had tortured his dreams the last few nights.

He'd pictured himself doing that to her for real, and it got him rock hard.

He reached around and undid the fastener, then pulled it off, tossing the bra on the floor with her shirt. Her breast fell free, soft and round and the perfect size as his hand closed over one as he leaned forward taking her down on the bed, flat on her back. His mouth trailed down from her throat to her breast as he squeezed with his hand. And then his mouth was at her nipple, sucking so hard her back arched off the bed. That only drove him on further, sending an urgent instinctive need to take her, driving him on. He'd never felt it this badly before.

But he fought it; beat it down, refusing to rush this, wanting to take his time with her, to savor every inch of her incredibly soft skin.

She moaned and writhed beneath him. He slid to the bottom of the bed and stood, yanking her boots off, and then his hands were at the waist of her jeans, undoing them and yanking them down her legs and off.

Red lace hit his eyes, and he paused, staring. Goddamn, she was beautiful, lying there almost naked, nothing but that scrap of barely there red lace.

Prettiest thing he'd ever seen.

He stripped his own clothes off, and then stood there at the foot of the bed, just looking at her. His eyes finally made it all the way up to her face to see that her eyes were trailing down his body, taking him in.

She writhed on the bed, one knee bending, and the bottom of her foot sliding over the bedspread in a seductive way that had the blood rushing from his head.

Jessie stared up at Ghost, taking in all the beautiful muscled body that had just been revealed to her. He was gorgeous. He stood there just taking her in, and her body ached for his touch, wanted his warm body stretched back on top of her, skin on skin.

She slid her foot along the bed, trying to entice him back.

A moment later, she gasped as his hands closed around her ankles, and he pulled her across the bedspread to him. She went sliding down the bed. And then he was kneeling, his hands going to her lace panties and pulling them down her legs and off.

His warm hands landed on the inside of both thighs, just above her knees, parting her legs to him, and then they slowly slid upward, his eyes boring into hers.

Her breathing accelerated at the look he was giving her as she was laid out before him, open and vulnerable. Her chest rose and fell, her breasts quivering with the movement, and he didn't miss it.

"You scared, Jess?"

She shook her head, rolling it on the bedspread.

"I don't want you to be scared of me, sweetheart."

"I'm not."

His palms reached the apex of her thighs, and then his thumbs were brushing over her. At the first soft graze, her back arched, her hips lifting in offering, wanting more.

He stroked over her again, a barely there touch that drove her insane.

"Ghost," she moaned.

"You like that?"

She nodded. "God, yes."

"Touch your breasts for me," he ordered, his voice deep.

She lifted her hands to squeeze them in a kneading motion.