Moving his hands behind her thighs, he lifted her and strode to the stairs. As he climbed, she locked her arms around his neck and her ankles behind his back, opening her center to him. His c.o.c.k b.u.mped into her with each step he climbed. At the top, he turned left, away from a slightly opened door, and moved stealthily across the landing and down the hallway.

When he entered his room, he pressed her body against the wall. The light switch dug into her back, but she barely noticed, given what was digging into her front. Clutching her hands to his head, she battled his tongue. Her body slipped sideways as Thomas reached for the door and eased it shut with a very quiet snick.

He righted their bodies, and rocked his hips into her. Nia moaned as his erection nudged toward her opening.

She wove her fingers through his hair and tugged. "Thomas, I want you."

He gasped. "Want you, too." Thomas gripped the hem of her shirt and pulled up, skimming his fingers over her ribs as he lifted the fabric.

The lightweight garment floated as he dropped it to the floor. Without taking his gaze from her body, he cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and flicked his thumbs across her nipples. Delicious pressure built within her, making it difficult to draw a breath. Nia reached for the b.u.t.tons on his shirt. Slipping each one from the hole, she spread the fabric wide, revealing thick red-gold hair on his chest. Holding her body in place with his hips, he helped by pulling the tails of the shirt from his jeans. Together, they slipped the fabric over his shoulders until it fell clear of his hands.

Thomas released the front clasp of her bra, exposing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. He claimed one nipple, laving a circle around it before sucking it deeply between his lips. An answering tug built between her legs as a tingle of l.u.s.t speared from his mouth to her belly. She sighed as he moved to the other breast, giving it equal attention. Jerking her hips forward, she opened more to him.

She wiggled her hand between their bodies and stroked her palm over his erection.

He groaned, grabbed her wrist, and stilled her motion. "You'll undo me." His husky voice wrapped around her senses, an urge she couldn't resist.

Raining kisses along his cheeks and jaw, she begged. "Take me to bed, Thomas."

Lifting her away from the wall, he slid his hands under her b.u.t.t then strode beyond a small seating area to the king-sized bed, where the covers had already been turned down. When he lowered her to the mattress, it felt like being dropped onto a cloud. Rising up, she shrugged the bra from her shoulders, and then tossed it over the edge.

Thomas licked his lips and watched her, his hard-on straining the front of his jeans. Oh, G.o.ddess, she wanted to see what was behind his fly. To egg him on, she braced her feet wide on the bed and let her knees fall to the side, exposing her very core to his gaze. She cupped one of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and lifted, offering herself to him.

"Nia, you are stunning." His smile was slow and wicked as he reached for her waistband. "But I need to see more."

He flicked open the b.u.t.ton on her jeans, and lowered the zipper. Before jerking them downward, he spread his hand over her belly, slipped it into the opening and curved his fingers over her mound. Damp heat and zipping shivers rushed between her legs in answer to the fiery brand of his hand. She squirmed as he dragged his fingers over her panties. His brow furrowed as he concentrated on rubbing her c.l.i.t, then sliding his fingertips along her slit. Light flared behind her eyes with each stroke of his fingers. She arched her head back on the bed and rode the sensation as he ma.s.saged her.

"Thomas, please. It's not enough."

He pressed his mouth to her belly and licked into her navel. "No, it isn't," he mumbled against her flesh.

Pulling his hand out of her pants, he wound his fingers into her panties and jeans and tugged down. Nia lifted her hips to help. The bottoms got tangled with the sandals she still wore. He chuckled softly as he worked the first shoe free, then pulled the fabric from her leg. While he struggled with the clasp on the second shoe, Nia ran her naked foot along the bare flesh of his chest. The crisp and springy hair tickled her toes. He finally pulled her other leg free and flung the jeans and shoe to the ground.

Grasping her ankles, he jerked her hips to the edge of the bed. Her legs slid over his shoulders as he dropped to his knees between them. Softly stroking his fingers over her folds, he dipped the tip of one inside her. She angled her hips, begging for more. When she tangled her hands into his hair, he pressed his mouth against her and lapped her with his tongue. Her entire body quivered as he laved and sucked, tenderly nipping her c.l.i.t. He slipped a finger inside her, setting a rhythm that spoke to her soul. Sensation, hot and erotic, built within her as he added a second finger, then twisted to stroke upward, pushing her toward a precipice with his mouth and hands.

Color burst behind her eyes as a squeak built in her lungs. She bit her lip to keep from crying out as every single neuron in her body fired with pleasure. Thomas continued to lick and nibble, not slowing the motion of his fingers as her muscles squeezed, and tensed. Tears leaked from the corner of her eyes as he finally stilled between her legs. Her inner thighs burned from the stubble on his cheeks, but she didn't care. He kissed away the sting and pulled his fingers from her body. Slipping his hands behind her legs, he gently lifted them, and then placed her feet on the bed. She scooted backward on the mattress, her knees still open and welcoming. He popped the snap on his jeans and carefully lowered the zipper. Hooking his hands under the waistband, he shoved the jeans and boxer-briefs down his legs. His erection bobbed proudly against his body as he freed it. A drop of come beaded atop the broad head, the shaft wide and hard as steel.

She licked her lips, knowing where he was planning to put that.

He stepped free of the pool of material at his feet. Twisting at the waist, he reached toward the bedside table.

"Wait." She stopped him and braced herself on the pillows behind her. "I'm on birth control. And I'm clean. We don't need a condom. Unless you want to."

Heat flared in his eyes, deepening the color to intense turquoise. His chest rose with a raspy indrawn breath. "I'm clean as well. Are you sure?"

"Very sure." She sent him a large grin, and a tiny mental command to join her on the bed.

She needn't have expended that energy. His gaze was eager and incendiary as he climbed onto the bed between her legs. He pressed her back to the mattress and settled, his shaft probing her entryway. Sliding up, the hair on his chest rubbed against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. The skin of his taut belly pressed hotly into hers.

Reaching between their bodies, he guided his tip into her opening. "Nia, you feel so good." He rocked his hips, seating himself further inside her.

His girth filled her as he rode completely home. Their bodies fit together perfectly, his hard to her soft. She arched her back and lowered her hands to his b.u.t.t, pulling him closer as he moved within her. Setting a slow, easy pace, each go-for-broke stroke took a lifetime but pa.s.sed in a blink of sensation. Tension built once more, as feeling and light filled her as much as he did. Pulling away, he slid back home again, and again, crooning words into her ears, against her cheeks.

Nia locked her ankles behind his back, and sprinkled kisses along his neck and collarbone. He gasped when her lips closed around his flat nipple. She nipped, then tongued away the sting. His breath shortened along with his stroke, until he pounded ravenously into her. Shoving a hand between them, he pressed a finger against the sensitive nub at the top of her folds, the friction insatiable, undeniable. Pressure climbed until she was so close to the edge. The tension translated to his body. His quiet groans jelled with her moans, until they sang an age-old song of breath and desire together.

"So d.a.m.n good, baby. So f.u.c.king right," he whispered into her ear. "Let go, come with me."

Color flared in her brain as electricity crackled along her spine. An o.r.g.a.s.m, as glittery as the heavens, flashed over her. She soared on a sky of sensation as he groaned his own release into her ear. They were so d.a.m.n right together.

Thomas collapsed on her, his weight warm and welcome. She kept her legs wrapped around his waist and teased the ends of his silky hair with her fingers as they drifted on a sensual sea of feeling. His shaft continued to throb, hot and hard, within her sheath.

He struggled to his elbows, his hips digging into her as he rose slightly above her. She immediately missed the contact between his upper body and hers. She tweaked the hair on his chest, then circled his flat nipple. He groaned and rocked his pelvis in response.

He smiled into her eyes. "I was right." His tone was gloating and filled with humor. He pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

"About what?"

"We're good together." He nibbled the edge of her jaw as he lifted off her. Rolling to his back, he pulled her along with him, until she was tucked against his body, her head on his chest. Thomas's heart beat strongly under her cheek. Sighing, she nestled into his warmth.

Resting one hand on her head, he stroked his fingertips of his other one along her arm. "We didn't move too fast, did we? I'm sorry if you felt rushed."

She lifted her head and gazed into his eyes. "Don't know if you noticed, but I was doing an awful lot of begging. So if any rushing was being done, it was by me. And trust me, this is so far from my usual style, no one I know would recognize me. Well, except maybe Aerie."

"Ari? Who is he?"

"He's a she, and one of my sisters. Out of all of them, she'd be the one to think I'm capable of falling into bed with a man I barely know."

He pressed her head to his chest again, and snugged both arms around her. "How many sisters do you have?"

"Ah, trying to get to know me better, huh?"

Laughter rumbled around his chest. "Better late than never."

"Okay, I'll play." She sat up next to him. Too bad she couldn't tell him her entire story yet. When the time was right, she'd have to reveal herself as a Muse to him. But that time wasn't right this instant.

Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s brushed against his groin as she reached over him to snag the sheet and pull it up. His c.o.c.k jumped to life again. Amus.e.m.e.nt colored her voice when she mock-scolded him. "Down, boy. We're just talking here." She shifted until her legs lay over his hips.

"Can't help it. Parts of my anatomy have minds of their own."

She dragged the comforter around her shoulders, suddenly shy in his presence. Scooting up against the pillows, Thomas tucked the sheet around his hips, covering his lap. He laid his hand on her knee and fixed a serious look on his face.

She swept a hand down his cheek, pausing to run her thumb over his lips. "To answer your question, I have eight sisters."

His brow jerked up. "Eight? G.o.d, bathroom time must have been difficult to schedule while you were growing up. Are you close in age?"

"My oldest sister is thirty-six. The youngest, the twins, are twenty-four."

"And you're..."

"Twenty-seven." More like eight-thousand and twenty-seven. But he'd never understand that.

"Do you get together often?"

"Weekly. We all live in Delphi. It's always been home." In this lifetime. She'd actually lived all over the world. "In fact, I'm meeting Polly, my next oldest sibling, for coffee tomorrow." She glanced at the clock. "Today. After a fabulous breakfast of French toast."

He twisted his head to look at the digital time display. He dragged his hand down his face, the stubble on his chin rasping pleasantly. "I didn't realize how late it was."

"You mean early," she teased.

His teeth flashed white in his smile. "Are all your sisters as good natured as you?"

"Calliope, the oldest, has embraced the b.i.t.c.hy side of her nature. The force is dark within her."

Thomas laughed as he tackled her backward onto the bed, pressing her into the mattress. His hot, hard body covered hers and he slanted a kiss across her lips. "I'm more of a Star Trek kind of guy. I like to think of myself as cool and a.n.a.lytical, like Spock."

"False. You are way more Kirk than Spock. New Kirk, not the old guy."

"You think?" He captured her lower lip between his teeth and tugged. The bed creaked quietly as he worked his thigh between her legs and pressed up. His erection poked into her hip, demonstrating his eagerness.

"Oh, yes," she breathed. She closed her eyes and let sensation flow over her body until it lodged between her legs. Raising one knee, she draped her leg over his, twisting to face him, opening to his desire for her again. "An incurable flirt."

His lips closed over hers and he took them both deeper into the kiss with his demanding tongue. He rolled on top of her and slid home within her body, making her forget all about her sisters, magpies and the challenge she faced in the very near future.

Chapter 12.

Thomas and Nia rolled out of bed at half past six and grabbed a shower in his spa-like master bath together. Waking with her curled in his arms had been blissful. Being with Nia in the steamy, gla.s.s-enclosed s.p.a.ce was better than heaven. But when he would have started playing, she'd thrown a washcloth at his head and reminded him she wasn't actually supposed to be here until a little later. Thomas finished the shower in a pouty mood and semi-aroused. Soaping her back without venturing around her front was truly the hardest thing he'd done recently.

As they crept past Hailey's door, he heard the girl's quiet snores. She hadn't woken all night long. Given her state when he'd put her to bed last night, he'd half expected her to wake screaming. But, thankfully, the screams never came.

When they reached the bottom of the steps, Nia patted her overnight bag. "I'm going to put this in my car. I'll ring the bell when I come back," she whispered, glancing back up the stairs toward Hailey's door. "Although that feels sneaky and underhanded."

"I know. I'm sorry. If it's any consolation, you wear sneaky very well." He pressed a kiss to her smiling lips. The idea crossed his mind that he wouldn't mind waking up to her smile every day for the rest of his life.

He released her. The lock on the door clicked when he disengaged it. The door squeaked when he swung it open, and he cast a nervous stare upstairs. Nia scooted through the opening, and Thomas watched the seductive sway of her hips as she hurried toward the car she'd parked on the drive. The cobalt blue vehicle gleamed in the light of the rising sun. The s.e.xy, sleek lines of the car suited Nia.

Thomas's neighborhood was coming to life. The man who lived next door exited his house. As he approached the street, Thomas noted the guy had the bottom of his sweat pants tucked into his socks. Hailey called the guy Mr. Socks, although his name was Johnson.

A jogger he didn't recognize progressed slowly down the street. Birds chirped in the trees and the bushes. The neighbor up the street let his dog out into the yard and the retriever barked loudly. All in all, it was just another day in the 'hood. But knowing Nia was having breakfast with him and his niece, that he'd woken next to her warm body...life just felt different somehow. More hopeful.

Nia used exaggerated caution as she stowed her bag then eased the door closed. She aimed the fob at the car and it chirped prettily. Her grin rivaled the rising sun as she walked back toward the house. An odd look crossed her face as she paused at the end of the path. A large black and white bird cawed at her from the branches of a tree while Nia stood still as a sentinel.

The jogger ran past the end of Thomas's driveway and slowed to a walk, staring at Nia. Even though she stood a good twenty paces from him, Thomas heard her whisper to the man to leave her the h.e.l.l alone.

Concerned, Thomas moved out to the porch. "Do you know him?"

"No," she stated flatly, glancing briefly over her shoulder at him.

"You sure? I swear you just told him to leave you alone."

Confusion flitted over her beautiful face. "You're clairaudient?"

"If you mean I can hear what you're thinking, that's not likely." Thomas shrugged and watched the man pick up speed as he jogged away. "Are you sure you don't know him?"

"Um...I don't really. I think he's a business acquaintance of my father's." She turned back to track the man's progress down the street.

A shrill whistle pierced the morning quiet. A bird swooped from the tree, diving straight at Nia.

Thomas caught himself ducking on Nia's behalf. She pursed her lips and looked like she blew the bird a kiss. She started when she turned and caught him staring at her from the doorway. The red in her cheeks matched her coppery curls in the early morning sunlight.

He c.o.c.ked his head and sent her a questioning look. Pitching his voice low, he asked, "Are you okay?"

"Stupid birds. Such disgusting scavengers." She moved up the steps toward him.

"You seem to draw them. That's the second one I've seen with you."

With a grin on her face but shadows in her eyes, she pressed the doorbell, as if she'd just arrived.

"Nice touch." He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his lips, suppressing a smile. He raised his voice and made a production out of greeting her. "Good morning, Nia. Thanks for coming for breakfast. Hailey isn't awake yet but you're right on time." He tugged her across the threshold and wrapped her in a bear hug. Her shoulders shook with laughter.

Releasing her, Thomas stepped back and waved her across the large open s.p.a.ce toward the kitchen. He followed, pausing at the foot of the stairs. "Hailey!" he shouted. "Ms. Nia is here. Wake up, sleepy head."

"You want me to run up and wake her?" Nia asked.

He put a foot on the first step. "I'd better do it. You could start the coffee, if you want. Everything you need is on the counter."

"I'll take that deal." Nia continued on to the kitchen.

As Thomas climbed the steps to Hailey's room, he wondered what Nia would make of the pale green walls and dark quartz counters in the s.p.a.cious kitchen. The room definitely had a manly feel to it, down to the steel gray pans hanging from the pot rack over the stove and the black farmhouse sink. No bowls of lemons, no cute little knick-knacks on the counter. For him, it was just a streamlined room in which he'd learned to cook. Couldn't let his niece starve, so building on the basic bachelor diet of frozen pizza and Chinese take-out had been a necessity.

He pushed open the door to Hailey's room and found her yawning and stretching. He jiggled her toes as he pa.s.sed the bed. "Morning, munchkin. Our breakfast guest is here. Time to get up." He snapped off the brightly colored lamp on the bookshelf, then crossed to the window and opened her blinds.

"Ms. Nia is here already?"

"Yep. I let you sleep late this morning." Her yawns were contagious and he barely managed to suppress one of his own. Not that he regretted the reason he'd lost sleep last night. Quite the opposite.

"Can I go down to breakfast in my pajamas?" Her green eyes were round as she looked at him hopefully.

"Better put some clothes on. As soon as breakfast is done, I have to run you to your dance lesson. You'll head from there straight to the Kiddie Campus and I'll go to work."

"You won't go to work. You'll come home and work in your office here," Hailey corrected him. The child was as cute as a bug, but took everything literally.