Page 85 of Lawbreaker

He chuckled. “You’re sweet to tease.” The smile faded as he looked at her. “What if I can’t turn you loose?”

She cocked her head. “Why? Do you want to?” she asked and looked wounded.

“No!” he said at once. He drew in a breath. “Never mind. There’s only today.” He smiled and put her back under the covers and handed her the mug of coffee. “Ben will be back later. But that’s okay. For a few days, at least, we’re walking wounded.”

“Damn,” she muttered.

He grinned wider. “We’ll heal.”

She wiggled her eyebrows. “Something to look forward to.” She frowned. “But Ben sleeps in and I...” She recalled her wild cries of the night before and flushed.

“Yes, and you make noise. A lot of noise.” He bent and kissed her, hard. “I love it when you make noise,” he added gruffly, his eyes dark and intent. “I feel ten feet tall when you do that, and I know that it’s because of what I’m doing to you.”

“I never knew,” she said softly. “Never dreamed it would be like that.”

He brushed back her hair. “It would never, never, be like that with any other man. Ever. Never.” He studied her. “Honest. You’d break out in green warts. All over.”

She smiled from ear to ear. “Okay.”

He chuckled.

“On the other hand,” she replied, “if you sleep with another woman, parts might fall off...?”

“Damn, woman, that’s below the belt!” he roared.

She grinned. “Isn’t it, though?”

He got up. “I’m losing this war. I have to get dressed and go to work. You can sleep in. And there are two guys outside the door who make gorillas look wimpy.”

She smiled. “Okay. But you have to be careful, too,” she added quietly.

He warmed at the emotion in those soft words. “I’ll be careful. See you later, pretty girl.”

She just sighed, smiling as he left the room.

But later, after a bath, she worried about what she’d done. Her parents had been strict and had told her there were ancient taboos about sleeping with a man to whom you weren’t married. She hadn’t wanted to stop, though. She loved Tony so much...

She sat down heavily on the bed and caught her breath. She loved Tony. Incredible that, until right now, she hadn’t realized that.

Her mind went back to her first sight of Tony, when he’d come to the ranch to see Stasia about a painting he’d seen at the local art gallery. He’d been immediately hostile. She’d wondered why at the time. Now she understood. He’d wanted her even that first day, but he’d held her at bay with sarcasm and insults and avoidance.

Honestly, she’d been equally antagonistic. But she’d adored him almost at once. He was the stuff of dreams, big and handsome and afraid of nothing on earth. She loved a man who wasn’t intimidated by the pressure to soften his image to satisfy some ethereal ideal of what modern men should be. He was tough, but he was also tender. Not a man who’d ever hurt a woman or threaten her in any way.

He hadn’t liked her, but when she’d been airsick on that trip to the ranch back home, he’d picked her up and cradled her in his arms until she slept. He’d been nurturing, although reluctantly, from the beginning.

He was a tough guy, but never mean. That was a far cry from a man who thought being rough with a woman was the way to behave. He didn’t talk much about his father, but she’d gathered that he was physically abusive to Tony when he was a boy—probably to his mother as well. Tony had loved his mother. Odalie was curious about his family, about all of it. The ones she’d met so far were really good people.

They ate in the next night, with leftover rolls and steak and mashed potatoes.

“You’re as good as my Mrs. Murdock in the kitchen,” Tony said as he finished his meal.

She laughed. “Thanks. But I’m not quite in her class yet!”

“Almost.” He grinned.

“There’s pie for dessert. I peeked.” Ben laughed when they stared at him.

“Let’s save it for later,” Tony said. “I’m too full for dessert right now. We can watch a movie.”