“No regrets afterward,” he warned.

Hesitation flitted across her expression. It bothered Jason. Worried him, even.

Finally, she shook her head. “No. I’m not going to feel whole until I’m with you again, at least this once.”

Once, my ass. After he took her, there’d be no letting her go again. But no way was he going to argue when he could be immersing himself inside the slickest, hottest heaven he’d ever lost himself in.

“I won’t hold back.” He tore into the foil and rolled the condom down his aching cock.

“I wouldn’t want you to.”

And I won’t let go. For better or worse…until death do us part.

The silent vow made, Jason swiped a pair of fingers through Gia’s folds. She moaned, and her wet heat put all his worries to rest. His wife was every bit as ready as he felt, and later he would touch her at will, delight in seeing her flush and pant and whimper for the orgasms he vowed to give her. He’d also take her properly in the bed he intended to share with her for the rest of their lives. Right now, he needed to make her his again.

Jason clasped her thighs and dragged her ass to the very edge of the counter. He was damn thankful that he was tall and had long legs. And then he didn’t think anything at all as he wrapped his hand around his cock and guided it to her swollen, weeping cunt.

As soon as he buried the head inside Gia’s sweltering opening, he clutched her hips, fused his stare to hers, and began to tunnel inside. She gripped him like hot silk and made his eyes cross as pleasure instantly blazed through his body.

As he pushed deeper, she tensed and gasped. Jason gritted his teeth. It had been nearly a year for both of them. Of course she was tight. He fought the urge to shove his way balls deep and pound at her pussy. Damn it, he didn’t want to be wearing this condom. Taking her bare and feeling her walls clench down on him in climax before he spilled his seed deep inside her, hoping she would swell with their child…

Hell, he had to stop thinking that before he lost all self-control. He’d waited way too long to be inside Gia again to rush this.

Slow strokes, easy pumps back and forth. She gripped his shoulders, her eyes widening with every inch he managed to work inside her.

“Gia.” His voice sounded like he’d honed it with sandpaper. “Take all of me.”

Fighting to get inside her, the friction of her tight flesh all over his... Fuck, it was unraveling him.

“I’m trying.” She nearly cried the words.

“Deep breath. In…yes. Now let it out.” Amazingly, she relaxed around him, and he sank a little farther, over halfway in.

“Jason,” she keened.

He grabbed her hips tighter, his fingers biting. “I know,” he panted. “Another deep breath. We’re so good together. Once you let me in, I’m going to fuck you deep and make you feel so good. Just let me…yeah. Like that,” he groaned as he slid completely inside her. “Oh, baby.”

Gia grabbed his shoulders and mewled, moving in perfect rhythm underneath him.

“You feel so damn good. I couldn’t think about anything all day but you.” He caressed her lush ass and withdrew in a torturously slow stroke.

“I imagined this,” she moaned. “I fantasized about us.”

Her pleading expression fueled his urge to thrust deep once more. His need to spur her climax drove him to action. Once he finished, he intended to do it again and again until they were sated and spent and smiling.

Determined, he shoved deep inside her once more. This time, submerging was as easy as diving into a warm pool of water.

“Please.” Her nails bit into him. “It feels so...”

“Perfect. Yeah.” He thrust a fist in Gia’s silky dark hair and fastened his mouth to hers, drinking her in and filling her every way he could.

Her whimper made him harder. His balls tightened and his heart twisted. He did his level best to undo her one relentless thrust at a time. Her spice filled his nostrils. She made love the way she lived life, with caring and honesty—throwing her whole self into it. Her pussy clung to him, as if she couldn’t bear for him to leave her for even a moment. The sensations had him flirting with orgasm. And with every thrust, he only craved her more.

Gia tore her lips from his with a gasp. “Faster. Harder!”

Normally, he didn’t take orders well from anyone, especially a submissive. But tonight, he couldn’t disagree. “Hold on.”

Jason slammed back inside her, deeper than he could ever remember being. His cock prodded her cervix. Her nails clawed his back. She cried out in pleasure. He set up a merciless rhythm, chasing their pleasure until his heart pounded in his ears and his legs trembled. Fuck, he wasn’t going to last, and he had to make sure that she didn’t either.

Jason slid his hand between them, fingertips circling her clit. Gia tightened and clawed at him, her cunt clamping down. She blinked up and held her breath, silently begging, every muscle braced in anticipation. Then she wailed out her climax. The sound bounced off the tile walls and floors, ringing in his ears. He wanted more of that.

“Come for me, baby. Yes…” he groaned as she sucked him deeper. “So. Fucking. Good.”

As her peak stretched on, unrestrained and beautiful, his spine tingled, his balls tightened. Jason’s self-control broke.

He wanted to be the man who gave her more pleasure than she’d ever known, the person she turned to when she needed someone to laugh with, someone’s hand to hold, someone to share her tears. Whatever it took, whatever energy he had to expend or money he had to burn, he would be that man for her.

With a last long stroke, Jason centered his world entirely on Gia and let go. Her scent filled him. Her flesh surrounded him. His heart beat with hers as he shouted her name in a hoarse groan and gave her everything.

Chapter Five

Nine days later

Gia padded down the stairs, weak morning sunlight drizzling into the kitchen through the thick clouds. Mid-November had turned a bit cooler, and she curled her arms around herself, huddling in Jason’s T-shirt, wishing she’d donned warmer clothes. Then again, he’d take them off in nothing flat. After all, she didn’t need a stitch in bed.

As she landed in the big open space of the first floor, she found him pacing the great room wearing a pair of sweat shorts. He’d doffed his nylon tank and slung it over one thick shoulder as he pressed the phone to his ear. Even the sight of him made her tingle like a girl in the throes of her first crush.

“I need a report,” he demanded as he stared out the window.

Residual sweat from his workout slicked his wavy hair from his face. The muscles of his back rippled and moved every time he shifted his weight, breathed—or made an angry gesture with his arm, as he did now.

“What do you mean there’s no progress? That’s not acceptable.” Jason paused. “Time is the one thing I lack, so don’t tell me to be patient. It’s been a week. If we’re not getting results, we need another tactic.”

He walked to the other end of the room, toward the front door. Gia continued to gawk. His broad shoulders tapered into a lean waist, narrow hips, and muscled legs. The thin fabric of his shorts clung to his incredibly appealing backside. He had an athlete’s body, one he pushed to its full potential nearly every morning in the gym downstairs. Today, he’d added extra cardio, making love to her before his workout until she’d screamed—repeatedly.

“You’re asking me for suggestions? Isn’t this your area of expertise?” Jason opened the front door, and his Wall Street Journal waited there. He bent to retrieve the paper and clenched it in his fist. “Do you need more money?”

The party on the other line said something, and Jason tensed even more.

“Then I don’t want to hear excuses. Solve the problem.” He turned just enough to reveal a chiseled profile and his flush of quiet rage. “You’ve got seventy-two hours before I cut you loose and find someone who can do what I’ve asked.”

Her husband conducted business full throttle. She’d been privy to a few of his calls. It shocked her that he spoke fluent Japanese, at least when it came to money management. Whoever he talked to now didn’t quite understand that Jason was used to getting what he wanted and would drive hard until he got it.

That described their relationship. She’d been trying to hold her heart separate from her body, but every night Jason rocketed her to the stars, urging her on and up until she was spent and dizzy. Then he held her close, their hearts beating together, until she wondered if she could separate from him again without crumbling.

For so long, Gia had coped by dealing with only the most pressing issues. The future and its associated problems, she’d shoved into a mental compartment marked “later” and locked away. Little by little, Jason pounded at her mental safety barriers like a battering ram. Gia felt perilously close to caving in. The possibility of parting ways with him for good on their anniversary filled Gia with dread.

“Try that. Spreading the word is critical, but do it carefully,” he insisted, then turned back toward the kitchen. The moment he spotted her, his eyes darkened. “I’ll have to call you back.” Jason didn’t wait for a reply. He simply hung up. “Good morning.”

“Morning.” The word came out breathy, and she kicked herself. She sounded almost as love struck as she felt. A man like Jason could use her feelings to wring all the sex and devotion from her he desired.

Would giving in be so bad? He no longer seemed to want revenge or simply to bang her out of his system. In fact, the way he talked to and touched her, studied her, and spooned her each night made her wonder if he had something else entirely in mind.