“I want you,” she said softly. “And if this is as far as you’re willing to go, I’ll take it.”

“No touching,” he repeated, his voice hoarse.

Her finger dipped between her smooth folds. “Not each other.”

“It’s not right, Georgia.” He shouldn’t see her naked, never mind watch her touch herself. It was wrong on so many levels, but the tiny shreds of willpower he’d been clinging to since she arrived in his home had fled the room the minute her towel hit the floor.

She didn’t say a word. Shifting on the bed, she lay flat, her head resting on the edge. He watched as she reached her second hand between her legs and parted her lips, exposing her slick, wet entrance to him. She slipped one finger inside and moaned.

No longer thinking clearly, Eric freed his throbbing dick and started moving his hand up and down, never once taking his eyes off her fingers. Her thumb teased her clit, brushing back and forth in soft, swift circles. He memorized every moment, wishing he could replace her hand with his tongue and use the knowledge to make her come against his mouth.

She pushed a second finger inside. Slowly, she drew them in and out, allowing him to see every movement. She was wet, so damn wet.

Georgia lifted her head, but she kept her hands between her spread thighs. “You like to watch.”

“Hell, yeah.” When it came to Georgia, he had a feeling he’d like just about anything. But this? Watching her pleasure herself on his bed—it took him to a whole new level of turned on. It was kinky. And yes, that appealed to him too. He was consumed with the need to touch, but he couldn’t. Not now. Not ever.

Tonight—Georgia in his bed with every inch of her body exposed—was a one-time thing. She’d broken his self-restraint when she’d walked into his room, catching him literally with his pants down. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to take this moment for himself. This was his only chance to see the woman he’d wanted damn near forever wild and unrestrained.

He stood, never taking his eyes off her hands, the way her back arched and her hips lifted to meet her fingers.

“Eric?”

He heard the vulnerability in her voice. The fingers brushing back and forth against her clit slowed.

“Don’t stop, Georgia,” he said, standing over her. “Roll over. I want you on your knees. Let me see every inch of you.”

He looked up at her face. The mischievous gleam he’d seen in her eyes when she’d first entered the room returned. Without a word, she rolled to her stomach, thrusting her ass into the air and spreading her knees wide on the bed.

The view—it stole his breath away. Her fingers never stopped working, pushing in and out, her body rocking against her hand. His gaze ran up her torso, lingering on her breasts as they brushed back and forth against the comforter. Her cheek rested on the bed and her eyes were open, staring back at him.

Years of pent-up, carefully controlled desire rose to the surface. Everything he wanted for his purely selfish pleasure lay within his grasp. He stepped forward, his straining erection inches away from her entrance. Christ, if only—

“I’m going to come,” he murmured. His hand moved faster, tighter. What they were doing might be wrong, but right now, in the moment? He wanted this, even if he couldn’t touch her.

He came hard. On the bed, he heard a soft murmur of appreciation. He looked down and saw Georgia writhing, her eyes locked on him.

“My turn,” she whispered. “Don’t look away.”

“I couldn’t now, even if I wanted to.” He wanted to witness her climax, watch her fall apart. Her hands moved faster, her body jerking and bucking wildly. She moaned, biting her lower lip.

“The things I want to do to you,” he murmured. Seeing her like this, his imagination ran wild. The mental picture of Georgia on her knees, her lips wrapped around him, made him want to start back at square one minutes after he’d exploded.

“Come for me,” he demanded. He might not be the one touching her, but he refused to stand by and observe. He had to be a part of this. “Now, Georgia.”

His command pushed her over the edge. She held his gaze, her expression one of surprise, as if the orgasm had crept up on her unexpectedly.

“Oh, God,” she gasped. And then she went limp, her knees splaying out farther until she lay flat on the bed, still struggling to catch her breath.

For the first time since she’d returned home, he felt as if he was seeing beneath her walls. The openness he saw there—it leveled him. He ached to pull her into his arms and hold her as she fell apart, to show her he was here for her.

“Eric?” A familiar voice called from the front hall.

Every muscle in his body tensed. “Shit, Georgia, your brother’s here.”

Chapter Two

THE ORGASM HIT her like a tidal wave. One minute she was watching Eric run his hand up and down his cock, his eyes glued to her. A moment later she was spiraling out of control, a total free fall into a climax that touched every part of her. She trembled from head to toe, completely at the mercy of her own pleasure. This feeling—it was her entire world. She closed her eyes as her body pulsed with life, rejoicing in it, loving it.

“Did you hear me? Your brother’s here.”

Georgia opened her eyes. Eric stood at the side of the bed zipping up his pants, his expression grim. Looking at him, seeing the regret in his eyes, pushed a button somewhere inside her, the one labeled “Emotions. Do not touch.”

She’d shared something with him she’d never shared with another person, something intimate and private. She wasn’t a virgin, though it had been far too long since she’d been with a man, but she’d never put herself on display like this. She’d never given herself an earth-shattering orgasm while someone watched. This was hands down a first.

And it had left her feeling. The physical she could handle. She needed it, craved it like the air she breathed. But the emotional? She’d been running hard from that since she returned home.

After all she’d seen overseas, all the people she’d lost, opening her heart and letting someone in wasn’t an option. It would take away the small shred of security she relied on to get herself from day to day without falling apart. Right now, she could trust in herself. She was strong. She could get herself through today and the day after that. She didn’t need to rely on anyone else.

Looking away, she pushed herself off the bed.

“You go ahead.” She tried to keep her tone light, as if what they’d shared hadn’t shaken her to her core. “If you keep him in the kitchen, I’ll meet you there after a quick detour to my room.”

Eric nodded and headed for the door.

“And Eric?”

He looked back over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

“Please don’t tell Liam.”

From across the room, she felt his body tense. It wasn’t that she feared her brother knowing she’d fooled around with Eric. She might be scared of her feelings, but she could hold her ground when it came to Liam. But she worried it would hurt Eric. She’d seen the regret in his eyes. He always, always did the right thing—until tonight. Until her.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” he said.

The door closed behind him. Georgia picked up her towel and made a dash for the stairs leading to her second-floor bedroom. When she got there, she scrambled to find underwear, shorts, and a T-shirt. Dressed, she reached for the knob and paused.

Eric’s voice drifted up. She had to go down there. Liam would be concerned if she didn’t, and the last thing she needed was her brother asking questions. But facing Eric? How could she look at him and not picture the raw desire she’d witnessed in his eyes? It was a heady, powerful thing knowing she could bring him to his knees without laying a hand on him. If she’d ever doubted he wanted her the same way she wanted him, she didn’t now.

But she couldn’t risk a repeat performance. This wasn’t like jumping out of an airplane. This wasn’t an adrenaline rush she could walk away from unscathed. After she came, she’d wished she could curl up in his arms and let him hold her. Wanting that simple comfort left her flat-out vulnerable.

She refused to be weak. She hadn’t come home alive and whole only to crumble. No, she had to find her way through these overwhelming emotions before she could open up to someone else, even a man who’d been her friend for years—and just revealed he could be so much more.

“Where’s Georgia?” Liam’s voice carried through the house’s open spaces.

She quickly made her way down the curved front stairs, past the sprawling open living area to the kitchen. Liam stood by the granite counter, his hands shoved into the pockets of his work jeans. The two men looked like night and day with Eric in his dress shirt and suit pants, and Liam in his ripped gray T-shirt and dirt-covered work boots, though physically they were roughly the same size, both large and imposing.

“I’m right here,” she said. “What are you doing here, big brother? Checking up on me?”

She saw the grim expression on her brother’s face, and a small tremor ran through her. Not fear, just awareness. Liam always greeted her with a smile. Always. Tonight, something was wrong.

“Nah, I came to see your boss.” Liam studied her for a minute as if he could tell if she’d done something wild just by looking at her. Then her brother turned his attention back to Eric. “We have a problem.”

Georgia stole a glance at Eric. He looked nothing like a man who had experienced an orgasm worthy of the Richter scale. There was no way her brother could guess they’d been naked together on Eric’s bed when he arrived, not from the severe expression on Eric’s face.