The question was, did he want to fall?

He owed Hunter his loyalty. He’d given his word and he hadn’t done much of a job of seeing it through. All his friend had asked was for him to protect his sister. Instead Jack had cut and run. Sure, he’d kept tabs on Meri from a distance, but that was taking the easy way out.

Which meant now was the time to make good on his promise. He would walk into the bathroom, tell Meredith to get the hell out of there, explain nothing was ever going to happen between them and grit his teeth for the rest of the time he was stuck up here in the lodge.

A least it was a plan.

He sucked in a breath and walked into the bathroom.

It was as he’d expected. Candles glowing, rose petals scattered, the fire flickering and a very naked Meri in the tub.

She’d piled her hair on top of her head, exposing the sexy line of her neck. Bubbles in the bath floated across the water, giving him a quick view of her nakedness before moving to cover the scene. Her perfect breasts floated, a siren’s lure calling to him.

He was hard in a heartbeat. Hard and ready to take her every way he knew how.

It wasn’t her pale skin or the music playing in the background that got to him. It wasn’t the way she’d set the scene or the fact that he knew she wasn’t just willing, she was determined. He could have resisted all of that, even her slightly pouting lips.

What he couldn’t resist was the book she was reading. She’d set out to seduce him and had gotten so caught up in a textbook on nuclear fission that she hadn’t even heard him walk into the bathroom. That was the very heart of Meri. A walking, breathing genius brain trapped in the body of a centerfold. Who else could possibly appreciate the magic that was her?

Meri sighed as she turned the page. Why did Jerry have to go out of his way to make a perfectly mesmerizing topic boring? She’d been a little nervous when he’d asked her to read his latest textbook, and now that she was into it, she realized she’d been wary for a reason. Nuclear fission was one of the great discoveries of the twentieth century. Shouldn’t that be celebrated? Shouldn’t it at least be interesting? But noooo. Jerry wrote down to his audience and had taken what was-

The book was ripped from her hands. Meri blinked in surprise to find Jack standing beside the tub. Tub? She was in a tub? When had that happened?

She blinked again and her memory returned. Right. She’d planned on seducing him tonight. She glanced around and saw the candles and rose petals. At least she’d done a nice job.

“Hi,” she said as she smiled up at Jack. “Surprise.”

“You sure are that.”

She braced herself for him to yell at her or stalk off or explain for the four hundredth time why this was never going to work. She didn’t expect him to pull her to her feet, drag her out of the bath and haul her against him.

She was stunned. In a good way. She liked how he stared into her eyes as if she were prime rib and he were a starving man. She liked how his hands moved up and down her back, then slipped lower, to her butt.

She was totally naked. A fact he seemed to appreciate.

“But I’m all wet,” she whispered.

“I hope that’s true,” he said before he bent his head and kissed her.

His mouth was firm and sure, claiming her with a kiss that demanded a response. She tilted her head and parted for him, wanting to get the party started with some soul-stirring kisses.

He didn’t disappoint. He moved into her mouth, brushing her tongue with his, moving leisurely, as if arousing her was the only thing on his mind. Heat poured through her.

Not that she was cold. Not with the fire to her back and Jack pressing against her front.

As he kissed her over and over again, he moved his hands over her body. He touched her shoulders, her back, her hips, tracing her skin, igniting nerve endings everywhere he went.

She raised her hands to his shoulders, then slid her fingers through his hair. She touched his cheeks, feeling the stubble there, before exploring his chest.

He was strong and masculine. When he cupped her rear, she arched against him and felt the hard thickness of his erection. A thrill of anticipation shot through her. She shivered.

He pulled back a little. “Cold?”

“No.”

He stared into her eyes. She stared back, wondering what he was thinking. He’d been resisting her best efforts for a while now. Did he regret giving in? Not that she was going to ask. There were some things it was best not to know.

He didn’t act like a man with regrets. He bent down, but instead of kissing her lips, he pressed his mouth to her neck and nibbled his way to her collarbone.

His hands rested lightly on her waist. As he teased her neck, licked her earlobe, then gently bit down, he moved his hands up her rib cage, toward her breasts.

Before her surgery she’d been warned that she might lose some of the sensitivity in her breasts, but she’d been one of the lucky ones. She could feel everything-every touch, every kiss, every whisper of breath. She tensed in anticipation of how Jack would make her tingle.

When he reached her curves, he cupped them gently. He explored her skin, then swept his thumbs across her nipples. Her insides tightened.

He kissed his way down to her breasts and drew her left nipple into his mouth. She leaned her head back as he circled her, then sucked and licked. Ribbons of need wove through her body, settling in her rapidly swelling center. The dull ache of arousal grew.

He turned his attentions to her other nipple, teasing and kissing until her breathing came in pants and her legs began to tremble.

Even as he continued to tease her breasts, he slipped one hand lower and lower, down her belly, toward the promised land. She parted her legs and braced herself for the impact his touch would have on her. Only he didn’t touch her there. Instead he stroked her thighs and played with her curls. He ran his fingers along the outside but never dipped in.

She shifted impatiently, wondering if shaking him would get the message across. There! He needed to touch her there.

But he ignored that place where she was wet and swollen and desperately ready. He squeezed her bottom, he circled her belly button, he touched everywhere else.

Just when she was about to issue a complaint in writing, he pulled back a little, bent down and gathered her in his arms. Before she could catch her breath, he’d carried her into the bedroom and placed her on the bed. Then he was kneeling between her legs, his fingers parting her as he gave her an intimate, six-second-to-climax openmouthed kiss.

The combination of tongue and lips and breath made her moan in delight. He licked her with the leisurely confidence of a man who knows what to do and likes doing it. She gave herself over to the steady stroking and the easy exploration.

Tension invaded her. Each clench of her muscles pushed her higher and closer. One summer while she was still in college, she’d played with the idea of becoming a doctor, so she’d read several medical textbooks. She knew the biological steps leading to an orgasm-the arousal, how the blood made the area feel hot, the mechanism involved in swelling, the response of the sympathetic nervous system.

But none of those words could begin to describe what it felt like to have Jack suck on the most nerve-filled place in her body. How there seemed to be a direct connection between that engorged spot between her legs and the rest of her. How each flick of his tongue made her stomach clench and her heels dig into the bed.

She felt herself getting closer and closer. He moved patiently, slowly, drawing out the experience. Taking her to the edge, then pulling back just enough to keep her from coming.

Again and again she caught sight of her release, only to have it move out of reach.

Then, without warning, he went faster. The quick flicks of his tongue caught her off guard. She had no time to prepare, no way to brace herself for the sudden explosion of pleasure that tore her apart.

Wave after wave of release swept through her. She pressed down, wanting to keep the feelings going. He gentled his touch but didn’t pull away. Not until she experienced the last shudder and was able to finally draw in a breath.

She opened her eyes and found him looking at her. Under any other circumstance, his smug grin would have annoyed her, but considering what he’d just done, she decided he’d earned it.

She grabbed him by his shirt front and urged him to slide up next to her. When he would have spoken, she touched his mouth with her fingers, telling him to be quiet. While she loved a good relationship conversation as much as the next woman, this was a time for silence.

When he was on his back, she unbuttoned his shirt, then kissed her way down his chest to his belly. He was warm and he tasted sexy and faintly sweet. She nipped at his side, which made him both laugh and groan, then she went to work on his jeans.

He was so hard she had trouble with the zipper but finally managed to get it unfastened. He helped her push down his jeans and briefs.

She knelt between his legs, taking in the beauty that was his aroused naked body. His erection called to her. She reached out and touched him, then stroked his length. He put his hand on top of hers.

“I don’t have any protection,” he said.

She smiled. “Come on, Jack. It’s me. When have I not prepared for every contingency?”

She leaned forward and opened his nightstand, then pulled out the condoms she’d put there before she’d started her bath.

Seconds later, the condom in place, she eased herself onto him.

He was big and thick and he filled her, stretching her inside in the most delicious way possible. She braced herself on her hands and knees, settling in for the ride.