He took a sip of wine and kept watching me.

I scooped out a huge wodge of pie and turned the fork toward him.

“Want some?”

His face changed and he set the wine aside.

“Yeah,” he said, coming toward me.

Holy shit.

I was thinking he wasn’t talking about pie.

I wasn’t wrong.

He took the fork and tossed it into the pie. Then he took the pie and set it aside.

“I wasn’t done with that,” I said to him.

“You can go back to it later.”

He pressed open my legs. I hadn’t put any panties on and I felt immediately exposed. He came between them, sliding my ass across the counter and the feeling went away as I felt his warmth against me.

“What are you doing?” I asked, even though I knew exactly what he was doing.

“Dessert,” he said and he kissed me.

He tasted like wine, I was sure I tasted like pie.

I wasn’t lying, I wanted more pie but after he started kissing me, I didn’t miss it much.

One of his hands was steady at my hip, the other hand was working between us, he was undoing his fly.

“Brace your hands on the counter edge,” he told me.

“What?”

In answer, he jerked me forward, tipping my hips. I grabbed the edge of the counter quickly and all of a sudden, he slid inside me.

Now, I’m no prude and I’m no saint but I can’t say I’d had an adventurous sex life. At least, I’d never had sex on a kitchen counter.

It was fantastic, slightly naughty, slightly illicit and you knew in the back of your head you’d remember it when you were making coffee.

“Now who’s going fast?” I asked, wrapping my legs around his hips.

He ground his hips into me and it felt so fucking good, I bit my lip.

“Have anything more to say?” he asked.

I shook my head, then I said, “Wait a second, I do. Do that again.” His body went still and his eyebrows went up.

I put my mouth against his and said, “Please.”

Then I got another version of The Smile, the sexiest, the best and the most dangerous, the warm and intimate smile you get when Lee’s moving inside you.

* * *

After, we had pie.

Then, we had a shower.

What with wet, soapy, naked bodies, especially with one of them being Lee’s, things got out of hand and we tumbled out of the shower onto the bath mat.

After that, I said a silent thank you to the unknown Judy as the bathroom was sparkling clean and the bath mat smelled of fragrant drier sheets.

Later, we were in bed and I was pressed up against his side, his arm around my waist, my arm curled around his abs. I’d thrown a leg over his thigh and I had my head on his shoulder.

I was comfy, warm and very sleepy.

I felt good and if I allowed myself to think about it (which I did but only a little), I was happy.

“About you lookin’ for Rosie with Tex, I’m gonna have to ask you not to do it,” Lee said.

I didn’t want to have this conversation now. I was tired, very relaxed, maybe even happy, I didn’t want a conversation that might get heated.

So I ignored him.

He shook me a bit.

“Indy.”

“Mm?”I said into his shoulder.

“Did you hear me?”

“I heard you.”

He sighed.

“You’re thinking of cuffing me to the bed again, aren’t you?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

I tilted my head to look at him without moving my cheek from his shoulder.

“Why don’t you want me looking for Rosie?”

“How many reasons do you want?”

“Two.” I was still relaxed but beginning to feel snippy.

“You don’t know what you’re doin’ and Tex is a fucking crazy man.”

“Both good points.”

Holy shit.

Did I say that out loud?

What was it with me? I was blurting out my honest thoughts willy nilly.

He rolled into me, his thigh came between my legs, forcing one of mine to hook around his hip and his hand went to my ass and pressed me to him. His other hand tucked my head in his neck.

I realized he thought I agreed with him and this was my reward.

It was a good reward, being held by Lee like that, really good.

He didn’t have to know that even though I agreed with him, I was still going to do whatever the hell I wanted to do.

* * *

I woke up when the bed depressed with Lee’s weight.

I opened my eyes and blinked at him.

“Coffee,” he said and I saw the steam rising from a mug he was holding.

I scooted up, arranged the pillows, pulled the sheet up over my chest and took the coffee.

I took a sip, it was strong.

“My hero,” I breathed into the joe.

“What are your plans for the day?” he asked.

Automatically, I lied, “I’m not caffeinated enough to have plans.”

He stared at me.

He knew I had plans.

He stood, he was wearing a pair of seriously faded, once-navy-blue sweats that rode low on his hips, bringing the tops of his hip bones out in sexy relief. The sweats had been cut off and the ragged edge hit mid-thigh. His hair was messy, not only with sleep but because I’d made it that way. With the sweats and the hair, I was beginning to feel mildly turned on.

He walked across the room and came back.

I took another sip and absently heard a clink of metal but was still not awake enough to process the noise.

The mug was swept away, my wrist was seized and halfway up to the bed stand when I realized he had cuffs.

Too late, he slapped it on my wrist and I heard the ratchet of the bracelet. I twisted but I heard the second ratchet and I was stuck.

I twisted back to him, pissed off.

“You’re kidding,” I snapped.

He slid in bed alongside me, pulling the sheet down.

“Nope.”

His hands were on me and his mouth came to my neck.

“Un-unh. No way.” I pushed at him with my free hand. “You aren’t gonna cuff me to the bed and have your wicked way with me.”

He grabbed my free hand by the wrist and twisted it behind me.

“Wanna bet?”

His other hand pushed the sheet over my hip and I was fully exposed.

“Are you gonna leave me here all day?”

“After… yeah,” he said into my ear.

Grr.

“Uncuff me!”

“No.”

“Lee, this is not funny. And anyway, morning sex isn’t working for us. You start this and someone is gonna buzz the door and tell you that The Alamo has been attacked and you’re gonna take off.”

His hand had wandered to my ass, his mouth came to mine.

“You’ll survive.”

“No I won’t!”

His mouth slid passed mine to my ear.

“You’ve done it before.”

“That was before I knew what I was missing!”

His head came up and he grinned at me.

Fucking Lee.

“I’ll uncuff you if you promise me you won’t go off looking for Rosie with Tex.” I opened my mouth but before I could say anything he said, “Promise me and mean it.”

I closed my mouth.

If I could have crossed my arms on my chest, I would have. Instead, I explained.

“Stevie’s mad at me because Tod was in the line of fire. Ally’s chasing down bad guys, totaling her Mustang. My life’s completely out of control and taking others with it. I can’t sit around and wait, I have to do something. I’m tired of being scared.”

I was trying to twist away. He threw a thigh over mine and pinned me, let go of my wrist, got up on an elbow and traced the line of my jaw with his finger, looking in my eyes.

He was deciding something.

“Then you work with me.”

My body stilled. Was he serious? Work with the Mysterious Badass Liam Nightingale?

“What?” I asked.

“We’ll look for Rosie together.”

My mouth dropped open.

“Seriously?” I breathed.

He nodded.

I started to smile but then he said, “There are conditions.”

The smile went away and I narrowed my eyes at him.

“What conditions?”

His eyes softened and crinkled at the corners.

“You’re very cute,” he said.

Excuse me? Cute?

“Conditions?” I snapped, deciding to deal with the “cute” comment later.

“You do what I say when I tell you to do it and you keep your mouth shut. If we get into something and I get a bad vibe and feel you shouldn’t be there, you don’t argue, you just go.”

I thought about it and decided I could do that.

“Uncuff me,” I said again.

“You agree?”

“I agree.”

He uncuffed me, I started to roll away but he hooked me and rolled me back.

“Where you goin’?” he asked.

“Just ‘cause I agreed to work together with you doesn’t mean I’m not angry with you for cuffing me. You want honesty, I’ll give you honesty, you’ve pissed me off.”

He nuzzled my neck, apparently unaffected by my announcement.

“I can help you work through that.”

“You’re way too cocky,” I told him.

“I know, but you still love me.”

I froze.

“Excuse me?”

His arms came around me, holding me tight as if he knew I was about ready to bolt and he was preparing early. He lifted his head and looked at me. His eyes were dark and warm.

“You love me.”

I stared at him and lied through my teeth (glad to know I could still do it), “I do not love you.”

He pulled me even deeper into him.

“Liar,” he whispered. “You’ve loved me since I held your hand at your mother’s memorial service when you were five years old.”

It was then, my head exploded.

Chapter Sixteen