He released her arms and collapsed on top of her, pinning her to the bed, his heated breath caressing her cheek.

“Sweet Hope, that was one of the best wake-up calls I’ve had in my entire life.”

“Hmm.” Much more of a response was impossible. A series of aftershocks hit, and she was awash with contentment even though the tightening pushed him from her body far sooner than she wanted.

Matt rolled to the side and rearranged their bodies until her head rested on him, his rapid heartbeat assuring her she wasn’t the only one feeling the wow factor.

He ran his fingers through her hair, draping her long strands over his chest. “You’re good for me, darling. I like that you let me have my wicked way with you.”

“I enjoyed that too.”

He tilted her chin until he could kiss her, a light brush of their lips together, almost chaste. Lusty and dark, his voice scratched up her spine when he spoke. “I’m going to take it all. Everything you’re willing to give me. You know that, right? Every damn thing I’ve been dreaming about for the past six months. I’m tempted to start with the first thing, work my way through before I begin all over.”

Definitely not chaste—not that look in his eyes that was a mixture of sexual heat and urgent need. “Well, we might not have time to do the entire list this morning.”

“Nope, but I hope you ain’t got anything else on your agenda for the next while because I’m planning on taking up a lot of your time.”

“Are you now?” Hope blinked, leaning on her elbow to stare down at him. If she thought changing her position would make her have the upper hand, she was totally wrong. He grinned, as if glad she’d tried to challenge him.

A second later she was under him again, his hands holding her wrists above her head, his legs trapping her immobile.

“I am, and you’d better just get that expression off your face. I won’t boss you around outside the bedroom, but in here? You’re mine. That’s what you want, that’s what you’re gonna get.”

“Who says that’s what I want?” Hope protested. It might be true, but she didn’t want him to know all her secrets.

A fire burned in his eyes. He ignored her question, instead lowering his head until his mouth hovered over her breast. She arched upward, trying to connect them, and he laughed again. Taunting her. A tiny lick to her nipple, just enough to wet it. Just enough that when he blew a second later, the tip tightened and sent a shot of pleasure back to her sex.

“Your body says. Listen to it.” He scraped his whiskers over the sensitive surface and she shuddered, hard. “Yup, it’s talking plenty loud, and you’ll be happy to know I’m going to give you exactly what it’s begging for.”

He let her wrists free and covered her again, kissing her neck and tugging her earlobe with his teeth. Gentle caresses now, the rutting urgency faded to something sweeter. The position seemed less about holding her in place, more about enjoying lying together. She relaxed and let her hands roam over his shoulders, loving to finally be able to touch and admire him the way she’d wanted for so long.

“I have to get ready to head to town. And you’ve got chores, right?”

Matt groaned and rolled off, breathing heavily as he sprawled on his back. She would have sat up, but he caught her fingers in his and held her at his side, turning his head to smile at her as he spoke. “Yeah, we better get a move on. You can have the shower first, though, because I don’t dare share with you, or we’re both gonna be late. But tonight? I’m coming over to your place, and we’ll make some of those dirty dreams I’ve been having of your bathtub come true.”

In spite of just having climaxed, a zing of lust managed to rise. “Some?”

He grinned as he swung his legs off the side of the bed and rose, his perfect ass flexing as he stepped across the room and grabbed her a clean towel. “Some. Because there are too damn many to make it through them all at one shot.”

Oh boy.


Matt pulled on clothes and forced himself out of the bedroom before Hope walked her naked self to the bathroom, because good intentions or not? Watching would be enough to set him off again, and he’d have her up against the nearest wall.

It obviously wasn’t a one-time thing, the lust he felt for her.

He got breakfast started. Set the table and got the coffee going—all the things that were tough to find in another person’s kitchen. When Hope called out asking for the bag she’d brought with her the night before, he chuckled the entire way in to the shower, slapping her towel-covered butt as he went past.

“Nice to know you came prepared.”

She smiled. “If I’m going to do the walk of shame, I’m going to be dressed properly.”

“If you organize ahead of time, it ain’t a walk of shame.”

They exchanged grins like conspirators before heading opposite directions.

She’d finished making the toast and the eggs, dishing them up by the time he’d rushed through his shower. Full cups of coffee, full plates of food—it was homey and yet nothing felt uncomfortable about the situation.

“You okay with me coming over at the end of your workday?” he asked before scooping up a forkful.

Hope looked up from her coffee, heat and happiness there for him to see. “More than okay. I’m done…oh, shit.”

“What?”

She coughed and stared out the window, cheeks turning bright red. “You’re not going to like it.”

He waited.

“I have to give sewing lessons tonight.”

Shit was right. But not the end of the world. “When are you done? I’ll come over later. If you don’t mind my truck being outside your place, I’d love to stay the night with you.”

“It’s not that, and hell, yeah, you can stay, but the lessons—” She jerked off mid-sentence and literally squared her shoulders before continuing. “Now don’t go all caveman on me. The lessons tonight are for the Thompson boys. We set this up a week ago. For them to start on their quilt for the raffle.”

In spite of being prewarned, caveman urges as she called them rose, and he slapped them down, deliberately drinking some coffee instead of swearing his fool head off and calling Clay unmentionable things. A few seconds later, he was in control enough to lower his cup and nod slowly.

“Okay. What time will you be finished?”

Hope blinked. “Okay? That’s it?”

“What, you thought I’d forbid you to go near the smartass wrench-monkey?”

She fought to keep from smiling, the edges of her lips twitching. “Yeah…”

Matt patted himself on the back mentally for keeping his cool and making points on this one. It just might be enough to smooth things over when she found out that he and Clay had tussled at the gas station last week. “Nah. Remember, I said I’m only a demon-obsessed male in the sack. You ain’t going to be sewing these quilt squares then testing them out in the bedroom, are you?”

She snorted. “I think I’ll probably be teaching them how to thread a machine tonight. Maybe straight stitching.”

All of a sudden the room got a whole lot brighter. Matt was going to have to remember to kiss his mama an extra time or two. “Oh, the simple stuff. Yeah, might take those boys three or four lessons to get that figured out. Us Colemans—we can get right to the interesting stuff.”

A puzzled expression crossed her face. “I thought you didn’t know how to sew?”

“Are you kidding? My mom taught us every damn thing there was to know about housekeeping—cooking, laundry, sewing. And there’s more stuff to fix around the ranch that requires stitching than you’d think, including saddles. Just hasn’t been on the top of my list since I started working the ranch full time.” He leaned forward and put a finger to his lips. “Travis even knows how to knit, but if you tell him I told you, he’ll wring my neck.”

“Travis? Knits? The boy wonder with women can turn a heel?”

Matt snorted. “Knit, pearl, all that shit. Ma worked on teaching all us boys one winter, but he was the only one who figured it out. The twins were too busy trying to kill each other with the knitting needles and us older crew were already tainted enough to think it was too girly a task to put the energy in. But sewing? We can all do the basics.”

Hope grabbed his plate and stacked it with hers, rising to help him clear the table. “I was sure you said you could barely use a needle and thread—that night I went off the road.”

Matt shook his head. “You expected me to confess I can sew in front a room full of ladies? I ain’t that brave.”

He caught her at the counter, taking her in his arms and kissing her like he’d been dying to all meal. She hesitated for the first second then got right into it, tangling her fingers in his hair, stroking his beard.

They split apart for air long before he wanted to. He cupped the back of her neck, thumb rubbing her pulse point lightly. She swallowed hard, her pupils huge. “Don’t you start something we don’t have time to finish, Matt,” she warned.

“Not planning on finishing it. Just priming the engine, so you run good and hot all day. By the time you get back to your apartment, you’re gonna have no reason to disobey when I tell you to strip naked.”

She lowered her lashes, but her smile got wider. “You’re a dirty man, Matt Coleman.”

“And you like that very much.”

Hope nodded.

Matt pulled on his winter gear, went outside to start her beast of a truck and let it warm up for a bit. She planted a final toothpaste-minty kiss on him before slipping a key into his glove and batting her lashes. “I’ll be home for sure by nine thirty. Make yourself comfy. You know, maybe you need to be the one naked when I arrive.”