Aghast, her brows came down and her mouth firmed. “Have you been snooping into my life?”

He gave a noncommittal roll of one shoulder. “Can’t help myself. I’m the cautious type. See, I’m also ex-military and ex-FBI. Being well-informed is the name of the game, and I’m afraid old habits die hard.”

She absorbed all that with a frown. “So that bullet wound…?”

“Is why I’m not still FBI. Other injuries I could brush off, but that one caused more damage and got me grounded, stuck on desk duty.”

“You don’t have the body of a desk jockey.”

One brow lifted. “I guess not. That’s because shuffling papers is not my thing, which is why I became a P.I. At least having my own setup, I can pick and choose the cases I want to take.”

“Is it physically challenging?”

“It can be. I stay in shape because I need to.” In an effort at full disclosure with her, Jett admitted, “I get most of my business from a surveillance firm that deals with divorce.”

Even more aghast, Natalie said, “You spy on people having marital problems?”

He didn’t like her tone. “It’s not that simple, but if you want to go bare-bones, then yeah.” To make sure she got a clear picture, he shared details. “A few months ago, some bozo who’d been cheating on his wife and got busted for it decided he didn’t want a divorce. He wanted her to give him another chance, and it didn’t matter to him that she preferred to move on. Thing is, he was acting so weird, she didn’t trust him, so she hired me to keep an eye on him.”

Natalie frowned, but it seemed more out of concern than censure.

“I started checking up on him, learning his routine, his habits. A week later when the asshole bought a gun, I knew he had something planned.”

Her lips parted. “A gun?”

Jett nodded. “That same day, he checked out an old barn at an abandoned farm out in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t like it, so I followed him the rest of the day.”

As if forgetting her naked pose beneath him, Natalie shifted then asked, almost breathless, “What happened?”

“He pulled the gun on his wife.” Remembering it made Jett tense all over again. Abuse of any kind sickened him, but abuse against a woman, a wife, left him rigid with fury. “His plan was to force her into the car and take her to the barn.”

Attention rapt, Natalie whispered, “Why?”

“He said he was going to do a murder-suicide.”

“Oh my God. You heard all that?”

“And recorded it.”

Her entire countenance softened. “What did you do, Jett?”

“I stopped him.” Jett took great pleasure in giving her that truth. It had been ugly, and he’d definitely lost control when the guy tried to stave him off by pointing the gun at his wife. More than anything, Jett had wanted to tear that guy apart. As it was, he’d done more than enough damage.

He waited for Natalie to ask him how he’d stopped the jerk and wondered just how much he ought to tell her.

Instead, she said, “You could have been killed.”

She surprised him with that observation. “Maybe.” Shots were fired that day. Luckily they’d only struck a tree, a car and the side of the house. “But I wasn’t. Instead, the guy is now in jail on a string of charges, and the woman is free to live without always looking over her shoulder.”

“I’m glad you were there to help her.”

Jett felt compelled to tell her, “I’m damn good at any job I do.”

She accepted that without comment then looked down at his thigh, currently under hers, keeping her legs apart. “Does it ever pain you?”

“Not often.” He ran a hand up her leg to her hip. “For this, for you, I promise it’s not a problem.”

Her gaze went from his leg to his boner. “I’m glad.”

Jett watched the rise and fall of her breasts as she rested there. He didn’t want to push her, but… “Your turn, Natalie.”

Her gaze shot up to his. “For what?”

“Share something with me. Something that I don’t already know.”

Her gaze immediately skirted away. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” He brushed a few of those honey-colored curls away from her face.

She turned her cheek into his palm. Sounding almost desperate, she said, “Because I like things how they are.”

“What if I don’t?”

Something close to panic darkened her eyes. Again she struggled against the restraint before giving up to say, “Try to understand, Jett.” She took a shuddering breath, licked her lips. “Sharing is…difficult for me.”

Because she didn’t trust him—but he wasn’t giving up. Not yet. “I’ll make it easier for you.” Leaning down, Jett kissed her lightly on her lips, then her throat and then each breast.

She held her breath as he sat up again, stroking his hands along her sweet, taut body, over her ribs, her hipbones, and coming to rest on her inner thighs.

Her breathing accelerated. “I don’t see how—”

“I know what you want, honey. I know what you need.” He eased a finger inside her, touching her carefully with slow, precise care. “Just relax now.”

Her lids sank down over dazed eyes.

“I’ll ask questions,” Jett quietly told her, “and you can just answer.”

He knew she was confused but also aroused, and he hoped that might help weaken her resistance. “Where are you going for spring break?”

She clenched, and he felt it on his finger. It was his turn to close his eyes as he struggled for control.

Voice very small and shaky, she whispered, “Jett… I’m not sure—”

“I know.” But he couldn’t let her uncertainty matter anymore. “Do you want me, Natalie?”

No hesitation. “Yes.”

Coaxing, he said, “You’re on the pill, and neither of us has been with anyone else since we started seeing each other.”

He waited, and when she didn’t deny that, a strangling tightness loosened in his chest.

It felt like relief.

With that confirmed, he made up his mind.

For the first time in over a decade, he wanted to skip the precautions to build on his special closeness with Natalie. It wasn’t something he’d do with a casual date, and neither would she.

“I don’t want to wear a rubber.” Jett met her surprised gaze. “I want to feel you, Natalie. All of you.” He eased his finger out then pressed in again. “And I want you to feel only me.”

Her chest labored and, voice lower still, filled with heat, she said again, “Yes.”

Damn. Maybe he’d overestimated his control. He took a second to regroup then took his fingers from her. Bracing on one arm beside her, he wrapped a hand around his erection and used it to tease her. Up and down, over her turgid clitoris—but he didn’t enter her. Not yet.

She lifted up, trying to encourage him, but he held off. It sure as hell wasn’t easy when every muscle in his body urged him to bury himself deep inside her. He had to remember his plan.

Locking his jaw, Jett pushed just the head of his cock inside her.

Slippery wet, silky hot and almost irresistible.

If he wanted only this, he’d be a goner. But he wanted more.

When Natalie squirmed, tightening her legs around him, he damn near lost it. Giving her his weight to keep her still, Jett cupped her face, brushed his mouth lightly over hers and asked again, “Where are you going for spring break?”

She kissed him—until he leaned out of reach. “I need you, Jett.”

“I know you do.” Not as much as he needed her, though. “Tell me where you’re going.”

She paused in her fevered attempt to connect with him. “I don’t understand you.”

Closing his eyes, Jett stroked into her, filled her and relished her ragged moan of pleasure.

Then he pulled almost all the way out again.

“We both need this, honey.” Talking wasn’t easy, but he figured Natalie was worth the effort. “There’s nothing I enjoy more than being inside you.”

She stared at him with wanton concentration. “Then take me.”

He touched his mouth to her jaw, her temple, in light, soft kisses. “Let’s go one better, okay?”

“How?”

“We can start right here, right now.”

She couldn’t hide her skepticism. “What is it you want?”

A little trust. “Tell me where you’re going.”

She drew a deep breath—and relented. “To a vacation lake in Tennessee.”

It was still chilly for that. He’d expected her to say somewhere farther south, maybe in Florida since that’s where most people went on spring break.

His thoughts scrambled, but he couldn’t think of a good reason for her choice. “Why there?”

“It’s peaceful.”

Okay. He got that. Peace and quiet sounded fine. But why go all the way to Tennessee for it?

Jett cupped her jaw. “What will you do there?”

Almost desperate, Natalie pleaded, “Make love to me, damn you.”

He kissed her, longer and hotter this time, his tongue slipping over hers, twining. And because he couldn’t stop himself, he stroked into her. Deep.

Immediately, she tightened around him, her heels digging into the small of his back as if to keep him there, a part of her.

Hell, he didn’t want to move. Not yet.

He caressed her cheeks with his thumbs. “What’s at the lake, Natalie?” Lust made his tone more urgent. “Tell me.”

She struggled with herself but finally gave in. “Anonymity.”

Jett froze. A hell of a lot of people headed south for spring break. She could run into a student or one of the faculty members. But so what? Seeing someone she knew would matter only if…

He stiffened, raising himself up the length of his arms. That position pressed their lower bodies closer together in exquisite contact.