This amazing, effervescent, scorching-hot woman was his wife. The reality knocked him sideways again. The desire to take her again, to mark her as his, scared the hell out of him.

Even though they were lawfully wed, he shouldn’t feel this way about her. After all, it was temporary and it was business.

He felt a twinge at that last thought. Their business relationship had been blown to smithereens. He paused in stroking her bare skin.

“Don’t stop,” she said, lifting her arm so he would continue.

He smiled at her artless response. “I almost thought you were asleep.”

She shook her head.

“You know we’re paying for two rooms at the Bellagio when we’re only staying in one,” he said.

Her lips curved in a secret smile, and her eyes opened to slits of blue. “I saw how much you won at that blackjack table. You can afford it.”

Shaking his head, he slid his hand down to her bottom and lightly pinched her through the sheet.

“Hey!” Her eyes flew open. “What are you doing?”

“Pinching the princess,” he said without an ounce of remorse.

She met his gaze and slid her hand over his arm and tugged him closer. “Are you in a big rush to leave?”

His chest squeezed tight at her touch. “I could stay another night,” he said in a voice that sounded a little rough to his own ears.

“That’s nice to hear,” she said. “I hope it won’t be too much of a chore.”

“No chore,” he said. “But I almost feel like I should have trained for this.”

She gave a low laugh, and her eyes swept downward. “Did you ever think about what it would be like if you got married?”

“Maybe a few times,” he said. “But I’ve been wrapped up tight with school and my job for a long time.”

“No time for a wife,” she said, meeting his gaze.

“That’s right.”

“But when you did think about it, what were your thoughts?”

“I don’t know. That it would be nice to go to bed every night with the same woman. Nice to wake up with someone who wanted to be in my life and who I wanted to be with me. We could go places together, do things.”

“Like what?”

He shrugged. “Camping. Football games.”

She fell silent for several seconds, then blinked. “Camping?” she echoed, grimacing.

He chuckled. “Hey, that’s the male fantasy. I also thought it would be nice to come home to a hot meal and a hotter wife.”

“With a cook and housekeeper, anything is possible.”

He lifted his hand to her sassy mouth. “Okay, princess, what about you? Did you ever think about getting married? If you did, then what did you imagine?”

“I imagined going on adventures,” she said. “To Paris or Italy or New York City. Or a Caribbean island. I imagined spending holidays with my husband, with my sisters and brother.” She sighed. “And I imagined hot sex,” she said. “Lots of it.”

Jackson nearly choked over his shock at her bluntness. He cleared his throat. “I guess I can understand that, since you didn’t get a lot of opportunities to-” He didn’t want to finish that thought. It didn’t feel right.

“Get laid,” she said for him.

The woman was full of surprises. He lifted his hand to push a strand of hair from her face. “When we first talked about you getting married, you said you didn’t think you would want to have sex. Why did you change your mind?”

She slipped her hands over his shoulders and chest, then down his arms to his wrists. “Because I wanted to be with you,” she said. “And it seemed extra stupid not to be with you if we were married.”

“Why me?” he asked, craving her touch. “Why not some other guy?”

She bit her lip. “I don’t know. I just-”

“Just what?” he asked, feeling desire ooze through him again.

“I wanted to be with you. What about you? Why me?”

“Besides the fact that you’re beautiful and sexy?” he asked.

She beamed. “You really think so?”

“Every man really thinks so,” he growled and tugged her against him. He hated the sheet, but he craved her mouth beneath his. He kissed her, savoring her lips, and she responded, cranking up his arousal another few notches.

“I wasn’t asking about every man,” she said. “I was asking about you. Does that mean you like me a little bit?”

“Yeah,” he said, his heart turning an odd flip as he pushed down the sheet. “A little bit.”

“Can I be on top this time?”

He hesitated, feeling himself grow harder. “Top?”

“Yeah. I’ve never done that-”

If Lori wanted to be adventurous, then he definitely wanted to accommodate her. He immediately rolled onto his back, pulling her on top of him. The view was divine. Her hair shimmered over her shoulders, and her breasts swayed inches from his mouth.

“I’m ready when you are,” he said.

Leaning forward, she braced her hands on his shoulders and positioned herself over him, pausing a few beats. Jackson held his breath and reined in the urge to plunge her down over him.

Mounting him, she enveloped his shaft, millimeter by wet, silky millimeter. When she had finally taken all of him, she took a little breath and whispered, “Wow.”

He gave a rough chuckle. “Yeah. Wow.”

She leaned down and took his mouth in a French kiss at the same time she undulated with him inside her. “I think I could like this,” she said, her breasts pressed against his chest.

He slid his hands over her derriere and groaned. “That makes two of us.”

The following morning, Lori awakened to the sensation of Jackson ’s breath tickling the back of her neck. His chest curved protectively against her back. His arm rested over her waist, and she felt as if she were in a delicious, sexy cocoon. Inhaling deeply, she caught a hint of his masculine scent.

She swallowed a moan of satisfaction. This felt delicious. She could grow to like this. After marathon lovemaking, they’d fed each other a midnight snack of cheeseburgers and chocolate cake. Afterward, they’d taken a shower together and crashed.

She heard a muted humming sound from somewhere in the room and wondered what it was. She carefully moved her head to glance at the bedside table to see if anything on top of it was off balance, but she didn’t see anything. The sound stopped for a few seconds and she relaxed.

It started again and she frowned. What was it? Slowly lifting Jackson ’s hand from her waist, she wiggled away, not wanting to awaken him.

“Are you always this squirmy in the morning?” he asked and pulled her back against him.

She couldn’t help smiling at his question. “Good morning to you, too. No. I’m not usually this squirmy in the morning, but there’s some kind of humming noise. I don’t know where it is, and it’s driving me crazy.” She paused and was very quiet. “Do you hear it?”

“Cell phone,” he said. “It must be yours. I turned mine off.”

“Oh,” she said, not wanting anything or anyone to intrude on the short time they had together.

“You want to check it?”

“Not really,” she said, turning toward him and burying her face in his throat.

“What are you afraid of, Lori Jean?” he asked, sliding his hand down her back. “I can tell something’s wrong. Your body is tense.”

“I’m not really afraid,” she said and closed her eyes. “I just don’t want to answer any questions about-” She took a breath. “About us.”

He tilted her chin upward. “Are you wishing you’d married the duke?”

“Oh, no,” she said. “I just don’t want to deal with other people and their opinions right now.”

“Tell them to stuff it.”

“My sisters wouldn’t like that. And that’s probably not the best approach with the press.” She sighed against his throat. “The last two days have been so wonderful. Do we have to tell other people yet? Can we wait a little bit until we figure out how to announce it?”

“If that’s what you want,” he said, sliding his fingers through her hair. “If you don’t want a lot of attention, you’ll probably need to go back to the ranch.”

“That’s fine with me. Will you go, too?” she asked, searching his face.

“Yes, but I’ll need to resign from the firm soon and get started on the real-estate development I’m putting together.”

“That’s what you want to do with your husband money?” she said.

One side of his lips lifted in a dry smile. “Husband money,” he said and shrugged. “I guess that’s as good a description as any. But yes, I’m going to use the husband money to launch a midrange neighborhood development outside of Dallas, with pools, a park, shopping facilities, hopefully a school, and whatever else will draw in buyers.”

“Did I read somewhere that real estate is in bad shape now?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes, you did. But this would be for entry-level or second-time buyers. That’s the group who wants a chance at the American dream. I have contacts with mortgage companies and construction outfits. With this combination, I think I can give these people a chance at getting a shot at owning their own homes.”

He was so fervent, so positive. She admired his confidence and decisiveness and wished she had a fraction of it. “You sound like you have it all planned out.”

“A lot of it,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about this for years. I bought the property, and I’ve just been waiting for the opportunity to move ahead.” He met her gaze and gave a wry laugh. “I never dreamed I’d get the chance by marrying the hottest girl in Texas.”

Her stomach twisted and tumbled. It gave her a thrill to think that she could help make Jackson ’s dream come true. He was so strong, so independent that she couldn’t imagine him ever really needing her. “You would have found a different way to get your funding. I was just in the right place at the right time.”

“You have a lot of confidence in me,” he said, cupping her jaw with his hand.

“You’ve earned it,” she said and wondered if or when he would ever have the same confidence in her. If or when she would have the same confidence in herself.