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He was giving me an out. One I didn’t need or want. But that was the kind of man he was.

I nodded in agreement. “It was. But I’m not tired.”

I could feel his erection stir beneath me, lengthening and growing hard as steel. He brushed the hair from my forehead as he stared at me like he’d never seen anything more beautiful.

“God, these freckles,” he breathed, releasing my hip to bring his hand up and trace along my nose and cheekbones. “I’ve been obsessed with these freckles since the first moment I saw you.”

My lips parted on a surprised breath. “I didn’t think you noticed me.”

His eyes widened before his head fell back on a deep belly laugh. I was in awe as I watched. His whole face lit up in delight.

“What’s so funny?” I asked once his hilarity died down.

“The fact you thought I didn’t notice you.” He chuckled, giving his head a shake as he trailed a finger down the bridge of my nose. “Honey, you were the first thing I noticed. And I’ve been aware of you every single damn day since.”

My face split into a wide, goofy grin. “Really?”

His voice took on this soft, tender quality that made my insides nice and melty. “Yeah, really. I’ve basically been obsessed with you since I moved to town.”

A question hit me, one that had been on my mind since he showed up. It never made any sense to me. “Why did you move to Ashland? I mean, that department is known widely for its corruption. And you’re nothing like them. I don’t understand why you chose here.”

The humor melted from his expression, and what took its place made my stomach clench uncomfortably. “I have my reasons for wanting a job in that department.”

“I take it running against Brady is part of that?”

“It is,” he admitted, his tone falling flat. “I’ll tell you the whole story one day. But I think it’s safe to say we’ve had more than our fair share of heavy for a single day. Can you accept that?”

I understood his point. Deep down, I didn’t like it, but I got it. “As long as you share it with me eventually, I can accept that.”

His upper body loosened, the tension that had formed releasing its grip on his muscles. “I promise.”

I didn’t question why I believed him without a moment’s hesitation. Something in my gut told me this man was one I could trust with my life. I knew all too well what it meant to fear a man, to be threatened and gaslit. That wasn’t North. I believed that to my very soul.

“North,” I whispered, pulling my bottom lip between and biting down as a wave of arousal moved through me.

As if he was in tune with my thoughts, he shifted his hips beneath me, rubbing his erection against the most sensitive part of me. “Yeah, baby?”

I closed my eyes at the sensation that moved through me as I ground down harder. I exhaled shakily through my nose, a quiet moan wrenching from my chest. “I need you.”

His hands grasped my hips, forcing me down harder against his stiff cock. Unable to control myself, I circled my lower body against him, amping myself up further as heat and warmth flooded between my legs and my nipples grew impossibly harder.

He growled, both our movements growing more frantic as the seconds passed. “Give me your eyes when you say that. I want you looking at me when you tell me you need me.”

He’d already given me so much tonight, it was the very least I could do. My brown eyes locked on his blue ones as I repeated, “I need you, baby. Please.”

That last word snapped a tether inside of him. He moved so fast it startled me, my yelp quickly turning into a burst of giggles, then a moan as North brought his weight down on top of me and sealed his mouth over my collarbone.

His hum vibrated against my skin, driving me wild as I struggled to untangle my legs from the blankets so I could wrap them around his hips.

“North,” I whimpered, desperation washing over me.

His head rose, the wicked smile he gave me nearly setting my panties on fire. “You’re going to have to be quiet, honey. Your mom’s downstairs. If you can’t be quiet, I’ll have to stop.” He was teasing, I could see it from the glint in his eye. But that didn’t stop me from thinking I might die if he did.

I writhed beneath him, quickly slipping out of sanity. That was how much I hungered for him. “She sleeps with a white noise machine. And the walls aren’t thin.”

He growled against my skin before sitting up and reaching for the hem of my shirt. I barely had enough time to lift my hands before he whipped it over my head and tossed it across the room. My shorts and panties went next, and before I moved, his head was between my thighs, lapping up my wetness like he was dying of thirst and I was the only thing that could quench it.

My back arched off the mattress as an orgasm crashed into me. I was still in the midst of it when North moved again, his reflexes lightning fast for a man his size. His hips nestled between my wide-spread legs, the head of his cock nudging against my entrance.