Page 35

Connor had been with a good many women before, but none of them made his heart race like Olivia Grant. The woman was fire and ice, some ephemeral mix of magic that drew his eye and his mind, and now his body. Actually, he’d been aware of her since the first time she’d fallen into his arms.

And now, as he stood with her slight weight in his arms and headed toward his bedroom, he wondered if he was letting himself in for some serious heartache by sleeping with her. She wasn’t a regular badge bunny, one of those women just interested in sleeping with a guy because he wore a badge. She was more substantial than that.

Connor walked down the hallway, so glad that the men were still at the festival. He opened the door, then kicked it shut behind them. Carefully, he set her on the mattress, then sat on the edge beside her hip. “Am I moving too fast?”

She shook her head, her expression shadowed. The light from the bathroom was behind her, and he couldn’t see much of her face. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve been thinking about the feel of you on top of me at that park, and I was really sorry we were out in public.”

He grinned. “Me too. Now we don’t have to worry about it. Give me just a minute.”

He hurried into the bathroom and rummaged beneath the cupboard. Where were they… yes! He returned to the bedroom, strip of condoms in his hand. Olivia grinned, nodding. “A safety man after my own heart.”

“Well, I’m clean, but I thought this would make you feel better.”

She nodded. “I’m on the pill, but you can’t be too cautious.”

Olivia reached for him, and it was all the encouragement he needed. Lowering himself to the mattress, Connor rested beside her. Going up on one elbow, much as he had at the park, he leaned down and kissed her. Olivia cupped his head in her hands and opened to him. Connor knew that exposing her leg that way had been emotional for her, but the leg honestly hadn’t bothered him. Considering some of the things he’d seen, it was tame. But he could feel how much it had meant to Olivia. Before, he could tell she’d been guarded. And not just during the kiss. She’d been guarded since she’d met him.

Now, what she perceived as her weakness had been talked about and ‘exposed’ and accepted. Now he could feel her opening to him, welcoming him, more thoroughly than at the park. It was thrilling.

She was tugging at his shirt. Rearing back, he stripped it off, then lay against her again. Her eyes had dropped to his chest. “You look incredible.”

“Thank you,” he murmured. “Lots of hours swinging an axe. Or a pike pole. Or winding hose.”

She grinned. “All worthwhile pursuits.”

Connor matched her grin. “As is being a nurse. Are you going to show me your muscles?”

Giggling, she shook her head. “I might sit up and let you peel the shirt over my head, but that’s the most you’re going to get.”

“I’ll take it,” he murmured, sitting at the side again to give her room. Olivia took his offered hand and sat up, with barely a grimace. “Are you feeling up to this? You were in a bad car crash three days ago, and I would understand if you wanted to wait.”

She shook her head. “No, Connor. We’re already on a deadline. I don’t want to waste the night.”

Nodding, he reached forward and lifted her t-shirt over her head, careful not to tangle her arms. As he tossed it away, his breath caught. “Oh, baby,” he said, his gaze tracing her bruises. They had gone deep purple, especially over her collarbone area. The lower edge was a sickly greenish color against her pale skin. He sat back on the mattress. “Are you sure you’re up for this? That looks so painful…”

Olivia blinked. “It is, but I’ll manage. You can’t stop now.”

“Then you need to be on top, because I’m going to hurt you if I lay on you.” He grinned at her. “The thought of you riding me is more appealing, anyway.”

Suiting actions to words, he circled the bed, stripping off the rest of his own clothes and kicking them aside. Her gaze followed him, and he wrapped a fist around his cock as he laid down beside her. His gaze drifted to her tits, covered with a lacy green bra, and he had to close his eyes. For as tiny as she was, she had a beautiful little pair of titties. He chuckled internally, glad he hadn’t said that out loud. It sounded like something one of the noobs would have said, not a thirty-six-year-old man.

Olivia grinned as well, reaching back to peel her bra away, and his breath caught in his throat. Oh, fuck. They had dusky pink nipples. His mouth watered at the thought of drawing them deep into his mouth, and his cock surged. He tightened his fist, determined to ride it out. He breathed deeply, trying to maintain his cool. Something about Olivia, though, cranked him hard.

Connor opened his eyes to see her sitting at the side of the bed, elegantly slipping out of her shorts and panties. She turned, and his jaw tightened. “You are mesmerizing,” he told her softly. “Can you reach the condom?”

She leaned out and grabbed it, handing it to him. Without hesitation, he ripped it open and wrapped his cock. Maybe it would muffle the sensation just enough for him to hang on.

Olivia watched him, the weight of her gaze almost tangible. “I didn’t expect you to be this way,” she admitted softly.

“What way?”

“So…” she went up onto her knees beside his hips. “Accepting.”

He rocked his head against the pillow, which smelled strongly of her. “There’s nothing to accept, Olivia. You’re a strong, smart, beautiful woman. What on earth would I not accept?”

She shook her head, mute, and leaned forward to kiss him. Connor took her face in his hands and prayed she would straddle his hips. Oh, yeah… Her wet heat seemed to position perfectly over his cock. He looked down the length of his body.

Olivia was lean, but she had a woman’s hour-glass figure. Narrow waist, wider hips, which he cupped now, his thumbs brushing over her hipbones and down toward her center. Her lower belly was nicely rounded, and she had the cutest little patch of sandy blond curls at the apex of her thighs. Those curls were damp, now. The head of his cock was right there beneath the curls, riding against his belly, and the lips of her sex had wrapped around his length as she settled on top of him. He could feel how wet she was, before he was even inside her. “Oh, baby,” he breathed.