Her eyebrow rose, and she gave him a damn right look. “Thanks.” One shoulder lifted nonchalantly. “I’m used to dealing with jerks.”

  “If I promise not to be one, would you promise not to introduce me to that elbow?”

  Her eyes lightened to caramel when she was amused, he noticed. “How about I consider it? You’ll have to earn my trust first, though.”

  The flirty tone in her words kicked his heartbeat up a notch. “I’ll earn whatever you let me earn,” he promised.

  She smirked, the slight curl of her lips pulling his attention to their glossy surface. His mouth watered. “Sounds like a deal,” she said.

  She glanced across the room toward his original seat, confirming his suspicion that she’d spotted him before. The space he and his team had occupied was now empty, but the confrontation had drawn the notice of several parties around the bar top. Catching the interested eyes, she dropped her gaze to the drink in front of her as if the attention bothered her.

  “Forgive our nosy Southern tendencies,” Saint said. “Some of us have no idea how to hide it.”

  Her snort was downright cute. “That’s obvious.” She gave him a small smile. “But some of you don’t need to.”

  The sudden intensity in her eyes seemed to search his depths, though what she was searching for, he didn’t know.

  He glanced around, seeing far too many people focused on them for his comfort. His gaze dropped to the drink she slowly twisted around on the counter—the bottom half still brown, maybe tea, but the top half clear, watered down. “How about you let me replace that”—he nodded toward her drink—“and find you a booth to enjoy it with more privacy? Someplace with less of an audience.”

  No pressure, just an offer. Would she take it?

  Tension returned to her shoulders, and he leaned back slightly, giving her space.

  Dark eyes studied him for a long, long time, so long he figured her answer would be no. But then she said, “My name’s Rae.” Pushing her glass away, she held out her hand. “What’s yours?”

  “Saint. Saint Solorio.” Her hand slid into his like it had been created to fit him. He gripped it firmly, warming her skin with his, savoring the feel of her against him. Wanting to feel far more. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rae.”

  She smiled, but it didn’t reach her dark, determined eyes. “Saint,” she murmured as if testing his name out on her lips. “I wouldn’t mind someplace more private, if that’s all right.” Sliding from the barstool, she gathered her jacket from the back and slipped into it. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Two

  They left through the front door, Rae’s hand in his. The feel of her, skin against skin, was an electric shock to Saint’s system, shooting heat and hunger from his fingers to his core with an intensity that threatened to make him stumble. Never had a single touch from a woman affected him so strongly, but he boxed that knowledge away for now, something to pull out later and examine, preferably after he figured out where to take her. His very male instinct was to drive straight to the nearest bed, but something held him back. Something in the way Rae had stared into him, as if wondering whether or not he was genuine, whether or not she could trust him. Any single woman leaving the safety of a public setting would wonder the same, but that hadn’t been all that lurked in those dark brown eyes—he just couldn’t put his finger on the rest.

  Whatever it was that he sensed, he knew Rae didn’t feel like a quickie kind of woman, any more than he was a quickie kind of guy. He liked to take his time, and he especially wanted to take his time with her. Every second she would give him.

  “Is your car here?” he asked as he held the heavy front door of the bar open for her to exit.

  Rae threw a smile over her shoulder as she walked into the cold. “Uber.”

  A tension he hadn’t known he carried relaxed inside him. He wanted Rae with him, not driving a separate car to wherever they would end up.

  And they would end up somewhere, he had no doubt, hopefully for a very long while.

  He was driving the team’s black Escalade, parked around the left side of the building, nose out in case they got an emergency call from the office. He led Rae there by their firmly linked hands, keeping her close, savoring the warmth of her body against the chill December air even as he hurried her toward protection from the cold. The lights on the truck flashed as he pressed the unlock button on his keys, a welcome in the late-night darkness. “Here we go.”

  Rae didn’t balk at climbing into the truck. She let him hold her door, a small smile playing over her lips as if his attention pleased her, and settled into the cushioned seat as he closed her door. Every sense was centered on her as he rounded the hood and hurried toward the driver’s seat.

  “So,” he said, reaching to insert the key into the ignition, “where would you like—”

  That warm hand he’d held on the trip to the car settled over his at the ignition. “Not yet.”

  He dropped his hand, turned toward her, wishing he had parked somewhere with more light. Somewhere that he could see her eyes, read them, read her. But the darkness only showed him a shadowed face and hidden motives. So he waited.

  Rae drew her knee onto the seat, turning toward him. Hesitated. Her mouth opened, but instead of words, she leaned in close and kissed him.

  A groan immediately left his lips, lips that were touching hers, the softest, sweetest lips he’d ever tasted. Brown sugar and the faintest tang from the beer she’d had. There in the dark, her mouth on his, her scent enveloping him, the only thing he could think was, More. More of her, more of Rae—deeper, harder.

  He wanted to taste everything.

  Slipping his tongue inside, he sank into the wet heat of her mouth. He reached for her, his fingers digging into the mass of curls falling around her face, tipping her head just right to allow him the access he so desperately needed. Rae moaned around his tongue, and the jerk of his cock against his zipper threatened to be his undoing.

  Breaking away, he sucked in a deep pull of air. “Holy fuck, woman.” His dive back in was as essential as the breath he’d needed.

  Rae’s chuckle was all feminine awareness, the knowledge that she’d affected him the same way he prayed he’d affected her. As if there was any doubt of that. If she’d been against him, she’d know exactly how close a simple kiss had brought him to losing control. “Rae,” he groaned.

  This time it was she who sucked in a breath. The noise checked him immediately, not because she needed air, but…

  There was something about the sound, something…unsteady. Something uncertain but also desperate. Yet again, he wasn’t sure what it was he sensed, only that it was off. The desire was there, no doubt about it. Her lips were already seeking his again, just as he couldn’t bear to break the connection of mouth against mouth, skin against skin, her wild hair tangled around his fingers capturing her close with no chance of escape. They were both hungry for each other. But beneath that, he sensed something else. Something…

  He tipped his head back, forced his ragged breathing under control. “Hey,” he whispered, the word shaking with the urgency of his desire, the need to let go, not think, not reason. “What—”

  “No what,” she mumbled, following his retreat. Her body slid closer, her breasts brushing his chest, and the feel of her taut nipples through their clothes brought a growl to his lips. “Just…” She ducked her head, and her mouth slid across the hard thump of his heartbeat in his jugular. “Just give me this. Please, Saint? Just give me this moment. You have no idea how much I need it.”

  He definitely had some idea. He just wasn’t sure what to do about it.

  Well, he was. He’d never be able to look his mom in the eye again if he didn’t do what honor demanded. But that didn’t mean his body wasn’t screaming a denial even as he backed away, his hands in Rae’s hair holding her in place so he could meet her eyes in the dark.

  “Look at me, Rae.”

  Her frustrated whimper struck straight at his balls, but he held firm, waited, wondering if she would trust him, wondering what the hell he was getting himself into, not just with her but with the fire raging inside his own body. He'd never felt anything like this before, the kind of hunger that was driving him to take what she was giving, not stop and think, not slow down. He wanted her pants around her ankles and his dick as deep inside her as he could go—right now, not later.

  But the part of him that was more than just a man hungering for a woman refused to stay quiet.

  Rae slumped against him, her forehead digging into his collarbone. Long seconds later, her head lifted. No words this time, but her eyes held a mute appeal he could read even in the shadows.

  He traced his thumbs over the high ridges of her cheekbones. “Are you okay?”

  A bitter laugh escaped her. “If I tell you yes, will you fuck me?”

  The curse rolled off her lips without hesitation. Saint could say it too, no matter what his Catholic upbringing might think about it, and he’d heard it from the lips of many a woman begging him to fuck her. But from Rae…

  Jesus Christ, he truly was losing his mind—because he didn’t want this to be a mindless fuck.

  He took another deep breath. “You’re an adult, Rae.”

  “Ya think?”

  He ignored the smart-ass reply, though he did allow his amusement to show in the tilt of his lips. “I do think, woman,” he growled and allowed his hand to slip down and cup the full roundness of one breast, the hard nipple poking into his palm. Rae’s eyes rolled back. “What I was trying to say, is that we’re both old enough to know our own minds. But if everything isn’t okay”—he tipped her chin up even as his fingers closed around that hard nub and squeezed—“I can help you. That’s all.” He tugged her nipple gently. “I’m not just good for a mindless fuck.”

  She grimaced, and he could see she’d gotten his point. No useless pretty boy here; he had a conscience and wasn’t afraid to use it.

  Her back arched into his touch. A sigh escaped her. “Thank you,” she said quietly, her gaze holding his. “I appreciate the thought, but”—she leaned in, pressing her breast harder against his hand, to brush her lips across his once more—“I don’t need help. I need this. You.” A hard swallow as the vulnerability he’d sensed before crept into her voice. “Please.”

  He couldn’t resist forcing her mouth open with his tongue, delving inside, savoring the hot taste of woman and desire before pulling back. “No need for a ‘please,’” he told her, leaning his forehead against hers. He brought his other hand up, and the two kneaded her breasts to ease the ache he knew had to be consuming her as much as it was him. “I’ll give you what you need, Rae. What we both need.” Reluctantly he forced his hands away. Easing Rae back into her seat, he reached for the seat belt and pulled it across her. “But I do my best work in a bed.”

  A small laugh escaped her at his wink. “I’m not going to argue with a bed.”

  “Good.” He fastened his own seat belt and started the truck. “Let’s find one then.”

  Normally a neutral location would’ve been his go-to, but instead he found himself driving toward the apartment he rented downtown. His home was a five-acre wooded lot in an area outside Peachtree City that gave him the privacy he longed for and the space for his nieces and nephews to play during family get-togethers. There were a lot of them—nieces, nephews, and get-togethers—so the investment it had taken to get the perfect spot had been worth it. But the late nights and odd hours of his work made an apartment in close proximity to the office more convenient. The place might not be home, but bringing a stranger there had never been an option. Something about Rae didn’t feel like a stranger, though, and he sensed she needed the security of a private home as much as he needed to have her there.

  The fact that it was a mere ten minutes from the bar was definitely the deciding factor.

  He took the ramp into the parking garage slightly faster than he normally would, the urgency in his gut adding to the push of his foot on the gas. In minutes he had them parked and was around the truck to open Rae’s door. Her lithe body stretched as she slid from the high seat to the ground, making his mouth water, and when she eased close, her breasts brushing his chest as she went on tiptoe to nip the lobe of his ear, every cell inside him screamed for him not to wait, to forget comfort and time and privacy and simply take her then and there, right against the truck.

  It took a helluva deep breath to force the driving hunger back, to stop himself from slamming her against the truck and stripping her bare. When he opened his eyes and unclenched his fists, Rae was staring up at him, a mix of need and satisfaction gleaming in her gaze.

  “You make it hard to stay in control,” he admitted, his voice hoarse. Shocked.

  Honest.

  Her smile held a tinge of surprise, as if she hadn’t expected his reaction or his words. Or maybe she simply hadn’t expected him. God knew he hadn’t expected her when he’d followed his teammates into the bar tonight. “You don’t have to stay in control, Saint,” she whispered.

  He sure as hell didn’t. With a grip slightly harder than he should allow himself, he took her arm and hurried her toward the elevator.

  Chapter Three

  His apartment was on the tenth floor. The elevator hurtled them up in seconds, and he was equally fast hustling them down the hall to his door. Once inside, the urgency to strip Rae bare and haul her beneath him became a screaming drive he could hardly think through. But there was one thing he had to take care of first.

  Using their clasped hands to keep Rae close, he led her into the living room. When she stood before the gray suede sofa, he gripped her hair in a fist, kissed her with a desperate amount of tongue, then stepped back. “Give me two minutes.”

  Rae licked her damp bottom lip. “I was definitely hoping you’d take longer than that.”

  He leaned in until his mouth brushed the shell of her ear. “Keep it up and I won’t.”

  A squeak escaped her when he nipped her lobe. Forcing himself away before he could forget every principle he’d created for himself, he turned on his heel and crossed to the study through a door on the opposite side of the room.

  It didn’t matter that he lived alone; his family visited him often. He’d never risk one of his nieces or nephews finding a gun here. He never left a gun out, ever. The cabinet in the corner of the study concealed a gun safe. He strode directly to it, entered the code into the electronic lock, then repeated the procedure with the door to the safe. The GLOCK he typically wore in his shoulder holster had been transferred to a safe at work before driving to the bar, but his backup weapon in his boot still needed taking care of. He placed it in the safe, along with his ID and work badge—not a precaution he normally took, but he also didn’t normally bring women into his private domain either. He might be burning alive, but his dick wasn’t hurting enough to make him stupid.

  He made quick but careful work of securing both doors before rejoining Rae in the living room. His breath caught as his gaze landed on the obviously empty couch, and he grazed the open space before finding her standing at one floor-to-ceiling window, her back to him, her arms hugging herself tight. Tension had settled into her shoulders, but not the tension of need; no, this was that something he’d sensed earlier. He still hadn’t identified it, but at this moment he couldn’t seem to care. The surge of hunger overtaking him blotted out everything but the need to get to her, get her back in his arms, now.

  He didn’t resist.

  The supple lines of her spine and hips drew him like a lodestone. He eased up behind her, his arms going automatically to her waist and curling around, his hands pressing against her flat stomach until her ass met his groin. A husky rumble escaped him at the feel of her.

  Dropping his head until his mouth touched her shoulder, he nuzzled the soft skin of her throat and caught the faintest hint of coconut from her hair. Immediately he was struck by a dizzying sense of déjà vu, as if he’d stood here a thousand times before, Rae pressed against him, her scent filling his lungs and her touch tightening his dick until he thought he might empty himself against the small of her back with nothing more than the feel of her to set him off.

  Jesus, what was she doing to him?

  Rae tipped her head back to rest in the hollow of his shoulder like that small space had been made just for her.

  “You okay?” he asked, his lips brushing her pulse point.

  “I’m fine. More than fine”—she turned into his neck; her sharp teeth nipped at his skin—“if you’d stop talking and take me to bed.”

  A hard shiver shot down his spine to his already tight erection. No more waiting.

  Dipping quickly, he secured an arm beneath Rae’s knees and scooped her up against his chest. A surprised cry left her as he swung around, and then he was striding down the dark hallway toward his bedroom, Rae’s laughter wrapping around him. He grinned and started to jog.

  The sound choked off as he entered his personal space. The streetlights lining the road below filtered in through the long bay of windows along one side of the room, allowing Saint plenty of light to move straight to the king-size bed dominating the back wall. He paused at the edge, then, his grin turning wicked, hefted Rae into the air. She landed splayed across his dark gray comforter.

  There went her laughter again. He could listen to that sound forever—if her moaning his name wasn’t even better.

  He circled around to the end of the bed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Strip for me, cariño.”

  “Cariño?”

  He licked his lower lip. “Sweetheart.”

  Rae’s eyes widened, then went soft. He couldn’t miss the hint of imp that appeared as she came up on her elbows, dark curls spilling around her shoulders. “I will if you will.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” One by one, he slipped the buttons of his shirt through their holes—slowly. “Let’s get on with it, then. I want to see you, Rae. Now.”