She wrapped her legs tighter around his waist.

“Please, Coop. I want you to take me the way you need to.”

Fuck. His chest tightened with the way she trusted, the way she gave herself over to him. Air left his lungs in a whoosh. He forgot how to breathe. Warmth streaked through him as he stared at her, taking in the deep-seated need in her eyes. When he began to grow light-headed, he opened his mouth and sucked in a sharp breath.

Her eyes glimmered with dark sensuality, and the unbridled want in her voice when she said, “Fuck me hard, Coop,” fragmented his thoughts.

His cock throbbed. There was no fighting back the raging lust weaving its way through his bloodstream. With her back nailed to the wall, he began pounding into her like a junkie in need of a fix.

He’d never needed quite like this before.

As he slid deeper and deeper into her slick core, he sank into her warm, wet mouth, savoring the taste of her on his tongue. She began moving urgently over his body, seeking, yearning, demanding more.

While he might be a selfish bastard going at her like some wild, rutting animal, he wasn’t about to release until she climaxed for him first. But damned if he wasn’t having a hell of a time hanging on.

With her body crushed to his and his cock buried inside her, Julia ran her fingers through his wet hair. “Coop,” she cried out. “It’s good. So good. Never this good…”

“Same,” he groaned, but lost all track of thought when she rotated her hips, sinuously brushing her pelvis over his. She cried out his name, and a moment later, he felt a shudder move through her. Her response drove him to the brink.

“Oh fuck, Julia,” he growled and shifted his stance for harder thrusts. He pushed deeper, and when she tightened around his cock, he let go.

He stayed inside her and held her tight. He couldn’t bring himself to let her go, was unwilling to break the connection happening between them. But when the water turned cold, he shut off the nozzle, wrapped her in a towel, and carried her to his bed. He pulled back the covers and climbed in with her.

The sex had left him shaken to his core. His heart swelled as he fell deeper in love.

Deeper in love?

Holy Hell, he loved her! He rolled onto his side and drew her close, needing her in his arms, his bed, his life.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Her smile was soft, and when he touched her flesh, trailing his hand over her arm, it occurred to him how warm and welcoming she was. How she felt like forever. Her hand moved to his chest, and he found solace in the heat of her fingers.

“Maybe a little.”

She was so sweet. He swallowed and put his hand between her legs, lightly brushing his finger over her, soothing her sex. “Baby, I never meant to hurt you.”

“But it’s a good hurt.”

Tenderness rushed through him. “Hurt is hurt.” He covered her with a sheet, slid off the bed, and hurried to the bathroom. He grabbed a washcloth and ran it under the warm water.

“This will help.” Her eyes dropped from his to the cloth as he sat beside her on the bed and drew down the sheet. “Open for me.”

She spread her legs, and he placed the warm cloth on her sex. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a little O.

“Feel better?” he asked.

She nodded as he tended to her, desperate to take care of the girl he’d fallen for all over again and intended to keep forever.

Chapter Seven

Julia stretched out on her bed and glanced at the gorgeous man asleep beside her. Here it was, five glorious days since the plane had first deposited her on the ranch, and she couldn’t deny that she was having the best time of her life. They’d spent their days riding the trails, picnicking, hanging out with his friends at the saloon, and making love in the sun—not to mention all the naughty things they did in his private pond—and she didn’t even mind the day they spent doing chores. In fact, she quite enjoyed it. Working with her hands allowed her to shelve her worries and forget about real life for a while—and that this fantasy would soon come to an end.

The truth was, she’d decided to gift herself with a week of relaxation and had no desire to think about real life. Nope, she wasn’t going to delve into his personal life at all. Not that he wanted to share that side of himself anyway. This was about casual sex and nothing else, and she was determined to spend her time enjoying life on the ranch and all the sex Coop had to offer. No questions asked.

By God, the man got to her in so many ways. But it was temporary.

It wasn’t like a relationship could work. Not only was he into wild, carefree women, but he lived here, and she lived halfway across the country.

Julia gave a hard shake of her head and berated herself for dreaming about something more permanent. For one, it was her sister Coop had invited to the ranch, and two, she was pretending to be something she wasn’t. But she couldn’t deny that she enjoyed playing the part of a wild and wicked woman. How would she ever go back to dull and drab Julia?

Warm morning sun fell over the bed as Coop rolled onto his side, pulling the blankets with him. She smiled, and since they’d made love well into the wee hours of the morning, she decided to let him sleep while she went to the pond for an early-morning swim.

She made a move to climb from the bed, but his arm darted out to stop her.

“Going somewhere?” he asked.

Taking in his rumpled, sleepy state, which made him look so damn sexy, Julia laughed and fell back onto the bed with him. “I was going to take a swim because I thought you were asleep.”

“You thought wrong.” His smile was devilish, full of mischief. “Now come here.”

He pulled her on top of him, and they exchanged a long, heated look before he gave her a kiss full of passion. As he took her mouth, he stole her breath, and her heart missed a beat. She’d just lectured herself on keeping this sexual, but when he kissed her like that, she had no idea how she was ever going to walk away when this was over. He inched back, and when she met his glance, the warmth in his gaze and the ache of desire in the depth of his eyes filled her with longing. She craved so much more from him.

Despite a long night of lovemaking, she wanted him again. As if he could read her thoughts, he grabbed a condom from the night table and rolled it on.

Not wanting to think about what this man was doing to her, or how hard she’d fallen for him, she sat up and straddled him, conveying without words what she wanted. With a sexy grin on his face, Coop touched her leg. Heat rippled over her sex when he began a lazy journey up her thigh. When he reached her hips, he lifted her up off him, and then settled her back down on his hard cock.

She took in a breath, and her whole body trembled as she let it out. The pleasure was intense, glorious, and so deeply intimate she found it difficult to keep her emotions in check. “Coop,” she cried out as he filled her, quivering as his cock reached deep.

He brushed his thumb over her, and turbulent eyes full of heat met hers. “I know, Julia. Believe me, I know.”

With that, they began moving together, their hands touching each other all over, like neither could get enough. His muscles rippled as pressure built inside her, and there was more going on here than just sex. At least for her.

He was everything she wanted, everything she craved. She pinched her eyes shut and berated herself, because this was supposed to be just about sex, and when she stopped pretending, Coop would be bored with the real Julia.

“Julia,” Coop murmured, powering his hips upward. He took her slowly, like he was savoring every second. “Look at me.”

When she opened her eyes, he slipped his hand around her head and drew her mouth to his. The thumb on his other hand moved between her legs, brushing over her clit as he kissed her softly and with such passion she began burning from the inside out.