He pulled out and encouraged her to roll onto her back. He wasn’t sure why, but he wanted to look into her eyes as he came. And he didn’t want any of his devices in the way. It had to be all him this time. He carefully removed the clips from each reddened nipple. Her body went limp beneath him.

“Are you finished?” she asked, her words slurred, as if she’d had too much to drink.

He shook his head. “I haven’t come yet. I need to take the suction off your clit now. It will probably bruise.”

“Worth it.” Her eyelids fluttered. “Totally fucking worth it.”

He grinned. “You liked it?”

She made a sound halfway between a laugh and a moan. “Where did you get it?”

“I told you; I made it.”

“Fucking genius. You need to patent it. And that ass teaser too. Dear lord, it tugs just right. Makes me want you to fuck me in the ass.”

He grinned. “And you were so hesitant at the beginning. I knew you’d like it.”

“I’ll never doubt your judgment again.”

He moved down her sweat-slick body and released the suction on the cup attached to her clit. Her body jerked, and she sucked a breath through her teeth. He lowered his head and soothed the overstimulated flesh with soft caresses of his lips. “You’re going to remember this for a few days,” he said. He shouldn’t have kept it attached for so long.

She laughed and covered her eyes with both hands, her elbows pointing toward the ceiling. “Gabe, I have no doubt that I’ll remember this for the rest of my life. You’ve ruined me for all other men.”

“Good. I don’t want other men touching you.” He shifted his arm so he could stroke her red and swollen lips with his fingertips. “Kissing you.” His pressed his lips to her heated flesh. “Tonguing you.” He plunged his tongue inside her opening.

“Ohhh . . . ”

He crawled up her body and used his hand to guide his cock into her receptive pussy. He sank deep and his balls throbbed with their need for release. “Fucking you.”

She wrapped her arms and legs around him. “What about holding me?”

He drew her closer. “No. No other man can hold you either. Just me.”

“Just you,” she whispered. Their eyes met. Locked. He began to thrust into her gently. It felt so good, but he knew it could feel even better.

“I want to fuck you raw, Mel.”

She smiled and clasped the sides of his head between both hands. “I think I’ve already been fucked raw, Mr. Banner.”

He grinned at her. “I mean without a condom. I’m clean. Are you?”

She nodded.

“Do you trust me to pull out in time?”

“You don’t have to; I’m on the pill. Come inside me.”

“Do you trust that I’m clean? I am, but if you’re worried, I won’t.”

“I do trust you. You haven’t lied to me yet. I want . . . to feel . . . closer.”

He smiled and brushed the hair from her sweat-damp cheeks. Kissed her gently. “I’m crushing on you so hard, Melanie Anderson.” In his adult life, he’d never asked a woman to have sex without a condom. Melanie was already special to him, but this, this trust, this flesh touching flesh, cemented their connection. He wanted nothing separating them.

He eased out of her body, removed the condom, and then slowly slipped inside again. He sucked a stuttering breath through his teeth. Her slick, tight heat was his own piece of heaven on earth.

He claimed her with slow, deep thrusts, delighting in each stroke. The skin along his spine began to tingle. The soles of his feet dampened. Every muscle in his body tightened. He never wanted it to end, this time with her. He never wanted it to fucking end.

There was a loud knock on the door.

“Force,” Adam yelled from the hallway. “The bus is about to leave. Get your sorry ass downstairs!”

“Shit,” Gabe muttered under his breath.

He lifted his head to look down at Melanie, stunned to see her lips trembling and her eyes watery. A lone tear slipped from the corner of her eye and glided down one smooth cheek. She hugged him and buried her face against his neck.

“Finish,” she whispered.

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “I’m not ready to let you go. I’m sorry. I knew this was coming; I just didn’t expect it to hurt.”

He eased away so he could kiss her tears, kiss her lips, kiss her lovely face while he slowly thrust into her welcoming warmth. He wasn’t fucking her anymore, he realized, he was making love to her. He not only felt the pleasure her body provided, but the comfort her soul offered his.

“We’ll see each other again,” he promised.

She clung to his shoulders and nodded. “I want that. You. I want you. Gabe.”

A hard spasm gripped the base of his cock, and his mouth dropped open in wonder as he claimed his release inside her. She stroked the skin of his back as he shuddered. Her touch was so tender. So loving. Exactly what he needed. Even if the sweetness of it did rip his heart in two.

His body went limp, and she wrapped both arms around him. He turned his face into her throat and inhaled deeply.

They lay like that for several moments, entwined in the aftermath of togetherness.

“Gabe?” she whispered.

“Hmm?”

“I think I want to get a tattoo. Will you go with me to get one?”

He lifted his head and looked down at her, framing her lovely face with hands tangled in her thick curls. “I thought you didn’t like tattoos.”

She swallowed and avoided his gaze. “Actually, I was sort of afraid of them. I . . . when I was thirteen, these four bikers cornered me and said all sorts of suggestive things. I used to have nightmares about their tattooed bodies and gruff voices surrounding me. Trapping me against the wall. I couldn’t get away.”

He kissed her cheek. “You should have told me sooner. I would have kept my shirt on.”

Her eyes flashed. “Like hell you would. I love your body.” She bent her head to kiss his collar bone. “Including your tattoos.” Her small hands glided over his back and the tattoo of the phoenix which decorated the skin there. “Why are they all animals?”

He frowned, not sure how to answer. “I don’t know. No one’s ever asked me that before.”

“Are you a nature geek too?” she asked with a grin.

He laughed. “Maybe. You’d better keep that just between you and me.”

She smiled. “I like learning all your secrets. Tell me more.”

He kissed her. “Next time,” he promised. “I want to keep you coming back to me.”

Her arms tightened around him. “As long as you’re sure there will be a next time.”

“I guarantee it.”

Gabe climbed the tour bus steps, walked down the aisle, and tossed his overnight bag into his bunk. Owen and Kelly were already sprawled on the semicircular caramel-colored sectional in the seating area near the front of the bus, but there was no sign of Shade or Adam. Gabe pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and checked his messages. He had a few texts from friends in Austin and a voicemail from his mother asking him when he’d be in town. She said she had a nice girl she wanted to introduce him to. Gabe was pretty sure his mom thought it was her duty to find him a woman or she would never be a grandmother. He wondered what she would think of Melanie. Would Melanie count as a nice girl even though she had a deliciously naughty side?

“Don’t you dare call her yet, dude,” Shade said as he dropped his bag on the floor next to his bunk. “She’ll know your balls belong to her.”

“I wasn’t going to call her,” Gabe insisted. At least not for thirty minutes or so. He’d secretly been hoping she’d called him by now. He missed her voice already. Shit, Shade was right. He hated when Shade was right.

Despite all of his talk about relationships, he hadn’t really been sure if he’d ever call her. Hadn’t been sure if the complications would be worth it for either of them, but especially for her. When he’d seen the tears in her eyes, he’d known he couldn’t stay away. Until that moment, he hadn’t been positive that she’d really want him to keep in touch. Now he was sure; she wanted him as much as he wanted her. He hoped she was strong enough to have him in her life. Few women had what it took to love a man married to the road and a music career.