“I don’t want you to worry, honey, because I’m going to take care of you. Which means you aren’t staying alone. He saw us, Julie. He had to have seen us that night. He got to me. He can get to you.”

She swallowed nervously. “We can stay wherever you feel is best.”

He relaxed. Had he expected her to argue? Was she that confrontational? Sure, she liked her independence, but that didn’t make her a moron. She wasn’t going to sacrifice her safety or his over pride.

“I think we should stay at your place. He may not know where you live, but he sure as hell knows where I do.”

“Okay,” she said softly.

“Come on.”

He tugged lightly, pulling her into his embrace. For a moment he held her, and only the erratic rise and fall of his chest against hers signaled his unease. He kissed the top of her head and smoothed his hand over her hair.

“Let’s go home.”

She nodded and followed him toward the door.

All the way to her apartment she watched him intently. He held her hand between them and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles in a deceptively calm manner. He was wound tighter than a rubber band, and she wasn’t sure if it was the danger he thought she was in or if it was something else entirely.

Paranoia crept into her mind despite her best effort to keep it at bay

He’s not going to dump you, dumbass. Men don’t move in with you temporarily if they’re ready to move on.

Unless of course it was a man with an overdeveloped sense of responsibility. No doubt Nathan and all his buddies were extremely protective when it came to women. So was he protecting her because she was a woman or because she was his woman?

Shut up, Julie. Don’t ruin this.

When they got to her apartment, Nathan made her stay behind him until he made sure no boogeymen were prepared to jump out of her closets. She might have found it endearing and amusing if she weren’t so edgy.

He moved around her apartment like he was comfortable and at home. Lord knew he’d spent enough time there even if they’d never made the leap to official cohabitation. She frowned. Maybe she should have asked?

Screw this. She was a mess. She was tired and she wasn’t going to analyze stupid girly feelings when she was feeling particularly hormonal. Someone ought to market stupid pills. They’d make a damn fortune.

Nathan followed her into her bedroom, and before she could head to the bathroom to do her thing, he pulled her back and hauled her into his arms.

His mouth crashed down on hers. He stole her breath and devoured her lips in a greedy, passionate kiss. His hands fumbled carelessly at her clothes, ripping without care.

“Lose the pants,” he rasped between kisses.

Even as she hopped on one foot to get rid of her pants, he pulled frantically at her shirt. He forced her hands away from her jeans long enough to raise her arms over her head so he could get her shirt off. Then when she resumed shucking, he tore at her bra, ripping the lacy cups.

Even then the material didn’t come completely away, but her breasts spilled free and he cupped them roughly in his palms.

With one foot, she kicked the pants several feet away just as his mouth closed over a nipple.

Her breath escaped in a hiss as pleasure exploded through her mind.

“God I love your breasts.”

“I love that you love my breasts,” she gasped out.

She clutched his head, holding him tighter.

“You’ve got too many damn clothes on,” she complained.

“Easily fixed.”

He picked her up, his mouth still sucking her nipple, and walked to the bed, where he dumped her onto the mattress. As she lay there, he loomed over her, his hands going to his pants.

God, she loved it when he stripped in front of her. She rose to one elbow, watching appreciatively as he yanked off his shirt. His muscles rippled as he moved his arms. His chest flexed and bowed and his six-pack quivered.

Finally his pants came off, and he stood in front of her, his huge erection fisted in his hand. His eyes glittered with promise as he stalked toward her.

She gulped and edged backward.

He merely smiled and crawled on to the bed. His hand closed around her ankle, and he yanked her back toward him.

“I believe I promised you we’d have a talk,” he murmured when she was completely underneath him. “And I’m pretty sure I said it would take place with you naked. Underneath me.”

“Well here I am,” she said breathlessly.

He cupped her cheek in his palm and stroked over her skin, gently pushing her hair behind her ear. His intense gaze roamed over her face as if he was searching. For what?

“Do you have any idea what you do to me?”

Before she could answer—and really, what could she possibly say to that?—he lowered his mouth to hers in a surprisingly tender kiss.

Heat blistered over her skin, but the warmth went deeper, beyond her heart and straight into her soul.

“I love you,” she whispered against his lips.

He drew away, still stroking her cheek with careful fingers. “I love you,” he said seriously. “Do you know that, Julie? Do you believe that?”

He kissed her again, sweeping the words away before she could speak.

“I wonder sometimes if you aren’t waiting for the other shoe to drop. Like maybe you don’t think I’m in this for the long haul.”

She let her hands wander up his arms, to the thick column of his neck and then down to his chest. One thing she wouldn’t do is lie. Not to Nathan. He was the one man she could be herself with, and that meant letting him see straight into her heart.

“Sometimes,” she admitted. “I don’t doubt you, Nathan. I’m just scared. I know I can be difficult, and I worry that one day you’ll decide I’m not worth it.”

He parted her thighs with one insistent hand and found her heat with his fingers. She arched helplessly into him, her mouth falling open in a tortured moan.

He stroked. Petted. Slid his fingers insider her and then eased up to her clit, spreading her moisture over the straining bundle of nerves.

“For such a smart woman, sometimes you can be so dense,” he muttered.

Her eyes narrowed just as he added a third finger and stroked the walls of her pussy.

“Ah hell. How am I supposed to argue with you when you’re doing that?”

He found her lips again, silencing her with his mouth. And then his tongue. Like rough velvet, his tongue stroked over hers, warm, spreading his taste, and God, he tasted so damn good. He smelled good. He felt good.

“I think the idea is that you’re not supposed to argue.”

“Me not argue? Like that’s ever going to happen.”

He smiled and withdrew his hands. She wiggled in protest, wanting them back.

“I have something better,” he murmured.

He shifted his body, pushing her thighs farther apart. He positioned his cock at her entrance and pushed in the tiniest bit.

“You’re such a damn tease!”

He chuckled and inched forward, barely stretching her. She wrapped her legs around him and arched up, trying to make him slide deeper.

Finally he accommodated her and thrust all the way in with one forceful push.

She cried out. No matter how often he made love to her, she still felt the shock of that first penetration all the way to her toes. He was big and thick and she pulsed around him like warm honey. He just made her go all gooey, and she loved and hated him for that.

Still buried deep inside her, he put his arms down on either side of her head and levered himself up enough so that he wasn’t crushing her. He looked down at her, his green eyes so serious that for a moment she was worried. Until she remembered that he was as deep inside her as he could be. Who the hell broke off a relationship while they were buried to the balls?

“We need to get something straight, Julie.”

“Hell of a time for conversation,” she muttered.