I open my mouth to speak, and close it again. Holy Jesus, he wants to fuck me.

Well, back at you, bossy man.

“Saying that you don’t share implies that I’m already yours, Luke.”

“Aren’t you?” he whispers.

This is too much. I’ve known the man less than twenty four hours and he wants to stake a claim! Part of me is yelling Yes! but that damn reasonable side rears her ugly head and shakes her head adamantly No!

I stand abruptly, untangling myself from the blanket.

“Look, Luke…” He’s suddenly at my side, his strong hand on my chin trapping my gaze in his.

“Answer my question, please.” His touch is gentle, but his gaze is raw, and it pulls at me in a way I’ve never known.

“There is no one.” I whisper.

“Thank Christ.” And his lips are on mine, but instead of the passionate fervor I’m craving, his lips are gentle and tender, as though he’s memorizing my mouth with his lips. He lets go of my chin and wraps my hair in his hand while the other curls around my low back and he pulls me to him, my front against his, and I moan low in my throat.

His chest and stomach are hard muscle.

I wrap my arms around him and hold him to me, my hands clasping onto his back.

Bravely, I close my teeth over his lower lip and suck him gently into my mouth. His eyes fly open, meeting mine, and he plunges his tongue in my mouth, sliding it along mine in a beautiful rhythm. Our breathing is ragged, and my hands just can’t stop moving up and down his back, feeling the hard muscles flex as he moves against me.

Both of his hands slide down to my backside and he clenches it tightly while nibbling from the side of my mouth down my neck.

“Oh my,” I lean my forehead against him and I feel him smile against my neck.

“You have a great ass, Nat.” He pulls me more tightly against him and I feel his erection against my stomach. I run my own hands down to his derriere.

“Back at you, Luke.” My voice is breathy, and he pulls back, his eyes a bit glassy with want and desire and I know they mirror my own.

Fuck, I want this man.

Our arms are still wrapped around each other, clasping each other’s bottoms. I give him another squeeze and run my fingers lightly up under his shirt to his bare skin and smile as he gasps.

His beautiful blue eyes are watching mine and I push my finger between the elastic of his boxers and his skin and run it along to the front of his jeans.

Suddenly his hands are on mine and his stills me, not taking his eyes from me. He brings both my hands up to his lips and kisses each finger, then steps back and lets go. The cold air around us is a slap to the face, and I frown in confusion and frustration and feel the sting of rejection.

What the hell?

“Why did you stop?” I hear the hurt in my voice, and I clear my throat.

“Nat, I definitely don’t want to stop…” I step toward him, but he backs up and raises his hands in surrender.

“Luke…”

“Natalie, let’s slow down a bit.”

Isn’t this what men want?

“If you’ve changed your mind about me…” He’s back in front of me before I finish the sentence, his hands are cupping my face and he’s making me look him in the eye, and the raw emotion is still there.

“Listen to me, Natalie. I have not changed my mind. I want you. You are beautiful, and smart, and sexy as fuck, but I don’t want to take this too fast.”

“I’m so confused,” I close my eyes and shake my head.

“Hey,” I look back into his eyes, and he smiles at me, running his fingertips down my cheek. “Slow.”

“I don’t know slow, Luke.”

He frowns and whispers, “I don’t either, so we’ll learn together.”

I’m so frustrated, my body is craving him, but his words intoxicate me.

“So, no sex? At all?” I sound like a child whose candy has been taken away.

“Not tonight,” he says with a smile.

He takes a deep breath, kisses my forehead, and takes my hand. I grab the blanket and we go back inside. His music is still playing.

He takes the blanket from my hands and throws it on the long blue couch to my right. “Would you like a tour?”

I’m still frowning over the no sex comment, but the idea of seeing the rest of his home perks up my mood and I nod.

He laces his fingers through mine.

“Thank you for joining our tour today, Miss Conner, we are delighted to have you with us.”

I laugh at his tour guide voice and relax a bit. He does have a way of making me laugh.

“You’ve seen the kitchen.”

“I love the kitchen.”

He smiles and pulls me down a hallway pointing out a powder room, and a spare bedroom. At the end of the hall is another closed door, but he waves it off and says, “Just storage for now.”

He leads me back to the great room and up a flight of stairs to a large loft area that he’s using as a TV room, with more plush furniture. The flat screen mounted to the wall is huge, and I can’t help but laugh.

“What’s so funny?” he looks at the TV and I snicker.

“Boys and their big TV’s.”

He chuckles and leads me through to another spare bedroom and bathroom.

On the opposite side of the loft, with more floor to ceiling windows showing off the view, is the master suite. It’s huge, with large scale white furniture and green, blue and khaki accents. It’s incredibly peaceful.