“Fine. Show me this loft, but if you think you’re going to get any kisses out of me, then you will be very disappointed.”

They climbed a ladder and then Hawk was right behind Natalie, nuzzling her neck. “I’m not kissing you, Hawk,” she said again, but her voice came out breathy because his hands were slipping beneath her shirt and touching the bare skin of her stomach.

“Why? Don’t you like my secret hideaway?” he murmured as he gently nipped her shoulder while his fingers climbed higher, lightly brushing across her breasts.

“No,” she replied, though they both knew she was lying, especially when she pushed back against him and rolled her hips so she could better feel his arousal.

He lowered his fingers across her abs and reached for the zipper of her jeans, taking his time in releasing the material that was binding her. Natalie gave up even the smallest pretense that she didn’t want this.

“Yes, Hawk. Faster.”

He didn’t disappoint her. He slid his hands inside the denim and gave a good push, and then her jeans were pooling at her feet, landing on the hay to provide a nice barrier between their bare skin and the dry grass when they became horizontal.

With her back still to him, Hawk pushed her legs apart, leaned in, and sucked on her neck while he slipped a hand inside the silk of her panties and found her core more than ready for his touch.

“I love how you respond to me,” he groaned in her ear, causing a shudder to rip through her.

“You make me catch fire, Hawk.”

“You inspire me, Natalie.”

He took her shirt away, adding it to the pile beside them, then flung her bra aside, leaving her gasping while his hands wandered all over her.

“More,” she begged, moaning as he pinched her hard nipples.

Dropping them both to their knees, he turned her around and kissed her before edging back just a couple of inches so he could remove his shirt, revealing his incredible abs and disgracefully hard pecs. With sure fingers, he undid the buttons on his jeans and pushed the denim down his muscular legs. When he unveiled her favorite part of his body, she gasped in anticipation. Soon, very soon, that pulsing arousal would take her to new heights of pleasure.

Natalie pushed him backward, and he lost his balance. She crawled up his legs, her tongue licking along the sweet muscles of his thighs until she reached his manhood. Without hesitation, she grabbed his hardness and took her first taste of him. Oh my . . .

“Natalie,” he groaned.

She didn’t answer him; she just moved her hand up and down his throbbing arousal while she sucked on it. After a couple of minutes, he pushed her back, his face crimson, his eyes wild.

“Your turn,” he growled, easily flipping her over onto her back. “Hold on!”

Hold on to what? she wondered before she couldn’t think anymore, because he’d slid his hands beneath her thighs and was taking his turn at tasting her. Natalie cried out as his masterful tongue stroked her pulsing flesh, taking her higher and higher as she strove for release. His low moans mingled with her cries in such beautiful music that Natalie felt tears sting her eyes.

When the first explosion of pleasure raced through her, she rode the wave, loving how he drew it out, loving the perfect way he played her body. He slowed his touch, murmuring his approval of her response to him. Then he shifted, his eyes hungry, almost starving, as he looked down at her flushed skin. Without another word, Hawk climbed up her sated body and then plunged inside her, making her cry out again at such a welcome invasion.

“More,” she practically sobbed as he moved back and then thrust forward again, and she dug her nails into the slick skin of his back.

“Yes, Natalie. Give me your pleasure . . . Let it go,” he demanded.

How could she possibly refuse him? Her body knew what it wanted, and when he thrust forward again, she gripped him tightly as a violent wave of ecstasy rushed through her. Hawk’s shout of joy followed quickly.

“I could make love to you all night,” Hawk said as he kissed her slowly, tenderly, making her stomach start to flutter again.

She giggled. “You wouldn’t hear any complaints from me.”

Her lips parted when she felt him growing hard against her thigh. Whoa. Impossible. Hawk proceeded to prove to her that he wasn’t just offering up empty promises . . .

chapter

17

Natalie shot straight up in bed, clutching the comforter to her chest as her heart pounded.

“What’s wrong?” Hawk slowly sat up beside her with blurry eyes. They couldn’t have been asleep for more than a couple of hours.

“What was that?” she asked as she tried to calm herself.

“What was what?” He still wasn’t awake.

“How in the heck can you wake up at a tiny little beep from your pager, but then sleep through what sounds like a bomb exploding?”

“I don’t know. You just learn to tune out certain noises,” he said with a crooked smile as he began rubbing a hand along her thigh.

Natalie jumped again as the door was thrust open and Hawk’s sister gazed in at them, her face going from excited to impish at finding Natalie in her brother’s room.

“Go away, brat!” Hawk said as Natalie tried to hide beneath the covers. Dang. She wished that he hadn’t insisted she spend a little time in his bedroom last night.

“Not a chance, Hawk,” Taylor said. “It’s Christmas morning and I want to open my presents.” She crossed her arms against her chest and stamped her foot, a mutinous scowl on her face.

“You’re not five anymore, Taylor. You’re twenty-three,” he pointed out.

“And you’re well past five, old enough to have set your alarm for the big family celebration. Anyway, I don’t care how old a person gets. If you’re not excited about Christmas morning, you just aren’t human. By the way, hi, Natalie!”

Smoked out. Natalie peeked over the covers, her face scarlet. “Hi, Taylor. Please don’t tell your mom,” she whispered, mortified at the thought of Maggie knowing she was in Hawk’s room, even if they were adults.

“Then you’d better get downstairs fast,” Taylor said with a satisfied grin.

Natalie was more than willing to agree to the demand, but the two stubborn siblings remained in a deadlock for several tense moments while Natalie’s head whipped back and forth between them. Finally, Hawk let out a disgusted sigh.

“Fine. We’re coming,” he said. “Turn around for just a moment, my darling sister.” He threw off the covers, yanked on the pair of sweats that he’d discarded nearby, and rose from the bed.

Natalie’s mouth dropped open at the sight of his naked back. It didn’t help that the sweatpants rode so low on his amazing hips. No matter how many times she saw this man half dressed, he still awed her.

“Close your mouth, Natalie, before you let in some flies,” Taylor said with a mischievous grin as she turned back to face them.

“I swear I’m not going to give you your presents if you don’t go away right now,” Hawk said, and he moved threateningly toward the door.

“Fine. But if you aren’t down in five minutes, I’m coming back,” Taylor said, before adding, “and I’m bringing Mom!”

Hawk shut the door in her face. He turned and winked at Natalie. “I can set up a barricade.”

“It’s tempting . . .” And she actually considered it. But the sound of more footsteps thundering down the stairs caused her to sigh and climb from the bed. “Nope. We better get moving,” she said as she floated to the en-suite bathroom after grabbing her clothes from the floor.

It was going to be tricky enough sneaking back to her room without being seen. No way was she doing it without a quick shower first. When she came out, Hawk grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her into his arms, letting her feet dangle in the air. “I love it when your cheeks are all rosy.”