She took forever in the shower and even longer drying her hair. The mattress in Michael’s bedroom began to squeak, the bed frame banging lightly against the opposite wall. Hunter shook his head.

Tessa came out of the bathroom wearing a pair of pink flannel pajamas covered in red lips and pink hearts and a pair of fuzzy pink, red and white striped socks. She again folded her arms and gave him an icy look, although her bedroom attire ruined her angry effect. Not only that, but if she thought wearing pj’s hid that sexy body of hers, she was mistaken.

Even now her nipples stood out against the soft fabric, and he was ready to tackle her, drag her to bed, and ravish her.

She opened her mouth to speak, but Michael’s bed banged violently against the wall, making her hesitate and glance in that direction. Hunter smiled.

She snorted. “Great. I hope that doesn’t go on all night. Why don’t you just move the dresser in front of the window like we did in Michael’s room? Then you can stay with Rourke and you won’t have to baby-sit me.”

“Come on, Tessa. Get in bed. Heater’s off. The room’s cold. Join me under the covers and get warm.”

“I’m warm enough.” She jerked her covers aside and climbed into bed.

“Do you always wear such sexy nightclothes?”

She gave him a derisive hmpf back. He chuckled. “I thought all women wore T-shirts to bed.”

“Have you been with a lot?”

As many years as he had lived, yes. But in the scheme of things, no. And certainly not recently. The worst was during the Victorian era. Although some of the ladies were daring enough to strip down to bare skin, some insisted they remain fully dressed in their long nightgowns while he satisfied them. Pj’s were certainly no obstacle. “There’s been no one for a long time, Tessa.”

And never anyone as special as her.

“I wear pajamas in the winter because I don’t like to waste electricity heating the place at night.”

“Hmm-hmm.”

“What? You think I’m just wearing these because you’re here? I usually sleep alone and that’s why I wear warm pj’s.”

“Snuggle with me, Tessa. Then we’ll both be warm.”

She didn’t say anything. He waited for her to come to him like she had done before, but she didn’t.

“I don’t wear T-shirts in the summer either,” she finally remarked.

Nude, that’s the way he liked his women, but he didn’t figure Tessa ever went to bed like that. “So if you don’t wear pajamas in the summertime, do you slide naked into a bed of satin sheets?”

She offered a derisive chuckle. “Right.”

“I’ll have to visit you in the summer then.”

She remained silent.

“Come on, Tessa. I’m getting cold.”

“Put Michael’s sweatshirt on then.”

Fine. He took the initiative. He knew he shouldn’t. She was right in trying to keep the distance between them. But he also recognized she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

He moved closer to her and pulled her into his arms, but she remained rigid. He tried to caress her hair, but a twinge of pain streaked through his shoulder, and he groaned.

The tension seemed to drain from her spine, and she melted in his embrace. “You shouldn’t have carried that load of firewood up to the house. What were you trying to prove? How macho you are to the other guys? They weren’t injured as badly as you. You could use some common sense.”

He smiled and kissed the top of her head.

She turned slightly toward him, her brows pinched, her eyes narrowed. “Are you hurting really badly?”

“Some,” he admitted, since she seemed to like him better when he was in pain or he would never have said.

“Well, lie on your back and I’ll…” She took a deep breath. “I’ll snuggle with you so you don’t have to hurt your shoulder.”

He was about to say something, but decided he would be better off not in case he ruined her generous offer. Instead, he rolled onto his back. He wanted to feel her against him, skin to skin, even though her flannel pajamas were soft and cuddly. At this point, he didn’t figure he could push her to remove her clothes. She reached over to join him, brushing her fingers over his naked thigh.

She recoiled. “Where are your sweatpants?”

“You know, in situations where a person is hypothermic, naked bodies pressed together provide more heat than if they’re clothed.”

Her mouth gaped and her gaze narrowed again. “Well, I’m not hypothermic. Are you?”

Luckily, because of the dark, she couldn’t see the way he was grinning at her. “I’m feeling chilled to the bone after chasing down Ashton and then getting a load of firewood.”

“We could turn on the heat.”

“Nah, waste of electricity.” He reached over and unbuttoned her top button. “Come warm me, Tessa.”

“Like Cara’s warming Ashton?”

He was pretty sure Tessa’s voice held a hint of sarcasm not hope.

Hunter didn’t answer and when she didn’t stop him, he finished unfastening her buttons and removed her top, taking a deep breath to see her breasts heavy and her nipples already hard.

Despite wanting to make love to her, he knew he had to leave the decision up to her. They both recognized it couldn’t last.

At first, he took it slow and easy, sliding her pajama bottoms down her silky thighs. He forgot how much his shoulder hurt or how he shouldn’t be making love with the woman again. All because she licked his lips, hummed her pleasure, and combed her fingers through his hair with tenderness. His arousal jumped, and she chuckled deep and sexylike. Again, he found himself wishing she were a lupus garou.

She leaned her supple nude body against his, heating his skin to the nth degree. “Cara said I should try to keep you for my own,” she whispered against his lips, then licked them again. She slid over his erection and he moaned.

“Oh, sorry about your shoulder.” She started to slip off him, and he grabbed hold of her lissome body, his hands cupping her buttocks, keeping her tight against him.

“Not my shoulder.” But he couldn’t conceal his annoyance with Cara that she would interfere in his affairs. She knew better than to encourage Tessa’s further interest in him.

“Hmm,” Tessa murmured, nuzzling her face against his cheek, “she said you’re a real alpha male.” Tessa slid her body lower and kissed his nipple.

The sensation sent a jolt straight to his rigid erection. He grabbed fistfuls of her hair and became mesmerized in the peach-scented, soft red curls.

“But of course, I already knew that.” She swirled her tongue around his nipple and then teased the stiff peak.

Hunter groaned. She was killing him. A shiver stole through every nerve ending. No one had ever brought him so close to climaxing with such a simple, sweet touch.

“So then, how do I keep someone as wild as you, Hunter? How would I entice you to want me for longer than a fling?” She folded her arms across his chest and rested her chin on them.

Although he knew she couldn’t see his face for the dark, she looked straight at him, her eyes challenging.

“I know for whatever reason, you don’t want me,” she said, her expression dead serious.

His hands stilled on her bare arms. Hell, where did she get the idea he didn’t want her?

“So that’s fine. We do it, and both satisfy some primal urge and that’s it. No strings attached. I’ve never had it so good as with you. And so…” She shrugged. “I might as well enjoy it until the next guy comes along. Maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll be just as good as you. Or, heck, maybe even better.”

Hunter didn’t say anything for a moment. Despite her goading him, she wouldn’t get him to say that which was on the tip of his tongue—that he wouldn’t let her be with anyone else. That he would be the only one for her. But he couldn’t. “There won’t be anyone better.”

She smiled in the most devilish way. “Never know, Hunter. You just never know.”

Forget the damned shoulder. He would show her how good it got. He pushed her onto her back, and she laughed.

“Vixen.” Now it was his turn to tease her enticing nipples, his tongue laving over one while his thumb stroked the other, preparing it for its due.

“Hmm, what about your shoulder?”

“I’ll survive.”

She smiled as she ran her fingers over his whiskered cheek. “I could ride you.”

“Too late for that. You had your chance.” Ride him? Yeah, some other time, but for now he wanted to be on top, controlling, possessing her. No one could replace him. “I should give you one of those sexy rubs you gave me.”

“When your shoulder’s better.”

He’d take her up on it. Massage everywhere, too.

He slipped his hand between her legs and pushed them apart. “Hmm, warm, wet, and willing.” Hot, she was hotter than any woman he’d ever been with.

He wanted to take it nice and slow, but his shoulder was acting up too much. He gritted his teeth, centered himself between her legs, and plunged his erection deep inside her.

“You might be right,” she whispered against his mouth.

“I’m always right.”

She laughed and pinched his butt. “Always so modest and not in the least bit arrogant.”

He growled, “No one will be better.”

Hunter was sooo good, Tessa thought as he sank into her again and again, stretching her, rubbing against her sweetest spot, making her yearn for more. He lowered his mouth to hers as her insides burned a thousand fires, the hair on his chest caressing her nipples, sensitizing them even more, his body sliding against hers, intoxicating her.

She savored every bit of his hot-blooded nature, his wanting his way with her, his possessiveness, his protectiveness. She never wanted the lovemaking to stop because with it she felt complete, whole, satisfied, and a part of his life that she didn’t care to end.