What if one of the twins wakes up and needs you?

The mom in her raised a valid point. She quickly rummaged through the duffel bag full of the clothes she’d packed up over at her place. She found an oversized red T-shirt and slipped it over her head, then dug out her hairbrush from her toiletry kit and ran it through her hair a few times. Then, straightening her shoulders, she walked out of the room. She took several deep breaths and assured herself she was doing the right thing. Urges, damn it. A girl had urges.

When she reached Seth’s door, she knocked ever so softly. His gruff response came a second later. “Come in.”

Swallowing, she turned the doorknob and entered his bedroom.

Oh sweet mother of God.

Miranda’s entire body burned as if she’d stepped into a five-alarm fire. The light spilling from the small bedside lamp revealed a very naked Seth lying on the bed. His dark head was cushioned by a couple of pillows leaning on the headboard, and a hardcover novel whose title she couldn’t make out sat on the bedspread next to him.

Her gaze grew frantic, unable to focus on any one detail—there were too many that required her attention. Like his spectacular bare chest. Jesus, that chest. Tight six-pack, perfectly sculpted pecs, a light dusting of dark hair that arrowed down to his…Oh God, she couldn’t even look at it right now, not unless she wanted to self-combust. She focused on his long, muscular legs instead, the intricate design of yet another geometric-looking tattoo on his right shin.

Every inch of her tingled, pulsed, vibrated with pure, raw need. She lifted her gaze to Seth’s gray eyes, unsurprised by the mocking glitter she saw there.

“I’m naked, Miranda.” His voice was a sexy, dangerous rasp. “I’ve got protection.” He waved a hand at the end table, where a box of condoms sat innocently, waiting to be opened. “So now give me the word, and…”

She sucked in a wobbly breath. “And what?”

“I’ll fulfill the last part of your request.”

Oh yes, he would. And she got the feeling fulfilled was exactly the right word. After avoiding it for this long, she finally let her gaze rest on the heavy erection between his legs. He was big. Thick, uncircumcised and deliciously hard.

Her breath hitched when he suddenly wrapped his fingers around the c**k she’d been admiring and gave it a sharp tug.

She moaned. Out loud. Eliciting a smug smirk from Seth.

“Everything okay?” he asked casually.

Without answering, she reached for the hem of her shirt, bunched the fabric between her fingers and pulled the garment up and over her head. Leaving her as naked as he was. Leaving her vulnerable. Exposed.

Seth’s sharp intake of breath was encouraging. So was the way his eyes smoldered as they roamed her body.

She knew she was in great shape—dancing five days a week guaranteed it—but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel self-conscious. The last man to see her naked had been Trent, and that was seven long years ago. She’d had an eighteen-year-old’s body back then, not nearly as curvy as she was now, and the four-inch Cesarean scar running horizontal to the top of her pubic area hadn’t been there before, either.

“Just the way I imagined you,” Seth murmured.

She gulped. “What way was that?”

“Beautiful. Fucking beautiful.”

Her cheeks heated with pleasure rather than embarrassment. The compliment fueled her confidence and gave her the courage to approach him. Her heart began to pound, legs trembling a little as she reached the side of the bed and met Seth’s eyes.

He slid up higher, set his book on the table, and held out his hand. An unspoken question flickered in his expression.

She stared at his outstretched palm.

Now or never, Miranda.

Ignoring the nervous butterflies fluttering around in her belly, she took Seth’s hand and allowed him to draw her into his lap. She instinctively straddled him, whimpering when the tip of his c**k brushed the top of her mound.

Seth let out a strangled groan. “Yeah, that can’t be happening yet. Not if we want this to last.”

He quickly rearranged down south so that his erection pressed into her thigh instead, and then he brought his hands to her waist, sweeping his thumbs over her hip bones while his hungry eyes continued to eat her up.

When his gaze rested on her ni**les, they hardened in response, her br**sts growing hot and achy. Seth didn’t say a word as he stared at her chest. He didn’t say a word when he slid his fingers through her long, damp hair. Didn’t say a word as he slowly leaned closer. Or when his other hand traveled up her body, avoiding her br**sts and coming up to touch her cheek.

The room was completely silent save for their breathing, hers slightly unsteady, his a soft hiss. Miranda couldn’t take her eyes off his mouth. She wanted to kiss him so badly she could taste him.

“Seth,” she whispered.

“What is it, baby? What do you want?”

“I…”

His voice was gruff. “I promised you this would be on your terms. Tell me what you want me to do.”

“No,” she blurted out.

A frown puckered his brow. “No?”

“I don’t want to be in control,” she confessed. “I’m always in control, and I don’t like it. So I’m giving you back the control you relinquished. Take it back, okay?”

His mouth quirked in a faint smile. “You sure about that?”

She nodded.

The smile widened, becoming downright predatory. “Okay, then,” he said, and then he cradled the back of her head and pulled her mouth down for a hard, reckless kiss.