But he wasn’t content to stop at her breasts. He released her wrists, at last, but only because he snaked lower, kissing his way down her ribs, her belly, lingering at the piercing at her navel, flicking it with his tongue, dipping into her belly button until she giggled. And then he moved even farther down, spreading her legs apart to situate himself between them and draw them over his arms.

He was so dark, his head between her thighs, his hair brushing her skin. She tensed, waiting, barely able to breathe as his mouth moved toward her skin. He kissed and licked her inner thigh.

“You smell good, Jess.”

She blushed, her skin went hot, knowing what was going to happen, anticipating it, wanting it, this first she’d never had before. At the warm, wet touch of his lips to her sex, she trembled, shifted the pillow under her head so she could watch his mouth cover her clit, shuddering when his tongue made contact with the piercing. He flicked the silver ring, licked around it, played with it, then laid his tongue over her clit and took her so close to the edge she gripped the sheets in a tight knot. But he pulled back, letting his tongue glide along her pussy lips, down, then back up again, avoiding her clit, then right on it again, taking her close and moving back, seeming to know how far to take her without letting her fly.

The man was maddening, and each time the sensations grew more and more intense, building her pleasure to a fevered pitch. Soon she was raising her butt off the bed, driving her pussy into his face. He held on to her and pushed her back down, but she was mindless now, didn’t care, wanted only the orgasm he could bring her.

“Diaz, please.”

She felt his fingers probing near her pussy, and oh was he going to?

He did, sliding one inside her as he continued to lick along the folds. Then two fingers, stretching her, pumping them in and out as he licked and sucked her clit, his mouth and tongue hot and wet, the dual sensations overwhelming. It was all she could take. She went off like the space shuttle in a burst of light and flames.

“I’m coming, Diaz, I’m coming!” she cried as she lifted off the bed, shuddering through one of the wildest orgasms she’d ever felt. He held on to her, his fingers continuing to fuck her with relentless strokes until she felt the contractions subside. He withdrew, kissed the top of her sex and made his way up her body, taking her mouth, letting her taste her own pussy juice on his lips. She licked at his mouth, sucking his tongue inside. He rolled her over on top of him and she kissed him deeply, pouring out her feelings with her mouth, cradling his face between her palms and then pushing up to stare down at him.

“Thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome. And thank you. I enjoyed it, too.”

She smiled down at him, then slid her now soaking wet pussy along the length of his cock. It would be so easy to fuck him right now, to ease it inside her and ride him. She quivered at the thought.

“No, Jess.”

She frowned. “Why the hell not?”

He grasped her hips, lifted, and the sensation was incredible. “Because you need a relationship, a boyfriend. Not a fuck buddy.”

“I want to fuck you.” The thought of having him inside her gave her goose bumps.

He bucked her off of him and rolled them both to the side so they were facing each other. “No, you don’t. You want someone who’ll be there for you, all the time. You want the tenderness, the companionship, all the emotional stuff that goes with a relationship. That’s not me.”

“You’re always around when I need you, just like the other guys.”

“And that’s exactly what I’m talking about, Jess. Me, the other guys.” He dragged his hand through his hair. “We shouldn’t even have done this much. This is wrong.” He pushed up and sat on the edge of the bed.

Diaz had some seriously misguided notions about her, about the two of them, about the Wild Riders and where she fit in the scheme of their relationships. She really needed to set him straight.

She slid to the end of the bed with him, took his hand in hers. So big, it nearly dwarfed her small hand. She laced her fingers with his.

“Your problem is that you’ve known me since I was a kid, since Grange and all of you sort of ‘adopted’ me. So you’ve all thought of me as some little sister or something for all these years.”

He turned his head and looked at her. “Yes. That’s it exactly.”

“That was fine back then. It isn’t now. Well it is and it isn’t. I think of all the guys as family, and Grange, too. He was the father I never had. He’s been good to me. The guys have all been brothers. I came into the Wild Riders at a time in my life when I needed family more than I needed anything.”

“See? That’s what makes this wrong.”

She shook her head. “No, let me finish. It was wonderful then, but I’m not a child anymore, and I haven’t been for a long time. I grew up, and when I did I started noticing men. Or rather, a man. You, specifically.”

He arched a brow. “Me? Why?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Call it chemistry or whatever you want, but I suddenly saw you as someone other than ‘family.’ The other guys? Yeah, they’re like brothers to me. Funny, silly, they can grab me and hug me and I feel nothing at all but warmth and connection and the feeling of belonging. You? You were different. I look at you and I feel something that’s very unlike family. When I look at you I tingle inside, my toes curl, and I get hot. You’re a sexy, desirable man that I’ve wanted for many years. I’ve just been waiting for you to wake up and notice me as a woman.”

His eyes widened. “Honey, I’ve noticed you were a woman for several years now. And that’s been a huge problem for me.”

“Really?” The thought pleased her.

“Quit smiling. I said it was a problem.”

“Oh. Sorry. But really, it’s not a problem.” Why was he making this so difficult?

He heaved a sigh. “Yeah, it is. I’m not going to do this, Jess. We’re not going to be a couple. I’m not going to fuck you and ruin your life.”

She rolled her eyes. “You having sex with me isn’t going to ruin my life, Diaz. I have no expectations that it’ll be followed by a marriage proposal. I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “But I can’t, knowing I’d have taken something from you that you should give to someone special.”

She laid her palm across his cheek. “I think you are special.”

“You’re making this very hard for me.”

She reached between them, circling his semihard cock. “Not very hard, but I’ll bet I could get it that way.”

He laughed. “Damn, Jessie. I’m trying to be serious here.”

“Me too. I’m damn serious about getting your cock in my mouth again. So don’t stop me.”

Before he could say anything, she shimmied down his body. This was her chance to explore, and she prayed he wouldn’t stop her this time. Not when she had the opportunity to feel and kiss the hard planes of his chest and stomach, which rippled when she pressed light kisses against it and palmed it with both hands. With a gentle push she rolled him onto his back and she climbed onto his thighs, raking her fingernails down his sides to test his tickle response.

Nothing. The man was a rock. A solid tree trunk of muscle and iron will. It was her duty to break his will, to make him sweat, to test his limits and make him crumble.

She was going to enjoy this. How could she not, having free rein to discover Diaz’s body? He wasn’t moving, just watching her with a guarded expression. She loved his eyes—dark, fathomless, she could drown in them. But not now. Now she was going on an expedition of skin. She leaned forward and kissed his shoulder, then sank her teeth into it, nibbling with the tiniest of bites. She felt the gooseflesh rise on his skin, but he didn’t shiver. She moved across to his chest, doing to him what he’d done to her—waving her palms over his flat nipples, circling them until they hardened like pebbles under her touch.

Oh, she liked that, and used her thumb and forefinger to capture each one, tug them, pinch them, then bent down and took each in her mouth, dragging her tongue over one, then the other, rewarded when he sucked in a harsh breath. So . . . he liked his nipples played with, too. Knowing that made her pussy wet.

She licked along his rib cage, then lower, scooting down his thighs. Damn, he was so big underneath her, reminding her how small she was and how gently he treated her. He was so wrong about what she needed. He thought he couldn’t be the kind of man she wanted? He was exactly what she wanted. His patience right now astounded her. If all he wanted was a pussy to fuck, he’d never let her explore like this.

His hard cock jutted against her belly, then her breasts as she snaked her tongue along his hip bone, loving the way he tasted, the differences in the way their bodies were made. She buried her nose in the wiry thatch of hair at his sex, inhaling his musky fragrance, realizing the primal scent excited her. She ran her tongue along his inner thigh, then lower, where his ball sac lay nestled against his ass. She licked there too, toyed with the seam separating his balls, and he groaned, his thigh muscles clenching as she captured one of his balls in her mouth and licked his flesh, only to release it and play with the other.

There wasn’t a part of him she didn’t want to touch, to taste, to play with. She grasped his cock with one hand and licked the underside from the base to the tip, following the seam like a road map leading to the soft crest. Now she met his eyes, which were smoldering like a barely banked flame. When she looked at him and captured his cockhead in her mouth, covering it while flicking her tongue over it, that flame burst into an inferno. He rocketed onto his elbows, pumped his hips upward and thrust his cock between her greedy lips, feeding her.

She grasped his cock with both hands, playing with him, squeezing and stroking while sucking him, watching the way he undulated under her hands, the way his eyes nearly rolled back into his head when she swirled her tongue over the tip, then brought him fully into her mouth. Then she gave up control and let him sink deep, all the way to her throat, content to let him thrust and withdraw.

Instinct drove her, and she began to stroke him in earnest as she felt his muscles tense under her, knew he was getting close when he grasped the back of her head to direct her movements. She felt the dampness of perspiration on his legs, knew that driving force of impending climax, when nothing else mattered but reaching the pinnacle.

She wanted to take him there. She squeezed with her lips, sucked with her mouth, and a low groan tore from his throat at the same time Diaz erupted, gifting her with sweet come. She held on to his cock and to him as he shuddered violently, pumping furiously into her mouth. She swallowed, holding on to him as he emptied, swallowed until he had nothing left to give her and collapsed onto his back, his muscles relaxing.

Content to lay with her head on his thigh, she stroked his leg, licked her lips, and smiled. Diaz caressed her hair and she listened to him breathe, first raspy and hard, then finally normal again. Her pulse had been racing, too. She’d been as turned on as he was, her nipples tingling, her pussy quivering and wet. Giving pleasure was as thrilling as getting it. She had so much to learn about sex. And such a wonderful teacher.

She lifted her head. “Thank you, again.”

He lifted his. “For what?”

“For another lesson. That was fun. I had no idea making you come would excite me so much.”

He shuddered a breath and shook his head, then disengaged himself, sliding off the bed and heading into the bathroom to turn on the shower. She followed.

“There’s really no point in cleaning up. Yet,” she said, hoping her meaning was clear.

“Yeah, there is, because we’re finished here.”

“No, we’re not. We just started.”