took. Teeth clenched, neck muscles straining, he came—hard. At the exact moment his cum blasted into the rubber, a crack of lightning tore across the horizon, filling the dim room with a bright flash of white illumination. The thunder rolled, loud and ominous, as he gathered her in his embrace, and together they rode out the ecstasy. Sweet Jesus. This couldn’t be real. The reason this ripped every other sex memory to shreds had to be the fact it had been so long since he had a good fuck. Yeah. That was it. Nothing else.
No way in hell had his soul just shattered.
***
Kerri trembled in his arms as wave after wave rolled through her body. She’d never climaxed like that. Ever. This was supposed to be meaningless. Detached sex with a near stranger. Wolfe held her close, her face buried in his neck. The musky odor of sexy male invaded her nostrils. His warm breath fanned her cheek as he struggled to regain his breath. With great effort, she fought to recover hers.
Wolfe let her go and sat back. He stared at her, his gaze intense and questioning. Maybe she had made a mistake. This had been the first time she’d had sex with a man right after meeting him.
“Kerri. I…ah. Fuck. I don’t know what to say except that was incredible.”
A roll of relief settled in her gut. He felt the same. Thank God.
“It’s been a long time for me as well. Nine months, in fact.” She gave him a smile. “I agree. Incredible. Inconceivable even.”
She reached for her clothes and pulled on her sweats. As she struggled with her bra, large, warm hands reached out and assisted her. Oh . The pads of his fingers, thick with calluses, trailed across her heated and sensitive skin. His touch was magic. Desire flamed to life once again. He cupped her cheek, leaned in, and kissed her. A low growl tore from his throat.
“I want us to see each other while I’m here, Kerri. I think we both need this.”
“How long?”
“A few weeks. I’m staying with my parents. Recovering from a few issues. I don’t really want to go into it today. I like you. A lot. I can use a little companionship. I need the closeness. Do you get what I mean?”
Actually, she did. By the time the school year ended, her nerves balanced on the edge of a knife. Short-term companionship and sex sounded like a plan to her.
She tossed him his sweats. “I get it exactly. Now, since going for a walk is out, why not stay for lunch? I can put on my Nickelback CD.” She gave him a playful wink.
After he put on his sweatpants, he grabbed her around the waist and started tickling her. Her peals of laughter filled the room. Wolfe laughed as well. His carefree smile lit up his face, making him even more handsome.
“You can play it only if it’s ‘All the Right Reasons.’ That album I do like.”
“You tease, so you don’t hate them!”
“No. A little envious of their mega-success maybe but not hate.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Maybe one afternoon we can listen to some of mine.”
Kerri pulled her T-shirt on. “I would like that very much. Is there any way I could coax you into a live acoustic performance? One or two songs?”
He frowned. Oh, shit . She’d done it again. Foot-in-mouth disease. He stood and leaned against the wall, gazing out the window. Rain ran down the glass in rivulets. Thunder boomed overhead.
“I haven’t played in months,” he whispered softly.
Kerri stood behind him, her arms encircling his lean body. She splayed her hands on his bare chest as she laid her head against his back. After a moment, he took one of her hands and laced his fingers through hers.
“It’s all right, Wolfe. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”
He squeezed her hand and exhaled, continuing to watch the storm raging outside. Kerri had the feeling the tempest out there did not even come close to what churned inside him. He sounded so sad when he’d mentioned he hadn’t played music in so long. How she wanted to protect him, to make