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When Dani next woke, Rocco was curled around her, fast asleep looking sex-god handsome with the day-old stubble. She really did need to leave now or she was going to make a mighty great fool of herself. She eased out of his arms. No time to shower, the best thing would be to run while he was sleeping.
Yeah, she was that much of a coward.
That weak.
She’d only just pulled her tank-top down when he woke.
He looked at her, eyebrows raised. A smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. “What are you doing?”
“I’m...” Trying not to get excited by that look in your eyes.
She swallowed. Damn. She so didn’t want to get girly emo at this moment. “Getting ready to head off.”
He sat up. “You’re running away again.”
“No I’m not,” she said, trying to hold it together, which was hard, because he was hot and she was half naked. “It was one night. That’s what we agreed.”
He rolled his eyes. “You haven’t made it to the bank and it’s after closing. We’ve spent the whole day in bed.”
Uh yeah, she was well aware of that.
“I could call the helpline,” she said weakly.
“They’ll want to see you in person. Want to see your ID.”
“So what do you suggest?” she asked, sinking to sit on the corner of his bed. “One more night? ‘Til tomorrow?”
“No,” he answered.
Oh. Okay. She scrunched her toes. She could go now.
“You don’t think what happened today changes anything?” he asked.
“I...” she licked her lips. “Didn’t think it was supposed to.”
“Stay longer.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I was going to ask you to anyway. Before...” He smiled at her.
That panty-melting smile. Except she wasn’t wearing panties and she’d already melted—right into his mouth.
“No strings. Just a few days.” He rose to his hands and knees and crawled to her end of the bed. Amusement lit his face, but his words were serious. “Until you decide what you want to do. Figure a plan that works for you.”
“You say that like I have options.”
“You do. You could find a job. Stay here ‘til you have enough together to sort your own place.”
She realized he wasn’t teasing.
“If you don’t want to go back to Summerhill, you don’t have to,” he said. “It’s up to you.”
So tempting. So impossible to refuse.
But there was one last problem. A big one. She watched him closely. “The others will find out.”
“They won’t notice. Hunter’s away. So is Xander. Logan’s totally pre-occupied. Connor is working.”
“My father?”
Rocco’s expression hardened. “Can get over it.”
Yeah. He could.
Dani smiled, but it wasn’t the thought of sticking it to father pleasing her, or the thought of figuring her future. It was right this second.
More time with him.
Sure, tomorrow she’d sort her accounts. Maybe she could find a job and save more to fund her own place—though it wasn’t going to be in exorbitant-rent New York city anytime soon. But for now, all she really wanted, was a little longer with Rocco.
That’s all he’d want anyway. Short-term. There was no mention of anything else. This was only physical for him, right? Chemistry.
And after it was over, it would be best for her to go to some smaller town on the other side of the country. To recover. She wasn’t going back to Summerhill. Not to varsity to study subjects she had little interest in.
Because she’d have had now. And it would be worth it. This was worth it.
“So.” She ran a finger down the side of his neck, emboldened by the erection he was making zero effort to hide. “No strings?”
“Nope,” he held still, bracing like a big cat ready to pounce. “No demands. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
“What if I want to?” She sent him a coy look.
“You’re okay? Not too tender?”
“Nuh uh.” She shook her head with a smile.
He lunged just at the moment she rose to race away, laughing.
She didn’t get far.
In a second he’d won the tussle, flipped her back onto the bed and was astride her. Another few minutes, inside.
But once there, he was so gentle with her. Too gentle.
“I like it like this,” she whispered. “But I also like it when you fuck me really hard.”
One eyebrow lifted. “You want me to fuck you hard now?”
She nodded. She needed him to. She needed to lose herself in that utterly animal reaction. Because soft and sweet like this? Too hard on her heart. This was only for a few days, so right now she needed to lose her mind for a while.
“I can’t last as long if I do that,” he said, his expression strained.
“That’s okay, you can always eat me after if I’m still hungry.”
“Oh you’re getting it.” He laughed. “You really are a quick study. And you are hungry.”
“Ravenous.” she nodded, in total seriousness.
“Hold on then, princess. Your wish is my command. My pleasure.”
He pumped into her faster, gazed down at her as a wild tremor wracked her body. Her nipples had stiffened into taut, over-sensitive points.
“You like it.” He looked pleased. And passionate.
“There are no words.”
Nothing could describe how insanely good it felt when he pushed into her like that. She hooked her legs round his slim hips as he pistoned into her. Gripped his shoulders with grasping, hungry fingers as she rocked her hips upwards, trying to match his rhythm. And hurry him.
She wanted more. So much more.
Chapter Twelve
“YOU NEED TO get out of here.” Rocco sent her an amused glance as he walked into the apartment the next afternoon.
“I’m perfectly happy.”
She looked it, curled up on the sofa like a little cat, her nose stuck in one of his design books while her knitting needles clacked. The way she could knit so quickly while focused on reading? The way she could quickly work up a pattern from a picture that had inspired her was something else. The woman was amazingly creative.
In many ways.
“You should sell these,” he said, hunching down by the sofa and picking up the quirky ski hat. “Logan could put them in his
range.”
“Production costs are too expensive,” she answered cheerfully. “I already researched it. And they’re way too uncool for the Summerhill brand. Can you see Logan modelling this?”
He chuckled at the lemon and lime stripes. “Its a shame. You love it.” She’d told him she’d been taught to knit by one of the hotel housekeepers at her home.
“Yeah... but I could sell the patterns...”
Now that was a cool idea. “You could. In the book-slash-craft-shop you’re gonna own one day...”
She laughed. But he wasn’t altogether joking.
Several more of his design books were spread over the table, a few others were piled on the floor. He moved a few so he could sit beside her.
“I’ve messed up your shelving system.” She grinned impishly at him. “Can your OCD handle that?”
“I’m confident your own OCD tendencies will ensure you re-shelve them back in some suitably complicated system,” he answered, undoing the top two buttons of his shirt.
Handling her presence in his suite was simple. It was her hold on his heart that was becoming the problem. But he didn’t want to overwhelm her with too much too soon. More than anything, Dani needed her freedom. “You ordered dinner?” he asked.
“Not yet.” She uncurled and stretched her limbs. Again, a nimble cat. Then a very feline gleam lit her eyes. Her chin lifted.
Rocco smiled and stepped up to her challenge. He loved her playful teasing. Life hadn’t been this much fun in a long time.
But she really did need to get out. He couldn’t leave her locked up like a pet.
“You don’t want to go out? Go shopping? Go to some museums? A show? A club?” he asked when he’d recovered his breath enough to speak again.
She rolled from her stomach to her back and stretched her arms wide on his bed in a gesture of pure contentment. “I don’t want to go anywhere.”
He didn’t want her to go anywhere either. But he wanted her to be more than sexually fulfilled. He wanted her to get on with figuring out her future, to reach out into the world.
Early in the morning, once he’d woken her the best way ever, he tossed her the bag he’d had one of his staff leave outside the door. “Come for a run with me.”