My eyelids fluttered open as my body made its need to relieve itself an annoyance I could no longer sublimate. I glared at the ceiling. Cursed my body for needing to pee and interrupt one of the best nights of sleep I'd had in ages. Ryker came out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam. A gray towel was hooked at his hips as stray beads of water slid down the ladder of his abs. A different part of my body woke up, chased away the urgency to pee. "Good morning, hero," I said, my voice froggy. He smiled. "Sweet fuck. That's it. We're getting married as soon as possible. One, I need to wake up to you every. Single. Morning. And two, Momma threatened me."I chuckled. "As long as Momma's threats are number two."He leaned down, caged my head between his hands. "Momma's threats aren't even a factor for me. I just figured I should mention them in the interest of full disclosure. You, cupcake, are all the reason I need." He pressed his mouth to mine. Minty freshness invaded my sen

My pussy clenched. Crap, I probably should have given this more thought. He had a lot more experience than I did. My inner bitch flicked her hair. But we've got more experience with...baking. And what are we doing tonight? BAKING! We're going to bake enough treats to make the Amatucci soldiers need a diet program. Then we're going to tease our man until he begs. He'll come first and he'll finally know who holds the power in this relationship. This was in the bag. I smiled. Pushing up to my toes, I pressed my lips to his. His hands came around me, fingers biting into my hips. I moaned. Shit. He was playing dirty already. I wiggled out of his reach. Shook my finger at him. "That's dirty pool, Mr. Penn."His grin was all teeth. "I said nothing about playing a clean game, Ms. Chase."I raised a brow. "Then let the games begin." He groaned behind me as he followed me to the door. "We're either going to be dead or ...yeah, just dead tomorrow."I laughed as I waited for h

"Bet's to you, Penn," Rafe said around the end of his cigar. "Or are you going to pussy out again because you can't leave your phone alone?"I laid the device screen down on the table. Fought to clear my mind. Damn, I really had underestimated Willow's ability to seduce and tease. The picture she'd just sent me...I was going to make her recreate that photo. Naked except for an apron that barely covered the goods. And a splotch of frosting on her ass cheek. Only this time it would be my hand on her ass instead of a spatula slapping whipped sugar against that delicious flesh. Special edition cupcakes.I cleared my throat. "What's it at?"All five men growled. "Two hundred," Foster said. "If I'd known we were going to be playing such low stakes, I would have stayed at home."I snorted as I tossed in my chips. "Oh please. You're like the nerdy kid no one invites to the party. You jumped at the chance to be here."Foster glared at me, his dark eyebrows so at odds with his brigh

I groaned. "Dammit.""She top you again?" Rafe asked. I nodded. "Fucking women.""Can I put my computer away yet? Taking pictures of all you isn't really how I saw this evening going. Not to mention lying to all of them with my wicked Photoshop skills."Turo and Nico just laughed. "At least we're not actually getting naked. Nor are we as hard as you've made us out to be."We all laughed. "I would be leaving. Dick does nothing for me," Mas announced. We all nodded. I shuddered. Nope. "And since we have abandoned any and all pretense to playing poker, I will be leaving anyway." Mas rose from his chair and gave a short wave. He was through the door and had it closed behind him without a sound. I looked at his brothers. "Seriously, does he have some kind of ninja blood in his DNA? Is he actually a voodoo priest? Into witchcraft? Did he meet the devil at a crossroads and exchange sound for his soul?"They all stared at me like I was an idiot. "The man moves and d

Her body went limp against me. I'd never realized the intimacy of holding someone as they slept. That complete and utter trust to slide into oblivion. It was a treasure I hoped never to grow tired of. To take for granted. The candles' flickering glow provided soft light in the room that I now considered ‘ours' instead of just mine. Her words flickered through my mind again. ‘It's only been three weeks. Are we moving too fast?'Snickering at the thought, I curled around her tighter, shivered as the heat finally fled from my overly warm skin. It would be stupidly fast if it were anyone but Willow. Most of my flings lasted barely this long, but I'd never cared. Was usually looking for the next one. I wasn't rabidly guarding the woman. Hell, I was more likely to be ushering her out the door with a nice piece of jewelry or shopping trip to thank her for her time and attention to detail. The idea of even contemplating that reality with Willow had my belly twisting in knives and jealo