She entered through the floor and he heard a soft gasp and climbed in behind her. “Oh my God, Aiden.”

He could get used to hearing that a lot tonight.

Aiden stood to his full height, the recently remodeled tree house easily six inches over his head. He dropped their effects on the smooth wooden floor as Sadie took in the room. She swiveled her head toward the windows, the ceiling, the floor that latched and locked, to the mattress, easy chair, and footrest. It wasn’t expansive—he could walk the width of the room in five steps—but what it lacked in space, it made up for in privacy.

“The last time we were here, this was a dusty, cobwebbed shell,” Sadie said.

He and his brothers and father had originally built the ramshackle hideaway when Aiden was twelve. It hadn’t aged well.

“When I moved in, Dad and I made the remodel of this place our project.”

After Mom passed, his father was at loose ends. And since Aiden couldn’t get the man to talk about her, Aiden suggested they redo the tree house for Lyon so Dad had something to do besides watch television until he fell asleep in his chair. After the place was rebuilt, Aiden had spent a few nights out here himself. Nights when the house felt a little too familiar, or the grief a little too oppressive.

“We’d come out here every night after work until the weather got too cold,” Aiden told her, referring to the brief, miserable stint when he’d worked at the factory with his father. “We finished it in the spring.” He smoothed a hand along the wall until he found the switch for two small sconces on either side of the bed. They blinked to life, bathing Sadie in a soft, yellowish glow.

She quirked a brow at him. “Impressive.”

“Has everything but a bathroom.”

She wrinkled her nose. “But the house is so far away.”

He crossed the short distance between them and clutched her hips. “Yeah, which means you can be as loud as you want.”

Sadie tucked her fingers in his belt loops and pressed against him. “Yeah, well, so can you,” she purred up at him.

He bent forward and took her waiting mouth, backing her to the bed before forcing himself to stop. “You probably want a blanket on that bare mattress,” he reminded himself aloud. He could have thrown her down on it as is. He made quick work of spreading out the sleeping bag and propping open the windows. A cool breeze and the soft chirp of crickets wafted through the screens.

This was her first time. He wanted it to be as perfect as possible. He didn’t think it could get more perfect for him. Especially when Sadie sat on the edge of the mattress and unzipped her dress.

Aiden knelt on the floor in front of her and watched. There was such a vulnerable, open light in her dark eyes. She kept her focus on him as she shimmied out of her dress, revealing the breasts he hadn’t gotten enough of and the triangle of black panties he’d felt but hadn’t yet seen. Scalloped lace edges swept over her hips—beautiful, curved, rounded hips that lead down to a pair of creamy thighs. Hips he’d kneaded beneath his palms, but until just now had never laid eyes on.

She reached for his shirt and unbuttoned it, one button at a time, keeping her eyes on his. He didn’t dare look away from the openness of her face; the sheer look of trust that would have brought him to his knees if he wasn’t already on them. This was all he wanted. Sadie. One-hundred-percent willing, pure Sadie.

She ran her fingers along his chest, exploring him with her eyes and hands while his breaths shortened. When she tugged the shirt from his waistband, he stood and joined her on the mattress.

She worked his belt, sliding it aside and unbuttoning his pants. “This is where you stopped me last time,” she whispered, a hint of mischief in her eyes.

“Not going to happen,” he rasped.

She snort-laughed and he fell a little more in love with her. He hadn’t even known that was possible. She slid the zipper down and Aiden made quick work of shucking his pants, underwear, socks, and shoes, leaving them in a ball on the floor. He hovered over her and reached for her panties. She leaned back on her elbows and lifted her hips and he pulled them down her legs.

Finally, he was seeing Sadie in all her nakedness. His heart collided with his ribs like a battering ram. His hands shook. His brow broke into the tiny beads of sweat. How long had he waited to have Sadie in his bed? How long had he wanted her? How many times had he gnashed his teeth over the thought that he’d lost her forever?

Yet here she was.

Gloriously naked and spread before him, trust and desire mingling in her eyes. And she was his.

Almost.

He slid up her supple body, taking a nipple in his mouth as his finger found her center. She was wet and warm and ready for him and he groaned around the tight pink bud on his tongue. Sadie’s hands went to his short hair and she guided him, arching her back and squirming beneath him. He lifted his head, laving first one breast then the other, mentally promising to return to them later.

But for now, he had to kiss her.

Aiden slanted his mouth over hers and Sadie raked her fingernails through the hair at his nape, causing him to shudder. She could turn him on completely clothed, with just her nails against his scalp. When her hand left his neck and found his cock, he was surprised the top of his head didn’t shoot into the stratosphere.

“Now,” she breathed into his ear. “I need you now.”

Her lids were at half-mast, her mouth damp from his kisses. He held her gaze as he brushed a hand down her body and slid a finger inside her, thrilling as those same eyes grew wide and dark. Then he added another, moving gingerly within her, preparing her for him.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, closing his lips over her neck. As badly as he wanted to be inside her, be encased in all her warmth, Aiden would sooner die than cause her any pain.

“You won’t.” She lifted his face and kissed him softly, her words coming out on a heated breath. “I trust you.”

Her trust was an elixir for his soul and all the encouragement he needed. He left her body with an apology and dug a condom out of his discarded pants. There were five more in the duffel bag he’d carried up, and if he could physically walk—or crawl—after making love to Sadie, he intended to spend as many of them as she’d let him use.

He knelt beside her on the mattress and rolled the latex on.

Sadie watched him hungrily. “Wow, I had no idea you were…wow.”

He grinned. A feral, ego-driven grin he couldn’t help. “I’ll go easy on you.”

She chuckled, a throaty sound, then arched an eyebrow and said, “I hope not.”

Aiden hovered over her, feeling the happiest he’d felt in…God. Ages. Just being with her like this, completely bared, and joking, and smiling—it was all he could ever want.

He coaxed her legs open with his knee and leaned into her, massaging her entrance with the tip of his arousal. Sadie clutched on to his shoulders, her smile fading as she pulled in a short breath. Aiden leaned on his elbows, threaded his hands through her hair and watched her closely as he slid in an inch.

Sadie closed her eyes and threw her head back. Her cheeks were pink, her lips swollen from his kisses. She was the most beautiful thing he’d seen, maybe ever. Aiden pulsed within her, gritting his teeth and wondering how the hell he’d hold out long enough for her to come first. He was halfway there already.

Clenching his jaw, he slid into her another inch and Sadie gripped his shoulders, her nails digging into the flesh of his back. He held himself tightly in check, grinding his teeth into dust and reminding himself that a gentleman should last longer than a few hot seconds. He slid in a little farther…then a little farther, agony and excitement merging into one.

Sadie emitted a soft cry, her eyebrows pinching together, and Aiden halted, afraid he’d hurt her, gone too fast too soon. He loved her too much to go any farther if she was ready to stop. He cradled her face in his hands and through a harsh breath managed to ask, “Do you need me to stop?”

Sadie’s eyes flew open, fire sparking in their dark depths. She grabbed on to the back of neck and hauled him closer, and gave him the best warning of his life.

“Don’t you dare.”

*  *  *

Sadie didn’t think a dimple could cause an orgasm…until Aiden’s mouth curved into a half smile and the divot appeared on the side of his cheek.

But before she could unravel, he sealed his mouth over hers and kissed her. Distracting her with his tongue, he slid in to the hilt in one, smooth motion, effectively shifting her focus to the sensation of the absolute fullness, the absolute rightness of Aiden being inside her. It was nothing like she’d ever imagined. Nothing like she’d ever dreamed.

He’d been right about one thing. This wasn’t “just sex” at all.

Aiden froze above her, his breathing high and tight. “Okay?” he asked, nodding his encouragement. She wondered if he could speak more than that one word, because she didn’t know if she could speak any.

Sadie nodded instead. She was more than okay. The slight pain had faded, replaced with so much pleasure she wouldn’t ask him to stop if the tree house caught fire. Not right away, anyway.

He backed out slowly and, just as slowly, slid back in while Sadie made noises she hoped sounded like approval. She didn’t know how Aiden had been so sure, but she was beginning to think he was right. She was a screamer.

She dug her heels into the backs of his solid thighs, urging him forward at every thrust. Gauging her reactions, he kept his eyes on hers, his hands on the side of her face as he pumped into her, quicker and quicker. She lifted her hips to accommodate all of him, knowing on some basic level that no one else could have felt this good, this right. Knowing she’d waited for the right moment, the right man. This man.