He pushed up her T-shirt and helped to ease it over her head. “Mmm, so sexy.”

Sam crossed her arms over breasts.

He moved her arms aside to kiss and caress her breasts before he finally sucked her nipple into the heat of his mouth while running his tongue over it. The sensations zinged through her body, gathering in a tight throb of need between her legs. “Nick,” she said, gasping and squirming beneath him.

“Not so fast, my love. First, you’re going to take your punishment for making me suffer.”

“Wha… What? Punishment?”

“You heard me.”

She sagged into the mattress. “I thought you wanted birthday-level treatment.”

“We’ll get there. Eventually.”

Resigned to being tortured in the best way possible, she grasped handfuls of the sheet and held on for dear life. When her husband set his mind to sensual torture, there was no point in fighting him.

Nick breathed a sigh of relief that they’d gotten through that conversation without a big fight. He’d been spoiling for one when he got home and discovered she was still out there somewhere, unprotected and vulnerable to those who’d harm her just because she was married to him. Between his worries about her and the baffling incident with Ruskin, he’d been wound up tighter than he’d been in a long time.

Until she walked into the room, safe, sexy and perfectly imperfect. Just that quickly, the fight had gone out of him, replaced by gratitude for her safety. This time. He was under no illusions that they’d completely solved the problem, but he took her at her word when she promised to allow a detail going forward.

He never wanted to treat her the way her first husband had, but he couldn’t back down when it came to her safety. However, he didn’t need to think about any of that now that she was naked and soft and sexy as she tried to move him along. Always impatient, his Samantha. The more she tried to rush him, the more inclined he was to slow down. He placed kisses on her abdomen, smiling when goose bumps erupted on her skin.

He loved the way she gasped and struggled against the arm he had across her hips, holding her down so she couldn’t get away as he moved down to prop her legs on his shoulders.

“Nick.”

“Shhh.”

“Come on…”

She was so easily annoyed, not that he minded that. All her rough edges made her who she was, and he loved everything about her.

He ran his tongue over her most sensitive flesh, making her tremble in response as he sucked on her clit and drove his fingers into her. She came hard. He gave her no time to recover before he took her up again, letting her linger this time right at the precipice. Then he backed off, withdrew completely and kissed her inner thigh.

“You’re being so mean,” she said, her breathing choppy.

“How so?” He had to fight the urge to laugh at her incensed tone. “By my count, you owe me one.”

“You know what you’re doing—and you’re doing it on purpose.”

“Yes, I am, so be quiet and take it like the badass boss you are.”

“Revenge is a bitch, and so am I.”

“You don’t scare me.”

“Now you’re just pissing me off.”

“Just now I am? I need to work on my technique.”

Her low growl made him laugh. Since her eyes were closed, that was the perfect time to bite down on her nipple as he pushed his fingers into her again, curling them to hit the magic spot that made her crazy every time. He had her on the verge of another climax when he stopped again.

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I really do.”