“Don’t tell me to settle! You just stole my pillows!”

I pushed away.

His arm got tighter.

I pushed harder, putting my full body into it.

His other hand came to my hip and held on.

I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and pulled it way.

His wrist twisted and then his fingers wrapped around my wrist.

Thus began The Tussle.

I had no chance in heck of winning but it didn’t stop me from trying.

There was a lot of grunting (Hector and me), some sharp cries (all me), panting (mostly me), rolling (both of us), more rolling… still more rolling. Then it changed from being all about limb maneuvering, strategy and strength to being about getting as close as physically possible, tasting, touching, kissing and even biting (me again).

He yanked off my pajama bottoms and panties. I tugged off his sweatpants. Then we went back at each other like there were ten seconds left before the whole of planet earth was going to explode.

Finally, I ended up on my back, my legs wrapped around his h*ps while he drove deep inside me, our mouths touching but we weren’t kissing, just breathing heavily. The delicious anticipation was hitting critical mass in my body, my nails tore up his back, he groaned against my mouth at the same precise second his last, deep thrust caused the sweet tension to release and explode and I gasped against his lips.

When we were both finished, his weight settled on me, his heat surrounded me, he stayed deep inside me, we were both panting and he rested his forehead against mine, eyes closed.

Then his eyes opened and he said softly, “Christ, Sadie, puttin’ up with you demonstrating how many more ways you can be a pain in the ass was worth every f**kin’ second if that was the end result.”

Someone, please tell me he did not just say that.

“You did not just say that,” I said to him.

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he abruptly switched topics. “Who’d you call?”

I blinked in confusion. “What?”

“In the bathroom.”

Not that it was any of his business, I answered, “Jet.”

“She sort you out?”

I felt my eyes narrow. “Do you want me to be mad at you?”

His h*ps moved slightly and I couldn’t help it, I was still tender, I let out a little moan.

When I was done moaning, he grinned at me wickedly and muttered, “I’m thinkin’, yeah.”

I glared.

His grin died, face and voice now serious, he said, “We gotta get by this, mamita.”

I kept glaring.

Then my mind flashed on the memory of Luke and the security guard forcing Hector away from me in the hospital when he didn’t want to go.

And, even though, if you asked me if I had any instincts, I would have told you no, I pulled them up from wherever they were lying latent and I went with them.

“Other than you, I’ve had two lovers,” I announced and watched his face grow dark and begin to morph toward angry. “No. I don’t want you to share yours. I’m just saying, neither of them, well, they weren’t…” I stopped and then started again, “You need to know, I haven’t let anyone close and tonight you found out why.”

“Maybe you should keep talkin’,” Hector told me, not yet fully morphed into anger, not ready to break into a grin either.

“That man at the bar, who was he?”

Hector’s head cocked impatiently at my off the subject question but he answered, “Knew him. Worked with him briefly. He’s in the business.”

I nodded then I lifted my hand to the side of his face and rested it there.

“What he said to you, about me, knowing you were with me, feeling he was okay to say that… Hector, even when they were beginning, I can’t imagine anyone walking up to Lee and talking that way about Indy. Or Eddie about Jet. Or any of them. But me, Seth Townsend’s daughter.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m fair game.”

I saw an angry but understanding flare before he closed his eyes and my thumb moved to trace his bottom lip. When it did, his eyes opened again and the anger was gone.

“Sadie –”

I talked over him. “Enter Ice Princess. She was the only way to get by when people thought about me like that, talked about me like that guy. Or to me, like Jerry did this morning. I knew it happened, they never said it directly to me because of my father but I heard pieces here and there and I always knew. Until people forget, that’s not going to change, they’re going to think it’s okay –”

“It’s not f**kin’ okay. It wasn’t then and it isn’t now,” Hector broke in sharply and my hand drifted down to cup his jaw.

“No, you’re right, it wasn’t and isn’t. But they’re going to think it is and you can’t beat up every one of them.”

He didn’t say anything, he just stared at me.

So, as usual, I sallied forth.

“What Natalie said freaked me out,” I went on and his gaze darkened again but I shook my head, took my hand from his jaw and wrapped both my arms around him, squeezing his h*ps with my thighs. “Listen to me, Hector, it freaked me out because I was unprepared. I’d had a good day. I’d had a nice meal. I felt safe. I was happy. I wasn’t expecting that. It threw me. If I’d had time to think about it, which I didn’t, I would have worked through it on my own.”

Again, he didn’t respond, at least not verbally.

What he did was much better.

His head dropped and he nuzzled my neck with his nose then his mouth was there and my arms went tighter.

I turned my lips to his ear and whispered, “I won’t wear that skirt again but anything else, Hector, you have to let me be me. And the jerks can be jerks and they can think what they want but we’ll just come home and watch the game.”

Again, he didn’t answer.

Instead, his face came out of my neck and he kissed me, slow and sweet.

And, I figured, with his reaction, my instincts were right.

When his head moved away an inch, he looked in my eyes and asked softly, “Which Sadie is this?”

I felt my mouth form a little grin and I answered honestly, “I’ve no idea. I haven’t met her yet.”

He touched his forehead to mine a nanosecond. Then Smooth Move Hector did a push up, our bodies disconnected but his arm came around my lower back, he lifted me to him until my limbs wrapped tight around his body. His arm went away and he yanked down the covers under us and settled me in the bed. He joined me, snapping the covers back over us. His hands went into my camisole, he tugged it up and off and tossed it to the side of the bed. He finished by rolling us, him to his back, me tucked to his side and he settled the covers up around his stomach and under my armpit.