Her luck just sucked. Strike three for her in the romance department.

Miranda turned and stared up at Cain’s hard features.

Good-looking, yes. Undeniably so. Sexy. With those gleaming eyes and that sinful mouth. But there was power there, too. In the lines of his face. In the strong brow, the square jaw.

His head lowered toward hers.

Her lips parted.

“You didn’t know what he was, did you?”

“No.” A whisper.

“A lamb to the slaughter,” he muttered and his mouth tightened.

“What?”

His hands wrapped around her upper arms. She was pinned between him and the bathroom counter. He stepped closer, bringing his body flush against hers.

His aroused body. Miranda sucked in a sharp breath when she felt the heat of his erection pressing against her.

“You have to be more careful.” His body felt good against hers. Right. His voice was soft when he said, “You never know what’s out there, just waiting to take a bite out of you.” His gaze dropped to her lips. “And you are so damn tempting.”

“Cain—”

His lips took hers. The kiss was hot, wild. His tongue pushed past the entrance of her mouth, thrust against hers. She responded instantly, heat flaring through her body as her tongue met his.

He lifted her, settling her along the edge of the countertop, then his hands were on her thighs.

And still he kissed her. Tasted her.

His fingers curled around her thighs. Her sex began to quiver and her mouth became more demanding against his.

He spread her legs with his grip. Settled his hips in the cradle of her body, and Miranda arched toward him, feeling the hard length of his jeans-covered cock against her sex.

Talk about a temptation.

She wondered what it would be like to strip those jeans off him. To yank off her own pants and underwear. Flesh to flesh. Sex to sex.

Her fingers dug into his shoulders.

Cain ripped his mouth from hers. Stared down at her with blazing eyes. “I can smell your desire.”

What? Was he—

“Your scent is fucking driving me wild. . . .” He kissed her again. Harder. With need and with a stark possession.

Her breasts pushed against his chest. The nipples were tight, pebble-hard. She wanted his hands on them. His mouth.

God, when was the last time she’d been this turned on by a kiss?

Certainly not with either of her two ex-fiancés. Or the handful of men she’d dated in the past year.

She was literally panting now. Squirming against him, her sex creaming.

And all the guy had done was kiss her.

But he was making her need so much. Building a fierce, wild lust within her.

His hands drifted up her thighs. Squeezed the flesh. Caressed. So close to the center of her need. So close. Just a few inches more—

Cain pulled away fromher and Miranda could have snarled in frustration.

“You—shit, you don’t want this now.”

Her body did.

“You’ve been through hell tonight.” His hands clenched, and Miranda noticed that his face looked a little different. Tighter. Sharper.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you, not now.”

But she’d wanted him to, and she was woman enough to admit it. “You—you don’t have to apologize.” She’d wanted his mouth on her, still did. But with his withdrawal, that damn sanity—and its friend control—were coming back.

His gaze bored into hers. “There’s something here, between us. Make no mistake about it.”

A nod was her only reply because Miranda didn’t trust herself to speak just then.

“Things aren’t ending here. They’re just starting.” Those golden eyes raked down her body and she saw the lust that flared in his gaze. “And you should know that I always finish what I start.”

Good to know. Her heart was drumming too hard and way too fast against her chest. Her fingers clamped over the edge of the countertop. The urge to reach out to him was strong, but now wasn’t the time.

Not yet.

“Get some sleep.” He turned toward the door, hesitated. “If you need me—”

Oh, but she did.

“—for anything, I’m just down the hallway.”

He’d be waiting in bed.

She exhaled heavily.

Then he was gone and Miranda was left alone with the hunger he’d stirred within her.

He smelled her as he slept. The sweet, tantalizing scent of female flesh. The rich temptation of her sex’s cream.

He’d had her within his grasp. Moaning. Twisting against him. Breasts close enough to kiss. Sex close enough to touch.

And he’d let her go.

With his eyes still closed, Cain reached out and caught the sheets in his hands. A faint ripping filled the air and he swore, knowing that his claws had slashed the fabric.

But his control was weak. Because she was so close. And because despite the performance he’d given earlier, he sure wasn’t a gentleman.

He was much more of a taker and he definitely wanted to take Miranda.

The perfume of honeysuckle and woman grew stronger in the air. Cain tensed.

Then he heard the soft creak of the wooden floor.

His cock, already half-erect, begin to swell in anticipation.

She was coming to him.

He’d tossed and turned for hours thinking of her, caught in a world of fantasies and feverish dreams and she was coming to him.

His eyes opened. He could see her perfectly even in the darkness of the room. She stood silhouetted in the doorway, clad in one of his oversized white T-shirts. Her legs were bare.