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replete, he looked sexier than ever. They both breathed heavily for several minutes.
    Natalie recovered first. Now with the gripping need temporarily eased, talking might actually be possible. Not that she looked forward to it, but she knew she couldn’t dodge Jett without looking ridiculous. “Mmm. Much better.”
    Expression warm, his touch light and easy, he bent to kiss her mouth. “God,” he whispered, “you’re beautiful.”
    Natalie smiled. “I was about to say the same.”
    Eyes so dark they looked black in the dim light of his bedroom glittered with amusement. On other men, such long, black lashes might look effeminate; on Jett, they only emphasized his rugged masculinity.
    He put his forehead to hers. “If you think I’m beautiful, then you must have come harder than I thought.”
    She chuckled. Now this talk she was used to; they often indulged in silly sexual banter before she slipped away from his apartment.
    Natalie looped her arms around his neck. “You are beautiful, Jett Sutter. All over.” She touched his jaw and realized she hadn’t given him time to shave before coming over to knock. “It’s a rugged beauty made up of oh-so-sexy eyes, a rock-solid bod and tons of irresistible charm.”
    “Irresistible, huh? I like the sound of that.” He lowered himself down against her, and that sort of squished her boobs, leaving them plumped up high on her chest. He bent to kiss the top of each one. “Trust me, honey, I have no complaints about your body, either.”
    A safe enough topic. Being philosophical, she said, “Most men like big boobs.”
    He didn’t smile when he looked into her eyes. “I like you, so your bra size wouldn’t matter.”
    “I see. So…” Natalie tried not to grin at him as she shimmied her shoulders, making her breasts jiggle. “These aren’t something you noticed right off?”
    Still too serious, he said, “I did, sure. You, Natalie Alexander, are extraordinarily stacked.” He toyed with her hair, letting one long ringlet twine around his finger. “But I also noticed your reserve and the way your incredible hair sort of dances when you walk.”
    Her hair was like dandelion fluff on humid days, but she enjoyed the compliment all the same.
    “I noticed your smile and your pretty brown eyes that are always so sincere. How you greet every neighbor inthe building and how you talk to yourself when you’re trying to remember things.”
    Wow, that sounded as though he’d been plenty observant. “I talk to myself?”
    He traced her lips with a fingertip. “You do, usually when you first get home. You come across the parking lot, arms loaded down with books and bags, and you say things to yourself, like Check the mail, get the chicken out of the freezer, call Molly, sort the tests. ” As if he couldn’t resist, he bent to her mouth for a soft but sensual kiss. “Things like that. Mental note-taking, I guess.”
    “I had no idea.” But it sounded like the things she worked to remember each and every day.
    “Molly is your sister, right?”
    He’d admitted to snooping into her background, and now she knew he’d listened to her inane mumblings. Her defensiveness came crawling back in on her, but she tried to sound playful rather than offended. “You mean a supersleuth like you doesn’t already know the answer to that?”
    Sighing, he eased away from her and sat up.
    Natalie realized that, without the use of a condom, she was on the…messy side. It was a novel thing for her. She’d never had sex without a rubber. She’d never before wanted to.
    Being a sensible woman, she took responsibility seriously, and from the day she’d wanted to become sexually active, she’d been very cautious.
    It went beyond that, though.
    Jett was the first man she’d been with long enough, and trusted enough, to want to forgo condoms. Othermen had asked, but her answer was always a resounding “no.” Without the use of a condom, she didn’t have sex.
    Until now. Until Jett.
    With