Free If You Need Me: The Ashford Legacy, Book 1 by Cassi Carver

held as he jetted inside her.
    When it was over, he collapsed on his side and rolled her with him. They were both gasping for air, eye to eye on her queen-sized bed. He brushed her hair back, his expression intent. “What did you say?”
    Her body felt so buoyant that she giggled. How the hell was she supposed to remember what she’d said at a time like this?
    “Oh jeez, I don’t know. Was it embarrassing? ‘You’re the man’ or something?” That was probably too mild for how out of her mind she’d been. “Sorry. I guess you already know I can talk fairly dirty when my filter is off.”
    He smiled and a small laugh huffed from his nose. “No. It was nothing. I thought you said you loved me for a minute.”
    She cuddled into the circle of his arms. “Oh nice. Yeah, crazy Texafornian tells guy she loves him during their first time. That would be classic.”
    Holy shit. She couldn’t do much more than play it off now. It was totally possible that in the heat of the moment she’d lost her head and let her heart say exactly what it was feeling.
    He laughed, but it was a tired sound. She must have worn him out. “Yeah, crazy,” he answered.
    Kyle tightened his arms around her and held her close, wedging her naked body snug against his and sliding a nearby pillow under their heads. When she stirred at some point in the night, he’d wrapped a blanket around them and still held her body in his grip. And when it came to being in his grip…her heart knew the feeling.

Chapter Seven
    Rayna woke to the sound of something crashing in the kitchen and scanned the bed for Kyle. Either he was planning to surprise her, or he was being mugged in her front room. She’d lost the ability to be overly jumpy after the amazing night she’d had, so she stretched out on the bed, making a wide X across the mattress with her happy—if slightly achy—limbs.
    The door opened and Kyle poked his head in. He was already dressed for the day. “Sorry. Everything’s okay. Did I wake you?”
    It felt so naughty to be spread out naked under the covers while Kyle was dressed and bustling about. She smiled and patted the bed beside her. “I can close my eyes and pretend you didn’t if you’d like a chance to do it properly.”
    “Don’t tempt me.” His laugh was a rumbly growl. He walked over and planted a morning kiss on Rayna’s lips that left her breathless.
    “Mmmm…” She toyed with her bottom lip, tasting something minty from his kiss. “Are you sure?”
    “Somebody get me a thesaurus,” he called to the four walls. “I’m sure I’ll find Rayna Sommers under the Insatiable Temptress heading.”
    Her lips puffed into a pout. “It’s not me; it’s the company I’m keeping that makes me this way.”
    “Yeah, sure, Erotica Girl,” he teased. “But seriously, I have breakfast started in the kitchen, and I don’t want to burn it. And then I figured I’d help you tube-feed Bratty, if you’re up for it.”
    “Aww, that’s…suspiciously sweet.” He kissed her again, and she watched him walk out—so tall and lean, but those narrow hips and muscled thighs packed a punch. She had the swollen nether regions to prove it. “You know,” she called after him, “if you’re trying to earn your way into my bed, you’re going the wrong way.”
    When she heard his laughter down the hall, she sighed a happy breath and rolled to the side of the bed to sit. Perfect. He was absolutely perfect. And if he wouldn’t get back in bed with her, then she was going to him. She had Kyle here—in the flesh—and she wasn’t going to waste a minute.
    She slipped on a flimsy cotton sundress and walked into the kitchen to join him—then stopped dead in her tracks. She wasn’t OCD clean, by any means, but every counter of her small kitchen was covered in packages, food, pans or cooking utensils. “Wow… You’ve been busy. You already got to the market this morning?”
    He looked over his shoulder, beaming. “Yeah. I left you a note