“Where do you think, Lucky?” I walk quickly to the stairs, then jog up, and damn, does it feel good to be using my arms like this. “Any ideas in that pretty little head?”

Glaring at me, her eyes sparkling with mischief and delight, Clover drops a kiss to my lips as I get us up the stairs.

“Why, Mr. Lowe, are you taking me to bed?” There’s a hint of a faux Southern accent to her voice, another tease, and I can’t help but laugh.

“First things first, Lucky.” I keep my voice low, not wanting to wake up Darby. “You’ve got a punishment to take for being such a brat.”

Her cheeks flare, and I’ll admit that even I’m a little surprised by the intensity of the moment. But there’s something about her, about my sweet little Clover, that makes my blood heat, my body hunger for hers.

I want to play this game with her, test how far she’ll let me go, and I know that Clover is looking to test my limits as well.

With wide eyes, Clover squeezes her arms around my neck tighter and levels me with a heated stare.

“I bet you’re all talk, Ace. You sure you don’t need to give that arm a rest?”

“Oh, ho, ho,” I growl through a laugh, ravenous energy swirling through my blood. “You’re going to get it now.”

Once we reach the bedroom, I open things up only to shut the door gently as Clover tries to distract me with kisses. I fumble with the lock on the door, but I get it secured and then carry her over to the small armchair I have parked in the corner by the window.

Setting Clover on her feet, I gesture at the chair with my head. “Sit.”

“Make me.” She smirks, folding her arms over her chest.

“Very well.”

I step up to her, forcing her down into a seat on the chair. Next, I kneel in front of her, gliding my hands up her legs.

It’s been especially hot, and she’s wearing a pair of those infuriating cut-off shorts. The frayed edges stretch around her perky ass, and when I reach the waistband, I go for the button, popping it out of the fabric.

“Hey, and just what do you think you’re doing?”

Clover eyes me, her stare lit up, and a smirk stretched over her face. I don’t answer with words, just use my hands to press her back into the chair so that I can get at the zipper.

I pull it down, then grip the bottoms of her shorts, sliding them down her legs. She doesn’t fight me, but when the denim is hanging on her foot, Clover kicks it up gently so that it wacks me in the face.

Letting the shorts fall to the floor, I glare down at her, cocking my head as she just smiles—all fake innocence designed to taunt me.

“What?”

A growl slips through my lips, and I inch closer, yanking Clover up by the thin fabric of the plaid button-down she’s wearing. It’s a habit I know she picked up from me, and dammit, I love the look of it on her.

Still…naked is better.

The buttons on her shirt actually snap, and as soon as Clover is seated upright, I grip the two halves of her top and tear it open. She yelps, this delightful squeal that goes straight to my cock, and then I’ve got this beautiful woman in just her underwear for me.

“Lay back.”

Clover doesn’t move, and I have to admit that this back-and-forth we have—just like we’ve done all this time when we talk to each other—feels so right, so natural.

I push her backward, a finger on each shoulder, and then I take a moment to admire what I’m looking at.

She’s wearing a tiny bra—if you can even call it that—and the pale pink fabric is so thin, so sparse, that I really don’t believe it deserves that distinction.

It’s covering her nipples, which I suppose is all that matters, and I’ll admit that the way it only just covers the slight curves ofher breasts is alluring, making me that much more hungry to get a taste of what’s behind it.

Clover’s panties match, a pale pink color with the same lacey decorations. They’re shaped like her shorts, too, curving around the swell of her ass so that just the sweetest little taste of her skin is revealed.

“Goddamn, the things I want to do to you.”