Cannon sat across from Yasmine at her kitchen table while she graded papers. They’d been dating for over a month now, and he’d never felt so relaxed with a woman in such a short time frame. She’d made him take breaks and just have fun. He’d lived in Nashville for almost two years and had never ventured out much as far as site seeing because he was there for medical school. Thanks to her spontaneous nature, they’d been to the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens, the Nashville Zoo, and the Opryland Museum. She’d suggested a country music concert just for the fun of it, but instead they went to a traveling carnival where he felt like a kid again eating corn dogs and funnel cakes as well as riding roller coasters and Ferris wheels.

He was supposed to be studying for an upcoming test on Monday about anatomy, but he was more concerned about her anatomy. His eyes kept straying to her face, and inhaling her perfume that smelled like a mixture of apples and pears. When she’d returned downstairs from her shower earlier, he’d been mesmerized by her mint-green nightgown, which was why he could no longer concentrate. It wasn’t sexy lingerie, but it was hot on her with spaghetti straps that kept falling off of her soft shoulders and little pink ribbons around the hem that stopped mid thigh. Before she sat back down, she’d dropped her red pen and bent over to pick it up, exposing pink boy shorts that fit her cute butt like a glove and toned thighs he needed to get in between.

“Shouldn’t you be studying?” Yasmine asked with her reading glasses pulled down on her nose.

“I am. I could study you all day and all night and never get tired.”

“I can believe that since you never sleep.” She closed her folder of graded papers and took off her glasses.

“I know. I guess when I start my residency in a few years, I’ll be able to stay up all night. Maybe even pull a double.”

She smiled and said softly, “I’m glad you’re here.” She rose from the table. “I’m still trying to get used to this townhouse. Do you want some more coffee?”

He wanted something all right, and it damn sure wasn’t coffee. He wanted her on the kitchen table, on the island, against the wall, on the chair. Wherever she would let him have her so he could hear her soft moans when he was slow and gentle and her passionate screams when he was fast and rough.

No, I can’t. Not yet. Too soon. Right? Everything with her felt right and grounded, but he didn’t want to rush things.

Before he could consult his conscience any further, she placed her gaze on him and gave him a smile so amazing that any other questions he may have had for himself were thrown out the window. He needed her with a hunger so fierce it shook him.

Driven on a steadfast urge, he went to her and crushed her to him so fast, she let out a startled moan that he quickly muffled with his lips.

He kissed her hard, taunting her lips with his; her mouth succulent and soft. He was in control of their kiss, overpowering her warm, willing mouth as she sighed against his lips and reached for his head to pull him further into her. The moment their lips touched, all the reasons why he shouldn’t proceed escaped him. Instead, all of the explanations why he should make love to her overtook him and blazed within him so deep, it created a surge that rippled through his being and into her.

She responded to his kiss as if she’d been waiting for this moment to happen as well. He loved how perfect she felt in his embrace, her soft hands caressing his face and neck. He deepened the kiss even more, and she shuddered, letting out a muffled moan while her mouth vibrated against his. Heat flared in his gut, and he let out a profound groan while an intense flood of aching desire completely consumed him.