Marissa Walker eased open the front door and stepped into her house. Slipping off her shoes, she hung her purse on the hook next to Billy's chef's coat. She padded into the kitchen and grabbed two flutes and the bottle of champagne Joel, their boss, had given them for their fifth anniversary a few weeks ago. Then she tiptoed down the hall and noticed indigo light spilling under their bedroom door. Maybe Billy was still awake, watching TV.

Quietly turning the crystal knob, she inched open the door and peeked inside.

Billy sat up on the bed clutching his chest. "Jeez, honey. You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing home so early?"

She stepped inside and set the glasses and wine on the night table, tamping down the disappointment that he hadn't seemed excited to see her. "Joel cut me loose early. He offered to close down the kitchen for me." She scanned the area around the phone for any telltale signs that Billy had been gambling again--those little scraps of paper where he wrote odds or team names.

No! I refuse to go there.

He'd sworn on his mother's grave that he'd quit, and she had to trust him. If they didn't have trust, what did they have? Now he crawled across the bed like a tiger on the prowl. "Champagne, huh?" A wicked grin lifted one corner of his mouth. "What are we celebrating?"

"Both of us being home before midnight." She turned her back on him to open the wine. As she popped the cork, she heard him get off the bed.

He moved behind her, kissed the top of her head. "Mm. You smell like chocolate. What have you been up to?"

She dared not ask him the same question. Learn to trust him. "I was experimenting with a mole sauce. I think you'll like it."

He reached around her, opened her chef's jacket and snuck his hands inside the front. A zing of desire upped her temperature a dozen degrees. As she poured the champagne, he cupped her breasts and rolled her nipples between his fingers. He rubbed his hard cock against her back.

"You're going to make me spill this." But she didn't want him to stop. He knew all the ways she loved to be touched. She turned to face him. His hair was damp, and he smelled like soap and his piney shampoo.

Raking a smoky stare over her body, he lifted her coat from her shoulders and let it drop to the floor. "Take your clothes off." His voice was low and throaty, full of command and need.

Without a sound, she lifted her undershirt over her head and shucked off her pants and underwear. Billy slid his hands around her, squeezed her ass and forced her closer. "I love you, Marissa. You're the sexiest woman on the planet."

Electricity ricocheted between them. Her nipples hardened to painful points as she drew a ragged breath infused with his clean scent. He covered her mouth with his and kissed her greedily. Her eyelids slipped shut as she savored his minty taste. Yearning pooled in her veins when he lifted her onto the dresser.

Stepping between her knees, he threaded his fingers through her hair and deepened his kiss, sucked her tongue into his mouth. She ran her hands along his back, lingered over corded muscle and velvety skin.

He broke the kiss and pinned her with a meaningful stare. "How do we get through every day without ripping off each other's clothes?"

Grinning, she hooked her legs around him and nudged him closer. "We haven't made it through every day. Remember that time last summer, in the broom closet?"

"Mm-hmm." He nibbled on her neck. "We do well in tight spaces." Getting on his knees, he planted soft kisses on her belly, trailed down to her inner thighs. "Speaking of tight places...."

Her whole body vibrated with pent-up need as he rasped his thumb over her swollen sex. Gripping the edge of the dresser, she hissed out a breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Her hips writhed as her juices started flowing.

"I can't wait to taste your sweet sex." He slid his tongue along her folds, strummed her clit, and teased one finger inside her entrance. Then another. Her intimate muscles contracted and throbbed as she moved against his fingers. He rubbed flesh over bone, ramping up her pleasure. She automatically squeezed tighter, increased her rhythm. Moans of pleasure collected in her throat, slipping out as faint cries begging him not to stop.

Billy rolled her sensitive nub, sucked it into his mouth as his long fingers explored her slick depths. After years together, he knew just what it took to intensify her desire. She held her breath as every nerve ending in her body hummed with growing intensity. Ecstasy crashed through her with the force of an earthquake, catapulting her over the edge to satisfaction. Wave after blissful wave wracked her body. She grabbed handfuls of his hair in her fists as she murmured his name, again and again.

As her orgasm receded, Billy carried her to their bed and laid her down. He lowered his mouth to one breast, and with his fingers plucked the nipple of the other one. His whiskers scratched at her delicate skin, heightened her senses. Stroking his tongue over her distended nipple, he groaned, deep and low, an animal sound that turned up her temperature even more.

He rubbed his iron-hard erection over her clit, tearing a needy moan from her. "I've got to have you, baby. My sweet, tight baby."

Marissa pulled herself up to her knees and patted the mattress beside her. His sultry grin told her that was exactly what he wanted. He climbed onto the bed and sat with his back against the headboard. "You're so beautiful, baby."

"So are you." She straddled his lap and curled her fingers into his shoulders, rubbed her engorged sex against his rigid flesh, drawing a hungry growl. Her juices slid along his cock and her pussy begged to be filled.

He reached into the night table drawer for a condom and quickly slid it on. Then he grasped her ass and positioned her over him. She lowered herself onto his hard shaft and took him in, but not all the way. His fingers dug into her skin as he urged her to take more of him inside.

"I don't know if I can handle all of you, lover." It was a game they'd always played.

"I bet you can. There's lots more where that came from." He thrust harder, easing further inside her. She took him deeper and deeper with each stroke. She reached around and stroked his balls, just the way he liked.

He gripped her ass, kneading the flesh as a low moan rumbled in the back of his throat. Hot liquid pleasure slicked her insides and built to a heavenly pressure until she convulsed in another orgasm. It pulsed through her in surges of bliss. She rode his cock as stars swam before her eyes. Breathless and throbbing, she concentrated on Billy's building intensity.

He closed his hands around her waist, guided her movements, faster and harder. Each thrust grew more urgent. She watched his face constrict as she rocked against him, directing their pleasure. He bucked beneath her, drove relentlessly into her depths.

She quickened her pace as he sank his fingers into her flesh, his face contorted with bliss. He gave one final thrust, then let out a low groan. She collapsed onto his shoulders, panting and sweating, exhausted but perfectly satisfied.

She loved him more than anything, and she needed him as much as she needed air and water. They stayed there, each part of the other for several minutes, basking in pleasure's embers. Then Billy reached to the night table for a glass of champagne. "Want some?" he offered.

It was water she craved now. Easing herself off of him, she grabbed her robe from the end of the bed. "I'll be right back." She headed down the hallway toward the kitchen. Behind her, she heard Billy go into the bathroom and shut the door.

When the phone rang, she glanced at the kitchen clock. Who would call at nearly eleven pm? She poured herself a glass of water and listened as the machine picked up.

"Billy boy, it's me, Kenny. You know the friggin' Falcons lost Sunday night. You owe me three hundred and I don't want none of your wife's crap jewelry this time. Pay up, dude, or you can forget the bet you placed on tomorrow's Dolphins game."

She froze as her world started tumbling down. Billy had taught her every flavor of disappointment, but this was the most bitter. He'd promised anything and everything if she'd only try to trust him. Well she had, and look where it got her.

His footsteps behind her suddenly halted. "Baby, it's not what you--"

She buried her face in her hands. "Get out. I don't ever want to see you again."

"Marissa, I--"

She looked up and flung her hand toward the door. "Out!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Please, honey, listen--"

"Get out!"

He didn't argue. He went back to the bedroom, and she heard dresser drawers opening and closing as he packed.

She was through with Billy Walker. She watched him walk out the door, suitcase in hand, and made a vow. Never again would she be a fool for love.