“How are you feeling?” he asked her.
“The nausea’s almost completely gone. I’m just really tired.” As if on cue, she yawned, and he forced himself to try to relax.
He listened to the sound of her breathing even out, and soon she’d fallen asleep. It took Cole another hour before his heart rate evened out and he chilled out enough to get drowsy with her in his arms, and at least another thirty minutes before he finally drifted off.
• • •
Erin awoke, her body plastered against a hard male one. She knew at once where she was, who she was with. She shifted and registered the fact that her silky boxers had ridden up her leg and she was brazenly rubbing against Cole’s hard, muscular thigh. Mini explosions ignited inside her as she climbed a steady peak that felt so good. Mortified, she immediately stopped wriggling, and the delicious sensations pouring through her body receded.
She wanted to weep at the loss.
They were generating so much heat. The kind that was impossible to resist. And they were living together. More important, and as she’d pointed out to him, she felt safe here in his arms. She didn’t care if it was temporary; she wanted him and she knew he still wanted her. Even the good girl inside her accepted that something had to give between them sooner or later.
Why not sooner?
Her overly hormonal body craved not just sex, but sex with this man, and she no longer wanted to deny herself. Drawing a deep breath, she ran her hands over his bare chest, following the same path with her lips, hoping he’d wake up and accept what she was freely offering.
She inhaled, breathing in the musky scent of his skin, and memories of another night assailed her, memories of him taking her hard and fast. That night he’d been in control.
This moment was all on her. She slid her fingers beneath the elastic of his briefs and wrapped her hand around his rigid shaft. Steel covered in silk, she thought, marveling at the magnificent feel of him. This was exactly what she wanted. What she needed.
She slid her thumb over the head and moisture slickened her finger. He jerked in her grasp and her hips writhed in response.
“What the hell?” He bolted upright in bed and caught her gaze. “Erin.” His tone held a serious warning.
“Mmm?” She pulled down the comforter with her free hand, then pushed at his briefs, wanting them gone.
“We shouldn’t do this again,” he said, his voice thick with arousal.
She paused and looked up, knowing from his gruff tone he was fighting with himself and his desire. “Why not? It’s not like you can get me pregnant.”
His eyes darkened. “You’re going to be the death of me,” he muttered.
“But what a death it’ll be,” she teased, tugging on his briefs once more, urging more action and less speech.
He held his body stiff, drawing her attention. “As long as you understand that I’m here for you and the baby, but as far as the future I don’t . . . I mean, I can’t give you—”
“Happily ever after,” she said before he could put his own spin on things.
“Exactly.” He breathed out, sounding relieved, and shifting his gaze away from hers. “I have a job that takes me away for long stretches of time. It’s dangerous and I just don’t—”
Erin didn’t need to hear any more about why he couldn’t provide her with the family she craved. Instead she pulled her pride around her like armor. “What makes you think I’d want that kind of future from you anyway?” she asked, deliberately nonchalant.
Which was true, for right now. Combustible chemistry and joint parenthood weren’t enough to base a lifetime commitment on.
But the fact that he already knew he wouldn’t want her that way hurt.
More than it should. So she pushed the thought out of her mind and focused on the present and on him.
“Lift your hips,” she said, and was shocked when he complied.
She drew his briefs down his muscular legs and tossed them aside. When she came up next to him once more, she found him propped on his elbows, waiting. For her.
Completely nude, his erection now freed, he was hard and big and all hers.
“Be careful what you wish for,” he said, studying her until her face flushed with heat.
He thought she was uncomfortable? That she’d change her mind? Then he probably forgot the woman she’d become that night. Emboldened by her memories, she ran her finger down his long, hot length until he shuddered.