“I enjoy you, Ella.”
Before she could answer, he picked her up as if she weighed nothing and headed toward the bedroom, carrying her over his shoulder. Uh oh. They were really doing this.
No sooner did she have the thought than his hand came down solidly on her ass. She registered the smack of his hand and the shock of pain, and once again, ache turned into something else, something that had her moaning as desire floated her higher.
“No thinking,” he said, easing her onto the bed, her back against her mound of pillows. “But yeah, we’re really doing this,” he said.
“How did you know what I was thinking?”
“You said it out loud,” he said, shakin
g his head and laughing at the same time.
And wasn’t that a sight, Tyler Dare, standing in her bedroom, grinning down at her while he unbuttoned his shirt. At that point, she had no problem letting her thoughts drift away as she studied the work of art that was his golden chest, sprinkled with dark hair that tapered into the waistband of his black jeans. He shucked the shirt, revealing sculpted, muscled abs and arms.
When she’d been with him last, he’d been young, hot, yes, chiseled from the Army, definitely. But the man in front of her now was all grown up, defined in ways she’d yet to comprehend. He was gorgeous, and for the moment, anyway, he was all hers.
His hands came to his pants, and he worked open the button, repeating the process of removal just as he’d done with her, taking his underwear off along with the jeans. And then she lost her breath.
His erection was solid, proudly stretching out before her. This time she had no comparison. They’d been young, frantic, and all the work had been done under the covers. Now she could look her fill, and as she did, her body softened for him, a deep-seated yearning and need for him she’d kept hidden coming to the surface.
No! She desperately fought back the emotions that struggled to be released, because she’d always felt more for Tyler. But she couldn’t afford anything beyond lust. Not this time. Not again.
Lust was safe, and she gave herself over to it, pushing herself back against the pillows and bravely spreading her legs. “Are you going to stand there? Or join me?” she asked.
An amused smirk lifted the corners of his mouth. “Do you think for one second you’re in charge?”
Having let go of her emotional fears, at least for as long as this lasted, she bent one leg and stared up at him. “I’m not?” she asked cheekily.
“Not by a long shot,” he said, his gloriously naked body finally covering hers.
She closed her eyes and drank him in, absorbing his heat, memorizing the feel of his legs tangled with hers, his chest hair abrading her sensitive nipples, the warmth of his lips against her cheek … and the strength and force of his erection pressing directly against her sex. Because she never knew if this would happen again, this time she wanted to forget fear and anxiety and memorize every last touch, stroke, and moment of being in his arms.
He reached up with one hand, grabbing a handful of pillows and tossing them to the floor, letting her head fall back against the mattress. “There.” Bracing his hands on either side of her head, he levered himself over her, the only part of his body touching hers, his thick cock.
“Tyler,” she moaned as his length drifted lazily back and forth over her clit, arousing her but not hard enough to take her where she wanted to go, which was up and over the edge she was riding.
“I fucking love hearing my name coming from that sexy mouth of yours,” he said, closing his lips over hers and devouring her with a passion he’d been holding back.
He thrust his tongue inside her willing mouth and mimicked the sexual act she desperately desired while grinding his hips against hers, circling his groin over her clit, and finally allowing her to build toward a peak.
She arched her hips, meeting his moves and creating some of her own, every electrified glide of his erection spreading her juices over them both. She was breathing hard and could feel how quickly she was escalating toward climax. Waves started to pound at her, bring her close, so close, and suddenly he grabbed her hands, sliding them up and over her head.
He broke the kiss, stopped moving, and stared down at her intently.
“No,” she cried out as the rush receded, leaving her empty and hanging. “Why did you stop?”
“Because when you have that orgasm, I’m going to be buried in that wet pussy of yours. So quick conversation.”
Reality flooded back along with the embarrassing memories of the past.
“Tell me you’re on fucking birth control,” Tyler said, his handsome face contorted with anger, and she scrambled to get away, fighting his body’s hold on her and the fact that he wouldn’t let her go.
* * *
“Fuck,” Tyler muttered, the sudden panic on Ella’s face cluing him in that he’d crossed some line.
She squirmed beneath him, obviously desperate for escape, something he couldn’t, wouldn’t let happen. “Stop!” he said, trying his most commanding tone while bracing his legs over hers in an attempt to keep her beneath him.