She smacked his arm. “I can’t believe you gave me a hickey!”
He stared at it with satisfaction. “Looks like you’ve been thoroughly worked over. Where else can I mark you?”
“Don’t you dare!”
He rolled off her, chuckling. Then he pulled her close so her head was resting on his chest and pulled the covers over them. She sighed, feeling relaxed and satisfied.
His hand cupped her ass. “You shouldn’t dare me, you know. That feels like a challenge I can’t back down from.” He gave her ass a squeeze. “I could mark you here.”
Her voice came out shaky. “Don’t you dare.”
“I told you not to dare me,” he said in a voice laced with dark intent.
She felt the moment he was going to move out from under her, but before he could, she looped her arms around his neck and sucked his neck hard. She pulled back and looked at him with satisfaction. “Now we’re even.”
“Ouch,” he said, holding his hand against the side of his neck. It was a good one too. Nice and big. “You sucked a lot harder than I did.”
She laughed.
He shook his head, a small smile playing over his lips. “I love you, Steph.”
She beamed. “I love you too.”
He propped up on one elbow, facing her, and pushed a lock of hair over her ear. “I want a future with you.”
“Aww, I want that too.”
He rubbed her hair between his fingers. “You know before I found out you were married, I’d planned on proposing. I was even researching diamond rings.”
“Oh, Dave," she said over the lump in her throat. "I would’ve said yes if I could have.”
He frowned and looked down before finally saying, “This whole thing with Griffin is really hard for me. I hate it. I really do.”
She stroked his arm. “I know. I wish I’d met you five years ago instead.”
He met her eyes. "If you do marry me some day, I will never, ever leave you. I will always be faithful. You can count on that. I'll spend every day making sure you know just how special you are to me.”
She blinked back tears. "See? If I met you five years ago, it would've saved me years of heartbreak. My life would’ve been so much better with you."
He cursed under his breath. Then he pulled her on top of him and smiled wickedly. “I’m gonna make sure you’re walking funny when you see Griffin tomorrow.”
“I dare you,” she returned.
Famous last words.
Chapter Eight
Steph heard the buzzer the next morning and hit the button to let Griff up. Dave stopped her halfway to the front door with a hand on her arm. “I’ll get it, honey.”
She shot him a look. “No fighting.”
“You should wear your hair up.” He lifted her hair and ran a finger down the side of her neck where he’d marked her.
“No need. Yours is like a flashing neon sign.”
He self-consciously put a hand to his neck. She laughed. He grabbed her, nipping her bottom lip and sucking it into his mouth. She merely pressed herself against him. He had a possessive, jealous streak that brought out the animal in him. She loved it.
Griff knocked. Dave didn’t release her. Instead he slanted his mouth over hers in a hard kiss that had her moaning in his mouth.
Griff knocked again. Dave’s hand slid down her ass and rocked her into him. His tongue was doing a perfect imitation of the hard thrusting he’d treated her to multiple times last night and this morning.
“Steph?” Griff called.
She tore her mouth from Dave’s and went to answer the door. Dave picked her up by the waist and set her down behind him. He pulled open the door. “Hey, Griffin.”
Griff took in Dave’s wet hair, fresh from the shower, his wrinkled T-shirt, jeans, and bare feet. “Ready to go, Steph?” he asked, leaning to look past Dave to Steph.
“Sure, let me just grab my purse.” She stopped in the kitchen where she’d dropped it on the counter and heard Dave in full peacock mode.
“She might be walking a little funny after last night. Right, babe?”
She restrained herself from the eye roll she longed to do. Jealous and possessive was fun in bed, especially the multiple ways Dave wanted to claim her and remind her she was his, but in front of Griff, it was a little embarrassing. She returned to the two men to find Griff, nostrils flaring, in a staring contest with Dave.