He didn’t flinch, finding unexpected comfort in her touch. “Afterward, I felt so out of control. I’d have these horrible nightmares. That I was in the car and being suffocated by wreckage. I’d wake up thrashing and screaming.” Gabe used to shake him back to reality, and he’d be covered in sweat, breathing hard.
He blew out a harsh breath. “That’s what happened this morning. That dream.” He hung his head, not wanting to think about that suffocating feeling of losing everyone and everything. At least, that’s what it had felt like at the time and what he experienced over and over during each awful dream.
“Decklan?” Amanda asked, her sweet voice ripping something open inside him. He didn’t know how to handle this kind of emotional discussion or the turmoil beating at him.
“Would you rather be alone?” she asked into the silence surrounding them.
He reached out a hand and grasped her wrist. “No.” She’d be leaving this afternoon anyway. His heart sped up inside his chest at the thought of her gone. Though it would be a hell of a lot easier to let her leave, he couldn’t. He needed her.
Admitting that ripped apart something inside him. Before he could allow himself to think things through, he had her flat on her back, his naked and now fully aroused body coming down on top of her.
He met her gaze. Her lips parted, eyes glazed. She was with him. He gritted his teeth and thrust deep, her tight walls clenching around him. She raised her hands and grasped the headboard of her own volition. He pounded into her. She lifted her hips, meeting him with each thrust, taking him deeper.
He wasn’t going to last. Not when he felt the familiar tingle in the base of his spine, signaling he was close. But he wasn’t coming alone. He slid his hand between them and pinched her clit. She threw her head back and called out his name, her body convulsing, her orgasm a hell of a sight to see. Seconds later, he came hard, losing himself inside her warm, willing body, all thoughts of the past gone, for now.
Breathing hard, he rolled to his side and curled her into him. This felt good. Right.
“Decklan, just so you know, I’m on the pill.”
Her words slammed into him, shocking him to his core. “Shit. I didn’t even think.” He’d been too far gone emotionally. “I’m sorry. I swear I’m clean.”
“The club requires tests. I know.” Which explained why she was so much calmer than him. She was thinking clearly.
She touched his cheek. “It’s okay.”
But he broke into a sweat, knowing how stupidly irresponsible he’d been. For a man who prided himself on control, he’d certainly had none a few minutes ago.
He managed a nod. “Okay.”
They lay in silence, his heart beating hard, the nightmare and what he’d stupidly done torturing him.
“Hey.” She curled into him, and he pulled her back into his arms. “I’m here.”
He knew. And maybe that’s why he was able to fall back to sleep. Later, they woke up and, by silent agreement, took separate showers because they were starving and needed to go eat, not get distracted. Neither spoke of his nightmare, for which he was grateful.
While she was in the shower, he’d picked up her phone and programmed his number into it, then added her cell phone number to the contacts in his phone. Decklan was invested in her now, and he didn’t want to risk another month lapse once she returned to DC and he had too much time to think.
They’d returned to the same restaurant they’d eaten at with Isabelle and Gabe and ordered breakfast. While waiting for the food, she’d excused herself to use the ladies’ room. The waiter arrived with their dishes just as Amanda returned.
As she headed his way, he found himself unable to draw his gaze from the sexy sway of her hips. He had it bad and he knew it. Maybe it had been Gabe’s and Isabelle’s easy acceptance of Amanda, or maybe it had been how perfectly she’d meshed with them that had sealed the deal. But this was no longer casual for him. At all.
She picked up the chocolate croissant she’d ordered and took a bite, closing her eyes and groaning as she began to chew. “God, this is delicious.”
He grinned. “You’re cute.” He reached out and wiped a smudge of chocolate off her lower lip.
Her lashes fluttered and her eyes darkened at his touch. Then her tongue darted out, and she licked his finger with the tip.
Sparks flew directly to his groin. “You’re playing with fire, you know. We’re in public. And you have more issues with public displays than I do.”
She cleared her throat. “I was just acting on impulse.” She raised her shoulder in a tiny shrug.
He groaned and shifted in his seat, his jeans now uncomfortably tight. “I like when you’re impulsive.” He paused, then added, “I like you.”
A pink flush stained her cheeks and she looked away.
Okay, so she wasn’t ready. A hard pang hit him in the chest. He’d just have to lead her there. He had no doubt he could do it. Their chemistry and interaction was special.
“So tell me about your life in Washington,” he said, changing the subject.