“Feel me?” he asked her.
She whimpered. “Everywhere.”
“Good.” He picked up his pace, aware of every nuance in her expression, telling him which shift of his hips gave her pleasure, which didn’t provide enough pressure, how to move to please her even more.
And as he thrust in and out, it was all about pleasing her, holding himself back, ignoring the ache in his balls, the need to come hard. When she started to shudder beneath him, he let go, pumping his hips and taking them both over the edge. He detonated inside her, his entire body caught up in the explosion. His ears rang, white bursts of light flashed behind his eyes, and he came harder than he ever had before.
When he came back to himself, he felt Cassie’s fingers sifting through his hair, a delicious ending to a perfect moment.
“I’m crushing you.” He pushed himself up and rolled off her.
“Don’t go far,” she murmured, sounding as wiped out as he felt.
“I won’t.” He pushed himself back against the pillow, pulling her into him. “You okay?” he asked.
“Perfect.” She placed a hand on his chest and yawned. “But I have to say you can feed me now.”
He laughed. “I think I can manage that. What are you in the mood for?”
“Chinese? Pizza? Sushi? I’m easy.”
“Sushi works.” He walked to his pants and pulled out his cell phone from the pocket, then came back to bed. They opened the delivery app and ordered.
“What did you do today?” he asked her.
“Umm … I had lunch with my mother,” she said, her tone sounding off.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“With her? Yes. It’s just that…” She pulled away from him and pushed herself to a sitting position, comfortable with her nudity around him. “I asked her why your parents left their jobs, and she knew the same story I did. She had no idea that my dad accused your mother of stealing. I swear, Derek, she didn’t know, not any more than I did.”
He blew out a long breath. “It’s in the past,” he said, because it had to be. For both their sakes.
“Well, she knows now that my father lied. That he did something awful to your parents,” she said, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “She admitted that my father doesn’t always play by the rules, and she said you overlook a lot in a marriage or a relationship, but I don’t believe that.” She met his gaze, searching for answers.
“I don’t believe it either.” He’d been debating on whether or not to tell her he’d had her brother investigated, and she’d just answered his question for him.
If he wanted her to trust him, he couldn’t lie, not even by omission. “I had a private investigator look into your brother’s actions for the last year.”
She blinked. “What? Why?”
He rolled his shoulders. “I can honestly tell you I’m not sure. Something is bothering me. I can’t put my finger on it but I don’t like him. I don’t like how he treats you, I don’t trust him with the company you love. I wish to hell I could tell you what I’m looking for, but I can’t.”
“Wait. You did it for me?” she asked, eyes wide. Disbelieving.
Tell her the rest of it, a voice in his head said. He drew a deep breath. “I also did it for me. You see, a few months ago, before we reconnected, I made an offer to buy Storms Consolidated.”
“What?” She grabbed the pillow behind her and pressed it against her chest, covering herself. Comforting herself. “I thought the offer came from a large company.”
“A shell corp. Your father never would have sold to me. Turns out he wouldn’t have sold at all.”
She curled her hands into the soft fabric of the pillow. “You tried to buy my company. And now you’re having Spencer investigated so what? You can find dirt on him so you can grab the business another way?”
He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. “When you first showed up in my office, that was exactly my intention.”
“You’re not sitting here naked, telling me you used me.”
“No, I’m spilling my guts because, as you said, you don’t believe you should have to overlook a lot in a relationship. I don’t want to give you any reason to walk away.”