brink of something. I know what it is, so I drive in again, dotting tiny kisses along her earlobe. “Izzy,” I murmur in her ear. “I’ve got you.”
It’s not a phrase I’ve ever used in bed, and I’m not sure what spurs me to say it now. But as I draw back and watch her face, I see the impact they’ve had. A tension I never knew she was holding falls away like a discarded shell. With a gasp, she comes apart beneath me, raking her nails down my back as she cries out.
“Yes. Oh Christ, yes.” She squeezes her eyes shut, arching up tight.
I want to keep watching her, memorizing every crease in her forehead and her soft, hungry cry. But my own pleasure chases hers, hurtling me over the edge.
“Izzy, God.” I drive into her as stars explode behind my eyes. An avalanche of feeling tumbles through my center as she spasms around me, squeezing every last ounce of pleasure from my body.
When the orgasm ebbs, I open my eyes again to look at her. The smile she gives takes my breath away.
“Hi.” She breathes the word on an exhale, cheeks flushing. “How are you?”
“Excellent.” I dot a kiss on her forehead, then another along her cheekbone. “You?”
She nods and the rosy flush in her cheeks spreads to the rest of her face. “Amazing. That was—I don’t even have words for what that was.”
Relief courses through me. I half expected her to have regrets, but there’s no trace of remorse in her eyes. “Thank you.” The words slip out before I realize it sounds like I’m thanking her for sex. Like it’s some favor she’s done through some sense of duty. “For trusting me, I mean. Thank you for letting me in.”
Tears spring to her eyes, and she blinks them back. I replay the words I’ve just said, struggling to pinpoint what I said wrong.
Iz feigns intense interest in the pillow beneath her head. “I wonder where Bree bought these,” she says. “They’re truly the most comfortable pillows I’ve ever—”
“Izzy.” I say her name gently, urging her to meet my eyes. “What’s wrong?”
Her gaze shifts back to mine, and she takes a deep breath. “Nothing. Just—emotional, I guess.”
Not unheard of after sex, but I get the sense there’s more than that. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”
She nods and gives me a shaky smile. “Certainly.”
I stroke a hand over her hip, doing my best to soothe her with my touch. If she doesn’t want to talk, I’ll respect that. “Just know I’m here to listen if there’s anything you want to tell me, okay? This is a judgment-free zone.”
She smiles and meets my eyes at last. “You’re dictating the rules of my bed now?”
Laughing, I trace my thumb over her hip bone. “You’d prefer a judgey bed?”
“Perhaps.” Her tone shifts to flirtation, so I move with her as I keep stroking her hip.
“Well, in that case.” I touch the seam at the edge of her pillowcase. “This feels like American Pima cotton, but I’ve always felt American Upland is far superior.”
She laughs and swats my hand away from the fabric. “It’s Egyptian Cotton, actually.”
“Of course it is.” I could have guessed, but I’m grateful to get a laugh out of her, so I keep going. “How about this headboard? Surely there’s something judgmental we can say about it.”
She traces a fingertip over the pale blonde wood. “I suppose you’re right.” Her eyes flicker with mischief that shoots straight to my groin. “Iron would be sturdier for tying up a lover.”
I go a little dizzy as I fight to keep from lunging for her. “Is that the plan?”
Her gaze skirts away as a flush pinkens her cheeks. “It’s on my fantasy list.”
“I’d very much like to hear about this list.”
She smiles and shifts her hand from the headboard to my chest, locking me in with those bright green eyes. “Having sex with a man who’s an expert on female anatomy wasn’t on there,” she says slowly. “But it should have been.”
“I’m flattered.” I dip my chin to kiss the tips of her fingers. “What else?”
“Well, there’s the fantasy where I can fly, of course,” she says. “Not in a plane, but with wings. Maybe feathered, or maybe bright, beautiful butterfly wings.”
“That’s pretty specific.” I slide my hand from her hip to the hollow in her waist. “What else?”
Her gaze shifts to the ceiling as she considers it. “I’ve always wanted to eat my body weight