Still, she hadn’t expected that. “Okay.” Her heart went out to him and she saw another turning point coming their way. Either he’d include her or he wouldn’t, and it was going to define the gray area of their relationship one way or another. How badly did he want her in his life? Enough to share the tough times? She’d have to wait and see.
With one last squeeze and a soft kiss on his cheek, she headed to the bedroom. It took her a few minutes to finish her bedtime routine and toss on pajamas. She slipped into bed and kept a small lamp on for Troy. His “few minutes” turned into twenty, then thirty, and Julie finally fell asleep.
She opened her eyes and checked the clock. Three-fifty a.m. Troy still hadn’t come in. The light shone in the other room. Julie threw the covers back and got out of bed, her leg stiff and sore. Limping to the door, she was about to ask if he was okay when she saw him asleep on the couch, the diary on his chest opened to the place he’d been reading.
Her heart lurched as she neared. She eased the diary out of his hands, then took the blanket from the back of the sofa and covered him. He didn’t budge. Ruthlessly, she fought the urge to read for herself what had him so upset. But, more than anything, she wanted Troy to tell her.
Time to be honest with herself. She was already halfway in love with him. He’d saved her life. He made her feel special. Made her feel like she was worth dying for. That quality alone was sexy as hell.
They had a few more days here together and by the time they left, she planned on knowing exactly where they stood with each other. If he thought she was a quickie fling then she’d do her best to break things off physically because although her time with Troy was turning out to be her favorite time, she wanted permanent. She wanted solid. She wanted someone she could count on for the duration, through thick and thin.
Julie snuggled back under the covers and had just dozed off when she felt the bed dip, and Troy slid in behind her. He wrapped a possessive arm around her waist and tugged her closer against him.
“Mm.” He felt so good. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you,” she mumbled into the pillow.
He kissed her nape. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I should’ve been here hours ago.”
She turned in his arms. Moonlight shone through the window and showed the fatigue rimming his dark eyes. “You okay?”
He nodded slowly as if he had to think about it for a second. “Yeah. Yeah. I’m okay. Can we talk about it in the morning?”
She didn’t want to remind him that it was morning, but she liked that he seemed willing to talk. “Sure. Whatever you want.” She took a deep breath, smelled the undeniable spice that was Troy and kissed his lips softly before she turned and adjusted herself more comfortably against him, content to be in the safety of his arms.
But the longer they lay there, the more she felt his response to her ass against his groin. As each second passed his erection grew harder between her butt cheeks. She pushed against him—she couldn’t help herself—and he groaned, a low growl right near her ear. She nearly turned around, but the hand on her waist traveled south and lifted up her T-shirt, snuck into her underwear and landed with absolute precision on her clit. She jerked and inadvertently rubbed him hard in the process. He sucked in air. One wicked finger circled, stroked and built up sweet tension between her legs that fired every cylinder and ramped up her desire. In seconds he had her soaking wet and desperate to be filled. She moved against his hand, needing the contact, the exquisite rub of his rough finger. He sent her on a glorious ride, a climb toward blissful release.
He pulled away and fumbled with something from the bedside table, but in the next second, he returned and stripped her underwear carefully down and off her injured thigh. She heard the rip of a foil packet before he wrestled his underwear down, lifted her leg and pushed inside of her. The immediate entry made her gasp then moan.
She loved these moments, the first few seconds of having him snugly within her, hearing his