Slowly, Tyler tossed back his covers and slid off the bed. Del thrashed in the middle of her bed, as if she’d gotten used to sleeping alone in the last two years. He smiled at that thought. Then it faded. What he was about to do might piss her off, but . . . she had all her defenses up, and until he found a way to get under them so she could at least consider how good they might be together, he had no shot with Del. They’d once been friends. Things had been good between them. Now, he needed to have her in whatever way he could, even if he simply held her.
He needed to start staking his claim.
Besides, as scared as she was trying not to be and as much as she worried about Seth, he’d bet she needed someone to hold her.
He lifted her sheet and slid underneath. Her body heat reached into him. Her personal scent, like sunlit cotton and springtime, comforted him. Tyler spooned her back to his chest, and closed his eyes, breathing her in. Holding her again took him back to the night Seth had been conceived, the hint of summer looming in the air, the sultry look of Del’s flushed cheeks and wide eyes as she orgasmed. The regret on her face when she’d said she was sorry—the last words she’d spoken to him for two long years.
Her body relaxing, Del sighed, melting into him in sleep. He found his face in the crook of her neck and his palm on her stomach, thinly clad in a little black tank. She felt both familiar and brand-new. That night, he hadn’t really been able to explore her. Did she like having her ni**les pinched during sex? What did her pu**y taste like when she came? How much would she blow his mind if he f**ked her right now?
Three simple questions, and he turned hard as stone. He probably shouldn’t . . . but Tyler couldn’t stop his hips from pressing forward, into that sweet, slender ass.
Did she like being spanked? Would she enjoy anal sex?
A groan rumbled from his chest. Jesus, he had to stop this now, ease her into the idea of being with him so they could explore what might be between them, not to rattle her so much that she ran screaming.
Had Del missed him at all? Have any idea how many times he’d been in bed with a woman and wondered why they never felt as good as her?
Fuck. He needed to touch Del.
Tyler gripped her tighter and arched into her again, this time brushing his lips down her neck. Pleasure cut through him in a wide arc. In his arms, she shivered. Wriggled. Her breast was right under his fingers . . .
Damn, he was going to hell for this.
He inched his palm up just a fraction and . . . yeah, right there. He closed his eyes. Even through the thin cotton, Del’s breast fit his hand perfectly, a bit heavier than he remembered. So damn lush.
Despite the heat of his palm, her nipple tightened. She shifted, her ass generating mind-blowing friction as she rubbed against his dick in her sleep. Del made his entire body throb, sent fire ripping through his veins. Shit, he might have to jack off in the bathroom to keep from attacking her in the next thirty seconds. Hell, he might even have to jack off twice.
Crap, he needed to slow down. Earlier, Del had emerged from the bathroom after her shower with tight, red-rimmed eyes. She’d refused to let him comfort her. He needed to show her—and himself—that he could be her rock. He couldn’t accomplish that by feeling her up.
But she felt so f**king good, and he’d never wanted someone so damn bad. Just one touch . . .
Slowly, he slid his hand from the soft weight of her breast, down, down, until it slipped under the loose elastic of those shorts. His fingertips brushed over the flat of her belly, then—oh, holy shit. Her pu**y. No, her bare pu**y.
Tyler cupped his fingers around her flesh, parting her folds with one finger. Yeah, there was her clit, soft and slightly damp. He wanted his tongue there, lapping at her, making her fist the sheets and cry out his name. He pushed his c**k into her ass again, knowing that if he didn’t pull away, he’d wake her up and piss her off.
He’d rather get her off instead. She’d been so stressed and worried, she needed release.
Del shifted, backing up to him. Smiling at her unconscious gesture, Tyler grabbed her top leg and eased it over his thighs, spreading her open. Instantly, two of his fingers slid against her clit, gently stirring. It turned hard. Moisture seeped, coating his fingers.
It was a matter of time before Del woke. She was going to hand him his ass when she did. But he intended to enjoy this time with her . . . and help her realize that she enjoyed it, too. And make her feel good. He couldn’t assure her a safe future right now, but he could give her a moment of pleasure.
He rubbed a pair of fingers across her hardening knot of nerves as he slid his other arm under her—and fondled the sweet curve of her breast. He brushed a thumb over her nipple, back and forth, as he swirled his other fingers over her clit. Moaning lightly in her sleep, Del arched up, into his hand.
“That’s it,” he whispered against her neck. “Let it feel good, angel.”
The soft skin right under his lips beckoned. Tyler was way past resisting, and he swept kisses from the slender column, into the crook of her shoulder, where her scent pooled, driving him mad.
He reached below her clit, gathered more of her increasing moisture, then dragged it over the little bud of nerves. It pulsed under his fingers. Del’s breathing turned hard. She wriggled against his dick again. Her arms flailed for a moment before her hand found his thigh. Her entire body tensed.
“Tyler?” she panted.
His fingers didn’t stop plucking her hard nipple, rubbing that delicious clit in a light, now teasing circle.
He kissed her neck again, nipping at her ear. “I’m here, angel.”
“I . . . Oh my God, I’m going to—”
“Come. Yeah.” The thought made him even harder.