“You like that,chère?” he whispered in her ear, enjoying the feel of her silky hair against his lips. “I’ll give you more to like in a minute.”
Her breath caught in her throat as he eased a finger inside her. A small gasp echoed in the quiet room as he added a second. He had to close his eyes to dull some of the sensation threatening to catapult him over the edge. Everything about her made him want her more. Seeing her, tasting her, the amber scent along her neck…
“Remy.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and he opened his eyes again. “Stay with me, okay? Right here, in this moment with me.”
He nodded, his throat closing up tight.
Withdrawing his fingers, he positioned himself between her thighs. Sweat popped along the base of his neck from the effort to go slow, and he wasn’t even inside her yet.
And then, slowly, he was.
Heat blasted up his spine, the sensations rocking him. He needed to stay still, holding himself right there, deepinside her until he could rein himself in. Erin’s legs circled his hips, her ankles locking to keep him there.
“You feel incredible.” He traced the curve of her hip. The indent of her waist.
“You’re telling me?” She arched closer, her breasts pressing into his chest. “I’ve never felt this good in my life.”
Taking a deep breath, he began to move inside her. Slowly at first, letting the pleasure build again. He thought about her lips. Her shoulders. Her sleek fall of bronze hair. Any small detail of the moment to keep his full focus away from the slick hold of her body on his.
So when her breathing shifted, he heard it. He was so dialed into her every movement he knew just where to touch her to take her higher. He could feel how close she was to finding her release and it pushed him nearer to his.
“I’m not going alone,” she warned, her hips rising up to meet his, shifting the rhythm in a way he couldn’t ignore.
Then, it was just a matter of time. Control slipped. Desire flamed red hot. Release pounded through him in wave after wave. Vaguely, in the middle of it all, he knew that Erin found hers, too, her body arched and taut for long moments until she writhed with him in a tangle of limbs.
When he finished, he collapsed beside her. He might as well have passed out, unconscious, his brain a blank to the world while the rest of his body tried to recalibrate. Pleasure fed every nerve ending for long moments.
Eyes still closed, he stroked her hair. He became aware of a ceiling fan clicking overhead, stirring the faintest breeze. The longer he could soak in this peaceful ease, the better. He didn’t want to think. Didn’t want to remember the last time he’d lain naked beside a woman and breathed the same air.
“Maybe if we don’t talk anymore tonight, we can end on this good note.” Erin shifted beside him.
He forced open an eye to gauge her expression. She propped her elbow beneath her head as she watched him.
“A vow of silence to combat first-time awkwardness.” He stroked his jaw, pretending to think it over. “Unorthodox, but it just might work. It would be nice to take home all these happy endorphins without ever tackling a big, meaningful conversation.”
She bit her lip and twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “It would have to be a vow of sexandsilence, though.”
“Does that mean we have sex quietly?” He brushed a silky strand of dark hair away from her face. Tucked it behind her ear.
“Well, no. I meant we could have more sex despite the sworn oath of silence.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere.” He reached for her just as his cell phone buzzed.
“I’ll try and find us something to eat while you take that.” Erin slid off the bed and shrugged into a pale green silk robe decorated with big pink flowers.
Sifting through the pile of clothes on his floor, he found his phone. The number belonged to Sarah’s counselor and it wasn’t her office phone. It was her cell, something she’d only given out for emergency contact in the past.
“Thanks for returning my call, Theresa.” He sat on the edge of Erin’s bed, his shoulders tense.
“Actually, I’m calling on Sarah’s behalf.”
The counselor had been with them since she’d been introduced to Sarah at a grief support group at the hospital after Liv’s death. Theresa had been with his daughterthrough a lot, and while there had been ups and downs in Sarah’s behavior, Remy trusted the woman’s opinion.
“Didn’t you get my message?” He’d called to ask her what she thought about Sarah not applying to colleges. “I’m worried that Sarah’s keeping secrets. She isn’t following through on important things and?—”
“Remy, Sarah has confided some things to me that are troubling, but she has invoked her doctor-patient privilege at a time when I would have really preferred to bring you in on the discussion.”
Her words delivered a solid punch to his gut.
