“What’s that?” I asked when he didn’t.
Cyrus took a big breath and then stared into my gaze when he spoke. “If we do this, there’s no going back for me. I want this forever.”
I swallowed hard. “You can’t know that.” We’d only known one another a few days. Cyrus hadn’t learned about my tendency to eat crackers in bed while watching crap reality TV on Bravo. He had no idea what he wanted to sign up for.
He laughed. “Yeah, I do. I want you, Imogen. Every single part of you. The good and the bad. We’ll figure it out as a team and make it work.”
“Promise?” I asked with a smile.
Rather than answer, he kissed me—a soul-shattering kiss that left my toes tingling.
I straddled Cyrus, staring into his eyes, both of us panting from the kiss.
“Do you need me to walk you through it?” he asked when I didn’t make a move.
I smacked him lightly on his good shoulder. “No.” But I kind of did.
“Just in case you’re wondering, a good place to start would be taking off my shirt.”
“Are you always this bossy?”
“Yes,” he said, not a denying it. Cyrus’s bossiness had gotten us through the last few days. Without him, I’d still be on a ship in the Atlantic.
I unbuttoned the top three of his buttons and ran my finger over his chest. He shuddered underneath me.
“I think you should go quicker,” he said.
This definitely wasn’t getting any quicker.
I readjusted on this torso, the hard outline of the bulge in his pants grazing my thigh.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to tell me how fast I go,” I quipped back with my head to the side as I unfastened another button.
He used his good hand to cover my breast, and I arched my back, making it easier.
Cyrus kissed me again, his lips more forceful this time as he drew me closer and our teeth clinked against one another in a desperate attempt to get as close as possible.
“I wasn’t kidding about the as soon as possible part,” Cyrus said against my lips, not wanting to lean back and lose our connection.
I undid the rest of his shirt and pulled it open, but I didn’t push it past his shoulders. He had a darkening bruise, days old inside of his ribs and I ran my finger around the edge. “You didn’t tell me about this.”
He shrugged. “It’s old. From when they took me from the mall.” He adjusted himself on the bed and with one hand undid the button of his pants. “Now it’s time for your shirt.”
“I thought I was the one in charge,” I said but stripped my shirt over my shoulders and let it fall to the floor. With nothing on but my bra, I waited until Cyrus had his eyes positioned at my breasts. His tongue licked his lower lip and I arched back, allowing the material to fall free from my arms.
“Come closer,” he beckoned, and I propped myself up so it didn’t take as much force for him to lean up and suck one of my nipples into his mouth. I moaned and positioned myself on the bed so I didn’t accidentally jar him or his arm.
The tension in my stomach tightened, and I closed my eyes, letting myself get lost in the sensations.
“Okay, now the pants,” he said when he’d spent significant time with each nipple.
I no longer wanted to argue with him because I needed him as badly as he needed me. But as he helped me to lower his pants and his underwear, I had a moment of remembrance right as his dick slipped free of the confines of his clothing.
“What about a condom?”
Cyrus’s eyes widened, and his head fell back, hitting against the wall. “Fuck.”
It wasn’t really his fault. A condom hadn’t been on either of our minds after escaping Florida. I couldn’t hold it against him.
