She was hurting, and there was nothing he could do about that.
And that was a fact that made him want to speed up time so she could get past this day.
The hand that fisted his shirt moved beneath it.
Xander didn’t mind. It wasn’t anything new.
Rylee loved running her hands up and down his stomach, her fingertips gliding along the ripples of muscles there.
But soon her soft touches turned to caresses, something Xander’s body noticed before his mind could process the shift.
He lowered his attention to her hand, and it was like as soon as he paid that hand attention, Rylee stopped herself.
She was pulling her hand from under his shirt when he pressed his hand on top of hers, stopping her from moving it.
“Why’d you stop?” he asked low.
Rylee sighed, shaking her head.
He wanted to push, get her to say what he suspected. Instead, he chose to be direct for the both of them.
“You deserve to feel good, Rylee.”
Xander’s eyes were on her, focused on the top of her head, but kept his attention there as if he were looking into her beautiful eyes.
“And if you wanted me to make you feel good right now… I could do that.”
With that, he moved his hand under his shirt, placing it against hers again.
He encouraged her to move it in the same caressing pattern she was doing before she stopped herself.
She looked up at him, her eyes red, just as puffy, probably even more than they were when Xander first arrived.
The sight alone made the corners of his eyes prick with tears.
“I’m here for you in whatever way you need me to be here for you,” he reminded, eyes locked with hers. “Whateverway. You understand?”
Rylee’s eyes darted between his for a beat, maybe two, before she slowly lifted herself from her resting position to climb up Xander—only stopping when she softly pressed a kiss to his lips.
Xander always understood that cue.
A kiss… then a twist… him on top, or taking control in some way.
But that day, he just laid there and let Rylee move at her own pace.
He kissed her back as she straddled him.
Let her dip her hand into his boxers to pull out his erection in one smooth move.
Not rehearsed. Just a routine they’d developed between them that felt lived-in.
The only difference was that instead of reaching for the night table’s drawer like she usually did, she just moved the hem of her robe out of the way so she could guide him in between her wet walls.
Xander groaned the more she rested her weight on him.
It was the first time he’d felt her with nothing between them, and he bit his tongue on purpose to keep grounded in the new feeling.
He grunted in rhythm as Rylee rolled her hips, pressing her hand to his chest for leverage.
