With a surge of strength, he flipped me over onto my back on the bed. The power in his body was nothing short of amazing. He stood above me, his eyes roving over my half nude form before he bent down with a show of rippling abs and began pulling off my yoga pants. I wore nothing beneath.
When my pants joined the rest of our clothes on the floor, he undid his jeans and shoved them and his boxer briefs down over his lean hips and muscular legs. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. He was beautiful, like a wild animal was beautiful. Sleek and powerful and fully aroused.
He took himself in his hand as he watched me, biting his bottom lip. “Don’t move,” he ordered. “I just want to look at you for a minute.”
I felt heat creep up my chest and neck, but I forced myself to lie still as he grabbed a condom from his jeans and rolled it on. He didn’t touch me, but he didn’t need to. I was about to come just from the intensity of his stare and the raw need vibrating from his body.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, Ailee.” His voice was full of what I could only call wonder. “So fucking perfect for me.” A shadow of pain crossed his face, and he shook his head slightly. His lips moved, saying something I couldn’t hear, but then he was lifting me higher into the bed and his weight was pressing me down into the mattress. My body cradled his perfectly as he kissed me hard.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered against my lips. And then he was sliding inside of me, pushing deep, filling me.
I wanted to tell him he didn’t need to apologize; I was more than ready. But he was moving, pumping in and out with long, hard strokes, one hand beneath my hips to lift me to him and an elbow braced beside my head. His eyes met mine and held me, more intimately than our bodies.
A sob rose in my throat. I was so overwhelmed with it all, like our souls were touching.
“Is this real?” he whispered. I saw a flash of fear, and I held him tighter, but he pulled away from me.
“No!” I called out before I stop myself.
But he just smiled and crawled down my body, taking me with his mouth.
I cried out, my hands fisting the blankets as my orgasm hit me hard and fast. Tyler groaned—a sexy sound of masculine satisfaction—as he devoured me with his tongue and lips and teeth, biting the inside of my thigh before surging over me and pushing inside as my muscles contracted around him, squeezing, holding him tight within me.
His hands wrapped around my wrists, holding them above my head as he shifted over me until he was hitting my clit with every thrust. “Ailee.” My name was a moan of pleasure. “Come for me again, sweetheart. Come with me.”
I lost my breath as my body responded to his words. He swelled inside of me as he gave in to his own needs, pounding into me, my cries mixing with his own as I felt the waves of another orgasm building, higher and higher, until they crashed over the edge, my body convulsing hard beneath him as he pushed deep, his head dropping to my shoulder, his body shuddering over me.
We stayed like that as we caught our breath. Then he released my wrists and rolled off of me, pulling me on top of him and cradling my head against his chest.
Neither of us spoke as he played with my hair, spreading it across his bare skin and rubbing the ends between his fingers. I didn’t want to move. Didn’t want to ruin this moment. Didn’t want to hear what he had to say.
My nervousness from earlier returned in a sudden rush.
“Ailee, we need to talk.”
I stilled, buried my nose in the warmth of his skin and inhaled deep, pulling his scent deep into me. Maybe it was better to get it over with. Rip off the Band-Aid. “Okay,” I said into his chest.
“Let’s go get some tea, and we can talk in the kitchen.”
I stiffened. This wasn’t good. Oh, my God. Hewasdying. Or moving. Or leaving me forever in some shape or form. With a reluctant sigh, I moved off of him.
Just as reluctantly, he let me go.
Tyler pulled on his jeans as I went into the bathroom to clean up. When I came out, he was gone, so I threw on my long shirt and joined him in the kitchen. He was shirtless and barefoot at the stove, turning on the burner beneath the teakettle when I walked in. He eyed my shirt for a second, his face carefully blank, before he came over and took my hand. Turning it over, he kissed the center of my palm, then brushed the hair from my face. His eyes softened for a moment as he looked at me.
“So, why don’t you just lay it on me,” I blurted out. “I can’t stand the suspense anymore. Although,” I quickly got in before he could say anything. “I’d just like to put it out there that I really fucking hate you for making me care if you’re just going to leave me.”
His eyebrows rose in surprise. “What? Who said I was leaving you?”
“Aren’t you?” If he wasn’t leaving me, then why were his shoulders so stiff and little worry lines creasing his forehead?
“No, sweetheart. Not unless you make me go.” The tea kettle whistled. He ignored it, dropping his head to brush his lips against mine. Then, with a sigh, he finally said, “Want to sit and I’ll get our tea?”
Grateful I didn’t have to depend on my legs anymore to hold me up, I dropped into the nearest chair and waited for Tyler to join me. My mind was racing, thinking up every worst-case scenario I could imagine. I took a breath and steeled myself. All I could do was wait for him to fill me in.
He joined me at the table, setting a cup in front of me. Steam rose from the surface and I pulled it to me, inhaling the sweet notes of rooibos and cinnamon. Halsey was still playing over the speaker. I should go shut it off, or at least take it off repeat.
Tyler cleared his throat. “So, first. I need to come clean about something.”
