Grunting, he brought his body even closer to hers, his erection pulsing between his thighs.
He was large and rock solid. There was no way she couldn’t feel what she was doing to him.
His lips broke away from hers and began a trail down the side of her jaw. “Jesus, woman...what you do to me.” His other hand started to move downward, toward the waistband of her thin shorts.
“Derek,” she panted his name. Her hips instinctively pressed against his. “God, I want you so badly, but—”
The sound of tires screeching filled his head as he froze.
“But?” He heaved out a breath, their bodies still pressed together as only lovers could be.
She turned her head toward him, her eyes tortured. “I can’t.” she shook her head. “Not yet.” Charlie closed her eyes. “Please don’t hate me.”
Derek cupped her face and forced her to look at him. Praying she could see the conviction behind his words, he looked her square in the eye and vowed, “I could never hate you, darlin’. Not ever.”
“It’s just that, our whole marriage, Caleb accused me of cheating on him. I know it doesn’t make any sense given everything that’s been happening, but if I sleep with you now, I feel like I’m proving him right. And I know he already thinks we have.” Her lips turned up slightly. “I heard what you said to him on the porch when he came by that morning.”
It took Derek a moment to realize what she meant. “Right. Couldn’t help myself. Sorry.”
She smiled a little wider. “It’s fine. Honestly, I don’t even know what my hang-up is. I swear I’m not trying to throw out a bunch of mixed signals. I do want you. I’vealwayswanted you.” Her cheeks became even more flushed when she added, “I promise, as soon as those papers are signed, I’m all yours.”
Derek rested a palm against her cheek. “This isn’t a race, darlin’. There’s no rush. You need to be sure, and until then...I’ll be here when you’re ready.”
The love he felt for this woman reflected back at him through her eyes. “Thank you.”
He leaned down and gave her another short kiss. “Come on. I’m beat, and it’s too damn early for any living creature to be up.”
Charlie’s shoulders shook with silent laughter as he led them to the room at the end of the hall. His room.
“Derek, I can sleep in the other room. I don’t want to make this”—her eyes dropped to his bulging zipper then back up—“harder on you than it already is.”
“Very funny.” He laughed. “I’m not sayin’ it won’t be a struggle. But if you can ignore it, so can I.” His eyes bore into hers. “For now.”
She blinked, her cheeks burning hot as she made her way over to the bed and climbed in. After stripping down to his boxers, Derek got under the covers and curled his body up behind hers.
He felt her stiffen when his full-as-fuck cock brushed against her ass.
“We’re ignoring that, remember?”
She looked at him from over her shoulder and smiled. “For now.”
Because he could, Derek took her mouth with his one last time, forcing himself to break away before he brought them both to the point of no return.
“Goodnight, sweetheart.”
“’Night.”
****
