What he was going to do?
Well, he was in bed with Marlee. And she was his wife…for now. So he was going to kiss her. Then they’d see what came next.
A restart of a different kind—not to erase anything, just to relive it.
The tips of her fingers twitched in her sleep. As though she was one of the fairy-tale princesses coming out of slumber that his sisters used to watch on VHS, her eyes fluttered open. She stared vacantly at the ceiling before settling her gaze on him. “Hey, chef.”
This was not a fairy tale. He was not a prince. But he had a bona fide princess in his bed, and she just called him chef. A shiver slid down his spine.
He moved closer to her, pressing his lips against hers, opening his mouth to experience all that was Marlee. She was an early morning buffet, and he planned on sampling everything.
“Morning,” he said against her mouth.
She leaned her head against the pillows, Eli poised over her. She reached for his arm, threaded her fingers with his, and lifted her mouth to his.
“Morning,” she whispered against his lips before starting back up where they’d left off, tasting him like he was one of the German chocolate cupcakes she loved so much.
The kiss was deep. Tongue against tongue, naked body pressed against naked body, her nipples pebbled against his chest.
His erection went thick against her thigh, ready to take anything she was willing to offer. She squirmed so the tip of his erection ran along the bundle of nerves at her center. It took only the smallest movement on her part for him to slip between her thighs, right against her damp core.
Fuck him, he groaned with pleasure. She was ready to snap, and he wasn’t even inside yet.
She sighed, her center wet and ready for him. Their bodies moved on their own accord, sliding against each other, the tip of him slipping against her entrance.
There was no control here for either of them. This wasn’t drunk sex. Definitely not controlled intimacy. This was pure carnal desire. Two bodies doing what they were made to do.
He started to push forward, her wet warmth acting as an invitation he was not about to turn down.
“Eli.” She ground herself down against the tip of his penis. Her mouth opened, small breaths coming quickly. “I need you.”
The three words sucker punched him in the gut.
She needed him.
He was being totally irresponsible, mounted between her legs, his dick practically seated inside her without any protection at all.
This was a mistake. He withdrew faster than if he’d dropped a hot pan on his hand in the kitchen and scurried to stand next to the bed.
Marlee’s forehead scrunched up. “What’s wrong?”
His hands went to his hair. He was totally messing this up. Everything.
“Eli?” Her voice held a note of hurt.
Dammit. How was he supposed to fix this now?
He’d had sex with Marlee. Then he’d almost had unprotected sex with Marlee.
Now, she looked like her heart had been broken, and this time, he was responsible for that.
This is why he didn’t do this shit. A quick hookup. That’s what he was good for. Not sex with someone who mattered, someone he absolutely couldn’t hurt.
“Eli?” she asked again, confusion clear in her tone. He could tell the second she realized what they had been about to do. Her mouth dropped, and not in ecstasy. She scooted back, away from him. “Oh my God.”
She swallowed hard, pulling the sheet to cover her breasts. Her lips stretched into a thin line, and she pressed her hand over her mouth.
What was he supposed to say to her? That he liked her? That he was cool with them as athem, but that she couldn’t need him? He couldn’t be responsible for her? They could have sex all day, but they’d almost had unprotected sex. And unprotected sex meant babies and babies meant responsibility, and now, his skin was flushing and his heart racing.
