When it settles, I’m left breathless.
My thoughts come back, and fear grips my chest. If this is what real feels like, no wonder I’ve been afraid of it. This isn’t about the way he’s touched me or the lines we’ve crossed without looking back. It’s about everything I’ve been holding at arm’s length. The feelings that have simmered, waiting for the right second to crash in. And now they’re here. Undeniable and barreling through me like a freight train.
“Talk to me,” Tucker says, as if sensing the shift in my thoughts.
I look at him, and it’s different, like something inside me has shifted permanently. I know the moment our eyes lock that whatever this is between us is not fleeting or casual.
I wrap my arms around his neck, pressing my lips to his and tasting myself on his tongue. It’s eager and hungry and filled with the need for me. I need to feel Tucker in places only he can touch.
“Take me to your room,” I say against his lips.
He wraps his arms around my waist, lifting me. I tighten my legs around his waist, refusing to break the kiss as he moves through his house. He kicks the door open, and despite just coming for him, I want it again.
“You’re going to ruin me,” he says, breathlessly against my lips.
“Good,” I pant, setting myself down to my feet in the center of his room. “Because you’ve already ruined me.”
He growls, and before he can do anything else, I press my palm to his chest, pushing him back onto his bed. He falls onto his back, holding himself up by his elbows and grinning. I watch him watch me as I slowly hook my fingers into the waistband of my panties and slide them down each leg.
“Fuck,” he draws out.
I make my way to the edge of the bed. Leaning over him, I pull the waistband of his sweatpants and his boxer briefs down. His cock springs free, and he bites down on his bottom lip. I toss his pants to the side and wrap my hand around his shaft. I feel heat pool between my legs as I slide my hand up and down.
“You feel like something I didn’t know I’m allowed to have,” Tucker says low.
His words make everything inside me pause. His words have nothing to do with me and everything to do with whatever story he keeps locked behind that funny guy exterior. I’ve always had a feeling that something was there that he refuses to talk about.
But that one sentence tells me more than he ever has.
It tells me he thinks wanting is dangerous.
That he believes good things come with consequences.
That somewhere along the way, he decided he wasn’t deserving of them.
“You have me now,” I say, shifting myself over him, with one leg on each side of his. “You have me.”
His hands come up to my hips, fingers curling tight as he closes his eyes to let the words sink in. I lean forward, cupping his face in my hands. He opens his eyes just before our lips meet, searching my face before I kiss him. Slowly, like he’s something precious instead of something broken.
Like I’m not going anywhere.
He responds immediately, lifting his head to meet me anddeepening the kiss. It’s not in a desperate way, but more like this is what he needs. Not the touch or the closeness, but the confirmation that I meant what I said.
That I choose him.
That I’m here.
“I need you,” he whispers, and it’s a stark contrast to the man he was in the kitchen. “Please.”
“Condom?”
“Fuck,” he groans. “I don’t have any. If you can’t tell, I don’t do this often.”
I feign shock. “You mean to tell me you don’t invite women over for dinner and make them come on your counter all the time?”
He laughs, reaching behind me and playfully smacking my ass. But the way both of our bodies move is just enough that I feel his cock between my legs. My mouth opens from the needy feeling of wanting to feel him inside of me right now.
He steadies me—watching me as if he feels it, too.
