“So that’s it?” he asks after watching me for a long length of silence. “You’re just going to dismiss me?”
“No,” I lie. “That’s not it at all.”
“Then tell me what it is?”
“It’s late, and I have to work in the morning and get Rachel to school….” I trail off.
“And that’s different than any other night we’ve spent together since moving here how?”
“Rick… this has been a mistake.”
“Bullshit,” he roars.
“A beautiful mistake but we’re both headed for heartache here,” I tell him, which is truer than anything I’ve said tonight.
“Maybe I’m already there.” His words hang in the air between us like a ticking time bomb. Everything is about to explode. I can’t have him in our lives, because the results could be catastrophic, but I can’t figure out how to keep him away either.
“No,” I whisper.
“I’m in love with you, Cara,” he says, stabbing his fingers through his dark hair. “I have always been in love with you.”
“You can’t,” I plead. He doesn’t know how dangerous his words are, but I do. He has to stop. This has to end.
“I do. I think I always have, and I know I always will,” he says, stalking toward me. “I know you’ll never tell me why you left, and I’m at peace with that. I know you’re spooked now.”
“Rick—”
“Hell, I’m scared too. If anyone has the ability to crush my heart, it’s you,” he says, cornering me. He’s backed me through the kitchen and into the living room. The backs of my legs hit the arm of the sofa. “But I refuse to let you run this time.
“Rick, you have to let me go.”
“Give me one good reason why,” he says softly. Rick bends his knees so that he looks into my eyes instead of down on me.
“You know I can’t,” I whisper.
“That’s not a good enough answer anymore,” he says gently, and then he touches his mouth to mine. He kisses me so softly, so gently at first that I almost can’t bear it.
“Rick—”
“Let me make you feel good,” he pleads, and I think,Why not? What’s one more time?“Let me love you.
“Yes,” I whisper, and he kisses me again, breaking apart only to pull my tank top over my head, leaving me in only a white lace bralette I like to sleep in. Things aren’t as firm or as high as they used to be before I had a baby.
There’s a hint of a playful look on his face that I can’t decipher right before he places his hand at my belly and gently pushes me back, over the arm of the sofa, making me laugh. But I don’t laugh long, because he shucks his T-shirt over his head, giving me a much-wanted glimpse of those washboard abs I love so much.
My breath is sawing in and out of my lungs by the time he grabs the waistband of my leggings and panties and pulls them both down my legs in one swift motion. I bite down on my bottom lip as the cool air hits my overheated skin.
I hear the clank of his belt as he loosens it before letting his jeans fall to the floor, where he steps out of them. He grips the base of his cock in his fist, and I watch with rapt attention as he strokes himself from root to tip once… twice… and then a third time before he puts his knees to the sofa cushions in between my spread thighs.
He lets go of himself to lean over me, bracing his weight on his arm over my head. Rick presses his mouth to mine, his kiss everything we want to say but can’t… or shouldn’t; I don’t even know which anymore. All I know is this moment is ours. It’s for us to make up for all the years we’ve lost and all we won’t ever have.
He lets his fingers trail down my body, between my breasts, and over my belly before letting them slip even lower to part my center. Rick gently slips inside me, and I lift my hips to meet his gentle thrusts. He skims my clit with his calloused thumb, making me gasp. Every inch of my body flushes hot and is centered on the one spot where he touches me.
Rick watches me with unwavering focus, his dark eyes never leaving mine even as he adds a second finger, slowly filling me over and over again while he gently abrades my overly stimulated flesh with his thumb.
“Rick,” I pant as I reach for him. “I need you.”
But he gently kisses my palm and returns it to the sofa next to me. “No, Cara,” he says softly, never stopping my deliciously slow torture while he pushes me closer to an orgasm one tiny inch at a time. “You know what I want you to give me, and I want it all.”
