I nod and grasp his sides tighter.
He begins to move slowly deeper and when he seats himself fully inside me, the sensation of his firm pressure filling me is enough to make me lightheaded.
He glides out, then slowly back in and a hot ache spreads through my groin. I do the best I can to keep his rhythm as he moves inside me, but it’s only a matter of minutes before I feel myself losing control of my body again. My breath is coming in gasps and my legs wrap around him of their own volition, pulling him deeper inside me. He pumps against me, a little harder and a little deeper with each thrust. I feel the same pressure build in my core as did when he did those things to me with his mouth, and then I hear myself crying out, but I can’t stop it.
He plunges into me hard, to the root, and my mouth unhinges, but no sound comes out. My whole body goes electric as another off-the-Richter-scale orgasm rocks my world. And then he goes still.
“Are you okay?” he breathes.
“Better.”
He rolls off me and lies on his side. I turn to face him. He lifts a hand and traces his fingertip along the curve of my lower lip. “You are so fucking incredible, Addie.”
I nestle into his chest and as he strokes my hair, my eyelids become too heavy to hold open. I sink into contented bliss, and my last coherent thought as I drift into sleep is, This is heaven.
But I wake up in hell.
My eyes snap open to the click of heels on the hardwood floor in the hallway outside my door, and I realize somewhere in my dream I heard someone call my name. The rain has stopped, and the gray of an overcast twilight has given way to darkness outside my window. I have no idea what time it is, but it must be late.
Marcus leaps off the bed and yanks his jeans up his legs. He’s just buttoning them when my bedroom door swings open.
“Hey, Addie,” Becky says, stepping through the door, “Whose truck is in the gar—oh!”
I spring to a sitting position and grab a handful of sheets to cover myself when I realize I’m still naked. My heart has clawed its way up my throat, but none of the blood it’s furiously pumping seems to be making it to my brain, because I’m lightheaded and a little dizzy.
And cold. I’m so cold without Marcus next to me. I start to shiver.
Marcus grabs his T-shirt and shoots me a panicked glance as he tugs it over his head.
“I’ll just…wait for you in the living room…when you’re ready,” Becky stammers as she backs toward the door. She pulls it closed, but it’s a few seconds before I hear her footsteps recede toward the living room.
I hug the sheets closer and feel my heartbeat everywhere. I pull myself to the edge of the bed and lay my forehead on my knees. “She wasn’t supposed to be home until tomorrow.”
Marcus scoops my clothes up and sits on the edge of the bed next to me. He looks up at the ceiling and grimaces. “Fuck.”
“It’ll be…” I stop myself from finishing the sentence when I realize I was about to tell him it will be okay. That’s probably a lie. He’s risking everything by being here with me and I can’t even begin to predict what Becky will do.
I pull on my shirt and then my underwear and jeans. “What do you want to do?”
He lowers his gaze and I watch the panic dissolve off his face. He replaces it with determination. He gives his head a quick shake, as if trying to shake something loose. “No regrets.”
“But—”
He stops my protest with a finger to my lips, and despite his words, I feel the tremor in it. “Are you sorry that this happened?” he asks, with a nudge of his chin at the wrecked bed.
I shake my head.
“Me neither. So we deal with the consequences.” His gaze sharpens in intensity as it locks on mine. “Together.”
“What if the consequences are you getting fired?”
A grimace slides across his features but is gone just as fast. “I have another job. I’ll be fine.”
My turn to grimace with the ice pick to my stomach, because what he doesn’t seem to understand is that I’m not worth getting fired over.
“We need to go talk to your aunt,” he says, standing and holding his hand out to me.
I take it and let him tow me out the door. He’s still holding it when we get to the family room and find Becky sitting on the couch with her hands folded in her lap. He only lets me go when we sit, me on the couch next to Becky and him in the chair. He leans forward with his elbows on his knees and holds Becky in his unwavering gaze.
“I know how this looks,” he starts, his voice low and totally in control, betraying none of the shake I felt in his hand. “But the thing you should know is your niece is one of the most incredible people I’ve ever known, and I’m falling in love with her.”