That evening, Josh was like a tornado rushing around the rescue center. Maybe he was in a hurry to get back.
“Come and see Toby,” Lexi said.
She opened the door of Toby’s run, and the dog approached her slowly, head down, tail drooping. He wasn’t doing well in the center. She thought about taking him home, but he was still in quarantine so she had a few more days to decide. She glanced at Josh. When the dog saw him, his tail started wagging, and his eyes perked up. “He likes you,” she said.
“Did you find his owner?”
“Yes. He’s been admitted to a hospice. They don’t think he’s going to last long. We’ll take Toby to see him tomorrow.”
Josh crouched down beside the dog, rubbed his head. “Poor fella. Lost the one person in your life. Welcome to the real world.”
“That’s a cynical attitude.”
“Realistic. What will happen to him? Will he be put down?”
“No. We don’t put any animals down here, unless they’re suffering and there’s no hope. We’ll try and find him a home, but it’s hard with older dogs. And he’s black.”
“Is that a problem?”
“I don’t know why, but they seem harder to re-home.” She looked to where he was crouching, the dog’s head resting on his thigh as Toby gazed up at him.
“You could take him,” she said.
Josh glanced at her, a frown drawing his brows together. “I don’t want a dog.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want the responsibility, and my loft is hardly suitable.”
“Toby wouldn’t mind.”
He gently moved the dog’s head and straightened. “I would.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Don’t start thinking of me as some sort of do-gooder. That’s not who I am. Or who I want to be.” He turned and walked out of the run, waiting for her while she gave Toby a last pat and followed him out.
“I’m not your fantasy husband, Lexi.”
She didn’t answer, couldn’t think of what to say.
“The sex is great,” he said. “But I’m not looking for more than that.”
“Neither am I.”
He raised an eyebrow. He clearly didn’t believe her. He obviously needed something more. “Look, I admit it. I’ve spent an awful lot of time thinking about having sex with you. But it never went further than that. I never swore eternal love or anything. And it’s clear we have absolutely nothing in common. The sex is fantastic, out of this world, but I don’t expect anything else, and I don’t want anything else.”
“Good.”
He didn’t sound as though it was good, though. He sounded…confused, his expression troubled.
“Come on,” she said, “let’s go—” She almost said “home,” but cut off at the last second. “Back to my place, and I can take advantage of you.” She grinned, and then waggled her eyebrows for effect. “How does it feel to be a sex object?”
Some of the tension went out of him. “After five years? Fan-fucking-tastic.”
Chapter Twelve
Josh woke slowly to a sense of well-being. This was the sixth morning he’d awoken in Lexi’s bed; it was starting to feel familiar and right. A little twinge of foreboding wormed its way into his mind. He ignored it, which was easy with Lexi curled up against him, all warm and soft. Her back was pressed to his front, his arm around her, one hand cupping her breast, his thigh thrown over hers.
He was already hard, and he eased back, reached behind him for a condom, rolled it on, and lifted her leg. Pausing, he nipped her neck with his teeth to wake her up—she wouldn’t want to miss this. She half-woke at that moment, and he squeezed her breast and then pushed inside her from behind. She was tight and wet and he filled her easily.
For a few seconds, he held himself deep inside her, savoring the feeling of rightness, and then he slowly withdrew. He slid his hand down over her stomach, through the soft curls that guarded her sex, and between her thighs to find the swollen nub.
She groaned as he stroked his finger lightly over her, then harder, keeping to the rhythm of his cock sliding in and out, slowly, no pressure, just the wonderful feel of her wrapped around him, the pleasure building, coalescing inside him. A shiver ran through her, her hips tensing, and then she came so sweetly for him, a sigh easing from her lips.
He released his control but kept his movements slow, letting the pleasure roll over him and drag him under.
Afterward he pulled her to him, curling her against him. They lay there for several minutes, until her breathing turned soft and slow.
“I love you,” she murmured.
He went still at the words, waiting for more, but she was already asleep. For a moment, something warm and tender twisted inside him. He shut the feeling down.