It wasn’t like in the stairwell.
The urgency was there, yes. The need, definitely. But the night of their second date, it was like they’d been trying to get as much in as they could before reality caught up with them. And now, this time, there was a freedom in what they were doing. An acceptance.
Sure, this stolen moment was temporary. But instead of worrying about knowing they needed to stop, their focus was in the moment. On the now. Making the most of what they’d agreed upon and having the confidence in each other to just enjoy.
Chapter Seventeen
Maggie was going to be the end of him. Right here in the hall as she bit at his lips and sucked at his ears, opening her legs wider to his rutting thrusts.
The bedroom was less than fifteen feet away, but after she’d done that thing—
Fuck, he rocked against her again, tipped her ass to meet him more completely, and about lost it at the new angle and how he could feel every freaking soft spot she had beneath the stretch of her yoga pants.
He needed to take back control. He’d only had her like this once before, but he knew if he rode against her this way—another three breaths and she’d be begging him.
“Tyler!”
Just like he knew when he added his tongue to the mix, filling her mouth the way she wanted him to fill her body, she got a little desperate—pulled a little harder at his hair, clutched a little tighter at his shoulders, and greedily demanded more with her heel against his ass.
Only then she was wiggling out of his arms, pushing him back against the wall with trembling hands. And he let her, because hell yes, he wanted to know everything that got her off. And the way she jerked his fly open and rubbed her hand over the bulge, cupping him through the denim as he pushed into her palm. Hot. Even more so when she unzipped him and her fingers wrapped around his length.
Okay, definitely time to get within grabbing distance of the rubbers, because the way she was squeezing him, he wanted inside her. Bad.
Planning to scoop her into his arms and carry her to the bed, he instead fell back against the plaster when Maggie dropped to her knees in front of him and, lips parted, closed her eyes on a moan as she took him into her mouth.
Sweet, hot, wet suction slicked over his length, until holy hell, he felt the stroke of her tongue as she moaned around him. Sucking up and down his shaft, she purred, taking him deeper and deeper until he met the resistance of the back of her throat.
It was too much for the way he wanted to be with her. “Maggie, stop.”
She eased back, lips dragging down his length until he thought his head would explode. But then she’d released him and was kissing her way back up his chest. Flicking his nipple before finding his mouth.
That was it.
He had her by the backs of the thighs, her legs wrapped tight around his waist.
“Hurry,” she urged.
Not a problem.
Tyler bounced Maggie back on his bed and shucked his pants and underwear together, watching as she wiggled out of hers, kicking them to the side. Her eyes were all over him, the way his were with her. Like they were planning their strategy. Their attack. Prioritizing needs and desires.
Her nipples hard in his mouth or his tongue between her legs.
He wanted them both. But which first…
It didn’t matter, so long as he got what he needed most. Her cries filling this room with pleasure.
Maggie waited as he dug into the nightstand and withdrew the sealed box of condoms that had been living there in isolation since he’d moved in. A moment later, he’d rolled one on and catching Maggie by either ankle, pulled her toward the edge of the bed. Then, eyes locked, his hands sliding up the silky smoothness of her calves to her knees, he urged them apart to accommodate his shoulders.
She was open to him. Her legs split wide, her sex pink and wet and just exactly the place he wanted to be.
“Tyler,” Maggie whispered, her knees shifting restlessly against the outside of his arms. “Please, don’t make me wait.”
Another stroke like that and his ego was going to go off before he even got a taste of her.
But damn, it felt good being what this gorgeous woman wanted. What she needed. What she was willing to beg for.
Bringing her knee higher, he turned his face into her skin, rubbing against the softness there. He’d shaved a couple of hours ago, but he knew there’d still be the slightest scrape.
Maggie moaned, her hands roaming restlessly over her hips and belly as he kissed and rubbed his way up her thigh, closing in on the prize at her center with a patience that astounded even him.
He didn’t know how he held out, how he refrained from diving into that sweetness like the glutton he was. Except he wanted this to last. He didn’t want to miss a single moan. A single sigh. He’d made her come once this week and that had been mind-blowingly good. But when he did it now, he wanted to take her slowly. He wanted it to build.
And when she came for him, he wanted it to be the best she’d ever had. He wanted to give her something to remember, the way he was going to remember this.
So when he finally found her center, when she was so wet and swollen and desperate that her hips were rising off the bed to meet his kiss, he gave it to her.
Slowly…brushing his lips against her slickness.
Thoroughly…kissing and licking over every needy inch of her until her head was thrashing against the comforter, her fingers fisting in his hair.
Deeply…sliding one finger, and then another, inside her as far as they would go while he drew with a rhythmic suction against her clit until her body went taut and she screamed his name, coming hard against his mouth.
—
Maggie could barely breathe, could hardly think, as Tyler blazed a hot trail of seduction up her body. He swirled his tongue around her navel, nibbled at the jutting rise of her pelvic bones, dropped kisses along the ridge of her ribs, and sucked at the bottom swell of her breast.
She wanted to maul him. Be everywhere at once. All over him. Under him. Around him. But the way he’d made her come, it was like he’d wrung her body out completely.
And now he was looking down at her with that intently sensual stare, teasing her body back to its heightened state, and all she could do was revel in his attention.
Savor the soft draw of his lips against her breast, the erotic sight of him bringing his fingers, still slick with her juices, to her nipple where he painted slow circles around the tight bud until it ached and throbbed, and her breath shuddered in and out of her. Until her body was clenching anew with the need to be filled.
At last, he covered her tight peak with his lips, groaning as his tongue stroked her within his mouth.
She let out another cry, her hips rising in a plea—this time, one Tyler was ready to meet.
Releasing her nipple, he brushed the turgid peak with his thumb and then, staring into her eyes, positioned himself between her legs.
He was so big. So thick and hard as he slid against the soaking spread of her sex. The pronounced ridge at the head of his cock riding over her sensitized clit.
So good.
And the way he was looking at her, like she was a gift to him and not the other way around—God, it made her feel sexy. Hot.
“I want you, Tyler. Inside me, please.”
Tyler’s eyes met hers, and she could see the need and restraint and satisfaction swirling within them. His head lowered and he kissed her, teasing her parted lips with his tongue as he nudged past her opening, working the head inside. Taking her by increments, he gave her body time to adjust while keeping her on the pleasured edge of too much and not enough.
Sliding in and pulling back, he went deeper with every pass, until finally he sank full length, giving her the hard kiss of his groin against her clit as the head of his shaft met her womb.
She cried out, the intensity of sensation nearly too much, but then he was retreating, pulling all that thick length back through her tingling, sensitized flesh, teasing her with t
he ridge of his head before returning in one long, deep slide that stole her breath and had her at the brink of mindlessness again.
Another retreat, another return, another shuddering gasp. And then again. And again. Each time he pulled and then pushed through her clinging wet flesh—penetrating deeper, sliding harder—he brought her closer to a release that threatened to overwhelm her.
Tyler leaned over her, his lips brushing her ear.
“You feel so fucking good.” Another deep shaft, this one accompanied by more sexy words, promises, and a roll of his hips that did something insane inside her. And the talking, that gruff rumble all about what he wanted to do to her next?
It was like a vibrator between them. Setting off every sensual nerve ending she had.
“Tell me,” she gasped, loving the idea that even when he had her completely, he wanted more. Because it meant she wasn’t alone in this insanity. “Tell me more.”
He continued thrusting, but slower, so her concentration split between the steady, intense penetration, the friction, and the erotic, descriptive words of intent rumbling between them.
Oh yes, he should definitely do that…
He wouldn’t…God, she hoped he would…
And now she knew why the man excelled in his creative field of marketing. He was seriously full of ideas. Varied, sexy, incredible ideas.
Snaking an arm beneath her knee, he drew her leg higher up his side, opened her farther—and thrust deeper than he’d gone before. The air rushed out of her lungs as she felt him hard and demanding, penetrating her to the point where she couldn’t tell whether the pressure was pleasure or pain. Only that she didn’t want him to stop.
Her inner muscles clenched around him, the sensation of being so full with him nearly enough to put her over the edge. To have her heel pressed hard into his ass, and her desperate words spilling from her lips.
“Yes, yes. Please—”
Tyler stared down into her eyes, a ghost of a smile hovering around his mouth. He drew back, dragging all that thick length through her until only the head remained and then sank deep, deeper, and oh God she couldn’t believe how deep he was again.
“Like that?”
Everything inside her was ratcheting tighter, the tension building.
She couldn’t form words, couldn’t breathe—could only stare into his eyes and nod, praying he’d do it again.
And he did.
He rocked his hips, finding a way to give her the very last of what he had—all she could possibly take. Everything she wanted.
The pressure rocked from her clit to that point of deepest penetration and back again, and that was it. Explosion. Her body came apart, her ragged screams flying free.
And then Tyler was sliding in and out of her, faster and faster. Filling her again and again.
Groaning her name, until with one final thrust, he let go, giving himself over to release.
Freeing Maggie’s leg, he stroked her cheek and kissed her, slow and deep, lingering over her mouth as though they were just beginning rather than at the end. Her fingers slid into his hair and she kissed him back, unconcerned by the well of emotion rising within her chest. They’d shared something amazing. Something safe. Something she didn’t think she’d have been able to experience with anyone other than Tyler or with any arrangement but the one they had.
So she didn’t examine the emotions too closely, just knew they were there.
Breaking from the kiss, Tyler reached between them and pulled out, holding the condom in place, though from her perspective, it didn’t look like it was going anywhere. But he was careful. Exceedingly.
This was the best idea she’d ever had.
—
In the bathroom, Tyler took care of the rubber and cleaned up. Hands braced over the sink, he stared hard at his reflection. This was either a screw-up of monumental proportion or the best damn idea since those snug, ass-hugging workout shorts Maggie’d had on when he saw her heading off to the gym a few weeks back.
Whatever it was, it was done, and for good or bad, there weren’t any take-backs.
Which was probably a good thing—because even if there were, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do the right thing if it meant not having what Maggie had just given him.
She was amazing.
So far beyond anything his depraved imagination could have conjured. Sexy and playful and—God, those soft moans while the bite of her nails urged him on. And now she was waiting for him in his bed.
And yeah, hello, hard-on. Back so soon?
Why wasn’t he surprised?
Shoving off the sink, he cinched a towel around his waist and opened the bedroom door, not quite sure what he was expecting to happen next—but sure as shit not expecting to find an empty bedroom.
Following the sounds of muttering to the living room, he discovered Maggie three-quarters of the way dressed, struggling with her T-shirt, which had rolled up on itself so it wrapped like a band around her head and armpit.
Propping a shoulder against the wall, he crossed his arms.
“In a hurry?”
The muttering stopped and Maggie froze, then, reversing what little progress she’d made with the shirt, wrenched it off her head, leaving her in just her bra, black yoga pants, and a spill of soft waves pouring over her bare shoulders.
Man, she was so pretty.
And he’d just had her. So why was she standing so far away and why was he letting her?
“Not a hurry,” she answered, now taking the time to unravel her shirt. “But I figured with the whole ‘no relationship’ thing, getting my clothes on would go a long way toward putting us back on ‘friendly’ ground. You know, keeping it from getting confusing with a bunch of post-sexy-fun snuggles. I wasn’t going to take off without saying goodbye or anything.”
He nodded, admiring the way her body moved when she pulled the shirt over her head, this time getting it on in one try.
“Are we good, Maggie?” he asked. “Any regrets?”
Her eyes blazed over his bare chest and he fought the urge to flex just a little. See where it would get him. But they’d made a deal. And it looked as though a second round wasn’t a part of it.
When she met his eyes it was with an almost shy smile on her face. “Not a single one. You?”
He pushed off the wall and closed the distance between them.
Regrets? Yeah, more than he could count. But…
“Not about this,” he said, catching a bit of that silky blonde between his fingers and then tucking it behind her ear before kissing her, soft and slow.
Maggie’s arms linked around his neck, her fingers brushing the hair at the base of his skull in a way that had him groaning and pulling her closer, angling his head to take more—
He broke away with a gruff laugh and gave his head a hard rub. She’d been ready to leave. Wanting to keep some distance between them so things didn’t get confused.
A blush rode across her cheekbones as she backed toward the door. “Thanks for the good time, Ty.”
Holy. Hell.
Chapter Eighteen
Maggie sat in her favorite chair in her living room. She slumped down. Straightened up.
Crossed her legs, and when even that much pressure had her nearly groaning, thinking about what Tyler had done to her…she tried sitting akimbo. And finally got up in a huff.
This was nuts.
She’d gone sex-free for three years without batting an eye, but now—well, so far she’d barely made it two hours. During which time she’d taken a shower, made tea, had a glass of wine, watched the first five minutes of a 30 Rock episode on Netflix—then turned it off in a snit when even Liz Lemon wasn’t enough to keep her mind from drifting back to Tyler pushing inside her and the way he looked into her eyes just as he was about to take her over the edge, holding her in place, even as he let her fall.
Pacing from the bay window to the front door and back again, she shook her head in disgust.
Desperation was a bad thin
g. Ugly. Unappealing and totally not sexy.
She and Tyler had agreed to keep things light. Easy. Uncomplicated.
Friendly.
The plan was simple. Scratch the itch and then resume friendship ASAP, figuring that one mind-blowing lay ought to be enough to get her through the next sixteen months, at least.
Wrong.
Maggie was pretty sure she wasn’t going to last another sixteen minutes. Which had her wondering whether Tyler was wrestling with the same need.
One way to know for sure. Pulling out her phone, she thumbed in a message only the most extreme desperation could have driven her to.
—
Maggie: Obviously, that was crazy talk when I said just once. What I meant was just one night.
—
Staring at her phone, she couldn’t believe she’d sent that text.
It was too late to get it back, but she could send another one chock-full of LOLs and JKs and a slew of other backpedaling disclaimers. Only the idea of being anything less than honest with Tyler didn’t sit right. What they’d agreed to was something that relied on the trust between them, and she couldn’t betray it. Not even for a shred of pride—
Her thoughts cut off as, geez, it sounded like someone dropped a refrigerator down the stairwell.
Jerking the door open, she gasped at finding Tyler standing there, one arm hooked over the frame of the door, the other raised to knock.
Her brain stalled out. He looked hot, his hair standing up in untamed disarray. Imposing, his broad shoulders practically filling her doorway as his eyes blazed down her body. So sexy and—huh—oddly flushed.
Brow crinkling, she looked past him to the stairs and back. “You okay?”
“Fine.” The hand that had been poised to knock caught her around her hips as he stepped into her space and kept walking, backing her into her apartment. “Got your text. Skipped a few stairs.”
Without breaking stride, he pulled off her shirt and then yanked off his.
Nice.
“Wow. I was embarrassed to be so desperate. But you’re making me feel way better.”
He flashed her a cocky grin that was off-the-charts sexy. “I’m about to.”