I shake my head. “You’re impossible.”
She props herself up on her elbow, hair cascading across her face, her eyes unreadable in the dark. “Maybe. You like me anyway.”
I study her form through the shadows obscuring her, searching for the right thing to say. An unfamiliar wave of affection kicks hard against my ribs. I spent years building my life into compartmentalized pieces based on routine, my work, my daughter, my solitude. I don’t quite know where this fits.
“You okay?”
The corners of my lips tick before falling. “Tired.”
Alice settles back on her side and lifts the blanket in front of her without a word.
That small invitation is nearly my undoing.
I stare at the empty space on my side of the bed, the side where I usually sleep alone, for a long moment. My heart taps out a wild rhythm. For the first time in a long time, I turn off my thoughts and peel my shirt over my head, shutting the door at my back with a soft click.
I slip into bed beside her, groaning quietly at the soft mattress cradling my aching back. Without overthinking it, I reach for her, my hands colliding with her soft skin in the dark. I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know what I want. All I know is she’s here in this bed with me, and for the first time in what feels like a lifetime, I’m not alone.
And I don’t want to be.
Soft, careful hands cradle my face, and suddenly, she’s there. Her eyes like two dark pools I could get lost in.
“Kiss me, Sunny.”
I nearly groan. If I wasn’t hard before, I am now. With those three words, my dick is like stone.
Sliding my fingers into her hair, I find her lips by feel alone. Softly, yet urgent. After three long days, kissing her again is like surfacing for air. She’s refreshing and new and exciting, seemingly wanting this as much as I do.
After the week I’ve had? I want this. I want her. Probably more than anything else.
She parts them for me instantly. The space allows her tongue to slip inside my mouth. The soft stroke of hers against mine is like velvet. Time seems to grind to a halt as we kiss languidly in my bed. Lazily. Unhurried. Even a little sleepily. Something I realize I’ve never done. Not in this house or this bed. Not with anyone.
Except her.
The thought is a match, setting me on fire, lighting the kindling of need in my gut. My leg slides between her warmthighs until I’m pressed up against her center. Fingers indent her skin at the small of her back as I haul her up and onto my bare chest. Her palms are like a brand, hot and solid against me, exploring my nakedness with a curious touch.
A groan vibrates my chest, rumbling into her mouth. Her hips shift, pressing her pussy snug against my thigh. Warm and needy and insistent.
I grip the hem of her light camisole. “Can I take this off?” I murmur against her lips.
Alice nods. “You can, but I’m not wearing anything underneath.”
I grin into the dark. “That’s the point, Firecracker.”
With exaggerated slowness, I pull the silky fabric over her torso. The shape of her is an alluring silhouette in the night, yet…
I lean over and click on the bedside lamp, bathing the room in a golden glow.
“Sutton!” she squeaks. Plastering herself against my chest, she shoves her face into my throat. I groan at the feel of her breasts smashed into me, and trail my fingers along the concave divots of her bare spine.
“Don’t get shy on me now, honey.” I find her chin and tilt until her sleepy brown eyes meet mine. Tucking her hair behind her ear, I tell her, “I want to look at you.”
I roll us both until she’s on her back. The duvet drapes artfully across our hips, leaving us both bare from the waist up. She settles into the pillow, one arm cocked by her ear, the other slung across her chest.
My brows dip together as I try to understand. “Do you not want me to?”
“I do. I just really want you to like it.” She laughs sarcastically in that way she does when things become too tense.
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t like,” I growl, circling her small wrist with my fingers. She doesn’t resist as I pull her arm away, revealing her breasts to me for the first time.