He trailed openmouthed kisses along the hot satin skin of her neck as he shoved a finger inside her cunt. Instantly, her flesh clamped down on him as if trying to suck him deeper.

“Damn, you’re tight.” He leaned in, nipped at her ear, and whispered, “How long has it been for you, angel?”

Del grabbed his shoulders, eyes wide as he stroked her, mouth gaping. “S-six months.”

What the fuck? Tyler tried to wipe the shock off his face. He’d give Eric a pass for the last three months. But before that? He’d been too busy fucking Destiny and had neglected Del completely.

Tyler stroked her again, deeper, slower. Eric thought he needed this? He’d bet Del needed it more. Who’d been holding her and reassuring her lately? Telling her that she was beautiful, desirable, worthwhile? Tyler vowed to fix that tonight.

She gave him a shaky nod, mewling and gyrating on his fingers. A pretty flush crawled up her chest, to her face. Her breathing shallowed as he rubbed at her clit. Then he pressed on that sensitive spot inside her.

Del dug her nails into his shoulders. “Oh my . . . Yes!”

Amazingly, she already felt moments from climaxing. Over the years, Tyler had seen a lot of women in the throes; he knew the signs. Not responsive? Eric had to be a flaming idiot in bed because Del was about to combust. Damn, he couldn’t wait to see how she reacted when he had every inch of his cock buried inside her.

“You going to come for me?” Tyler whispered.

She swiveled her hips again, panting against his neck. When he bent and laved each of her nipples with his tongue, then drew one deep into his mouth, Del sucked in a deep breath. Her pussy squeezed like a vise on his fingers, then began to pulsate. She screamed as she came.

Tyler’s entire body hummed at the sound.

He thumbed her little knot of a clit through a long, wrenching climax. Shit, her pelvic muscles were strong, and he couldn’t wait to feel them clenching around his dick. He’d kiss her, trap her screams in his mouth as he rode her from one orgasm to the next.

“Babe, that orgasm was intense,” Eric said. “Wow, you did need it. How do you feel?”

She whimpered. “I still ache.”

Eric stroked her thigh. “We’ll fix you.”

The second her pulsing muscles let up, impatience clawed Tyler. He grabbed the snap of his jeans and wrenched it open, shoving his zipper down. Since he usually went commando, nothing else stood in their way.

His cock sprang free, and he palmed it, stroking slowly as she caught her breath and backed up, watching him with wide eyes.

“Holy shit.” The whisper slipped out of her mouth, as her gaze fused itself to his cock. She blinked, and then blinked again. “Seriously?”

Tyler shrugged. He’d been told before that he was big, but he’d never had problems fitting. “We’ll go slow.” Though it will kill me. “I won’t hurt you.”

That seemed to dissipate her fear. “I know.”

Eric wheeled over to the sofa and used his arms to lift and throw himself onto the cushions, then leaned against the arm. “I need to see more. God, I remember how much I’m missing. I want this back. I’m going to work to get this back.”

Del smiled at Eric, then turned to him. As she did, her expression turned saucy. “You’re not shy, right?”

Tyler snorted, his blood on fire. “Whatever you’ve got, angel, dish it out. I can take it.”

She liked the challenge—her smile said so. Then she dusted kisses across his jaw, her fingers skimming, teasing down his torso, to his thighs. She gripped his cock in her hand, stroking with authority and a clever grip.

He groaned long and loud at the pleasure screeching through his body.

She giggled. “I’ll bet you thought us old married broads were dull.”

He’d never thought that about Del. He’d certainly never think that about her in the future. She knew way too well how to run her thumb over the sensitive head, then gently scratch on the nerve-laden indentation just beneath. Tyler sucked in a breath.

Then she started shimmying down his body until she sank to her knees.

“Del. Jesus, don’t— Oh, fuck me, that’s good.”

Her mouth closed around his cock like hot velvet, all soft and wet and welcoming. Tyler gripped his fists in her long hair and eased deeper into her mouth. It was like quicksand, sucking him under until he felt as if he was drowning. Tingles hammered through his cock, down his thighs, and when she swirled her tongue around the head of his dick, then tried to take him to the back of her throat, he groaned.

“That’s so hot,” Eric murmured. “You know how, babe. Give it to him. Yeah . . . Fondle his balls.”

Shit, it was like Eric could read his mind. Instantly, Del complied, her fingers cupping, stroking, sliding. Those tingles swirled, concentrated. He looked down at her lush little mouth, lips parted so wide, trying to accommodate him in that hot silk haven. She’d never take all of him, but when her lips slipped down another inch of his cock, Tyler thought he was going to lose his mind.

A blow job was a blow job, but this . . . Damn, how was he going to keep it together and not come down her throat in the next thirty seconds? Knowing it was Del’s hot little mouth all over him was killing him. He wanted to take her in every way possible. In that moment, he couldn’t deny a primitive urge to stake a claim.

Using his grip on her hair, he eased back. “Lick the head.”

She did, just like she’d eat a fucking ice cream cone, laving as if he was a delicious treat she’d craved. And she looked up at him through those lashes, dark blue eyes soft and sultry. Aroused.

“Now lick your lips,” Eric told her.

Tyler watched her sweet pink tongue cover her top lip in a slow sweep before darting inside again. Then it emerged again, the tip tracing the sexy little line in the middle of her bottom lip as it turned glossy and slick. Her chest rose and fell more rapidly with each moment. And still she never looked away.

“Good, babe. Now let him fuck your mouth. Do it slowly.”

Crap, Eric was trying to kill him, and Tyler would object if it didn’t feel so fucking good.

Del thrust out her tongue again, this time cradling the underside of his cock, then slowly luring it back, drawing him back into her mouth.

He tightened his fists and threw his head back. “Del. Goddamn it . . .”

Then she made it twenty times worse, taking his cock even deeper in her pretty mouth and humming around it. She swallowed, and the head bumped the tight, working muscles of her throat. Pleasure spiked through his system. The tingles were becoming a storm, centered at the base of his spine. His balls felt heavy, loaded.

Grimacing, he yanked on her hair and dislodged himself from the sweet grip of her lips. He glanced down, seeing her blink in confusion, in arousal. Her wet lips, her dilated eyes . . .

“I have to fuck you now.” Tyler heard the desperation in his own voice and winced.

She gasped, then a kittenish smile curled the corners of her mouth. Tyler wished he could put that sexy, mischievous look on her face every fucking day.

“Yeah,” Eric interjected. “Do it, dude. Bend her over the sofa right next to me. I want to kiss her and play with her.”

While Tyler fucked her. He gritted his teeth. This so wasn’t what he wanted with Del. He’d like a cozy bed at her back and hours on end to explore her. He wanted to suck her nipples raw, taste that pretty bare cunt, get drunk on her flavor. But the driving urge to get deep inside her and pound away until she screamed his name was shutting down his good sense.

Reaching down to his discarded jeans, he pulled a condom from the pocket. Palming it, he helped Del stand, brought her against him, then brushed his thumb across her lip. No matter how badly his cock ached for her, he forced himself to ask, “You’re sure?”

She gave him a shaky nod, then whispered, “Please.”

The little word damn near undid him. He thumbed her hard nipple, caressed the long, lean line of her belly, then slid his fingers back over her pussy. Fuck, she was even wetter than she’d been just after her orgasm. Given how hard he planned to fuck her, she was going to need it.

“Face me,” Eric demanded.

Tyler didn’t want that. He’d give anything to stare into Del’s eyes, watch them widen, watch her lips part, as he sank every hungry inch of his cock into her. He held in a curse. This wasn’t his show.

Before he let her go, he cupped her cheek and settled his mouth over hers. He ached to be inside her utterly, devour her whole. Instead, he curbed himself, reassuring her with a deep, slow stoke of his tongue against hers, showing her silently exactly how gently but thoroughly he planned to fuck her. When he finally lifted his head and stared into her eyes, she gripped his shoulders and stared breathlessly.

She understood him completely.

“Face Eric, angel.”

Del sent him a last glance, begging for reassurance. Whatever she saw on his face settled her. She nodded and turned.

As he donned the condom, Tyler couldn’t deny that the view from the back was every bit as luscious as the front. That firm, round ass . . . The long line of her spine bisecting the flawless, peachy-hued skin of her slender back . . . The exaggerated nip of her waist, and the graceful slopes of her shoulders . . . The long, silken strands of her hair brushing her back, then the curve of her ass as she tossed her head impatiently.

When was the last time he’d wanted a woman this much?

Never. And he wanted her so much because no one was like Del.

Tyler palmed her hips, gently guiding her to bend over the arm of the black leather sofa, bringing her face inches from Eric’s.

“You look hot, babe.” He brushed a kiss over her mouth, reached out to toy with her nipples.

Fuck. Suddenly, Tyler didn’t like watching Eric touching Del. Over the years, he’d seen his buddy kiss her many times. He’d heard a story or two about the escapades of their honeymoon. But tonight, in this moment, Tyler wanted Del to belong to him.

He intended to claim every inch of territory he could. He’d feel like shit about it tomorrow, but right now . . .

Fitting his hips to her ass, he slid his cock between her cheeks and laid his chest over her back. Del gasped. Yeah, the heat was intense. Tyler closed his eyes and let sensations wash over him. He should probably feel guilty for wanting her so much, but he refused to acknowledge it tonight. Del needed him—with any luck, half as much as he wanted her. The breast Eric didn’t fondle, Tyler cupped, toying with the engorged tip, rolling it between his fingers until she gasped.

“I’m going to fuck you, angel,” he whispered for her ears alone. “We’ll work and wriggle. You’ll gasp and tighten. But you’re going to take every inch of me. And you’re going to come for me. Understand?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

“I want to hear everything you’re feeling. Every second, every stroke. I have to know this is what you need and that I’m not hurting you. Stop talking, and I stop fucking. Are we clear?”

“Please.” She wriggled back against him, her voice breathy.

Perfect.

Taking himself in hand, Tyler fitted the head of his cock to her tiny, slick opening and began pushing his way inside slowly.

Oh hell. What a constricting little vise of pleasure. Hot and tight. Sinful and so fucking necessary to his next breath. All attached to the woman making his blood sing like no one ever had.

As he shoved in the next inch, then another, she tensed, gasped. He gripped her hips tighter, forcing himself to pause.

“Does it hurt?” It had been a long time for her.

“Yes,” she panted. “Give me more.”

Who the hell was he to turn that down? And how the fuck would he ever get his sanity back afterward?

Chapter Five

DELANEY stared at the ceiling of Tyler’s guest room. Weariness pulled at her. The bed was insanely comfortable, and Seth’s deep breathing coming from the playpen relaxed her. She didn’t lie to herself; being this close to Tyler made her feel safe. How easy it would be to snuggle down, close her eyes, and drift off. Here, she could almost forget that a bomb meant to kill her had exploded not quite four days ago.

But she couldn’t think of her comfort now. Seth’s safety was more important. Though Tyler hadn’t known the boy more than a handful of hours, she had no doubt he would move heaven and earth to keep his son from danger. That had to console her. She would return to Los Angeles, investigate very quietly, write a kick-ass article, and lay low until it released. Once she’d nailed the bastard, she could come collect Seth . . . and say good-bye to Tyler.

He had a full life here in Lafayette, and she was both envious of and happy for him. But Tyler had always made friends easily. Once he cared about a person, he was as loyal as the day was long. He’d give a friend the shirt off his back.

Or his friend’s wife the release she’d desperately needed.

Del tried to keep thoughts of that night at bay. But like a song she couldn’t banish from her head, they came back. The heat, the alcohol, Eric’s pleading request. And the pleasure. Dear God, she’d never felt anything like the ecstasy Tyler had given her that night, hadn’t even known it existed. She remembered the moment he’d pressed inside her, slowly possessing her until all thought had fallen away, leaving only him and the searing need.