She let loose a keening cry. “Tyler!”

“That’s it, Del.” Primal satisfaction rang in his tone. “You’ve swelled so sweetly. Like eating a ripe fucking peach. Feed me more. Come again.”

Her body stiffened, jerked. She slapped the wall behind her, flailing helplessly as the pleasure rolled over and over her. It coiled inside her so tightly, her stomach cramped. She whimpered again. But there was no way she could resist his command.

The orgasm didn’t just seize Del; it flattened her. Devastating. Destructive. The breath left her body. Her heart roared, stopped, then started beating hard and deep. And the pleasure of it, dear God . . . She gasped, then screamed until her voice gave out. And still she cried out silently, nails clawing the wall. The ecstasy gripped her ruthlessly, shaking her body, stunning her.

Finally, the pulses slowed, giving her a moment to catch her breath. Thoughts gradually returned. Del felt exhausted, heavy and boneless.

Tyler trembled as he shrugged her legs off his shoulders and set her on her feet. She didn’t have to worry about supporting herself, though. He pressed her against the wall and grabbed her face in his hands, locking her stare onto his.

The need she saw screaming there made her heart jump and something that felt too much like desire pulse behind her clit again.

She didn’t bother begging for mercy. He wouldn’t have any, and she’d invited him to do his worst. Right now, that’s exactly what she wanted.

He tangled his fingers into the hair framing her face, then slanted his mouth over hers, taking complete possession, tongue plunging deep. She tasted herself on his lips, along with his frantic desire. With their lips fused together, he inhaled sharply, as if he could breathe her in, while he gripped her tighter. Her nipples chafed against his T-shirt, and she felt drunk on the euphoria of two massive orgasms and the promise of more.

She wrapped her arms around him and clung. Tyler took and took, devouring her, grabbing her ass, and pulling her tightly to him. He pumped his cock right against her mound, rhythmic and hard. Instantly, Del felt empty. Her sex clenched with the craving to be full of him.

She dug her fingers into his shoulders, tiny whimpers of need escaping her as she raised her legs around his waist and ground against that monster erection of his.

“I’m sorry.” His voice sounded rough, like someone had ripped out his voice box, ran it through a blender, then shoved it back in.

“F-for what?”

Tyler didn’t answer. He merely tore her limbs away from him, grabbed her by the hips, and turned her around. Before Del knew what was happening, Tyler jerked her to the bed and bent her over the mattress. She heard the rasp of his zipper, the rustle of denim, the rip of foil. He shoved his fingers into her hair, fisting at her nape, and lifted her head. No way Del could miss his hard cock sliding between her thighs as he leaned over her. “Last chance. Do you want me to stop?”

Chapter Thirteen

“N-NO.” Delaney couldn’t keep her voice from shaking. “I want you. Inside me. Please.”

Tyler nipped at her earlobe, then shoved her hair out of his way and pressed kisses up her neck. “Even a please. So fucking sexy.”

The pleasure evident in his voice suffused her with longing and a strange sense of pride. He wanted her. Yes, he’d had sex with a lot of women, but everything about his behavior told Del that the intensity of his want was totally new even to him. Until now, he’d always loved ’em and left ’em. Yet he’d told her over and over that he’d be by her side. She doubted that he’d ever said that to a woman before.

Del didn’t know why he’d gone so far out of his way to help her. Maybe he had more feelings for her than she’d imagined. God, she feared that she wasn’t just falling in love with Tyler again, but plummeting. She didn’t know where she’d bottom out and find stable ground.

“Now,” she pleaded.

Del wriggled her hips back at him, and he hissed in a breath. His fist tightened in her hair.

“Take me, angel. Every fucking inch I’ve got. It’s all for you.”

He positioned himself at her weeping entrance and pushed in, a steady, forward drive that made her flesh burn as she rapidly stretched to accommodate his thick cock. He bumped against her narrow walls, stopped. Del tried to relax and let him in, but he felt huge. He was barely inside her, but the fire and yearning to have him fill her made her whole body tighten in anticipation. Nothing felt like taking Tyler deep.

“Angel, let me in. Fuck.” His palm trailed fire down one of her hips. “Please.”

Del took a deep breath and tried to focus on relaxing and releasing her muscles to open herself up for him. Tyler pressed in again, this time sliding smoothly into her farther, deeper, faster, until his hips rested against her ass and he filled her completely.

“Ah, yeah. That’s it. Like a hot knife through butter.” He tightened his grip on her and groaned. “All wet and all mine. Aren’t you? Tell me you’re mine.”

His demand made Del clench down on his cock. But it also went straight to her heart. She nodded and whimpered.

“Say it,” he whispered. “Say it for me now, and I’ll make you feel so good.”

The admission he sought to extract was a just a mirage, but the fantasy of having Tyler all to herself, of him wanting her to be exclusively his, was too sweet to resist.

“I’m yours,” she choked out.

“That’s right, angel,” he breathed in her ear. “I’ve ached for you all day. I’m dying to see you come again, this time on my cock.”

The burn of his desire turned her on. She wondered if he’d ever been this intent or possessive before. What they shared was supposed to be just sex, but it felt far deeper. His every touch and word seemed designed to bind them together. But she knew he might not be truly ready to jump in and be a full-time husband or father. She might never be ready for the commitment thing again. So she’d accept some money from him for Seth’s college fund someday. And she’d take this irresistible desire now.

When he withdrew, Del held her breath. She wasn’t disappointed. He thrust in again with slow, ruthless power, awakening every nerve ending of her slick sex. She whimpered, clutching the covers in her fists. God, he’d barely gotten inside her, and the burning urge for climax was already disintegrating her. No other man had absolutely mastered her body the way Tyler had.

“I need more!” she panted.

“In good time, angel. I’m not racing through this. No way. I’m here to stay, and I’m going to wring every drop of pleasure from you. I’m going to pound you until you scream again and again. After I’ve come, I’m only going to want to do it all once more.”

Conviction rang in his tone. He exuded something so primal and male as he demanded total surrender from her. Beneath him, Del trembled and shuddered.

He withdrew almost completely from her body again before driving deep once more. His thrusts were controlled but remorseless. Then his fingers cupped her mound possessively, honing in on her clit. She gasped.

“Perfect, angel. You’re all tight and wet around me. I’m never giving this up, you know that? I’ll do whatever it takes to get inside this pussy every day and give you so much pleasure you’ll never think about walking away from me again.”

God, when he said things like that, Del wondered how she’d ever work up the will to let him go. She should probably write off his words. They were spoken in passion, after all. But the woman inside her who yearned for him wanted to lap those words up greedily.

As his fingers swept over her sensitive clit once more, Del melted. If he kept touching her like this, how the hell would she ever disentangle herself from Tyler once the danger had passed? Having not just someone to lean on these last few days but a man she genuinely trusted had been nothing short of a godsend. He’d taken so much off her shoulders and put them onto his own, for no other reason than to keep her safe and make her feel protected. How could she not appreciate that? Not fall for that?

But what would happen once they returned to real life? She’d still be a mom and busy reporter in Los Angeles. He’d still be doing who knew what in Lafayette . . . and probably nailing a bevy of easy women. They’d never work, no matter how tantalizing the fantasy.

Tyler caressed his way up her body until his hands cupped her breasts, fingers toying with her nipples. He leaned over her, as if he wanted to join not just bodies, but skin, breaths, souls. Del closed her eyes.

In and out, he moved with ruthless control—and maximum devastation. Every stroke into her body awakened more nerves, and the ramp-up to orgasm began to overtake her body, shut down her thoughts.

He thumbed her nipples, and they beaded for him. She felt the blood rush through her body like a heady cocktail. And just like if she were drunk, the sensations overloaded her. Nothing mattered in this moment but Tyler and connecting with him.

“I feel you everywhere,” she whimpered. “God . . .”

“Good, angel.” He kissed his way up her shoulders, to her neck. “I feel you, too. Every fucking perfect bit of you surrounding me. Are you going to come for me again?”

With anyone else, that would have been practically impossible. With Tyler, it was inevitable. It was like her body was hardwired to his, like he knew all the right buttons to push. Like every touch between them was magic.

No sense in teasing him or drawing this out. He had to feel the way her sex clamped down on him. Her breathing turned erratic again. She reached behind her and clutched at his thigh.

“Yes. I don’t know how, but . . .”

“Because we’re good together, angel. Always have been.” He brushed rough palms down her body again, then settled his fingers over her clit once more. “Give me everything. I need it.”

No way could she deny him. The pleasure surged and grew, seizing and spiraling. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t stop herself from letting go.

Del didn’t just come undone in his arms, she shattered. And Tyler was there to catch her, holding her together with his embrace and his growled encouragements.

“So good, angel. Oh, fuck yes. That’s it. No one feels like you.”

Every emotion inside her poured out, spilled over onto him. She grabbed his arm, held it to her chest like she never wanted to let go, and rode out the wave of her pleasure.

When it was over, she felt raw and hollow and frighteningly exposed. Del could almost feel her heart reaching out, trying to attach itself to his. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that her feelings were hers and hers alone. Regardless of what he said—or even believed at the moment—Tyler had never been built for forever. He’d changed, no denying that. But how could he become the sort of man who suddenly practiced fidelity in a handful of days?

God, she had to protect herself. She had to find some way to keep from falling in love so deeply that once this was over and they parted ways, she wouldn’t be a flattened, crushed shell.

She wriggled away and made it across the bed, turning over to plaster on what she prayed looked like a cheery smile. And Del hoped like hell he couldn’t see that, inside, her heart was on the verge of breaking.

***

THE uninhibited bliss of Del’s climax slid over Tyler’s senses, and he clenched every muscle in his body to keep himself from following her over. The urge to join her in ecstasy was so strong, but he wasn’t done with her, not even close. He wanted to spend half the night inside of her—at least.

But the second her orgasm swept past, Del moved away from him. Not just physically—across the bed wasn’t that far—but her guarded eyes, her body language, the way she crossed her arms over her chest and curled her legs in front of her, hiding that sweet pussy from him—it all had him gritting his teeth. And if that smile was any more plastic, the folks at Tupperware would pull her aside for a chat.

Distance. Tyler recognized what she was trying to put between them immediately. He’d played this game with countless other women once they’d bored him. He knew how to read the signals. She’d probably be willing to do whatever it took to get him to come quickly—then she’d end all intimacy between them and try to act like this didn’t mean anything.

Bullshit.

“Come here,” he demanded.

Del frowned, a furrow appearing between her dark brows. “I’m right here, silly.”

“Back where you were, angel. Right in front of me, bent over to give me that pretty pussy and ass. Where you can’t hide from me.”

She froze. “I—I’m not hiding.”

He raised a brow at her. She was a terrible fucking liar. “Then you won’t mind coming back here and giving yourself to me again.”

Del glanced at his dead-serious face, the hard rise and fall of his chest as he took deep breaths and struggled for calm, then down to the hard stalk of his cock that stood tall and thick and beyond ready.