Tucker felt the damn earth move when he entered Elle, sinking deep into her hot, welcoming pussy. He hadn’t intended to be this demanding, this urgent, but he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t resist her. This was what he had been wanting since the first time he’d taken her. A wild and freeing repeat. He’d tried to ignore it. He had tried to tell himself that he could be with another woman and it would be just as good, but always niggling at the back of his mind was this.
Elle. Naked. His cock filling her while she gave him soft cries of approval. Her skin was warm as he held her thigh up high on his hip. He buried his lips in her neck, letting her hair cascade down over his head and shoulders. His gypsy. His. She wanted passion? He’d give her fucking passion.
He shifted his hand to her firm ass and gripped her hard, so he could be as fully and deeply inside her as possible. She felt swollen, her body gripping his cock. He felt the trembling of her thighs, heard the hitch in her breath, and knew she was going to come. He raised his head so he could watch her as he felt her. Her eyes widened, glassy and stunned, as she gripped his shoulders, nails digging in.
Neither of them spoke. For a moment, it seemed like there was nothing but silence, intimacy, and Elle. She let out a puff of air, her eyes rolling back, her orgasm causing her vulva to clamp on to him. Tucker lost it. He exploded along with her, the heat, the feel, the love between them more than anything he could have ever asked for or expected. The moment was everything. It was an intensity he felt right down to the very core.
“Tucker,” she breathed. “Oh, God. This feels so good.”
He couldn’t agree more. “I know, sweetheart. I know.”
Suddenly it felt like he knew everything. He was a fucking superhero, with superhuman strength and the ability to fly. The moment drew out, then stilled into mutual hot breath, dewy flesh, and easing holds on each other.
Tucker shifted back slightly so he could see her face. Still holding her leg up, he softly kissed her, bracing himself on the wall by her ear. “I do love you. You know that, right?”
She was trembling, everywhere. There was moisture in her eyes. “I know. I love you too.”
That made his heart swell. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t known, and it wasn’t an “I am in love with you,” but it was a start. What he needed to hear. “Good.”
“I can’t hold myself up anymore,” she whispered. “I’m falling.”
That made two of them.
Tucker lowered her leg and pulled out with a sigh. She held on to him, her hair a jumbled mess around her face. Elle didn’t move, and she looked incapable of pulling herself from the wall. Tucker bent over and scooped her up into his arms. “Hold on. I’ve got you. I’ve always got you.”
She started crying then, a soft sniffling into his shoulder. It touched him. Scared him a little. But mostly it made him feel protective. And in love. The real love. Not the kid love. Or the friend love. But the kind of love that made him want to do anything for this woman. The kind of love that made him want to hold her tight to him and never let her go.
Her and their baby.
Instead of taking her to bed, he carried her to the couch, because he wanted to snuggle up with her, maybe talk a little. Give her the present he had for her. He didn’t want her to close her eyes and fall asleep and let this end. He didn’t want to wake up tomorrow and have it be awkward, or the way it was before when they were just friends. Friends having a baby.
Sitting down on her cushy couch, he was grateful Elle liked soft fabrics and not leather. He settled her in his lap and pulled the fleece blanket she kept on the couch arm over her back, tucking it around her sides. She relaxed against him, her head on his chest. It felt cozy, intimate. Right.
“I’m sorry for crying,” she said. “I’m not crying for bad reasons.”
“I know.” He did. It was an emotional time. They’d created a huge shift in their futures with his impulsive act two months earlier. “We have a lot going on. Lots of change.”
“Yeah.” Her fingers curled into his pecs and she gazed up at him. “I don’t even think I can blame the hormones. It’s just that you…that…it was…”
Her expression touched him. He brushed her hair back off her cheek. “It was like a disturbance in the force. That’s what it was.”
Elle laughed softly. “Yeah. Exactly.” She shifted so that she was sitting up more fully. “Don’t you want a shower or something? I feel like I’m crushing you with my sweaty, sticky body.”
He gripped her more firmly. “No. I happen to enjoy your sweaty, sticky body. Right on top of my sweaty, sticky body.”
She reached up with her thumb and scratched his beard scruff. “What are we doing, Jason Michael?”
Elle reserved the use of his full name for when she was teasing him, annoyed with him, or showing a little extra love. Right now, with her in his lap, it pleased him to hear it. He’d never felt connected to his name, but on her lips, here, together, it felt natural.
“We’re celebrating,” he said.
“Is that what we’re doing?”
“Sure. It’s Christmas. We’re having a healthy baby. Having sex.” He ran his finger over her lips. “Life is good, sweetheart.”
“You’re glossing over a thing or two.”
He was. He’d get to that in a minute. “Since when were you such a worrier? A planner? That’s supposed to be on me. I think you should just lie back and enjoy being waited on hand and foot for the next seven months.”
Elle snorted. “Who is going to do that, exactly? The country stars I work for? My busy-as-a-bee sister?”
“Me, you nut. I’m going to wait on you. As much and as often as I can.” It was a promise. Maybe it wasn’t everything she needed, but he was committed to her. To their baby.
“You’re a good man,” she said softly. “Even if you have super sperm.”
That made him laugh. “Yeah, well, lesson learned, I guess. Good thing I never talked you out of your panties when we were teenagers.”
She blanched. “Dear Lord, good point. That makes this seem like not such a big deal after all.”
“It’s not.” It was a big deal, but not in the way she meant.
Elle wrapped her arms loosely around his neck. “Kiss me, you crazy ass man.”
That made him smile. She was looking at him with an open expression. The Elle he knew. Not the wariness he’d seen from her lately. She had been holding herself back from him, whether it was just because of the sex and its result, or because he’d been involved with Misty, he wasn’t sure. He was just glad to see the easiness back, the friendship. She knew him better than anyone. He loved her more than anyone.
So he kissed her, tenderly. Worshipfully. When he pulled back she was sighing.
“You have many layers, mister. I’ve never seen you like that, when you had me against the wall.” Elle cocked her head. “I’d like to see it again.”
He wouldn’t have thought it possible, but his dick jumped a little, indicating he could be ready for the challenge sooner than later. “Oh, you will. Trust me. You will. We have all weekend, right?”
“We do. I told Jolene we’d come over tomorrow but I think she’ll understand that we want to be alone.”
She better. “I think we should stay in and order Chinese food.”
“You won’t miss having a big traditional Christmas day? I didn’t even decorate my apartment this year. I was too tired.”
“I had plenty of Christmas tonight at your sister’s. I’m good.” He was. More than good. “Though I will give you the present whenever you want.”
Elle gave him a wicked look. Her hand slipped down between them and stroked his semi-erect cock. “You mean this wasn’t a gift?”
“That’s just your due.”
She laughed and kissed him.
Tucker felt lighter than he had in years. The sound of her laughter did crazy ass things to his gut.
“I might be due for that again soon.”
“I’m happy to give you whatever you need.” He meant that both sexually and otherwise. He meant it with everything inside of him. “After I get a drink of water.” He was dying of thirst. “Can I get you anything?”
“I’ll take a water too, thanks.” She shifted off of him and lay back down onto the couch on her side.
Tucker stood up and watched her settle under the fleece, tucking it below her armpits so that he could see the expanse of her creamy pale shoulders, the swell of her breasts. Her dark hair was unrestrained, thick, tumbling over the pink blanket. The hue of the fabric brought out the pink in her cheeks, the raspberry of her lips.
He was two seconds away from telling her that he was in love with her. That while his timing had sucked, the desire to marry her was real. To be a family in the truest sense. That she had always been in his life but that now he wanted something deeper, more tangible, more present. He opened his mouth.
But she chose that moment to shift the blanket down. “Too hot,” she said, exposing her full breasts for him. Her fingers brushed down between the rounded curves, already bigger than they had been in October, because of the pregnancy.
His mouth went even drier than it already was. The tender moment he had been feeling was suddenly smothered by the undeniable lust and passion he felt for Elle. “Definitely too hot.”
Her eyes widened. She demurred. “I wasn’t trying to be suggestive.”
“Oh, bullshit.” Tucker knew her well enough to know that she may have been overheated but that was not her sole motivation. She had been trying to turn him on. “That may work with your pretty boys but I know you far too well.”
Elle stuck her tongue out at him. “Spoilsport.”
“If you want to turn me on, just go for it.” He bent over and tweaked her nipple, enjoying the startled gasp she gave. “No need to pretend like you don’t want it as much as I do.”
That got a way more genuine reaction from her. Her nostrils flared. “Oh, I want it.” She reached out and forced his hand back onto her breast.
He gave her the squeeze she clearly craved, getting harder by the second watching her. “What do you want, sweetheart?”
“I want you.”
No words had ever sounded any better.
Elle watched Tucker watching her and she knew that something had changed forever between them. Sure, when they had crossed the barrier and had sex before it had changed their dynamic. But that sex had been sex between friends. Easy, sleepy, natural pleasure. This was different. It was dirty, nasty, amazing sex and he was the one who had brought it about, who had shifted the barometer between them. She had no objections. She just couldn’t believe she was looking at Tucker and wishing he would yank her hair hard while she sucked his cock.
She didn’t even like giving oral sex. The sounds men made annoyed her and they always wanted too much. Too deep, too long, too sloppy.
But it was different with Tucker. He made her feel fierce. She wanted to destroy him, in the best way possible. She knew the surefire way to do that. Shoving the blanket all the way off of her she teased at her nipple before shifting her position as artfully as possible. It was definitely a skill she had acquired. Hell, it had been a requirement with her past lovers. They wanted choreography. So she’d learned to pose and to maneuver herself around without breaking the rhythm or creating an awkward tangle of limbs.
Her years in the trenches were worth the sound Tucker made when she was suddenly on her knees in front of him, slipping her mouth over the tip of his penis.
“Holy fuck, sweetheart,” he groaned. “You are so goddamn sexy.”
Victory.
She had made him forget about needing a drink. She had made him look at her and think thoughts that were not friendly. That’s what she wanted. If they were going to do whatever the hell it was they were doing, it had to be all in. Not friends with benefits. Not because it was practical.
But because they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Because when they looked at each other, they wanted to consume the other. Because they wanted to collide and become one.
That was what she wanted. So Elle arched her back, allowing her backside to rise enticingly, as she drew the length of Tucker into her mouth fully. His hand reached down to grip her ass, so she knew she’d gotten his attention. His other hand tangled into her hair as his thighs tensed and his cock swelled to a full erection.
She took him in and out, using her tongue to moisten his flesh as he held on to her. Tucker didn’t make any sounds at all. He occasionally expelled air quickly, guiding her as to what he liked but he didn’t pant or groan. Ironically, she wouldn’t have minded if he had.
But then he said, “That’s right. Suck that cock.”
And everything she’d ever thought about their relationship well and truly shattered. Because that was the hottest damn thing she had ever heard in her entire life. She felt it in her nipples as they tightened. In her pussy, as it moistened. In her core. Then when the hand resting on her bottom raised and came down in a hard smack, she appreciated that Tucker the lover was as commanding as Tucker the cop.
Because it stung a little she made an involuntary sound, pulling back to catch her breath. Looking up she murmured, “What was that for? And how soon can you do it again?”
Tucker laughed softly. “That’s my girl.”
His girl. Was that what she was? She hadn’t thought of herself that way since high school. There was something sweet and wonderful about it.
But they were all grown up now.
As was evidenced by his hand coming down on her ass again. Damn, that shouldn’t have felt nearly as good as it did. Elle paused over his cock to allow herself a soft moan before getting back to business. He gripped her head, taking over the rhythm, surprising her yet again. But she let him. She let Tucker thrust into her mouth because he never let go of control. He never got crazy.
The idea that she had pushed him over the edge, made him get rough, drove her crazy.
Suddenly he shoved her head back off of him. “Damn it, stop.”
She glanced up to see his nostrils flaring, his breathing hard. His eyes were narrowed and dark. Oh, yeah. She liked this look on Tucker. But she didn’t have time to reflect on it before he dropped his large hands on her ass and shifted her so she was facing the corner of the couch. He dropped one knee down onto the sofa behind her and entered her from behind without hesitation.
“Holy moly,” she breathed, gripping the arm of the sofa for support. She wanted to say something else. To tease him a little. But he was in the zone, taking her with a fast rhythm that had her eyes rolling back in her head and her thoughts scattering.
Bent over her, he reached around and stroked her clitoris. Elle was overwhelmed by the sensations he was drawing out of her body and it only took a few seconds before she was exploding from his touch. She buried her head in the fabric and cried out, a riot of emotions and pleasure coursing through her.
Tucker chose that moment to lightly smack her ass again and she was utterly lost to the sensation.
He joined her almost immediately, murmuring her name through gritted teeth, his hands tightening on her hips. She felt the moment he was lost to his pleasure deep inside her, his throbbing heat melding with hers.
Never one to think of sex as anything other than a means to an end, she propped herself up, forehead on her forearm, and tried to catch her breath, stunned at what was happening between them. It was something different with Tucker. It was hot and sexy and intimate. It was…love. She was in love with him. And that feeling made sex a whole new level of arousing and satisfying.
She couldn’t move. She couldn’t face him. She just wanted to hang in the moment forever and ever, enjoying the languid fulfillment, the peaceful bone-deep happiness that was both physical and emotional.
Tucker stroked her hair then skimmed a hand down her spine, over the curve of her hips. His touch was gentle, sweet.
“Hey,” he said. “You okay? Was I too rough?”
She forced herself to raise her head up and attempt a glance at him over her shoulder. Her eyes crossed but she did manage to speak. “I’m great. I’m fucking awesome, as a matter of fact. And no, not too rough. Though I may need you to help me up because my legs aren’t working.”
If she tried to move it was possible she would crumble into dust.
Tucker gave a contented sigh as he shifted back, breaking their intimate connection. “You are fucking awesome. Just so you know.” He stood up and held a hand out to her. “Come here. Let me help you.”
There was a world of meaning in those words. Could she let him help her? Or more accurately, could she let him help her without doing what she had always done—asking him for support and advice while remaining stubbornly independent.
She wanted to. She took his hand and let him haul her up onto her knees. Then she swung her feet around and stood on shaking legs. Her body was blissfully sore everywhere. “Thanks.”
“Let me turn on the shower for you. I need a drink and maybe a snack.”
Elle had zero interest in food, but warm water on her sounded delightful. “I can turn the shower on. You go get a drink.”
He rolled his eyes. “I know you can turn the shower on. I want to turn it on for you. I want to get you a fluffy towel and I want to help you into the shower because I want to be fucking tender for a minute.”
Oh. Well. That honestly would never have occurred to her. She had thought he was just…what? She didn’t know. She just knew that this was all new. It was what her pretty boys had never given her. It was what she had always wanted. And now Tucker was offering it and she didn’t know what to do with it.
But she was never one to turn down a challenge. This was her personal challenge—stop rebuffing Tucker. Going up on her tiptoes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a soft kiss. “I like you fucking tender. And I like you fucking rough. Because I just fucking like you.”
The corner of his mouth turned up. “Good. I fucking like you too.” His lips brushed over hers. “Now march down that hallway and let me take care of you.”
“Okay,” she said, dropping back flat on her feet. “See how compliant I am?” She gave him a smile as he laughed.
“I see that. I’m going to appreciate it. Though I do love your sass.” He took her hand and led her to her bathroom.
There, he did what he had said. He started the shower. Got her a towel. Helped her in and gave her a lingering kiss, his hand moving over her stomach in a way that reminded her of all the shared moving forward. He glanced at her belly. “I can’t believe there is a baby in there,” he said in awe.
“Me either.” It felt both all-too-real and surreal. She didn’t feel pregnant. Just like she had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Steam rose around them and with the shower curtain pulled back, Tucker was getting pelted by a mist from the showerhead as it bounced off of her arm. His chest was getting damp. But he didn’t move.
Instead he bent down and kissed her stomach, making her feel such an extraordinary swell of love that she felt like she might cry.
Or maybe she actually was.