by Sarah Hegger
“I am.” He nodded.
She turned for the kitchen. “I’ll get you something and those pills Matt left for you.”
“Blythe.” His voice made her turn. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said. “I know it’s not easy for you to be here, with things like they are between us. But I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” She was, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t dreading the fallout when she left. It was temporary, and she needed to remember that. Once Eric felt better, she would leave again and leave him behind. Because Eric was still Eric, and she wanted more of him than he was willing to give. “I’ll get you some dinner.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Eric woke and lay very still.
Beside him, Blythe was sleeping deeply, and he didn’t want to disturb her. It had been too long since he’d woken with her beside him, even if he hurt too much to do anything about it.
“You’re awake.” She rolled to face him.
He couldn’t be sure, but this might be his favorite Blythe. Early in the morning, her face still soft from sleep and bare of makeup. Her long blond hair tangled across his pillows like someone had been running their hands through it all night. That someone used to be him.
His lip hurt too much to smile. “I’m awake.”
“Any pain?”
Not if you thought a fifteen on the scale of one to ten counted. “A little.”
“A little?” She grinned at him, the same grin that had been lighting up his day since she was sixteen. She didn’t look much older than that right now. “You mean a lot.”
“Yeah, but that’s not manly to say.”
Winking at him, she sat up. “I won’t tell.”
“Is that mine?” She must have found one of his T-Shirts to sleep in.
“Yup.” She climbed out of bed and stretched.
Dear God, it was a cruel, cruel thing to do to a man in his condition. Miles of long, toned leg ended in her pert, round ass. She was tall, and his T-shirt barely covered her butt cheeks. He may have whimpered in protest when she grabbed his robe from behind the door and slipped it on.
“I’ll be right back with juice and medication,” she said.
“And coffee,” he called after her. “Don’t forget the coffee.”
“Like I could.” Laughter filled her voice. “As if I didn’t know that about you already.”
They ate breakfast together, after which she used his shower and emerged from his bathroom dressed for the day. “I need to swing past my apartment and check on things,” she said as she brushed her hair into a ponytail. “I’ve already moved my clients for today. I also need to pick up a couple of things.”
Feeling like he was one ball away from the magic lottery number he dared to ask, “Does that mean you’re staying for the day?”
“If you need me to.”
Bingo! He managed a feeble smile. “That would be great.”
While she was gone, he managed to haul his ass into the bathroom and turn the shower on. Thank God he had one of those shelves in his shower because he spent most of the shower sitting there like a jellyfish.
It seemed to take years and plenty of stops before he got his teeth brushed and struggled into a fresh pair of boxers. His torso looked like a stained-glass window going from red, to blue, to purple to yellow. They had worked him over good.
His lip looked less swollen this morning but his shiner had matured into a beauty. Nope, he wouldn’t be winning any best in show contests any time soon.
He got back into bed and called Nate.
There was no progress on who was behind the attack, but Brett had been incredibly helpful.
Next he checked in with Matt. They got past the how-are-yous and talked a little shop before Matt caved.
“So.” Matt dragged the word out. “How is Blythe treating you?”
Matt would be dead and buried before he stopped interfering in the rest of their lives. “Blythe and I are not up for discussion.”
“But there is a Blythe and you?”
It hurt his ribs to laugh. “Bye, Matt.”
Waiting for Blythe to return, he must have dropped off to sleep.
When he woke, he knew she was there. He couldn’t say why, but the sense of her occupied his space.
She peeped around his bedroom door before coming in. “Hey there. You were sleeping before, and I didn’t want to wake you.”
“How long have you been back?” Dressed in her yoga pants and a tank top, she made his mouth water. He didn’t want to miss a moment of time with her.
She climbed onto his bed and crossed her legs. “Not long.” She picked up the remote. “Anything you want to watch?”
You. All day, every day. “You choose.”
“Don’t say that.” She laughed at him. “You always hate what I pick.”
“Let me guess.” Them together like this felt so right. “We’ll be watching reality TV for the rest of the day?”
“Yup.” She scooted up the bed and propped her head and shoulders up beside his on the headboard. Green eyes dancing beneath her raised brows, she said, “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
“Let the 90 Day Fiancé marathon commence.”
* * * *
It wasn’t real, this time out of time she spent with Eric. Blythe knew that but she wanted it anyway. She wanted it enough not to question but to spend the day with him and enjoy it.
There hadn’t been many days like this in their relationship. Mostly, they met up at night or in secret. Time spent together had been more of a prelude to sex than getting to know each other.
This, what they had today, was what she had wanted from him.
Despite the way things stood between them, neither of them allowed any awkwardness to creep in. They watched television, ate, laughed and even read together.
By the time night fell, Eric was moving around the house much more comfortably, and she had run out of reasons to stay. She loaded their dinner dishes in the dishwasher and finished her glass of wine.
Her magical day of make believe had come to an end and it was time for sensible Blythe to save the day and get her out of here.
She rinsed her wineglass and stared out into the night behind the kitchen window. In the absence of streetlights, the dark was so much more intense out here. It wrapped them in a black cocoon and made it too easy to pretend the rest of the world wasn’t waiting for her.
Eric came up behind her and put his hands on either side of her hips. His front pressed against her back. “Deep thoughts?”
“I’m thinking it’s time to go.”
He tensed and shifted closer. “I was afraid that’s what you were thinking.”
“We both know it’s for the best.”
He gave a wry laugh. “We both know that, do we?”
“Eric.” One of them had to be sensible. “We’ve been down this road too many times, you and I. It doesn’t lead anywhere. At least, nowhere I want to go.”
“What if it did?” His breathing rasped in her ear and sent miniature shock waves rippling down her spine. “I miss you, sweet thing. I don’t want us to be over.”
“We don’t want the same things.” Everything in her wanted to melt back into his heat and his strength.
“I want to try, Blythe.” He feathered her neck with his lips, and then found the sweet spot where her neck and shoulder connected. He bit lightly. “Give me a chance to give you what you want.”
“You don’t mean that.” Her heart heard his words and rejoiced but her head stayed stubbornly cautious. “You don’t want commitment or to settle down.”
“I don’t want to be like my dad.” He tightened his arms around her. “But I also don’t want to be without you.”
She believed him, that he meant every word. But not wanting to be without her didn’t add up t
o her happily ever after. Still, the physical connection between them pulsed stronger than ever.
Coming here had been careless. Staying with him through last night and day had been reckless. She was in so deep it didn’t seem to matter if she stepped off the precipice. “I’ll stay the night, but it doesn’t change anything between us. When I leave here in the morning, we won’t be together.”
“I don’t agree, but I’ll take tonight and work on changing your mind about the other thing.” He turned her to face him. The familiar heat in his gaze lit the slow burn inside her. He dipped his head and stopped. “You know what will happen if you stay?”
Blythe walked to the bedroom and held out her hand. “Get over here, Eric.”
“Why?” He smirked.
“I’ll show you when you get here.”
Eric took her hand and tugged her to a halt. He cupped her face between his palms. “I missed these beautiful eyes.”
“You need to stop saying things like that.” She closed the distance between them and kissed him. Because she needed to stop hearing them.
She kissed him gently, careful of his sore lip.
His arms dropped to her waist and pressed her closer to him.
The familiar feel and taste of Eric rushed through her and tangled in the knot of sadness that always sat over her heart. It reminded her of everything she had been without these past weeks. It reminded her of everything she couldn’t have. It reminded her how much she wanted those things.
“Blythe,” he whispered. He wiped his thumbs over the tears she hadn’t realized she was shedding. His dark gaze searched deep inside her, looking for something. “You should never cry, my sweet Blythe. Never.”
She couldn’t hold the intimacy of his gaze, and she pressed her mouth to his.
Eric put a small distance between them. “I’m going to make it up to you. I’m going to make it so you never cry again.”
“You can’t say things like that.” There are some words that should never be said. Once they were said, they were out there, and she might never be able to forget she’d heard them. “Just give me tonight.”
“If I was a better man, I’d stop this right now.” He bent and hoisted her into his arms. “But I’m not that man, and I fucking want you so badly.”
“Eric.” This couldn’t be good for him. “You need to put me down.”
“Screw that.” He carried her through to the bedroom and laid her on the bed.
Forearms on either side of her head, he came down over her. His weight pressed her into the mattress, warm and hard.
Blythe wrapped her legs around his hips, bringing his erection to right where she wanted it.
Eric groaned and pressed into her.
His mouth came down over hers.
She tried to be careful of his lip, but Eric wasn’t having any of it. He deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping into her mouth and demanding she kiss him back. His mouth owned hers. His body pressed her deep into the mattress.
She slid her hands under his T-shirt and found the silky, hot muscle of his back. Just like she knew he liked, she pressed her nails into his flesh.
His groan was her reward as his mouth traveled down her throat, finding the sweet spots at her pulse and further down where her shoulder and neck met.
His body was so familiar, but the wanting him never got any less intense.
Arching her back, Blythe pressed her breasts into his chest. Her erect nipples scraped against her shirt fabric, so sensitive they made her moan.
Eric pushed himself up to straddle her, fisted his shirt and dragged it over his head.
Blythe frowned at the colorful collection of bruises over his ribs.
“Right now I’m feeling no pain.” The heat in his gaze reached out to an answering heat in her. Fisting the bottom of her T-Shirt he tugged it up. “Off.”
She wriggled to help him, and he tossed her T-shirt into the dimly lit space around the bed.
Eric’s gaze fastened on her breasts, and he hissed in a breath. “Even better than I remember, and I remember everything, Blythe. Everything.”
He palmed the weight of her breasts, stroking her nipples with his thumbs.
Impatient to have his hands on her bare skin, Blythe arched her back and released the clasp of her bra.
Eric peeled it off her and hummed his approval. “So fucking beautiful.” He cupped her bare breasts, his touch more urgent now. He ducked his head and took a nipple gently between his teeth. He rolled it between his teeth before sucking it deep into the heated chasm of his mouth.
He knew exactly how she liked to be touched and where she liked his mouth. His caresses grew bolder. His mouth drifted down her rib cage and to her belly. Grabbing her yoga pants in both hands he tugged them down her legs.
“Eric.” Blythe writhed beneath him. “Come here. I want to touch you.”
“Later.” He spread his hand over her panties, the heel of his hand pressing her clitoris lightly. “First I get to play. Next time you can touch as much as you want.”
Blythe opened her thighs.
“Tell me what you want.” Eric slid a finger beneath the leg elastic of her panties.
“Touch me.” Blythe wriggled closer to his fingers.
“Like this, baby?” He slid his finger into the seam of her body. Closing his eyes, he grimaced and groaned. “You’re so wet. Wet for me.”
Bracing her feet on the bed, Blythe pushed her pelvis into his touch. “I need you.”
“What do you need?” He slid a finger inside her, and then another. He pumped into her slowly and deep. “Do you need my fingers? Or maybe my mouth?”
“Mouth.” Blythe panted and writhed as he stroked inside her, his thumb playing her clitoris.
Eric took his hand away, and then whipped her panties off.
Opening her thighs wider, he spread her for him. He wedged his shoulders between her thighs and pressed her legs open even wider. “So sweet.” He lapped her. “Mine.”
He opened his mouth over her and sucked.
She almost came right then. “Eric!”
He settled into driving her out of her mind, licking and sucking, fast and then slowing down, drawing her into his mouth and feasting on her.
It had been too long, and he knew exactly what she liked. Blythe’s orgasm uncurled from deep inside her and crashed over her.
Eric kissed his way back up her body, taking a moment to reacquaint his mouth with her nipples.
“You’re too good at that.” Blythe stretched beneath him, feeling sated and boneless.
Eric’s grin was pure cockiness. “We aim to please.”
“And we do.” She wrapped her arms around his head and drew him down to kiss her.
His cock pressed against her entrance. Eric thrust his hips against her. “You still on the pill?”
“Yes.” She tilted to have him slide closer to where she wanted him most. “There’s been nobody else.”
“For me either.” Eric fisted his cock and positioned himself at her entrance. He closed his eyes and thrust, slow and steady.
Her flesh parted around his invasion, encasing him inside her.
“Jesus.” Eric pressed his forehead to hers. “So perfect. Every fucking time. Perfect.”
She wrapped her legs around his hips and tilted to take him deeper. “I’m going to need you to do more than lie there.”
He raised himself onto his forearms and stared down at her. “So bossy.”
“Get to it.” She tightened her vaginal walls around him.
“Yes ma’am.” Eric withdrew and thrust, harder, driving her up the bed. “Like that.”
Heat blossomed deep where they connected and ripened with each determined stroke of his cock. “Just like that.”
Reaching over her head, Blythe grabbed the headboard to anchor herself. Her
breasts brushed his chest with each thrust. Sweat slicked their skin into a slap and slide against each other.
Eric’s face grew intent and tight above her. Perspiration beaded his forehead and slid down the sides of his face as he pushed them both closer and closer to where they wanted to be.
His dark gaze found hers and stuck.
He worked his cock deep inside her.
Blythe rose to meet each drive.
The pace between them quickened. His expression darkened as he held himself back until she came. The tendons in his neck stood out with the control he exerted.
She knew this man, intimately. He wouldn’t come before she did, no matter the effort it cost him.
Her vaginal walls tightened around him as her orgasm built. “Eric.”
“Take me with you, baby.” His gaze stuck on hers. “Take us both there.”
Blythe came with a shout. Her body bowed off the bed and took him deeper.
Above her, Eric grunted and gave a hoarse cry as he emptied himself inside her.
Collapsing on her, Eric’s weight pressed her deep into the mattress.
Their breathing panted together in the rise and fall of where her breasts pressed against his chest. His heart beat strong and fast against hers.
Blythe wrapped her arms around his back and held him to her. Dear God, she loved this man. Tears blurred her vision, and she pressed her face into his neck to hide them.
With Eric it had never, ever, not even once for her, been only sex. It could never be that way with him.
She’d given him her virginity because of this love she had for him.
Blythe Barrows loved Eric Evans, and she was very much afraid she always would.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
As she knew he would, Eric fell asleep shortly after. She waited for his breathing to drop into a sleep pattern before she slid out of his loose hold. She eased her feet onto the floor and stood.
If she stayed much longer, it wouldn’t be long before he picked up on her emotions. They boiled too close to the surface and she had to get away from him and try to tuck them back into place.
She grabbed whatever clothes she could find without the risk of waking him and crept into the kitchen. She hadn’t been able to find her panties or her shirt, so she slipped into her yoga pants and a hoodie of Eric’s he’d left on a kitchen stool earlier today.