Page 33 of Fighting Gravity

Tate pushed them to sitting, gripping her thighs and moving forward until Rosie was on her back. Leaning over her, he captured her wrists over her head and kissed her hard, his tongue plunging to meet hers as he thrust into her. Rosie’s legs went around his waist as she took him deep inside.

Tate groaned as he stilled inside her. He slid a hand under her bum and pulled her hips higher. “You are so wet. So tight. Fuck. I swear, your body is meant for mine.”

It certainly felt as if they were made for one another. She couldn’t deny that. She stared into his eyes as he pounded into her with shocking force, loving her in perfect ways. She didn’t recognize the sounds leaving her mouth. Even when he kissed her, she didn’t stop moaning. Pleading. She began to pulse and tighten.

“One more time before you come apart. Tell me what you want.”

His mouth dominated her nipple again. He tried to slow the movement of his hips, but Rosie wouldn’t let him.

“You,” she breathed. “Only you. Always you.”

Then she screamed.

Tate brought her breakfast in bed as she recovered from the most intense orgasm of her life. She was too desire-drunk to contemplate the words that had left her mouth as she came. Heat of the moment or from the heart? He didn’t ask, thank goodness. Maybe he’d just needed to hear them. Or needed her to.

She’d pulled her pajamas on but hadn’t left the warm, rumpled sheets of his bed. Tate leaned back against the pile of pillows as she sat cross-legged in front of him, both nibbling the fruit, yogurt, and toast he’d brought in on a tray.

Tate told her about the different boards he sat on and how the foundation supporting women and minorities in aerospace was his favorite. “We meet at a flight school where most of the scholarship recipients are enrolled. The woman who runs the school is kind of nutty, but she means well. I think.” He gave her a devastating grin as she popped a grape in her mouth.

“What?”

“I wonder what she’d call you. She’s a former pilot from theTop Gundays, so she has call signs for everyone.”

Rosie smiled. “What’s yours?”

A lock of hair fell across his forehead as he shook his head. His hair was messier after their epic sexcapade. She loved it.

“Pretty Boy.”

Rosie laughed out loud. “Suits you.”

But Tate was more than pretty. She hoped people knew what else he was. She hoped Tate knew. But right then, as precarious as her hold on herself felt after such a perfect weekend with him, she couldn’t be the one to tell him.

They continued breakfast in companionable conversation. After the food and coffee were gone, Tate gathered the dishes on the tray and stood.

“I borrowed shampoo andaccoutrementsfrom Quinn. They’re already in the bathroom if you feel like showering.”

“How thoughtful.” She smiled even as her heart sank. The night with Tate had been lovely, but she had to get back to reality. She wrapped her arms around her knees and lifted her gaze. “Thank you for this weekend, Tate. The house, the food, the company, the…” She trailed off. He had to know what she wanted to say.Earth-tilting sex.

“You’re welcome. I’m serious when I say you’re welcome anytime, anywhere I am.”

Rosie’s heart squeezed. He welcomed her in so easily. So completely. She wasn’t worthy of devotion she couldn’t return. Tate smiled as he left the room, a sweet, sleepy smile that affected her more deeply than it should have.

She showered in his massive, tech-laden bathroom that could swallow her entire apartment. She combed her damp hair into a ponytail and poked through Tate’s bookshelves while he showered.A Court of Thorns and Rosessat next to a biography of Steve Jobs.

When the door to the steaming bathroom opened twenty minutes later, Tate’s clean smell preceded his entry into the bedroom. The sight of his styled hair, smooth face, and another T-shirt hugging his muscular frame scrambled Rosie’s senses one by one. She tried to force her gaze away from his but found it impossible. Instead, she openly admired. She was grateful they could be open about their attraction. It was freeing and oh so sexy to want himwithout judgment.

She snapped the book shut, whatever it had been. She couldn’t even recall.

“You sure you have to go?” His teasing tone didn’t add any clarity to her scrambled senses.

“Mm-hmm.”

With a resigned sigh, Tate grabbed a set of keys from a wooden box on his dresser. “All right. I guess I’ve got to take you back to your car then. That’s what a nice guy would do.”

“Are you always a nice guy?”

He turned slowly and dropped the keys back on the dresser with a noticeableclang.

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