Page 145 of Firecracker

“I love apple pie.” She swiped a hand over one wet cheek.

“And the cocktail of the day is Suck Bang and Blow.”

She choked. “What?”

He nodded seriously and pointed to the blender on the counter. “Yes. Already made.”

“Interesting. Suck Bang and Blow. Hmmm. Let’s try it.”

“Later. The kind of sucking and banging and blowing I want is gonna happen in the bedroom. Right now.” He eased her backward, back down the hall. “I’d pick you up and carry you, but I’m a bit gimped out right now.” He held up the cast.

She laughed. “I can walk.”

* * *

In the bedroom, Tyler stopped next to the bed and set about undressing Arden…pulling her T-shirt over her head, unzipping her jeans while she unfastened her bra. She tugged off his T-shirt while he wrestled her snug jeans down her thighs and off, mostly one-handed, then he undid his own jeans. Looser, they dropped to the floor and he kicked them aside, then spun Arden around and fell to his back on his bed, pulling her down on top of him. He cupped her face with one hand and kissed her, trying to pour all he could into the kiss, all the emotion he felt for her, trying to show her how he felt.

She kissed him back, her mouth opening to him, her tongue stroking his. He kissed her again, bit softly at her lips, sucked her tongue into his mouth, and her hips moved against him in a needy rhythm. The soft sounds she made in the back of her throat inflamed his senses.

He kissed her over and over, tongues sliding, lips gliding, then he rolled her to her back, mouths still joined, so he could slide one hand up her body and cup one of her sweet breasts. Oh yeah…it filled his hand perfectly, so damn sweet.

She opened her thighs and he fit himself there between them. She shifted beneath him, arching her back, her fingers sliding into his hair and scraping across his scalp. Hot sizzles cascaded over his skin. He growled and sucked at the soft skin on the side of her neck.

Her moan filled his head, urging him on. He wanted her so bad, but he wanted to make her feel good. This was important. This was…everything.

He lifted his head to peer down at her, and she gazed back at him, her expression full of wonder and love. He took his weight on his elbows, arms beside her head on the pillow, hands in her hair.

Her hands lifted to his head, his face, a sweet smile curving her lips, and he swallowed hard at the love and respect and devotion he saw there. “I love you, Arden.”

She caressed his hair and his rough cheek, and he turned his mouth into her palm and kissed it, closing his eyes.

“I love you too.”

“Arden.” He looked at her and her eyes focused on him. “I know you think you need to prove yourself. But you don’t to me. I love you for who you are…I always have. I know I tease you about being a princess…the prom queen…but it’s because I worship you. I want to spend the rest of my life worshipping you.”

Her eyes went glossy and she blinked fast. “Thank you.” Her gaze held his, her words too like a vow, a promise. “I feel the same about you. I want to worship you too. I love your courage, your honor. I love how you take care of people, and even though it made me crazy, I loved how you took care of me.”

“It bugged you. I know I can be overprotective. I tried to pull back so I wouldn’t smother you. I stopped walking you home from work because I knew how important it was for you to be independent. Even though I worried about you.”

“I know.” Her bottom lip quivered. “And I love that too.”

“I promise to stop trying to rescue everyone all the time and just be smart about it. I’ve been thinking a lot about it since you left.”

“I love that you care about people,” she said. “But yes, sometimes you can overstep.”

They’d done away with condoms weeks ago, thank God, so nothing was between them when she raised her knees, her hands resting on his shoulders, and he pushed inside her, a long glide of exquisite pleasure. Heat rushed through his body, emotions swirling inside him, pressure building. Their eyes connected as they moved together and he filled her again and again, lost in her, lost in love with her.

She moved beneath him, seductive and soft and welcoming, fingers playing across his shoulders. “Oh,” she sighed. “Oh my God, Tyler...”

“You’re so beautiful, Arden. You glow…like the sun. I just want to be in your light…always.”

“Oh…”

He changed his position and she lifted her knees higher. She whimpered as he hit the right spot and they rocked together, heat building, her eyes glazing, small sighs squeezing from her throat. She cried out as her body tightened around him, pulsing. A pink flush rose over her cheeks, her teeth sinking into that lush bottom lip.

“Beautiful.” He kissed her mouth, her cheek, sensation burning and twisting inside him. He pushed into her one last time and stayed there as he finished in an explosion of heat and light, pouring himself into her literally and figuratively. He made a rough, low sound, his hand tightening in her hair, then dropped his forehead to the pillow beside her. His lungs strained, his muscles quivered.

She still pulsed around him in small ripples that nearly sent him over again. “Christ, Arden. Jesus Christ.”

---