He kicked off his boots, and then shoved down his pants, crawling on top of me wearing just his boxer briefs. His hair was longer, his cheeks a bit sunken in, his jaw more prominent, but his skin was still rough over mine, his tongue still as soft and warm as I remembered.

The weight of him between my thighs made me dig my fingers into his back, bringing him closer, begging him to ram me and come before my heart could feel anything more. Instead, his kisses slowed, and he hovered over me while he balanced himself with one elbow, helping me remove the only two pieces of fabric between us.

I reached above me with one hand to point, holding him against me with the other. “Condoms in the nightstand.”

He grazed my jawline with the tip of his nose, breathing me in. He was contemplating something, deciding just when he reached the skin beneath my ear. “Have you been with anyone but me since Sterling?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“IUD still around?”

I nodded.

“I want to feel you,” he said. When I didn’t protest, he held his breath, sliding his bare skin inside me. He closed his eyes, exhaling as he moaned.

An intense euphoria seared through me, crawling just under the skin to the edges of every inch from my head to my toes. He fit perfectly, like he’d been molded just for me. His skin against mine was more powerful than any rush I’d felt before, whether from self-medicating or being on the mountain. Tyler Maddox was the ultimate high.

I pulled the belt of my robe tight and leaned against the doorjamb between the hall and the living room. Tyler was on the other side of the small breakfast counter, standing over a sizzling skillet on the stove.

“He cooks,” I said.

Tyler flipped a pancake, catching it in the pan, and then set it down to pick up the tongs and flip the bacon. He turned to look at me over his shoulder, flashing the dimple I was falling for, and nodded for me to join him.

I sauntered across the floor, leaning my backside against the counter next to him, my arms crossed. He leaned over to kiss my cheek and returned to breakfast as if it were the most normal thing in the world. I took stock of my feelings, wondering why I didn’t feel like bolting for the door.

“You snore,” Tyler said with a snort.

“I do not,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“No, but you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in the morning sun.”

I looked down, letting my hair fall into my face.