I shook my head, but with his hand against my clit and the hot, heavy length of him filling me with wild abandon, I did. Lightning lit my senses, and Derrick thrust deep, holding there. He growled low in his chest as he curled over me, his fingers pressing into my hip hard enough to leave bruises.

In the aftermath, we tumbled to the bed together, and Derrick pulled me back against his chest to bury his face in my hair.

“We should have done this weeks ago.”

I laughed because he’d been the one to slow things down, but somehow, he’d known. If we’d jumped into a physical relationship, I’d have treated him like any other guy I’ve been with. Fun, sexy times but very little substance. I didn’t let them really know me, and I never let them stay.

For once, I didn’t want the guy I’d slept with to leave right away—I wanted to spend the night in his arms, to wake up with him in the morning. I felt branded, more than just the marks he’d left on my skin. Something had changed irrevocably inside me, and I didn’t want to go back to the way things had been. Even if it cost me my heart.

11

NADIA

Much, much later, we reheated the tacos. I didn’t feel like finding my clothes, so I snagged his shirt, which hung down past my ass. He pulled on his sweats after dropping the rest of his condoms on my bedside table. We sat on my bed, my legs across his lap, and feasted.

I polished off one taco, then tilted my head at him as I grabbed another. “Are you wooing me?”

He rubbed my calf lazily. “Maybe. Is it working?”

I took another bite, chewing and swallowing before I answered. “Yeah.”

“Good. I was really hoping the tacos would convince you to let me stay the night, but I wasn’t above begging.”

The bedside lamp behind him cast his face in shadow, but I could see his grin. He seemed happy, and a matching satisfaction made my limbs heavy.

“You can stay.” I stopped myself from adding if you want to. He’d already made his preference clear, but the niggling doubt in my mind never slept.

Some broken part of me insisted that this—sitting here with Derrick, wearing his shirt, after the best orgasms of my life—was too good to be true. No one else had wanted me, why would he? The little asshole voice in the back of my head wouldn’t be silenced this time.

I tried to rein in the urge to ruin the moment, but the question crawled up my throat until I couldn’t take a bite for fear of it escaping when I opened my mouth. I compromised with a less volatile topic.

“Shouldn’t you be out with the guys tonight?”