Seduction.
What we need is seduction.Chapter 15I smile. “Did you like sleeping with us last night, Derek?”
His gaze shutters, but he finally huffs out a breath. “No shit, I did. Even if you snore.”
That pulls me up short. “What?”
“Oh yeah.” He grins. “It’s cute though. Kind of soft and snuffling like a little pig.”
I prop my hands on my hips. “Now I know you’re fucking with me.”
“Guilty.” He reaches out almost hesitantly and clasps my waist. “It’s Grayson who snores.”
“Only a little.” I let him guide me closer, until I have to hitch a leg up onto the mattress and straddle him. The move parts my robe a little, until it’s barely being held in place by the tie.
Derek looks down and gives a long exhale. “This doesn’t feel real.”
“I don’t feel real to you?” I settle against him and slip my arms around his neck. It brings us nearly chest to chest, but I let him keep that little bit of distance. Let him choose.
“Fuck, Emma. You feel real as hell.” His hands shift on my hips, fisting the fabric a little as if he can’t quite help himself. Derek watches his movements part it more, until my breasts are entirely bared. “This was a mistake.”
Words I desperately don’t want to hear. I don’t move. I barely breathe. “It doesn’t have to be.”
“How can it be anything but that?” He moves one hand to cup my right breast, stroking his thumb over my nipple. “A glimpse of paradise before the gates are shut.”
“That’s rather poetic of you, Derek.”
“What can I say? I see you naked and I get inspired.”
I laugh a little even as I fight not to moan. His hand at my waist dips beneath the fabric to press against my skin. I don’t understand how we’ve spent an entire twenty-four hour period getting lost in each other and he still affects me like this. Except I do. Grayson and I are years into our relationship and I still get twisted up over him. This feels the same and yet different. Like a puzzle piece we didn’t even know we were missing and now that it’s slid into place, our puzzle will forever be incomplete if he leaves.
“Derek…”
He kisses me before I can find the words. It’s deep and unhurried, a slow exploration of each other. Almost as if kissing for the first time. Almost like he’s saying goodbye.
No. Not goodbye. Not until we’ve at least had a chance to try.
I dig my hands into his hair and tilt his face back, pressing myself tighter to him as if the feel of skin against skin will be enough to keep him tethered to us. It’s not enough. Not for me. Apparently not for Derek, either.
He slides his hands down my sides, opening the robe completely, and grips my ass. For once, this isn’t about role-playing or pretending we’re in a different situation. It’s just us. Just a growing desperation to cling to what little time we have left. I want it to be more. God, I want it so bad, I can barely think about it because it hurts too much. But if that’s not in the cards, if we have to go back to pretending we didn’t share this glorious Christmas unlike any other… Well, I’m greedy. I want every last memory to hold close when missing him gets too bad.
Derek lifts me, rising off the bed so he can kick off his pants, and then turning to lay me down on mattress. He hits his knees at the edge of the bed and yanks me closer. “I’m going to dream about your pussy for years, baby.” He drags his mouth up my thigh. “Every time I see you in one of those tight little skirts, I’m going to think about this moment, when I could do anything I wanted to you and you’d beg for more.”
“Yes.” I dig my fingers into his hair and try to guide him to my clit. I know I’m supposed to be the seducer in this scenario, that I’m supposed to be making a case for the three of us to be together, but I’m addicted to the way Derek eats my pussy.
But he resists my urging, moving to my other thigh and kissing my sensitive skin there. “Tell me what you need, Emma.”
“I need you.” My body is one tight line. I can feel each of his exhales against my pussy, but he’s too strong for me to do more than let him drive this. The knowledge thrills me. “I’m always going to need you, Derek.”
He nips me right at the top of my thigh. For a second, I think he might actually respond, but he moves up and drags his tongue over my pussy. I moan even as I try to focus. “We should talk.”