“Ellie.”
She looked at his determined expression and wet lips. “Yeah?”
“Ride me.”
Yes. She thought it rather than said it. Without a word, she moved over his body. Straddled those impressive hips and pressed her hands to the rippled muscles of his stomach. “Have you been a good boy?”
“Very.” His finger slipped inside her.
Her muscles strained as her head fell forward. Her hair slid off her shoulders and hung down. She could feel him curl a strand around his finger.
Heat radiated off their bodies. She tore open the packet and took out the condom. It should only have taken a second to roll it over his length, but she drew it out. Squeezed him as she covered him, inch by inch. By the time she was done, he squirmed on the bed. His fingers dug into her hips as he tried to draw her closer.
Then she lifted her body up and slid over him. Every cell screamed for her to finish it, but she didn’t rush this part, either. She enveloped him. Measured each second before going lower. Waited until his back lifted off the bed and his eyes glazed with need.
She could feel him pulse inside her. After all those nights of limiting themselves, their bodies craved the completion now. She ached for it. When she lifted and returned to him again, her body started to shake. She was so close.
Tiny sounds escaped her throat. She hit a steady rhythm but she couldn’t hold on. Her control shattered and the orgasm tore through her, surprising her with its intensity. She could hear Derrick saying her name and feel him lift his body to meet hers. Then she couldn’t think about anything except how good he felt and how much she wanted this to last.
* * *
Derrick snuck down to the kitchen about a half hour later than usual the next morning. He wanted to get Ellie a cup of coffee and serve it to her in bed. The longer he could keep her there, the happier he would be.
He hit the bottom step and knew he’d miscalculated the time. Spence was already sitting at the bar, scrolling through his cell and drinking from a mug.
He didn’t lift his head as he spoke. “You’re tiptoeing around your own house. That’s not sad or anything.”
Derrick jerked at the unexpected sound but tried to hide it. Good thing he’d put pants on or Spence would have had quite the morning show. “You’re up early.”
“It’s about time you two slept together.” Spence just kept scrolling. “All that pretending was driving me nuts. I don’t know how you stood it for all those nights.”
Derrick froze. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, please.” Spence put his cell to the side and smiled at his brother over the top of the mug. “My door is between your bedroom and the one she goes to…and you sneak off to each night.”
So much for being stealthy. Derrick should have asked her to stay in his room and forget all the subterfuge. After last night, after the hangover from the personal information he’d shared with her, he was ticked off he hadn’t ended the fake part of their relationship sooner.
Screw the agreement, he wanted to actually date her. He had no idea if she could make it work, but he really wanted to try.
But that didn’t mean he wanted his brother knowing all about his sex life. “That’s not—”
“I could never figure out why you didn’t get right into bed with her.” Spence shook his head as he made a tsking sound. “She’s hot. You have to be smart enough to see that.”
“Careful where you go with this.” The brothers didn’t touch each other’s dates. Not ever. That was an unspoken rule. But the real problem for Derrick was that he wasn’t in top form for sparring thanks to the lack of sleep, which he did not regret one bit.
“I have eyes. I hear the way you two talk to each other.” Spence’s smile was far too wide and snarky for this hour. “All tinged with unspent energy.”
Tinged? Yeah, way too early. “You can stop talking now.”
Spence had the nerve to shrug. “I’m reporting on what I’ve witnessed.”
“You were spying on me?” For some reason that struck Derrick as ridiculous as he leaned against the sink.
Spence hadn’t asked a lot of personal questions when he’d checked in by phone over the past few months. He wasn’t the type to be up in someone else’s business.
“I’m trying to figure out what’s happening with you.” Spence drained his mug. “I promised Carter I would find out and report back.”
The alarm chimed and the front door downstairs opened and closed. Only a few people knew the code and had a key. Three of them were in the house right now and one was driving cross-country to get here for what appeared to be a brotherly interrogation. That left one other option.