Chapter Fourteen
When Haley returned to planet Earth, she opened her eyes to find Cord standing in front of her, shedding his clothes.
Damn.
She’d barely gotten her breath, was quivering with aftershocks, and her body was already responding to his magnificent naked form. When the last of his clothes met hers on the floor, she reached behind her for the box of condoms and removed a packet, all while her gaze stayed on him.
He drew near, gloriously naked and proud, and as he held her gaze, she lifted the packed to her mouth and ripped it open with her teeth.
With a muffled curse mixed with a growl, he took the condom from her hand and rolled it on before she could protest, having wanted the do the honors.
“I’d never last if you touched me,” he admitted, as if reading her mind. His voice was as strained as the condom. Then he was between her legs, his body on fire and hard, and because the island was a little too high for comfort, he scooped her up.
The feel of his muscles moving beneath her as he walked with her arms around his neck, her breasts rubbing his chest, legs wrapped around his hips, it was almost enough to set her off.
She whispered it in his ear before biting his shoulder.
With a low oath, Cord halted in the middle of the hall and pressed her back against the wall before aligning his tip with her center, and then, eyes on her, he pushed inside in one sure thrust.
Haley cried out, vaguely aware he’d muttered her name as well, the exquisite feel of him filling her too incredible to keep quiet.
“Always so damn good,” he uttered against her mouth, letting out the sexiest male groan of approval she’d ever heard when he pulled nearly all the way out and pushed back in. “So damn good.” Desire was thick in his gravelly voice, and his words were nearly as arousing as his thrusts.
Everything he did was just right. His touches, kisses, caresses, thrusts, all of it propelled her forward toward the edge. She wondered briefly how he could have her there again so soon, but it didn’t matter. Nothing did but the fact she wasn’t the only one in this crazy, hot grip of passion.
He drove into her over and over, his smoldering gaze now glued to hers, his eyes glittering like prized emeralds. She got the impression he liked the sound of his name on her lips.
Then he shifted her leg higher on his hip, changing the angle, pushing deeper, making her gasp. She went a little wild then, bucking, arching into him, feeling him everywhere.
He held her on the edge, and she was completely lost in him, lost in the exquisite, hot pleasure he showered on her. And as he slid a hand between them, brushing his thumb over her center, he proceeded to take her right out of herself with shocking precision. As a million sensations wracked her body in another mind-blowing orgasm, he gripped her hips and pushed into her hard, shuddering as he followed her over that blissful edge.
…
Cord awoke in the middle of the night, heart pounding in his chest as the usual Drew nightmare that forced him awake slowly faded into the darkness of the room. His room.
At Haley’s ranch.
Shit. Immediately aware of the soft, warm, naked body curved around him, he was grateful this dream hadn’t ended up with him sitting bolt upright in bed. But considering her dead husband was the subject, he needed air.
Quiet and careful, he extracted himself out from under Haley, halting at the side of the bed when she murmured a protest in her sleep.
When she appeared to settle down, he slipped out of the room and headed toward the kitchen for water. Nightmares always parched his throat. He hadn’t had any in a while. They usually only happened now when they were triggered, and sleeping with his dead buddy’s widow was a definite trigger. His gut tightened as he pushed back the guilt. If he had to guess, the only reason he hadn’t had one the first night they spent together was because she’d worn him out and he’d been too tired to even think straight.
Tonight, though, he’d been a pansy-ass lightweight, falling asleep after their second round. Images flashed through his mind of their incredible off-the-wall sex, then their long, erotic-as-hell shower afterward, and how painstakingly slow they dried each other off before burning up the sheets in his bed.
His legs were still finding their strength.
Attempting to shake off the adrenaline—and guilt—he walked silently through the kitchen and opened the fridge. With a muffled oath, he swiped a bottle of water from the top shelf and sucked it down in under ten seconds.
Drew had died a day after Cord had found the guy cheating on Haley. As far as he was concerned, he didn’t owe the unfaithful man his loyalty anymore. It wasn’t a crime if he and Haley enjoyed a few hours in each other’s arms. They deserved the enjoyment. No reason to feel guilty.
And yet, he did.
But that wasn’t the whole reason why, a voice whispered in his head, and he pushed that to the back recesses of his mind, too.
The empty bottle he tossed in the recycling bin landed with a soft thud.
“You okay?” Haley asked sleepily behind him.