“Angel, please… let me… yes… I need you…”

In my mind’s eye, I could see her perfectly, her beautiful body sprawled out on the bed in front of me, her back arched and her hand between her thighs.

“Come on, Angel, don’t make me wait. I’m begging you…”

Her hips raised up off the bed as she dipped a finger into that sweet, pink pussy that I could still taste like honey on my tongue, hours after I’d made her come. Christ, did she know how gorgeous she was?

“Don’t you want me, Angel? Why won’t you let me please you the way you’ve been pleasing me?”

I cracked an eye open and raised my head off the pillow. For a while, I had bounced in and out of consciousness, a part of me completely aware that it was all just a dream even though another part of me—a rock-hard, throbbing part of me—wanted it to be real.

My cock might be ready for round two of what we had started earlier, when the temptation had grown too strong and I’d finally given in, but my head wasn’t ready. And my heart definitely wasn’t ready.

The Bella in my dreams had been as beautiful and perfect as the one lying across from me in bed, but dream-Bella had given voice to the feelings that the real-life version was too proud to show. Dream-Bella was vulnerable and questioning where the beautiful woman in front of me was proud and stubborn. And even though that vulnerability might only exist in my dream for now, I knew it was still there in reality, just waiting under the surface.

I’d seen it in her eyes, no matter how hard she’d tried to hide it with her cocky attitude and slick mouth.

I rolled over onto my stomach and ground my hips against the mattress, trying to relieve a little bit of the pressure that had been building throughout my dream.

It was no use, though. That hard-on wasn’t going anywhere—not with my beautiful Bella so close to me that I could hear her breathing, could hear the little whimper and the contented little sighs she made when she was dreaming.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to think of something else, anything else that would put me back to sleep and get rid of my aching erection. All I could think about was Bella, though.

And that certainly wasn’t going to help the hard-on situation.

“Let me suck you, baby,” dream-Bella said, giving me her sly little grin as she beckoned me over. “You know you want me to. Let me make you happy.”

Abruptly, I turned back over and exhaled loudly, only belatedly looking over to make sure I hadn’t disturbed her. The Bella in my dreams was tempting, for sure, but my dreams were betraying me—letting her say all the things I wanted to hear.

It might be fine in a dream, in a fantasy, but I couldn’t confuse those dreams with the reality that she just wasn’t ready to go there with me.

She might want to feel me inside her, but she wasn’t ready to let me into her heart.

And the simple truth was that she might never be ready.

I sighed and turned onto my side again to face her as I curled an arm up under my pillow. Yep, those thoughts had finally done the trick. I might be able to look at her and lust after her for hours, for days, forever, but knowing she didn’t feel the same way about me?

That was more than enough to keep my desire in check.

* * *

I woke up again, this time from the morning sun falling across my face. I opened my eyes and then shut them again, turning over to bury my face in my pillow.

I wasn’t ready for another day, another battle of wills with Bella. I wanted to get back to those dreams I’d been having just a few hours before. At the time, they’d given me a case of blue balls that I’d been eager to get rid of, but now?

Yeah, I’d take blue balls over the prospect of several real-life hours looking at but not touching the woman of my dreams.

And the worst part?

I had to pretend like I was the one who wanted it to be that way. Like I was the one who was determined to make her wait.

Anyone else in my position would’ve thought I was a damn fool. And maybe they would’ve been right.

I opened my eyes again, ready to fight back the urge to reach out and stroke her soft cheek as she slept. But she wasn’t there.

Now fully awake, I sat upright in bed, ready to throw my clothes on and go to her, to make sure she was okay—and to make sure she was still there with me.

My stomach rumbled, and that’s when I smelled it. Bacon and eggs and probably toast and I didn’t even know what else, and then I smiled.

That woman could cook better than anyone I’d ever met. And even though I’d told her over and over again that she didn’t need to cook for me, I was really glad that she’d ignored that particular protest.

Because damn.

She would’ve been absolutely perfect if she had simply laid around in bed all day looking amazing. But the fact that she did so much else? That she was fiercely independent but also had a nurturing side that just wouldn’t quit?

Yeah, that did it for me. Every single time.

“Good morning,” she said, appearing in the doorway as if she’d been summoned by my thoughts. “I was wondering when you might wake up.”

I grinned and rubbed my eyes, wondering if I still might be dreaming or if she really did look that damn good.

“Something smells amazing,” I said, my voice still rough and gravelly from sleeping. Or lack of sleeping, maybe. “And good morning, Bella.”

“That something would be breakfast.” She crossed the room to open the curtains, turning the annoying little sliver of sunlight that I’d been dodging all morning into a flood of bright light that would guarantee I got out of bed. “And it’s almost ready, so come out and eat, unless you like cold eggs and bacon.”

Before I could answer, her phone started ringing from the other room and she disappeared from the doorway just as quickly as she’d shown up a few moments before.

With a heavy sigh, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and pulled on the pair of pants that I’d left on the floor the night before. I could hear her voice rising by the time I got to the door, and even though I couldn’t make out the words she was saying, her tone told me everything I needed to know.

She was upset and afraid.

“Bella?” I called to her from across the condo, moving as quickly as I could from the bedroom to the kitchen.

I came around the corner at the same time she did, and then she was in my arms, her body heaving as she sobbed into my chest.

For a minute that seemed to stretch out forever, I simply held her, letting her cry, letting her beat her small, delicate fists against my chest in muted anger. Seeing her like that was killing me, though, and when I couldn’t take it anymore I put my hands on her shoulders and pulled away just far enough to see her tear-streaked face.

“Bella, babe,” I moved my hand up next to her face and used my thumb to wipe away a fresh tear that had started rolling down her cheek. “What’s wrong? Talk to me, please.”

“It’s my dad…” Her voice broke on the last word as she tried to catch her breath, but a new wave of tears spilled over and she could only shake her head for a few more seconds as she tried to regain her composure enough to speak. “He’s in the hospital, Angel. They said it was a heart attack.”

The pain and guilt that shot through my gut felt as though someone had stabbed me. I’d kept her here like a bird in a cage, when she could’ve—should’ve—been home, taking care of her father.

“I’m sorry,” I said, pulling her close again. “I didn’t know he was…”

My voice trailed off, and I wasn’t sure what I would’ve said anyway. And whatever might have come out of my mouth wouldn’t have been enough. It wouldn’t have mattered. There was no excuse I could’ve come up with that would’ve made things right.

But there was one thing I could do.

“Get dressed,” I said. “Let me take you to him. I owe it to you.” I swallowed hard, then added, “To both of you.”

She looked up at me and nodded, and even though I could barely hear the hoarse whisper that came from her throat, the words she mouthed rang out in my head as if she’d spoken them directly into my brain.

“Thank you.”