In Safe Hands (Search and Rescue #4)(83)

She liked that, liked that she was doing something to turn him on. It was wonderful being on the receiving end of his ministrations, but she wanted to give, too. Knowing that he was just as excited added to her pleasure, and soon she was lost again to sensation.

Chris seemed to know exactly what to do, where and how to touch her in the best way. Pressure built inside her as her blood rushed faster and her skin heated. She couldn’t keep still, but twisted and writhed underneath him, tugging at his hair. Her body bowed upward as she came, pleasure surging through her until it was her entire world. Eventually, she collapsed back onto the bed in a boneless heap.

Her fingers ached as she released his hair, petting the strands in remorse. “Sorry I pulled your hair so hard.” Even to her own ears, she sounded a little drunk.

He crawled to lie next to her, propping himself up on an elbow. To her relief, he was smiling. “I told you it didn’t hurt.” Leaning down, he kissed the corner of her mouth. “I liked it.”

“You’re weird.” She smiled back. As her body recovered, she expected Chris to start kissing and touching her again, but he just played with a strand of her hair and occasionally kissed odd places, like the bridge of her nose or her chin. When she shivered, he went hunting for the covers that had gotten tossed aside in the excitement and pulled them over both of them.

Turning onto her side, Daisy looked at him, a little confused. “Um…is that it?”

His grin was devilish. “What’s wrong? Did I leave you unsatisfied?” The last word was almost a purr, and it made her clench her thighs together.

“No. I’m very satisfied.” Her glance darted to approximately midway down his covered body. “But you weren’t.”

That time, his kiss glanced off her ear. “I’m fine. Next time, I’ll come prepared.”

“Prepared?” It took her a few seconds before she figured it out, which made her feel a little slow. “Oh! Right. Sorry. I’m not prepared either.”

He grinned. “Yeah, I didn’t expect you’d be.”

For some reason, his assumption annoyed her a little. “Don’t worry about it, though. I’ll add it to the grocery list I send to Tyler.”

It was gratifying how wide Chris’s eyes went. “What? No, don’t do that. I’ll just bring them next time.”

“That’s okay.” She bit the inside of her lip to keep from smiling. “It’ll be good to have a supply around. I mean, what if I do have an at-home date with Fireman Steve? He sounds like a nice guy. It’s probably good to have a stash, just in ca—”

His mouth came down roughly, cutting off the rest of her words. Daisy didn’t mind being interrupted.

“Just to be clear,” he said when he finally lifted his head, his voice an odd mix of hoarse and stern, “we’re dating. As in, exclusively dating. So, no Fireman Steve.”

She smiled, cupping his face with one hand, just because she could, because they were dating. Finally. “No Fireman Steve.”

“Good.” He settled onto his back next to her.

After a few minutes of silence, she asked, “Why now?”

“Why now what?”

“You’ve had eight years to make your move.” She stared up at the ceiling. “Why didn’t you do anything before this? I mean, you didn’t even want me to touch you up until a few weeks ago.”

Rustling noises told her he was shifting, but her focus stayed on the ceiling until his face blocked her view, forcing her to meet his gaze. “First of all, if I’d made any kind of move during those first two years, it would’ve been creepy. And illegal. You were sixteen. The next three or four years after that, it would’ve still felt wrong. The last few years, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That’s why I didn’t want you hugging me. I was so wound up that any contact would’ve destroyed my willpower. It was pretty shaky as it was.”

“So? Why not act on those thoughts once I was old enough?”

With a groan, he rolled over to his back again. “I figured you wouldn’t be interested.”

“Not interested?” She turned onto her side so she could see his face. “Are you kidding? I was practically screaming my interest. I tried to kiss you.”

The vein in his temple started throbbing. “I figured you were just lonely, and I was handy. I mean…” His jaw flexed, making his next words come out tightly. “Why would you be interested in the guy who got your mom killed?”

All of Daisy’s breath left her in a whoosh, leaving her unable to speak for a full minute. She finally managed to force out the words. “What? I never blamed you.”

“Yeah.” He glanced at her quickly and then returned his gaze to the ceiling. “When we talked about it that night, I finally got that. After all these years, it was just hard to change my thinking, you know?”

“I know.” Tucking her body close to his side, she laid her cheek on his shoulder and stretched her arm across his chest. It felt strange to be lying there like that with Chris, but it also felt right. Even though she didn’t expect it to last—how could it when she couldn’t leave her house?—she was going to enjoy every second of this closeness with Chris. “Just so we’re clear, my mom’s death wasn’t your fault.”