The Renegade (The Moorehouse Legacy #3)(59)

His need for her looked as if it must have been painful, it was so swollen, so stiff.

But his eyes were haunted. She shook her head.

“Don’t police my feelings, Alex. Be with me if you want to, but let me worry about myself, okay?” When he stayed still, her voice turned hard. “What are we doing here, Alex? I’m clear with what I want. Is it yes or no for you?”

He answered by leaning down and running his hands up the inside of her thighs. He coaxed her legs apart, and she arched, ready to have him lie between them.

The sensation of his mouth on her hip was a shock. And so was the way he lowered himself to the mattress, his great arms slipping beneath both her knees, the width of his shoulders lifting her legs, separating them. The sight of his massive torso under her slender thighs made her feel so very small and it turned him into some great male animal, stretched out before her most vulnerable place.

Something chilly fluttered through her. Not fear, because she knew without a doubt that he would never hurt her. It was just…the intimacy seemed a little overwhelming.

As if he sensed her hesitation, he rubbed his head on her belly, his hair soft and silky. She could feel his breath on her skin, hot and moist.

“Will you let me do this, Cassandra? Will you let me know you this way?” He kissed her right below the navel and then licked the spot. “Because I want to. So badly. I’ll be gentle, I promise. So very gentle.” He nuzzled his face against her. “Please let me do this…nice and slow.”

“Yes, Alex…”

His big hands splayed over her stomach, holding her down, as his mouth found her very center. She cried out at the contact of his lips, and he looked up at her, eyes shining out of the low angle of his face. He watched her as he pleasured her, taking her in two ways, with his languorous mouth and his hungry gaze.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered hoarsely. “Oh, sweet heaven…the honey of you…”

A wave of pleasure crested and sank her, throwing her body into contractions that tightened her from head to foot. In the midst of it, a heavy weight came down on top of her and then there was the sweet invasion of him, the awareness that he was sliding deeply within her, the glorious joining.

His head burrowed into the pillow next to hers as his body went through its erotic masculine dance. His breath punched out of him, the roar of it loud in her ear. She savored the slick sweat and the vibrant heat and the pounding power of him. Her hands went to his back and she held on as best she could.

When he reached his pinnacle, he called out her name. And spilled himself into her like wine.

*

It was sometime later when Alex craned his neck around and looked at the clock. Nearly midnight.

Time for him to go. It wouldn’t be a good idea for both Cassandra and him to show up at White Caps in the same car in the morning. Not in front of all those workmen of hers.

He closed his eyes and put his head back down just so he could relish holding her in his arms for a little longer. Then he slipped out of the bed and dressed quietly.

Leaning over her, he kissed her softly on the shoulder. He didn’t want to wake her up, not given how exhausted she was.

Downstairs, he called Spike who, bless his heart, was in front of Gray’s in ten minutes.

Alex got into the car.

“Thanks—” He frowned, pausing as he went for the seat belt. “’Scuse me, man. But those pants you’re sporting. Are those what I think they are? Are those…jammies?”

“I was crashed when you called, okay? And there’s nothing wrong with Star Wars.”

Alex grinned. “For a twelve-year-old, maybe. I didn’t know they even made that kind of thing in man-size. Do they have the little footies on them?”

Spike flipped a choice finger in the air and downshifted.

“Well, do they?”

“No.”

“That is such a disappointment.”

Spike pulled up to the workshop and Alex glanced at his friend. “Hey, thanks for not asking. You know, about Cassandra.”

The man nodded. “No problem. I’m just glad you finally got it together.”

Except they weren’t really together.

And God knew, they were going to be worlds apart tomorrow, when he told her everything.

In an odd way though, he felt relieved. The hiding had gone on for so long that it had become a permanent condition in his life, like the color of his hair or his eyes. The realization that the end point had arrived was strangely liberating.

He would get over the feeling, he was damn sure of that. Because how Cassandra was going to react when he was through talking was not really an open question. She might have fallen out of love with her husband, but that didn’t mean she’d want to keep making love with the guy who’d let him die.

And as for the news that he’d loved her from afar for years? He couldn’t imagine that was going to go over any better. He was going to come across as an obsessed, dishonorable lunatic.

But telling her only part of the story wasn’t an option. He had to let both halves loose because the two were inextricably linked. His love for her and Reese being lost to the sea were…one and the same in all the ways that mattered.

“Lex? You cool there, buddy?”

“Uh, yeah. See you in the morning.”

“You betcha.”