I had no idea how much time passed before my body slowed its roll, but I slowly became aware of her hand gliding up and down my spine. Dragging in a ragged breath, I lifted my head.

Her half-hooded gaze met mine. “Hey,” she whispered.

My lips twitched. “You okay?”

“Perfect.”

Another rough breath parted my lips. “I’m probably crushing you.”

She shook her head slowly. “I don’t mind.”

Neither did I, but seriously, I wasn’t a small guy. I shifted onto my arm and carefully eased out of her. My legs felt strangely weak as my gaze dropped to hers. Again, I was at a loss for words as I leaned down and kissed her softly.

When we parted, I was unwilling to leave the bed, but I had to. “I’ll be right back.”

She nodded as I rose. Padding across the floor, I got rid of the condom and then made good on what I’d said, getting right back to where I was.

But Andrea was sitting up, drawing her knees up to her chest. “I can leave now if you—”

“What?” I shot her a look as I dragged the covers back on one side. “Leave?”

She glanced at me and then her gaze darted away. “I mean, I can hang out with you in here if you want or I can go back to my room.”

I stared at her for a moment. “Get your ass under this blanket.”

Her brows shot up. “Excuse me?”

“You’re not going anywhere,” I told her. “I want you in here, with me. So get that pretty ass under these blankets. I want to snuggle.”

“Snuggle?” She didn’t move for a moment and then she did, shaking her head and then scrambling under the blanket, on the far side of the bed.

I climbed in before I fell in, and as soon as my ass hit those cool sheets, I reached out and circled an arm around her waist, drawing her back against my front. “Snuggling,” I explained, “requires two people to be close together.”

“Understood,” she said, and then wiggled her bottom a little, as if she was getting comfortable. “Tanner?”

“Yeah?”

I felt her draw in a deep breath. “Thank you.”

I frowned. “For what?”

“For…for all of that.”

Lifting my head, I looked down at her, and I froze for a moment. Thick lashes fanned her cheeks, and her slightly swollen lips were parted. The height of her cheeks was flushed, and even though we’d just fucked like two wild animals, there was still an odd air of…peace around her. It didn’t make sense, but that’s what I saw and felt. It had to be one of the rarest moments to see her like that.

I settled back down. There were a lot of words I wanted to say as I kissed her shoulder. There were a lot of things I was feeling as I closed my eyes, resting my forehead against her shoulder, but at that moment, words didn’t seem adequate compared to what I was feeling, so I held her tighter to my chest and did something I couldn’t recall doing before, with anyone.

I fell asleep with Andrea in my arms.

Chapter 15

Andrea

For the first time in forever, I woke up with my body tangled with a man’s. As my senses slowly kicked back on, the first thing I thought was that I’d never stayed a night with a guy before. Not even my boyfriend back in high school, for obvious reasons.

This…this was a huge first.

I was still lying on my side and Tanner was still pressed against my back. For several minutes, I dared not to make any sudden moves to disturb him, because I liked the way I was cocooned in his embrace. No. Not just liked. I loved it, and as I stared at the wall across from his large bed, I knew I could easily get used to this. Maybe I should, because he had said there’d be a later for us, lots of laters, if I remembered correctly.

Last night had been one of the most amazing nights of my life, and no matter what happened between Tanner and me, I wasn’t going to let myself regret one single moment of it. No way.

So I lay there, soaking up every second like a sponge, and I don’t know how much time passed, but I felt him harden against my bottom. I sucked in a sharp breath, unsure if he was awake or not. Well, part of him was definitely awake.

The arm resting over my waist moved slightly and my eyes popped open when his large hand closed over my breast. Yep. He was awake.

Lips brushed my shoulder. “Morning,” Tanner spoke in a rough voice.

“Good morning,” I said, my gaze dropping to his hand. He ran his thumb over the tip of my breast and squeezed gently.

“You sleep okay?” Tanner shifted, wiggling his leg between mine.

My heart skipped a beat. “I slept like a baby.”

“Hmm. Wonder why?” His lips skated over the slope of my shoulder. “Guess what?”

I hesitated and then lifted my hand, folding it over his. “You’re horny?”

His deep laugh stirred the hair at the base of my neck. “I’m hungry.”

“Oh. Well then, this is awkward.”

He nipped at the sensitive spot below my ear as he slid his hand down from my breast, to the space between my legs. “I’m hungry for you.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Arching my back, I pressed my bottom against him.

His groan turned me on even more.

“You’re right.” His hand slipped further between my legs. Sensation trilled through my veins. “You’re totally right.”

His hand disappeared from between my thighs, and I felt him move behind me. Then I heard a wrapper being torn, I started to roll to face him, but the hand on my hip stopped me. I stilled, biting down on my lip as that hand trailed up my side and then smoothed down the center of my back. Since I couldn’t see what he was up to, the anticipation had a razor-sharp edge to it, almost desperate.