Not wanting to hurt her with his zipper against any soft parts, he pulled back and set to removing his jeans while her eyes remained locked on him as he moved.

“Hair down. Please.”

She sat up enough to pull her hair free of the pins, and the room filled with the scent of her shampoo when her hair fell around her shoulders.

“You know, I do believe aside from you playing with your clit and making yourself come while I’m inside you, you haven’t masturbated for my entertainment at all.”

She laughed. “Brody, you know I adore you, but when I finger my clit”—she blushed when she said it, but she said it—“it’s for my entertainment. I’m glad it works for you too, though.”

“God how I love it when you blush that way.”

She fell back to the pillows, her hands over her face while she shook with laughter.

Since she was busy, he brought her ankle to his mouth, pressing an openmouthed kiss in the hollow just behind it. Her laughter melted into a soft groan.

“Touch yourself.” He kissed the other ankle and moved to kneel between her legs.

“Okay.”

He knew without her telling him that he was the only person she’d done this for, and it meant something. Made a difference. She got inside him and settled there until he couldn’t remember a time without her. Couldn’t remember a moment in his life when he didn’t think, I’ve got to tell Elise about this, when something happened during his day.

Erin had told him, when they were in Las Vegas for her wedding to Todd, that love often came as a total surprise. And she was right. There wasn’t a moment Brody could think back on and identify as the time when like tipped into love. But he was there and it rocked him down to his foundations, and yet loving Elise was the most comforting and natural thing he’d ever felt.

Elise’s eyes drifted closed as her hands slid down her torso. His body kept her legs open, and from his vantage point, the glistening, dark pink folds of her pu**y beckoned to him, to his hands and mouth, to his cock. How beautiful she was there, laid out before him, offering him everything.

He watched as her hips undulated while she grasped her ni**les and pulled. Whoa. That was f**king hot. He wanted to talk to her, tell her how hot she looked, but he didn’t want to break in yet, wanted to let the moment be hers alone for a little while longer.

His fingers curled into her calves where he’d been holding her, and she moaned. His mouth watered to taste the velvety skin where thigh met body, wanted to slide across the wet of her cunt, up her belly, over her ni**les and to her lips.

Magic. Elise Sorenson was magic. Rare. The most beautiful and elegant thing he’d ever possessed, had ever wanted. When he was a kid, his mother had some fragile porcelain figurine his father had given her when they were teenagers. Brody had never touched it, fearing he’d break it or harm it, but he’d watched it. Stood and looked at it, so regal and perfect. The lines so perfect no matter how the sun hit it, even on their totally normal suburban mantel.

Elise was all that desire for something fine and beautiful, but come to life, because she was that way inside too. Such a good mother, competent, no-nonsense, but also whimsical and silly. Sexy that, the way she took care of her kid. Made him wonder what it would be like, to be a family with them, to come home to his girls every night. In loving her, he was a better person.

Part of him went cold a moment at how far he’d gone with her without even realizing it. And then he relaxed, warmed, understood it had been happening every single day since she’d touched him, just before they loaded him into the ambulance almost a year ago. He only worried that she didn’t feel as deeply. If she didn’t, he’d wear her down until she did. He knew without a doubt that he loved her and wanted to be with her, and her child. He’d wait until after all this legal bullshit was squared away; he knew she’d need all her focus on that. Once that was taken care of, he’d be asking her to marry him.

He moaned softly when her fingers finally slid down and into her cunt, his breathing in sync with hers as they both dragged in a deep breath when she pressed two fingers up into her gate and then pulled them back out.

“I’m dying here, watching you,” he said in a low voice. Her eyes opened slowly and focused on him. “This is so sexy. Like the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Her mouth curled up into a smile as she blushed again. But she didn’t stop the hand on her pu**y.

Elise had never been so turned on in her life. Doing this for him, showing him something so intimate that she’d never shared it with anyone before, thrilled and titillated her straight to her toes. Even though her eyes were closed, she felt his attention, knew his gaze caressed her body, her ni**les, where she’d buried her hand between her thighs—his eyes would be dark and stormy as he watched.

She opened her eyes again, wanting to see those eyes, and his gaze met hers. A ripple of awareness passed between them, rolled through her with so much power it brought her to a very brief pause.

“Don’t stop,” he murmured.

So she didn’t. Nor did she close her eyes. The way he looked at her then was so beautiful she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Didn’t want to, because it made her feel desired and loved.

Orgasm came, cell-deep, slow to expand through her body like honey. She wanted to curl into him and nap, letting him protect her while she did nothing but dream.

He swooped down and kissed her; barely reined hunger made him taste urgent and hot. His intensity woke her up, washed the languid away, replacing it with need. More. How much could she take? She wanted to have so much of him she overflowed.