23. Skylar
Chapter Twenty-Three
SKYLAR
For every second of the short drive from the restaurant back to my apartment, my body shimmered with energy.
Like those nights when there was nothing but nature to be heard—the call of an owl, the rustle of leaves in the wind, insects chirping, and the sound of waves breaking on the shore.
That was how my body felt. All of my senses were attuned and alive, shifting and twitching, everything heightened to Tucker.
Maybe I didn’t understand what he saw in me, but I knew he wanted me despite all of the muddled confusion I carried about relationships and trust. I understood desire and lust. I recognized the bell clanging and my body vibrating in response and knew I wasn’t alone in my need and desire.
The rush of it tuned out the critical voices in my head, which was no easy feat. The only reason I was able to manage it was because I was too needy, and it swamped me. I could feel the damp silk between my thighs. My nipples were tight, and my skin felt prickly, chafing for Tucker’s touch.
I knew I was going to invite him in. I also knew I might regret it later, but I didn’t care. Not right then. Rational thought and reason were washed away in the riptide of lust.
The sound of his blinker echoed loudly when he turned into the parking area at the gallery.
When his eyes slipped to mine, without a word, I knew he was asking if he should park in the front or the back.
I nodded, nudging my chin toward the back, silently answering, “Yes, I want you. Yes, we’re doing this. ”
The sound of the gravel under his tires rumbled through my system, spinning into the vibration of sensations. His engine went quiet a moment later, followed by that subtle clicking sound. As the engine cooled, my body revved.
“Should I walk you up?” Tucker asked.
With every ounce of boldness I could muster, I turned to face him and answered, “I want you to come in.”
He stared at me in the dim light cast from the parking lot lighting. His eyes searched mine for a few beats before he dipped his chin in acknowledgment.
We rushed up the stairs, our footsteps echoing in the hallway above the gallery. With mine the only apartment, the space felt alone, almost as if we weren't supposed to be here. The studio was dark, and the gallery was closed downstairs.
We reached my door, and I fumbled for my keys.
“Skylar,” Tucker said.
My eyes swung to his, and then he was kissing me, pressing me against the wall beside the door.
Oh. My. God. His kisses were sinfully good—a mix of bold and bossy, gentle and assured.
Deep sweeps of his tongue, nips on my lips, and then drawing away, punctuating it with a soft kiss on one corner of my mouth.
Just one. Butterflies took flight in my belly, sending sensations like little sparks leaping from a fire throughout my body.
I broke free. Breathless, I dragged in a deep gulp of air. His intent blue eyes stared down at mine.
“Are you sure you want me to come in?” he pressed.
“You'd better,” I retorted, lifting my chin and narrowing my eyes. I was irrational and insecure and needy when it came to the emotional part of relationships. But I was bold and almost reckless when it came to sex.
A therapist I’d liked had once said that might be part of my neediness. Because I could try to grab on and hope and hope and hope. I let down my barriers, shaking off my emotional fear, letting the lust and need and desire drive me.
I didn’t think about any of that now. I knew my recriminations and questions would come later, but not tonight.
I held strong under his gaze. “Okay,” he whispered gruffly.
Moments later, after I dropped my keys and he helped me get them into the lock, we were in my apartment. I didn’t let anything slow this down. I reached for his hand, reeling him to me. His eyes widened slightly, but that didn’t give me pause. Nothing would, not tonight, not now.
This might be the only night I had with him, and I was going to grab it with both hands and enjoy every single second.
“This,” I murmured as I arched against him, sliding my hand around his neck.
He met me halfway, his lips fitting over mine. Maybe I was being reckless and bold, but the second his tongue swept into my mouth, he took control of our kiss. He spun me and nudged me backward until I felt my hips bump against the couch.
I almost stumbled, but he caught me, steadying me and lifting me as he sat down on the couch.
“Oh, I like this,” I murmured when I broke away to gasp.
Straddling him, I could feel the hard ridge of his arousal. I was already toeing the edge of an orgasm, which should have alarmed me. There was a distant alarm ringing in the corner of my mind, but I ignored it.
I shouldn’t have been that primed. It shouldn’t have felt this easy. Yet it was with Tucker. I lost myself, that riptide pulling me farther and farther out to sea, into this moment—one after the other with him, each one tumbling into the next. It was like water rushing over a cliff.
We tugged at each other’s clothes. It was rushed and messy.
Scrambling off his lap, I ordered him to yank his shirt off.
He did with alacrity, the sound of his gruff chuckle sending shivers over my skin.
Moments later, I was bare save for my panties.
His jeans were tossed beside mine on the floor.
He wore fitted navy-blue boxers, his arousal jutting out.
I reached to tug them down, but he caught my hands, murmuring something.
I didn’t know what. Before I could even protest, he was kissing me again, spreading me out on the couch.
His lips closed over a nipple, and I cried out as sensation arrowed sharply to my core.
I clenched all over. His fingers delved, wasting no time to yank my panties down.
I kicked them free, letting out a moan of satisfaction followed by a whimper when his fingers teased into my slick folds and sank inside.
I was so ready. My hips bucked up against him. He murmured something against my neck before lifting his head and drawing his fingers out. “Let’s slow this down.”
“No!” I protested.
Something rose fiercely inside me. It felt almost feral, tangling with emotions I didn’t want to contemplate.
He brushed my hair away from my face. He didn’t reply with words, but the kisses he dropped on my lips and then on my neck said easy, easy.
I wanted to buck against it. I felt like a wild pony, but somehow, he soothed me. His hands mapped my body. He kindled the fire higher and higher inside while my restless need rose sharply and the bite of unsettled emotions dissolved.
He dusted kisses across my trembling belly, pushing a knee to the side.
On the heels of a gasp, his mouth was on my sex, and my hands were gripping his hair.
I cried out sharply. I was so close to the edge, my orgasm just waiting.
One wave of pleasure rolled into the next, and then his fingers sank inside when he licked deeply into me.
The wave broke, crashing and catching me in it. I shuddered hard, hearing myself let out a keening cry. I pulled his hair so hard I was surprised it didn’t hurt.
A moment later, he was rising above me. We hadn’t discussed birth control, but apparently, he had more sense than I did because he had produced a condom out of seemingly nowhere.
I could only think he must’ve planned ahead.
But then, he was a prepared kind of guy.
He smoothed it on swiftly. His gaze bored into mine as his weight came over me.
I should’ve been surprised. I liked to be in control. But then, it was obvious I wasn’t in control.
With Tucker, I didn’t suppose I had been in control since before he even kissed me that first time. All of it felt as if I was spinning loose, like flotsam across the surface of the ocean in a storm.
I felt the muscled planes of his chest, the hot shock of his skin against mine. His eyes were almost violet in the dim light in my living room. I felt the nudge of his crown at my entrance, followed by the thick stretch and glide of him filling me. I heard myself whispering, “This.”