Chapter Twenty-Three #2
His gaze enveloped her, and she felt the intensity of his focus.
Like she was the only human in the universe.
Like she was Lulu Gardner and that was exactly what he had been looking for.
There was pain there. And loss, of all those wasted years apart.
And she knew what it was, even if she had never experienced it before.
Like if she saw a unicorn or had an earth-shattering orgasm.
She knew exactly what his gaze said. It said I promise. And meant it.
“But Tyler.” She was grasping now, trying to make sure she understood his intentions. “You must have loved her, right? You don’t marry someone without loving them.”
“I did love her, Lu.” Oh, it was a little pinprick, deflating her heart. “And I know it sounds impossible. But I never, ever stopped loving you.”
The effect of those last words lodged like a stone in her throat and the water in her eyes threatened to tip over her lower lids. She didn’t really believe them. She wanted to, but she couldn’t.
“You know how I told you,” he continued, “that my marriage broke up because I wanted a family, and she didn’t.
” Her eyes slid to the side. She didn’t want to hear anything more about his ex-wife.
“That wasn’t the main reason. The real reason, the biggest hurdle, was that she couldn’t come to terms with… ”
A puff of air escaped his nose. “Aw, hell,” he said, making some decision. “I’ll just…show you.”
And within the space of an instant, his hands went to the waist of his hotel robe. He yanked at the belt, tugging it from the loops. The plush robe slid off his shoulders and pooled at his bare feet. Tyler stood before her, stock still, naked as the day he was born. Only much, much bigger.
Lulu’s breath hitched in her throat. There was nothing there she hadn’t seen before. A lot of years ago. But back then, he had not been so…defined.
“See?” he asked.
Of course Lulu looked. He had offered, and it seemed like an opportunity that she had not had in many years, so she took full advantage. It would be fair to say, she thought, that her eyes were drawn, first, to the relaxed appendage that hung like a festive Christmas ornament between his legs.
Gulping, Lulu managed, “She didn’t like your penis?”
Rolling his eyes, he gestured at his biceps and she struggled to shift her attention. They were fit biceps, sure. Picklebiceps. But who would end a marriage over beautiful biceps?
He said, “She couldn’t deal with this,” he said, raising an arm over his head. Her gaze studied the swooping ink that circumnavigated his muscles. “She couldn’t handle that I have another woman’s name tattooed on my body.”
She was about to ask whose name…and then she saw it. Her name.
Lulu, in elegant black letters, looping around his upper arms in a cursive cuff.
“I had the artist do them upside down, so I could read your name when I felt…you know. Lonely.”
What was this melty feeling that was happening inside her body?
She fell into it, or rather the sight of him dragged her into the sensory imprint that still clung around the edges of her memory.
It wasn’t just physical arousal, although that was certainly part of it, she thought, as her mind found itself temporarily distracted by the warmth catching on the embers of her desire.
But also, it was willingness. A readiness to let go of the heaviness that had blocked her from letting him in.
A newfound trust that Tyler was a man of good intentions.
“Lu—” His voice broke with sincerity. “If you’ll give me a chance, I promise that from now on my promise to you always come first.”
And even though that boy had struggled to keep his promises in the past, the proof stood before her in very vivid present tense; he had, after all, written a reminder on his skin. So, she gave herself permission to hope that future Tyler would be a man of his word.
She stood up. Her brain hardly knew what her hands were doing, but they were sure and steadfast on their mission.
Her fingers found their way to her own terrycloth belt.
With a languid, teasing pull, she tugged both ends away until the robe hung open.
Lulu stood before him as boldly as he had done for her.
A slow smile pricked at the corners of his lips, and he stepped nearer.
With both hands, he slipped his fingers beneath the collar at her neck.
Her neck arched when his nails grazed the skin on her shoulders, and with a flip of both wrists, he flicked off her robe.
It slid down her arms, the sensation sending a shiver along her spine.
His eyes devoured her naked form, and her skin tingled wherever his gaze traveled.
“I like what you’re wearing,” he commented, his voice hoarse with need.
“Thanks.” She gave him a coy smile. “I got it for my birthday.”
Reaching out, she touched a fingernail to his arm and traced her upside-down name, grazing his skin along the looping letters.
She thrilled to watch the goose bumps lift along his muscled arm, and a parallel reaction lower down.
Curling his fingers at her hips, he took one step nearer.
Close, but not touching, the heat from their bodies ping-ponged sparks back and forth, pulsing with desire.
And there was that familiar nostalgia, a comfortable closeness.
Because in a way, Lulu thought, in a way, they were the same.
Both competitive and fiery and driven and stubborn.
And caring enough to sacrifice for the people they loved, which ultimately, Lulu realized, had always included each other.
That they had been here before. And they would be here again.
He kissed her, his hand scooping the hair at the crown of her head.
She cradled his scalp between her hands and pulled his head to her shoulders, scraping her teeth along his neck, just lightly, just to make sure he was going to let her.
He pulled his face back and studied her with an intensity that made all the liquid in her body race to one spot.
As he stared into her eyes, his fingertips traced a line between her breasts and down her belly.
He touched her. The suddenness of it surprised her, and leaning into his hand, she moaned.
“Shh. Thin walls,” he whispered. “And nosy neighbors.” He chuckled.
Keeping her wits about her enough to tease him, she skated her nails along his shoulders and down the taut landscape of his torso. Tyler muffled an approving groan, but then his hands met hers, stopping their determined progress.
“Lu?” Her name in his voice. She could dive into that voice. The sound of it opened a hole in the universe; she might tumble through and never be seen again.
“I should have said…” His lips were so close to hers. “Out there. In the water. I’m sorry you went through all that worry. I had no idea you thought I was drowning. I feel awful that I scared you like that. It was incredibly brave of you. And…kind.”
He kept his eyes fixed on hers and gripped the back of her hair. Tyler bunched her locks in fists against her scalp. And as she inhaled in pleasure, she reached for him and heard his stifled moan.
Lulu did not like to be quiet, but she liked a challenge, so she squirmed, biting back her ecstasies while his fingers explored her new and familiar landscape.
His gaze poured into her, connected with her, knew her. “Nobody’s ever tried to save my life before.”
She kept her lips a millimeter from his. “But I didn’t save your life.”
He closed the space between them. “There’s still time,” he said, his words half lost in her mouth.