Tyler (Blue Halo Book 6)

Everything inside Emerson stopped. Her breaths. Her thoughts. Even her heart felt like it paused in its steady beat.

Tyler was kissing her, and for once, no part of her hesitated. She didn’t think about stepping away. About forcing the dance in her belly to pause or doing the right thing. All she could do, all she wanted to do, was lean into him. Let him soothe the chaos of her emotions tonight. The pain. The anguish. The guilt that she was asking good men to help someone they’d probably consider an enemy.

She threaded her fingers through his hair and tugged him closer. Held him so tight that she almost felt she could keep him in place if he tried to move away.

He didn’t. His hands lowered to her ass, and he lifted her as if she weighed nothing, letting her wrap herself around him like that was exactly where she was meant to be.

And God, it felt that way.

Her lips parted and his tongue slid inside her mouth. She hummed at his masculine flavor. It was a taste she wanted to fall into and never get out of.

As his tongue danced with hers, the air around her moved. Then her back was against a wall. Her breasts pressed into his firm chest while her core hit his hard stomach.

Oh God…

She groaned as his lips moved down her cheek before settling on her neck and sucking.

“Tyler…” she breathed.

“Emerson.” His voice was low and raspy, and it slithered inside her belly.

His hands went to the base of the shirt, which had gathered around her waist, and he tugged it over her head. She was naked underneath, so they were instantly skin against skin.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered against her neck.

The cold wall disappeared, then he lay her on a soft mattress. Instead of following her down, he stood by her feet, the muscles in his chest so thick he looked like a warrior. Her warrior.

He toed off his shoes, his strong fingers going to the button of his jeans. His gaze never left hers. Not while he pushed down his pants. Not when he stepped closer, a knee going to the mattress beside her leg. And that look in his eyes, the intoxicating mix of heat and desire and need…it made her breasts ache and toes curl.

Almost involuntarily, her gaze lowered once again to the bandage on his stomach.

Reality tried to splinter the fog of desire. The reality that his injury was Levi’s doing, and in turn, her fault, and the possibility that it could have been worse.

But then Tyler’s fingers glided up her thigh, his calluses rough against her smooth skin. And suddenly she was back in the sensual fog. Back in a world where Tyler was all that existed.

His lips pressed to her belly, and they felt like silk, soft and smooth. As he peppered kisses up to her ribs, her breathing shortened, her skin tingling wherever he touched. She arched into him, wanting more. Needing it.

When his mouth reached her chest, her throat closed. He cupped both her breasts and took one hard bud between his lips. Air rushed into her lungs on a gasp. And when he sucked, her cry tore through the room.

She grabbed his shoulders, trying to anchor herself.

The combination of his weight, his hands cupping her, and now his tongue thrumming her nipple was a perfect storm of ecstasy. She ached for him.

She threaded her fingers through his hair, her chest rising and falling quickly.

He switched to her other breast. Now she didn’t just ache, she throbbed. And in this moment, her heart beat for him. Only him.

After what felt like endless minutes of torture, he finally drew up and his mouth returned to hers. Their tongues once again tangled. She pressed her hands to his chest, wanting him on his back. With an arm around her waist, he rolled them, his mouth never leaving hers. She ground herself against his hardness, feeling him thicken at her core.

He growled, his hands going to her hips, fingers digging into her flesh. She wanted to drive him as crazy as he drove her. Push him right to the brink of insanity. She kissed him like this was her only chance. Like this was all she’d ever get, so she had to take and give everything.

His hand moved between their bodies and stopped at her core. When he grazed her slit, she trembled. A full-body tremble that rolled through every limb and organ.

He swiped again. Same reaction.

“So damn responsive,” he murmured, his heated exhale whispering across her skin.

She gripped his shoulders as he continued to massage her clit. Then he reached farther down and touched a finger to her entrance.

Her belly burned, air halting in her lungs. Slowly, he pushed inside her.

She gasped, her head trying to lift, but he cupped her cheek and brought her back to him, his tongue melding with hers once again. He thrust his finger, his thumb moving to her clit and stroking.

Her breaths shortened, her heart pounding in her chest. Pressure began to build, an undeniable throb she couldn’t stop.

She grasped his neck and tore her lips away before pressing her temple to his. “I need you, Tyler.”

“You have me.” One more sweet kiss.

Her pulse thumped.

She reached between their bodies, slipped a hand inside his briefs, and wrapped her fingers around him. His eyes scrunched, his thick muscles tensing so hard she swore they doubled in size. She moved her hand, exploring his length. He thickened in her grip, a growl moving from his chest, cutting through the air.

She learned what he liked, enjoying the masculine sounds that seemed to tear from somewhere deep inside him.

Too soon, long fingers wrapped around her wrist, stopping her.

Then he spun them again, his beautiful weight pressing her into the mattress. He removed the last thread of his clothing and reached for something in the nightstand.

She took the foil from his fingers, tore it open, and rolled the condom onto him, stroking him from tip to base then back again. Another rumble of his chest.

The second she was done, he settled between her thighs. But instead of sliding straight into her, he gently brushed some hair from her face and looked at her in the way he aways did. Like he saw everything. Like she was his, and he was hers, and there was nothing either of them could do to stop it.

“Mine,” he whispered, reading her mind.

The word should’ve made her panic. At any other moment, she was sure it would have. But in this perfect moment, while she lay trapped beneath a man she wanted more than anything else in the world, all she could think was—yes. She was his, without question.

So she whispered the word she knew she might regret tomorrow. “Yours.”

He threaded his fingers through hers and pressed her hands to the mattress. Then he kissed her, his tongue nudging her lips apart, while he slowly slid inside her body.

White-hot fire rippled through her. He stretched her in the best way. He didn’t move immediately, instead making love to her mouth while her muscles grew used to his size.

Finally, he lifted his hips and thrust back in. Holy Jesus, it felt like nothing else. He thrust again, igniting more of the same. As he continued to move, his tongue worked hers. He reached for her breast, kneaded and pinched.

Every part of her was on fire. A fire he’d set ablaze and continued to feed.

She tugged her mouth from his and cried out. But his lips didn’t leave her. They trailed down her cheek and behind her ear, sucking.

Her body was in overdrive, consumed by him. She dug her fingers into his shoulder, almost breaking skin.

She was so close.

His breath brushed her ear, then he whispered, “Fucking gorgeous. And all mine.”

Her back arched and her world exploded.

Desire. Want. Need. It was all there in an intoxicating mix, and it burned through Tyler as Emerson’s muscles pulsed around him.

Fuck, who was this woman to do what she did to him? She made every vibrant, colorful image in his head gray and blur. All but the image of her. She was his only light.

He lifted his head and watched her body bow and her eyes shut tightly. She didn’t hold back. She broke in front of him, and she was beautiful. So damn beautiful he wanted to capture this moment in the palm of his hand and make damn sure he never lost it.

He continued to thrust, her breast heavy in his palm. His head dipped, teeth nipping her bottom lip. Her soft whimpers splintered through the quiet, skewering his heart.

Blood roared between his ears. And all too soon, his body tensed and he shattered. His growl was long and deep. He continued to thrust until he had nothing left. Until she owned all of him, even the pieces he hadn’t known existed.

Then, finally, he stilled.

Her heart beat loud in his ears and her breaths were rough. He lifted a hand, and with the pad of his thumb, grazed her bottom lip. “You’re incredible, Emerson Charles.”

So incredible, he had no idea how he’d survived all these years without knowing she existed. There was no possible way he could fight this. Go back to the way things were.

Her eyes softened, and her small hand clutched his much larger one. She lifted it and pressed a kiss to the inside of his wrist before saying the same words that had just played in his head.

“I don’t think I can fight this anymore.”

His eyes flared. His. She was his.

With one final press of his lips to hers, he slid out of her and tugged her into his side as he settled onto the mattress.

This was it. This was everything his brothers had spoken about. The love that hit you out of nowhere. And the knowledge that nothing could possibly match it…or ever be the same again.