Page 97 of Inevitable Inheritance

“Derrick, you have a sister, and—”

“Marty will eventually find someone,” he said, nodding as he thought it out. “She’ll find someone and have her own family. I have no one.”

“Derrick, Marty will never ever desert you,” Taylor assured him, “and you have, well, you have me, Derrick.”

Derrick looked at her like she had three heads. “You?” he asked like she was a fantasy.

And didn’t his response just make Taylor feel like a gigantic ass? Of course he would question her and what she meant. She had just spent the last week claiming to detest him and sending him mixed signals, stay and go. Now he had lost his last parent. Of course he felt alone.

“Yes, Derrick,” she assured him. “You have me. I am your family now,” she said to him, holding his eyes, nodding to try and drive her point home.

A single tear trailed down Derrick’s face, and Taylor reached up to brush it away. “Don’t cry, Derrick,” Taylor said, trying to hold back her own tears. “You have cried so much tonight. Please don’t cry,” she said.

As another tear came from Derrick’s other eye, Taylor reached up and pushed that one away as well and kissed the spots on his cheek where it had been. “No more tears,” she said, looking him in the eye. She was much closer now that she had pushed herself forward to kiss away the tear. When she looked down, Taylor realized that he was still in those wet clothes. “Let’s get you out of these,” she told him.

Taylor pushed herself up and unbuttoned Derrick’s button-down, but it was difficult since the shirt was so wet. Once it was undone, she pushed it down Derrick’s arms, and Derrick helped her pull his hands out of it.

Suddenly, Derrick moved his hands to her face and pulled Taylor’s lips to his, kissing her softly. “Do I really have you, Taylor?” Derrick asked hopefully, keeping his lips on hers.

Instead of answering, Taylor kissed Derrick back. She pulled herself up closer by putting her hands on his strong arms and then sliding them up to his shoulders. Taylor slid her hands into Derrick’s hair, pulling him closer to her, deepening the kiss. He needed to be close to someone, to be reassured. And Taylor was ready to help him, after all she was his wife now.

Derrick moved his hands down the sides of Taylor’s robe-covered body to the hem of the robe. Taylor tensed as he stroked her thighs. Whatever was happening between them was about to go down a path, and Taylor was unsure what would happen from there. But the anticipation of what Derrick might do to her next far outweighed any tension about what it would do to their “relationship.”

Derrick gripped the sides of Taylor’s thighs and stood, picking her up with him. He broke himself from Taylor’s lips and kissed his way down her jaw to her throat as he turned and laid her down on the bed. Derrick straightened away from her laying form and made quick work of losing the rest of his clothes. He was back over Taylor before she had a chance to even get a glimpse of his naked form.

Derrick hovered over Taylor when he came back to her, holding himself up with his left arm extended. He reached with his right hand and touched her bottom lip with the pad of his thumb. “I have you, Taylor?” Derrick asked her again, his eyes vulnerable and searching. He wanted an answer, and Taylor realized she hadn’t given him one, just cut him off and tried to distract him.

“Yes, Derrick,” Taylor assured him hesitantly, “you have me.”

And that was all he needed, apparently, because Derrick descended on her, kissing her, devouring her mouth like she was his favorite food. His tongue parted her lips and sought hers with demanding, intense strokes. Taylor kissed Derrick back slower, timidly moving her tongue and enjoying every move he made. Derrick moved a hand down to the belt of the robe and pulled it loose.

Taylor gasped as cool air made contact with her bare skin.

“Is this okay, Taylor?” Derrick asked as he parted the robe further, his lips slowing, brushing over hers teasingly, and he stroked his hand over her stomach in a matching pattern.

Words were completely lost on Taylor. The build-up to this moment and all the sensations on her skin were totally fogging her, so she nodded instead. Once he had her approval, Derrick went back to kissing her deeply. He moved his hand from her stomach to her hip and stroked back and forth.

The slowness of his hands and the desperation from his mouth had Taylor aching, almost painfully, all over. Her body shifted to get closer to his hand. He moved one side of the robe off her right breast, exposing her. The cool air hit her nipple, making it taut.

“Is this okay, Taylor,” Derrick asked, his breathing was heavy against her lips, and she could feel his chest moving faster against hers.

Taylor wasn’t sure if he was trying to drive her crazy moving as slowly as he was and asking questions or if he was trying to make her more comfortable, but it was doing both. “Yes,” she breathed out and arched her body up. Derrick moved his hand up and over her breast and peaked nipple, slowly grazing his fingers over the sensitive tip, making her shiver all over. Derrick’s lips lifted from hers and made their way down her jawline.

Taylor had her hands on Derrick’s well-muscled shoulders, holding on for dear life as her body absorbed all the sensations he was giving her. His lips moved down and replaced his hands, drawing her nipple into his mouth and grazing it with his teeth then soothing it with his tongue, causing Taylor to moan loudly. With his other hand, Derrick uncovered the other half of her body and started to caress her other nipple.

Taylor started to have trouble getting air in. Her body was alive with sensation. She had been fighting her attraction to Derrick for so long that now she seemed hyperaware of every touch and eager for more.

Derrick moved his mouth across her body and latched on to her other nipple; this time he seemed more impatient than he had with the other. His warm mouth was moist and sucking one side while the other side was still tingling from the cool air hitting the moist peak.

Taylor was panting loudly. She was gripping Derrick’s shoulder, unable to move, unable to speak, wanting to say it was enough and wanting to ask for more all at the same time. “Derrick,” was all she was able to say.

Derrick stopped and leaned his head on her chest. Taylor was about to beg him not to stop when he interrupted her thoughts. “God, Taylor, I want you so bad. I don’t think I can hold off any longer.”

Taylor licked her lips. “I want you too, Derrick,” she said to him breathlessly, her need shoving the truth out of her. She needed him to fix the unfulfilled ache she had been ignoring since he had come back into her life. She couldn’t stand it anymore. She was uncomfortable with need, and hehadjust vowed to be there for her needs.

Derrick picked up his head and kissed Taylor’s chest and then up her neck and rested back on her lips, his eyes open and looking into hers. “But are you ready for me, Taylor,” he asked her and moved his hands down Taylor’s ribs and to her hips. Using his strong legs, Derrick moved her legs slightly apart, and Taylor’s eyes went wide as a hand slipped between her thighs. Derrick drifted his fingers against Taylor’s folds, groaned, and slid a finger slowly up and down her slick center. “Oh God, baby, you’re so wet,” he said. But Taylor barely heard. She was focused on how good his fingers felt and how she still wanted more.

Her unspoken wish was granted when Derrick slid one finger between her slick folds and stroked her. Taylor’s hips arched, and her breathing quickened. Derrick shifted his hips as he watched and stroked her.

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