Page 17 of Rescuing Royce

“That was…” She paused. She couldn’t think; all she could do was feel. And she felt fantastic. And scared. No, she didn’t want to think about it now. She’d walked into this knowing he only did hook-ups. But dammit, she wanted more. More of this andof him. The man who rescued her, yes. But she wanted to get to know Royce the man.

What if this was enough for him? Could she leave this bed, get dressed, and offer a simple, “thanks for the ride,” and walk away?

“Thank you, Royce.” The words sounded a bit lame, but she meant them.

“You’re welcome. And I agree that was… beyond fantastic. But you don’t have to thank me. It makes it sound like you’re ready to bolt when I have plans for you. For us.”

She looked at him, tried to read his thoughts. What did he mean?

“No, it’s just that… it, well you, this—us, was better than I could have ever imagined. And I knew the rules going in. And I’m okay with it, I am.”

Royce rolled to his side and lifted his head on his hand. He looked at her for a long time without saying anything. He brushed away a few strands of hair off her face as she soaked in his features. He had a small scar above his right eye, and his hair was a mess from her hands. She committed it all to memory.

The silence between them was easy and comforting, and she told herself she’d get up in a minute. She wanted to enjoy the last bit of time she had with him. Still, on her stomach, too relaxed to move, she closed her eyes.

“Hey, sleepyhead. You need to wake up.”

She heard Royce’s voice and felt his warm hand rubbing small circles on the small of her back. She didn’t remember dozing off. She was now on her side, snuggled up tight against Royce. She stretched and smiled as muscles not used in a long while protested. Her thigh brushed his and another body part that seemed to have also awoken when she did.

“Hmm, you looking for round two?”

Royce lightly slapped her bottom, “unfortunately not right now. We need to get dressed. I hear cars starting up in the driveway. Party’s over.”

“Oh, right. Right, right. Okay, where’d you put the clothes.” She jumped out of bed and raced around, looking for her bra and panties. Right, no panties. She quickly located the rest of her clothes and was buttoning up her blouse when Royce placed a hand over hers.

“Eager to leave me?”

What did she say? “Um, no, it’s just you said everyone’s leaving, and I thought that, well, we don’t want anyone to know about…” She looked over at the bed then back at him. “You know.”

“Yeah, about that. I thought it might not be such a weird thing if we did— that—again.” He pulled on his boxer-briefs and turned to find the rest of his clothes.

Amber didn’t know how what to say. She’d been all prepared to keep her real feelings hidden, act as if their time together wasn’t a big deal. Yet, he made it sound like he might want more. Maybe, she hadn’t heard him right.

“I thought we could have dinner tomorrow or if that doesn’t work another night. When you’re free, and I’m not on duty.”

Fully clothed, he looked like she felt. A bit rumpled and thoroughly satisfied, and ‘Hell yes,’ she wanted to see him again. First, however, she needed to make sure he was saying what she thought he was saying—that he wanted more than one time with her.

“But what about, ah, is that what you were referring to earlier?”

“Well, I’ve heard you don’t usually that you’re kind of a one and done type of guy.” She couldn’t believe she was having this conversation.

“Maybe. Yeah, I was. But people change. I’ve changed. And you, Ms. Wyatt, are worth changing for.” Royce took her hand and pulled her up against him.

He bent down and feathered his lips over hers back and forth before he captured her lips in a long, deep kiss.

Dizzy. He made her dizzy with his kisses. She smiled against his lips. “So, do I have to wait until dinner tomorrow to have sex with you again, or will you come home with me tonight?”Go big or go home, right?

“Baby, I have a feeling we’ll be missing a lot of dinners from now on if you keep looking at me that way.” Royce grinned and caressed her face.

“So, we’re really doing this? We’re going to date or whatever and have incredible sex, and maybe once in a while, we’ll remember to have dinner?”

“Amber, would it surprise you to know that I haven’t been with anyone else in weeks, not since I first laid eyes on you.”

“What are you saying, Royce?”

He picked her up in his arms and let her slide down his body, slowly until she let out a moan.

Yeah, they were definitely not having dinner later.

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