Free Night Is Darkest by Jayne Rylon

she battled the rush of excitement incited by the swipe of his tongue over the sensitive pad of her finger. He had flown right past the friendship barrier she struggled to reconstruct. Mason had warned them sleeping together would put a kink in their lifelong relationship but she didn’t know how to fix things now.
    “I can’t help but worry. Don’t you know how much I care about you?” Somehow, he’d managed to tug her closer until his whisper tickled the fly-away hairs at her temple.
    “You don’t have to do this, Ty.” She attempted to shake him off but he wouldn’t budge. “What we did… We can forget it ever happened.”
    “I’ll never forget.”
    “Don’t sound so irritated. I thought that’s what you’d want after you skipped out.”
    “No, this is what I want…”
    Before she could object, he covered her tense mouth with his then teased the seam of her lips until she surrendered. The steamy kiss obliterated her rational thoughts of restoring their platonic status. They made out in the middle of the kitchen like horny teenagers. When he boosted her to the counter and situated his trim hips between her thighs, one of their bowls skittered off the platform. It shattered on the tiles below.
    The clatter whisked her back to reality. With a shake of her head she braced herself on stiff arms behind her, creating a chasm between their heaving chests. What would she do when he changed his mind again? Mason had been right. She couldn’t afford to lose him, too. “I’m sorry, Ty. This isn’t going to work.”
    “Wait. Just give me a second here.” He swiped his knuckles across his reddened lips then shook his head as though to clear his thoughts. “I didn’t mean for this to happen like this. I know I fucked everything up, Lacey. It was your first time. I should have stayed…”
    “It’s not that.” She interrupted before he could say something he didn’t mean, though it surprised her to hear anything over the pounding of her heart. “I understand sex is different things to different people. You gave me what I needed. I had no right to expect more. But I can’t do it again knowing that come morning you’ll be on your way. I’m not cut out for casual encounters.”
    “I’m not going anywhere this time, little one.” He leaned forward to rest his forehead on hers. “If you’ll have me…”
    “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. I value your friendship too much to risk it for a few minutes of pleasure.”
    “Minutes?”
    A chuckle bubbled inside her at his typical wounded male pride. “You know what I mean.”
    “Now you sound like Mason.” He grumbled beneath his breath before turning serious. “Things have changed, Lacey.”
    “In the past seventy-two hours?” Her incredulousness rang through the question.
    “Yeah.” He didn’t elaborate but his eyes shifted away for a moment. “I can’t give you the details but…yeah. Everything is different now.”
    “I want to believe you.” A zing of discomfort made her realize she bit her lip as she considered her options. “But what about all the other times? I’ve practically thrown myself at both you and Mason before. You’ve always turned away.”
    She thought she disguised the trembling of her voice quite well but he noticed anyway.
    “Ah, shit. I’m so sorry for hurting you. That’s not what I intended. You have no idea how painful it was to let you go, to turn you down when I wanted to devour you. Rob and Mason convinced me you weren’t ready but I think I’ve been screwing things up for a while now. Give me one more chance, Lace. It’s more than I deserve but I swear I won’t disappoint you. I’m in this for the long haul.”
    Was he really saying these things straight from her dreams? She had only one option.
    “Let’s take things one step at a time.” She smoothed his brow. “I’m not asking for forever. I’m just saying we give it a try and see what happens. Can you commit to that?”
    “Hell, yes.