She cried out again, lower this time. Her clit pulsed as her pussy gripped his finger. Slick heat coated him and he buried himself in her scent and the feeling of her, as his cock stirred and thought about getting hard again.
He eased off when she let out a small noise of protest, then slid up her body to kiss her mouth. He gathered her close, aware that he was still mostly clothed and she was mostly not. After a minute she pushed him off her and he thought she might get up to go to the bathroom, but instead she curled up in the curve of his arm. Silent, she kissed his ribs.
Brandon ran a hand over her hair, waiting for her to speak. He had a lot to say, but he could wait. Leah’s breathing slowed. Exhausted, he let his eyes slip shut.
‘I should be angry about you coming here,’ she murmured finally, ‘but I guess … you should be mad that I left.’
‘I’m not mad you left,’ he told her without opening his eyes.
The bed dipped as she shifted. ‘You’re not?’
‘I’m mad you left without telling me where you were going. Or why. Though I know why, Leah.’ He felt her looking at him, but kept his eyes closed. God, he was tired. Brandon yawned until his jaw cracked.
He felt her fingers running through his hair. That would put him out for sure. He knew he should fight it so they could talk, but, after no sleep for a few days and last night with Dix on a bed that crackled whenever either of them moved and was a good six inches too short, Brandon had little resistance.
‘You look awful, baby,’ she said quietly. ‘Where did you stay last night, behind a dumpster in a cardboard box?’
‘Penny Pincher,’ he said through another jaw-cracking yawn.
Her fingers stroked through his hair, over and over, and along his scalp, just the way he loved it. The tension of the past few days threatened to ease out of him and he fought it, only because he half-suspected Leah of trying to put him under so she could avoid a confrontation.
‘You can stay here,’ she said.
The invitation forced his eyes open at last. Brandon sat up. He took her hand and kissed it, then kept it close. ‘You never answered my question.’
He knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t misunderstand. When she sighed and refused to meet his eyes, though, Brandon let go of her hand. He got off the bed and started making sure he was put together enough for public viewing.
‘Where are you going?’
He looked at her. ‘Back to the Penny Pincher.’
‘But …’ Her eyes narrowed. Leah got off the bed, too. ‘I’m sorry. I’m not ready to give you an answer.’
He nodded as though he’d expected that, and he guessed he did. It stung, but he wasn’t surprised. ‘I’ll have my phone with me if you change your mind.’
She blinked rapidly. ‘Brandon!’
‘Shhh,’ he said. ‘Don’t. OK? Just … don’t say it, Leah.’
‘You don’t even know what I was going to say.’
He loved her smile, even now when he thought maybe they were on the verge of breaking up. Especially now. ‘I do. You were going to say you love me but you just can’t marry me.’
‘I –’ She stopped herself and then shrugged, looking away. ‘It’s a big step.’
‘I know.’ He did know, that was the kicker of it all. He’d never wanted to marry anyone before, and now he did. Everything had changed, he wasn’t quite sure how, just that it had.
She sighed and pulled on her shirt and pants. ‘You look like hell.’
‘I told you. I haven’t slept. Haven’t eaten …’
‘You poor thing,’ Leah said softly, yet with her tone somehow filled with pride. ‘I know how you get when you don’t sleep or eat.’
He laughed. ‘OK, I had a burger last night.’
‘Ha. I knew it.’
‘But no fries,’ he told her. ‘And only a single.’
Leah raised an eyebrow. ‘Wow … you must really have been upset.’
‘I was,’ he told her, joking cast off. ‘Why would you think anything else?’
She leant in to kiss him, lingering, then slid the ball of her thumb over his lower lip after the kiss. She looked deep into his eyes. ‘And here you are.’
‘Here I am.’
She was quiet for another half a minute, and that was fine. He could give her that. When she kissed him again, Brandon let her. He even kissed her back.
‘I can’t say yes,’ Leah said.
The look in her eyes made him want to flinch, but he kept very still.
‘Not right now,’ she said. ‘I just can’t. I’m sorry.’
He already knew her list of reasons. He was too young, she made more money, they hadn’t been together long enough, he hadn’t met her parents. She had met his, which had freaked her out and, as much as he loved his parents, he understood why. He understood all about Leah. He could see her excuses ticking through her brain, one after another, but, when it came right down to it, Brandon knew there was only one reason, one real reason why she wouldn’t say yes.
‘I meant what I said earlier, and I’m not ashamed of it.’
‘I’m not ashamed.’ She sighed and reached for his hand to pull him closer.
Brandon kissed her slowly and thoroughly, then got off the bed. He wanted more than anything to get the hell out of that rat-trap motel, but he knew this was one of those now-or-never situations. He pushed the hair out of his eyes and straightened his back.
‘I love you. I love being with you, and I love what we do. I’m not ashamed of any of it, and I want to spend the rest of my life doing it. With you.’
He could see her struggling.
‘I like what we are together,’ he said.
‘I like it too. I love it. I love you. But I need
