Off Limits

Chapter 5

Ty's breathing finally began to slow and he eased out of her, still holding her up against the wall. He buried his face against her neck, waiting for his vision to clear. He felt a little like he'd been hit by a freight train.

"You okay?" Kate's soft voice caressed his ear.

"Mmm," he managed. "It's just been a long time." His voice was hoarse. Christ, you'd think he'd run a marathon rather than had a quickie against the bathroom wall. He'd had plenty nights with nothing but his dreams and his own hand for company, but nothing could have prepared his body for the sweetness of finally being buried inside Kate after all this time.

It was where he belonged.

But he knew that the release he'd just experienced was also much more than just physical, for both of them. After months of pretending, of casual friendship, hidden erections and cold showers, he could finally let everything go. He could be himself in every way with her and not be wracked with guilt for lying to her. He'd thought that if he told her the truth he would lose her altogether, but he realised now that he should have had more faith in her than that. The bond that had developed between them, beyond the sexual chemistry, over the past year and a half was something that neither of them could ignore.

He opened his eyes as he felt his energy levels slowly return to normal. Kate moaned lazily against him and he hitched her up, wrapping his arms around her. He grabbed the rest of the condoms as an afterthought before carrying her into her bedroom. He laid her on the bed, still unmade and rumpled from where she'd slept. They'd lost her pants somewhere between the kitchen and the bathroom but her breasts were still covered by her tank top. He needed to get rid of it and see her lying naked in all her incredible beauty.

"Lose the top, beautiful."

Kate raised an eyebrow at his command but did as he asked, pulling it over her head and lying back on the pillows. Ty let out a slow breath. She was perfect; better than he'd even imagined. Her breasts were full and round, her nipples rosy pink and hard with arousal. He couldn't wait to get his mouth on them. He kicked off his pants and lowered himself over her, kissing her slowly and relishing the feel of her soft wet lips against his.

"I can't believe we're finally doing this." Kate smiled up at him, but she still looked wary, guarded. He hated that he was the cause. Now that he was here, lying here finally with Kate in his arms, he knew for sure what he had suspected for a long time: what he felt for this woman wasn't something that was ever going to go away.

"If we'd known how we'd felt about each other, if we'd given in that first day ... do you think it would have been like this?" Tyler asked, his fingers casually interlinking with hers. He didn't. He'd never felt like this with anyone, and if he'd given himself over to blind lust when he'd first met her, things could have turned out very differently.

Kate frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying, that while I know I didn't go about it in the right way, I'm glad we didn't give in to our feelings for each other back then. I'm glad we had the chance to get to know each other, really well, as friends." He ran a hand down her body and squeezed her thigh. "You know, without any distractions."

"No, we just had a relationship based on lies instead. I'm not sure we can really call what we had a true friendship when you know everything about me but I know next to nothing about you."

"You do know me." Tyler cupped her face, forcing her to look into his eyes so she could see the blatant truth in them. "I've been more real with you than I've ever been with anyone. Yes, I lied about my sexuality. Stupidly. But everything else I've ever shared with you has been real. Has been me."