He felt her shiver and relished that he still had that effect on her. She knew damn well what he was capable of doing to her behind closed doors, but there were times when his sweet woman topped from the bottom. He knew when she was doing it, and he knew when she needed it. At those times, he let her have control. If it would get her to open up, he’d let her have control now. But only so far, for so long.

“I…I—”

The tear of satin replaced Julie’s lack of words.

Danny tucked the torn panties into the pocket of his jeans. His stare was as bold as his voice was whisky rough. “You haven’t been yourself for a couple of weeks, Jules. I tried to heed the advice I’ve heard you give the kids, and even though it’s been fucking brutal, I’ve done my best to give you some thinking space.” He slipped his hand down the front of Julie’s yoga pants and leaned forward, his lips touching the shell of her ear. “We don’t do well with space, baby. Do we?”

Julie shook her head, her eyes sliding closed. His fingers parted her smooth, slick folds and entered her body.

“So wet for me.” Touching her made him throb, but he refused to allow amazing chemistry to deter him from what was going on in his wife’s mind. She was the most important thing in the world. Sex would come after he found out what was bothering her. His thumb gently rubbed circles over her swollen clit, and he swallowed her soft moan as she grinded herself against his hand. “Already so greedy, honey?” His movements stopped, leaving her balance unsteady. She wore a look that jostled between frenzy and frustration, pleasure and pain.

“I need more, Danny,” she whimpered.

“So do I, Jules. Tell me what’s bothering you.” His thumb swept over the sensitized bundle of nerves just as his teeth nipped her earlobe. “Tell me, and I’ll make this better.” His deep rumble, along with another graze to her clit, had her nipples drawn tight and arousal pooling around his fingers. “I’ll make everything better, baby, always. It’s time to remove the space, Julie.”

“I love you, Danny. I’m yours.”

“Thank God for that.” His usual response to her declaration should’ve felt tired, worn out, but every time he said those four words, her eyes glowed, “Now, remove the space.”

“I wish I could have given you more.”

His breath hitched at her words, his own stuck in his throat.

“When I couldn’t, I should’ve been selfless enough to walk away,” she said. “Now Max and Janie are starting their life. They want children, a family, and I fear that they’ll go through what we did. I want more for them. I want them to have it all.”

Time stopped. Her face paled as Danny removed his hand from her core and placed inches between them. Space. Until recently, he had never allowed it been between them, but in that moment, with his world spinning off its axis, an emotional chasm, coupled with the physical distance, felt unbearable. Heartbeats and shallow breaths continued to fill the room as tears leaked from Julie’s eyes. After a moment, she lifted her gaze to his.

“Broken,” he rumbled with a hoarse voice.

“What?”

“Had you ever left me, if you ever do, I’d be broken. I wish for Max and Janie—hell, for all of them—a marriage exactly like ours. We’ve lived hard, baby, but loved even harder, and there is nothing, not one fucking thing, that I’d do over if given the chance. We’re here now because we were there then. We have seven amazing children when we may have only had one. Wouldn’t change a fucking thing, baby. Not one thing. Question is, would you?” In his heart he knew her answer—he’d never doubted it over the years—but seeing the pain in her eyes made him need the words.

“No, Danny. Not one minute. That’s why I feel selfish. Because even if you wanted me to, I could have never let you go.”

***

INSTANTLY THE DISTANCE between them was erased. He cradled her in his arms and walked her through their ranch house to the master suite.

“I think it’s time we revisit the past, you and I. Because it seems like maybe you’ve forgotten some things along the way.” He dropped soft kisses along the top of her hairline. “I intend to remind you exactly how things between us went. But first, you need to get naked.” He sat her on the mattress, and slid her pants around her thighs.

“I’m pretty much there, Danny. It’s you who is overdressed for this occasion.” Gone was the wall that she’d erected between them, evaporated like sugar over warm pastry.

His large hand held her face gently. “Then get me naked, honey. Need to feel you on my skin.”

Blood coursed through her veins like a river that had broken through a dam. While it hadn’t been long since she’d felt his touch, it had been weeks since her soul was bared. His metal belt buckle clanked, bringing her lust-frazzled mind back to the task at hand. Jeans unbuttoned, fly unzipped, pants and boxer-briefs lowered, all done between shallow breaths and racing heartbeats but with steady hands. Julie looked up at hungry eyes that consumed her and every move she made.

His voice was low, seductive. “Take off your pants, spread your legs, and touch yourself. I wanna see how wet your pussy gets while your lips are wrapped around my cock.”

“Oh, my…” Heat pooled at her naked core, making her brazen. Two of her fingers inched down her torso, between her folds, and dipped into her most intimate place.

“Open your eyes and show me,” Danny commanded.

She hadn’t realized her eyes had fallen closed.

He bent forward and pulled her hand to his mouth. One finger at a time touched his tongue. “Mmm, so goddamn sweet.”

She became more aroused with each heated suck. She tugged his jeans the rest of the way down and latched onto his cock like a starved woman. His groan became her music, his thrusts her rhythm.

“Fuck me,” he roared, pulling out of her mouth. “Plans changed, baby.”

She watched in awe as he shucked his pants from his feet, whisked her onto his lap, and lay flat on his back.

“A taste wasn’t enough, honey. I need that sweet pussy in my mouth just as much as you want my dick down your throat.”

His words made her tremble as she scooted up his torso.

“Mmm, that’s right, straddle my face. I wanna inhale you.”

The moment his hot tongue touched her clit, her knees slid out from under her, planting her most intimate place against what she’d consider his most lethal. With him not only offering wonderful service but also a delectable meal, Julie wrapped her hand around his hard cock and pumped until his moan vibrated into her clit. Oh, sixty-nines were so good.

Her mouth watered as she massaged the length of him with her tongue, delighting in his every groan. When his thick fingers slid into her pussy, she grinded against his face with reckless abandon, loving the way his scruff added to the friction and brought her higher. She wanted to bring him with her, wanted him to explode when she did. Opening her throat, she sucked him down until her lips touched his pelvis.

“Jesus Christ, Jules, fuck.”

She increased her suction as she slowly released him almost completely before deep-throating him again.

“No, baby, you first,” he pleaded before pulling her clit into his mouth and sucking with perfect pressure while thrusting his fingers into her pussy. “Mmm, tastes like candy.”

When his fingers hit her g-spot while his tongue was still wrapped around her clit, white spots filled her vision. Her body crested into bliss she’d never tire of experiencing. With his gentle fingers giving her more pleasure, she licked salty liquid off the tip of his cock and hummed while doing it.

“So good,” his whispered voice came from behind her.

She could do better. She could give him what he’d just given her—brilliance. Pulling him in with practiced rhythm, she hollowed her cheeks and once again deep-throated him. She lightly caressed his balls, nearly smiling when he grabbed onto her ass cheeks and his hips thrust up, fucking her mouth.