And yet…sinking deep inside Kate a few minutes ago had them all beat. No doubt that was his giddy exhaustion talking, though. If he could try it again, he’d probably discover having sex with her wasn’t such a big deal.
He glanced toward the sitting room, impatient for her to come back to bed. “What are you doing in there?”
“Straightening up,” she said. “Relax for a few minutes. I’ll be right there.”
He lay staring up at the dark wood slats supporting the white brocade canopy while he fought to stay awake. She would be back any second, and she was bringing condoms. He didn’t want to go to sleep at a time like this. Maybe later, after he’d made love to her again, he’d catch a few zees. But first he wanted to give himself a reality check so that he could stop worrying.
When he opened his eyes, the room was dark. Damn, he had fallen asleep, after all. A faint glow seeped around the edge of the curtains at the window, and he figured the security lights outside were causing it, because it definitely wasn’t morning. He’d be hearing birds if that was sunlight on the other side of those curtains.
Cautiously he turned his head on the pillow, not wanting to find that she’d decided to leave, after all, once she found him dead to the world. Apparently she was a woman of her word, because there she was, the sheet pulled over her shoulder and her cheek nestled into the pillow beside him.
He was glad to have her there. Then the reality of that sank in. He was glad to have her there. Usually he felt hemmed in when he ended up sleeping in the same bed with a woman. Sex was one thing, but sharing the covers through the night hours was a whole new ball game for him.
For one thing, he didn’t like to advertise that he had nightmares. They could come at any time, but the most likely was near the anniversary of his brother Joe’s death. Fortunately that was months away, yet. After eighteen years they should have disappeared, and they were fewer now, but they still happened.
The dream was always the same. He walked down a street and came upon the twisted wreck that had been Joe’s car. Joe was inside, and Hugh couldn’t get him out, even though he knew Joe was dying. He woke up yelling and trying to claw the covers to bits.
A couple of times he’d been unlucky enough to have the nightmare when someone was sharing his bed, and he’d always passed it off as the kind of bad dream brought on by all the risks he took as a stuntman. But he didn’t like lying, so he’d worked to avoid the problem by not falling asleep until he was alone in his bed.
Tonight the rewards had seemed well worth the risk, but he still couldn’t get over the rush of pleasure he’d felt when he’d discovered Kate lying next to him. Propping his head on his fist, he gazed at her in the dim light. He studied the mouth that had given him such a jolt when he’d started kissing her.
Kissing hadn’t been that much fun in years, and yet there was nothing unusual about her mouth. Her lower lip was pouty and full, while her upper lip had that sweet little dent in the middle. It was just a mouth, like the dozens he’d kissed over the years. Nothing about the shape of her mouth explained why he was lying here with saliva pooling on his tongue and wishing he could kiss her right now, right this very minute.
But he should let her sleep. She was the maid of honor, and beginning tomorrow she’d have all kinds of duties to perform for Kim. At least he supposed she would. He was no expert in this wedding business. Selfishly he hoped there wouldn’t be a whole lot for her to do, because then he could lure her back to this cozy little cottage and work on emptying that box she’d mentioned.
He wondered if she’d brought it into the bedroom, or if she’d deliberately stayed out in the sitting room until he’d dozed off and left the box in there. She’d been pretty set on him getting some sleep. He squinted at the nightstand on her side of the bed. Yeah, that could be a condom box lying there. In this light he couldn’t tell for sure.
“You’re awake.” Her voice sounded drowsy, but friendly. More than friendly.
He looked down and saw the sparkle of her eyes as she lay there watching him. “You stayed away until I fell asleep.”
“Uh-huh. You needed it.”
He settled down next to her and slipped his arm under the covers to draw her close. Damn, but she fit nicely against him. “That’s not all I need.”
She chuckled. “So I just found out.”
“Did you bring the box in here?”
“It’s on the bedside table.” She started to turn over. “I can—”
“Wait.” He gripped her tighter. “We’re going to do things a little differently this time. That first session was way too short.” And way too powerful. Maybe if he slowed the pace he’d diffuse some of the emotion that had hit him the moment he’d joined his body with hers.
“I had no complaints.” She nuzzled his neck.
“Neither did I.” He rolled her to her back. “But variety is the spice of life.” That had been a guiding principle of his for years.
“You don’t like to be bored, do you?”
“No.” He nipped gently at her earlobe. “And neither do you. That’s why you’re moving away from studio photography to the challenge of candid shots.” He’d told himself not to talk about that, not to get involved. He couldn’t seem to help it.
She rubbed her hands over his back in a light massage. “I’m not moving away from studio photography.”
“Are too.” He brushed his body lazily back and forth across hers and breathed in the scent of her arousal.
“It’s a side interest. A hobby.” She traced a path under his right shoulder blade. “Where did you get the scar you have here?”
“Fell out of a moving Jeep and landed on a railroad tie.” He kissed the swell of her breast.
“Doing what?”
“It was a robbery.”
“A robbery?” She stiffened beneath him. “What do you mean?”
He was hovered over the dark promise of her nipple. There were so many treats that he’d bypassed earlier. “Could we talk about it later?”
“But—”
“Please.” Then he leaned down and closed his mouth over her nipple. She didn’t ask about the robbery after that. She was much too busy moaning.
Determined to set a leisurely pace, he made sure he paid a generous amount of attention to each full breast before moving lower. Once he’d nestled his head between her silken thighs, he took his own sweet time there, too. Judging from her reaction, he figured it was time well spent.
From his vantage point, he’d loved every tasty minute, and he might have lingered a while longer if she hadn’t started begging for the thrust of his penis. He couldn’t deny her, and he was close to bursting, anyway, so it was probably a good idea.
Once he’d fumbled his way through the condom application, he discovered that burying his penis inside her was a very good idea, possibly the idea of the millennium. But if he’d hoped that the moment would lack the punch of that first time, those hopes were dashed. If anything, the feeling of sliding into her hot body was more spectacular than ever.
At least this time, with the help of a little sleep, he had some stamina, but his climax teased him mercilessly as he stroked back and forth, hoping to make her come again. And he would, he realized quickly. He’d never been so in tune with a woman in his life. Either he’d suddenly become the most accomplished lover in the world, or he and Kate had something very special going.
As he led her to the brink and effortlessly managed to time his orgasm to hers, he knew the answer to that question. It wasn’t the answer he wanted.
6
AT DAWN KATE WOKE WITH thoughts of the huge whirlpool tub on her mind. She and her hero had made spectacular, full-throttle love three times during the night, and although he continued to sleep soundly, she was wide awake and ready for a refreshing soak. But she didn’t want to disturb her sleeping prince.
As it was she didn’t think he’d had nearly enough rest. She’d coaxed him back to sleep after their second go-round, but after another catnap, he
’d roused her with kisses for a third romp. Resisting him had been out of the question, especially when he’d slid his fingers deep inside her and discovered how ready she was.
Thinking about that made her hot all over again. Lying beside him and fighting the urge to reach for him didn’t sound like a fun way to spend the next couple of hours. She shifted her weight and watched his face for signs that he was waking up. His smooth, shallow breathing never changed.
Damn, but he was a handsome guy. His dark hair lay in soft waves over his forehead and she longed to comb it back with her fingers and kiss him awake. She’d love to watch as desire grew hot in his blue eyes. They’d never made love in daylight.
But he really needed his sleep. Keeping her gaze on him, she slid carefully out from under the covers and eased off the edge of the bed. Her toes touched the fine Oriental carpet beside the bed. So far, so good. As she tiptoed carefully around the bed toward the bathroom, her lover slept on.
Once inside the spacious bathroom, she quietly closed the double doors to shut out the sound of water running into the tub. From the moment she’d first seen this bathroom on the inspection tour with Kim, she’d lusted for this whirlpool. With a touch of a button she raised the translucent blinds covering the windows looking out on the private rose garden. Sunlight streamed into the room and glanced off the ivory tub and gold faucets.
Kate wasn’t hung up on luxuries in general, but she had a weakness for sports cars and extravagant bathtubs. So far she’d only been able to indulge one of her weaknesses with the Miata, but apartment living meant she’d had to postpone enjoyment of her second. This morning she could temporarily remedy that lack.
Closing the drain, she turned on the water and adjusted the temperature so it was slightly hotter than she’d need it to be eventually. She glanced at the jets, anticipating with relish the pleasure of that liquid massage. With six of those little honeys she’d forgo the bubble bath. Once she’d made the mistake of adding a generous amount of bubbles to a tub before turning on the jets, and she’d foamed the entire bathroom by the time she reached the off switch.
While the tub filled, she ran through some basic stretching exercises. What fun to make love to a man who was as limber as she was. Their last time together had turned into a fairly athletic enterprise. They’d both ended up laughing as they challenged each other to maintain some tricky positions.
Then the laughter had faded away as they’d returned to that magic rhythm that was theirs alone. She shouldn’t be surprised that they were so sexually compatible. Soul mates should be. Yet it still inspired wonder each time they rediscovered how perfect they were for each other.
At last the water level suited her. Flipping on the timer for the jets, she went up the tiled step and eased into the hot water, allowing her skin to adjust to the temperature gradually. The tub had two seats, and she settled slowly onto one of them, positioning her lower back against a pulsing jet. Then she grabbed a towel from the stack that had been placed on the ledge surrounding the tub, rolled it up and placed it behind her neck.
Ah. This was the life. Kim thought it was a real contradiction that Kate relished lounging in a whirlpool when normally she lived her life at breakneck speed. Kate had tried to explain that a manic pace dovetailed perfectly with whirlpool jets and massage. Yin and yang. Kim said if Kate would slow down a little, she wouldn’t need to unwind. Kate knew she’d go crazy in a constant state of unwind.
As she closed her eyes and let her thoughts flow with the swirling water, she considered how best to let her family know of this sudden bond she’d created with the best man. There was no point in trying to keep it a secret, at least not from Kim. Twins couldn’t get away with that.
So she’d tell Kim first, who could inform Stuart. Maybe they could contain the information right there for a while. Once Kate’s mom knew, she’d start planning the next wedding, and Kate wasn’t ready for that. Besides, Harry hadn’t even proposed.
But he would. Kate couldn’t imagine any other possibility. After all, he’d asked her where she’d been all his life. That was a very telling thing to say. He might even ask her to marry him when he woke up this morning, before they went out to face the rest of the wedding guests. After the way they’d made love last night, she wouldn’t be surprised.
The bathroom doorknob turned with a soft click, and she opened her eyes. Her hero was awake. Her pulse rate picked up immediately.
“Kate?” he called through the partially open door. “Are you indecent?”
“Absolutely. I’m in the tub. Care to join me?”
“Sounds like a plan.” He walked into the bathroom.
“Hey, you,” she murmured. What a specimen he was. “That’s a good look, by the way.”
He smiled, and if he’d been shy before, he’d lost all shyness now. “I’m partial to your outfit, too.” He stepped into the tub. “Mmm. Perfect temperature.”
“There’s another seat over there.”
“Too far away.” He knelt in the swirling water right in front of her and braced his arms on the edge of the tub, caging her with his body. “I can’t kiss you from over there.”
“Good point.” She leaned forward and wrapped her damp arms around his neck. “Caution. I’m slippery when wet.”
“I already know that.” He drew closer. “Good morning.”
“Isn’t it, though?”
“Outstanding morning.” Then he kissed her and improved what was already turning out to be a great day.
In no time they were breathing hard and kissing with such desperation anyone would think they hadn’t enjoyed sex with each other in weeks. He scooped Kate up and traded positions, so that he was on the seat and she was balanced on his knees.
Reluctantly she broke away from his kiss. “We can’t…”
“I know. Later.” Holding her by her waist, he shifted on the seat. “Tell me when you can feel the jet.”
“Which jet?” she murmured. “I don’t—” Then he moved again, and she knew exactly which jet. She gasped with pleasure.
He smiled with satisfaction. “That jet.”
“Oh, my.”
“Don’t let me block it.” He slid two fingers into her, smooth as silk. “You are very slippery when wet.”
“Mmm.” She couldn’t talk with all that pleasure going on.
“Still feel the jet?”
She nodded.
“Now touch me, Kate.”
Then she understood his plan. Gripping his shoulder with her right hand, she reached beneath the water and wrapped her hand around his ramrod straight penis.
He groaned and closed his eyes. “Yeah. Like that.”
“And this?” She slid her hand upward.
He opened his eyes and focused his hot gaze on her. “Uh-huh. While I do this.” He eased his fingers back and forth.
“We can…watch each other come.”
“Together.”
“Yes.” Her heart raced.
“Let’s…let’s make it last.”
She nodded, not sure how long she’d be able to hold out between the pulsing of the jet and his rhythmic caress. Sliding her hand up and down his penis and watching the tension build in his expression made her hotter yet.
“Stop,” he murmured, closing his eyes again.
“You, too.” She was nearly there.
He swallowed and opened his eyes. His jaw muscles flexed, and his voice was thick with desire. “Now go slow.”
“You’d better…too.” Balanced on the brink of an orgasm and knowing he was right there with her brought an intensity of sensation she’d never known before.
“Easy.”
“Mmm.” She felt her control slip a notch.
“So sweet. So very—” He moaned. “Kate, I can’t—”
“I know. I’m—”
“Yes. Now. Now!” He stroked her quickly, pushing deep.
She increased the pressure of her grip, caressing him faster, and faster yet. When the explosion came, she cried out in ast
onished pleasure as the delayed climax rocketed through her with unbelievable force. His moan of surrender followed, and she watched in dazed wonder as he gave in to the power of his orgasm and gasped for air, shuddering beneath her hand.
At last they collapsed against each other and let the swirling water soothe the fever they’d created. The pulsing jets rocked them gently, bringing them slowly back to reality. The timer clicked off, and the water grew still. Only the sound of their breathing filled the warm moist air.
Kate didn’t hear her cell phone right away, but eventually the familiar little tune penetrated her fog of sensual overload.
“Cell phone,” he muttered against her shoulder.
“Mine.” She extricated herself from the tangle they’d made of arms and legs intertwined.
“You won’t make it.”
“I know.” She climbed out of the tub on rubbery legs. “But whoever it is will put a message on my pager. I need to find out who that was, in case something important has come up about the wedding.”
“I guess so.”
“You know I’d rather stay tucked away in this room all day.” She pulled an ivory bath sheet from a rack near the tub and wrapped herself in it.
“But we can’t.”
“Nope.” She sighed and started out of the room. Then she remembered that they hadn’t discussed what to say once they both left the cottage. She turned back to him. “Um, do you think we should let anyone know we…well, that we’ve…” She paused, not sure what sort of label to put on what they’d shared.
“Had a fantastic time together?” He gazed at her. “I’ll leave that up to you. For my part, I don’t care who knows about it. But you know the rules of the game here in Rhode Island better than I do.”
She smiled, appreciating his gentlemanly concern. “We’ll see how it goes. But I’ve never been able to keep anything major from Kim.”
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