by Peggy Bird
She sighed, with relief he thought, and nodded.
He removed the band holding the strands of the braid together and began to untangle it. She shook her head, and the braid came loose, almost in slow motion, draping over her shoulder just as he imagined it would.
“Damn, it really is like silk. I could spend hours doing this,” he said as he forked his fingers through the long strands of coal black hair. “But that’s two for me and none for you. It’s your turn. What would make you happy?”
“I’m not sure I know how to answer.” The crease between her eyes that always meant she was wary appeared as she continued. “What, exactly, do you mean?”
He nipped at her shoulder and drew closer to her, feeling the warmth of her skin on his belly and legs. “What do you like when you make love? What gives you pleasure?”
“I ... I guess I’ve never thought about it.”
“Are you challenging me to find out on my own?” The crease between her eyes deepened so he quickly added. “I’m not objecting. I like the challenge of exploring.” He took her chin in one hand. “I think I’ll start here ...”
He captured her lips with his. He didn’t bother with soft, sweet preliminaries this time but went straight for owning her lips, her tongue, hell, he’d have tried for her soul if he could have reached it with his mouth.
When he drew back, he could see the concern in her eyes had been replaced with clouds of desire. “That’s better. Now let’s see what else you like,” he said and began a slow, sensuous slide with his mouth from her cheek to her jaw, then to her neck, resting at the pulse in her throat before nibbling his way to her breasts and the dusky nipples there. This time it was his mouth, not his fingers, that brought her nipples to diamond hard peaks, first one then the other. When she breathed out “yes” and grabbed his arms as if afraid he would stop—as if he would, as if he could—he knew he’d found another sweet spot. And he knew there were more to be discovered.
Only now, he was the one with a problem—he wasn’t sure he could stick to his promise to take it nice and easy. He could feel the pressure building in his body, the need in his mind, to finally, once and for all, have all of her. He didn’t want to rush her, but he was more than ready. Had been for days, weeks maybe.
His erection could have broken bricks, he was sure, but he gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and returned his attention to her mouth. Her hands were in his hair, and she was making soft, urgent sounds in the back of her throat as he kissed her. She ground her hips against him, one leg now over his hip. He felt her wetness on his thigh. Thank God, she was aroused, too.
Turning her onto her back, he slid his hand between her thighs and found the nub of her clitoris. He began to gently, slowly massage it. “Tell me how this feels, baby.”
When she didn’t answer for a moment, he wondered if he’d lost his touch from lack of practice. But then on a long, slow exhale, she answered, “Oh, God, that feels so good.”
Her hands gripped the sheet under them as he thrust one finger, then another, deep into her. His thumb continued to circle her clitoris, his fingers massaging inside her. It took only a few seconds before her internal muscles clenched around his fingers, and she gasped and rocked her hips up at him. It was all he could do to keep from substituting his penis for his fingers, pounding into her, releasing his passion as he was releasing hers. But he didn’t. He waited for her to come down from her orgasm, to say something, before he continued.
Instead she was still and silent. He gathered her into his arms. “You okay, sweetheart?” Her body was covered in a sheen of sweat; her breathing was shallow and rapid; her eyes were unfocused.
It took a few moments before she answered. “No, I’m not okay. I’m wonderful. You’re wonderful.”
The relief he felt was incalculable.
“We’re only getting started,” he promised.
• • •
What else would match the way he’d made her feel? She’d just had the most amazing physical experience of her life. It was like nothing she’d ever known before. Other than his chance to have the same feeling, what was left?
“Time for more exploring, don’t you think?” he whispered. When he traced the edge of her ear with the tip of his tongue, she shivered with desire. Again. Apparently he was about to show her what else there was.
He captured one of her breasts with his mouth. The nipple, sensitized from his previous ministrations, reacted immediately, sending jolts of ecstasy through her. He moved back to her mouth and as soon as his tongue touched her lips, she opened for him, eagerly taking him in. She grasped his biceps and pulled him closer to her.
Abruptly, he moved back from her. She wanted to hold on to him, to keep him close. She couldn’t figure out why he was leaving her. But he wasn’t leaving. He was putting on a condom. The thought flickered through her head that he had prepared carefully for this evening.
He moved slowly down her body with his mouth. His hands stayed on her waist while he tasted, sucked, and licked under her breasts, then down to her navel, then ever so carefully to the place between her thighs where he found her clitoris, still aroused from the first orgasm, and paid the same attention to it he had to her breasts.
Unbelievably, she felt another climax begin deep inside her. It was so intense, grew so fast, felt so powerful she was barely able to breathe. As she was about to crest the wave, she felt him enter her with only the head of his penis.
“Tell me how it feels, baby. Tell me what you want.” His voice was thick and hoarse.
“More, I want more of you.” She wanted to be filled with him, in a way no man had ever filled her before. With her legs around his hips and her arms around his body, she pulled at him so he would fully enter her. She moaned with pleasure. “Oh, yes. That’s what I want.”
She expected him to satisfy himself now, but he surprised her by shifting his body in some way so there was still pressure on her clitoris as he thrust within her. Her second orgasm continued to increase in strength until it finally crashed over her like a tsunami. Only as she was coming down from the most earth-shattering climax of her life did he reach his release and collapse in her arms.
For a few moments, the only sounds in the room were of two people trying to calm their breathing and regain their footing on the shifting sands of this new phase of their relationship. A relationship that Quanna knew could have consequences she was still unsure of but which, after their amazing lovemaking, was already more important than it should be. She’d known, after the way he’d defended her from the bullies in the bar and from her nasty neighbor, that he was a kind, decent man. That he was also a tender, thoughtful, and very thorough lover shouldn’t have surprised her. But it did. It also moved her in ways she hadn’t expected. Moved her to the brink of tears.
Finally, he pushed himself up and went to the bathroom to take care of the condom. When he returned, he slid back under the sheet and held her silently for a while. Then something made him look carefully at her face.
She knew what it was and tried to hide, but he was too close to miss it.
“Oh, hell. You’re crying. I hurt you.” He wiped away the tear hanging on the edge of her eyelid. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Tell me what I did, and I won’t do it again.”
“You didn’t hurt me. I’m not sad crying. I’m ... I don’t know ... emotional crying, I guess.” She tried to pull away from him, but he wouldn’t let her go.
“Why? Tell me. Please.”
“Making love with you was ... I don’t even know the word to use. It was amazing. Incredible. I didn’t know it could be so good.” She stroked his face, gave him a quick kiss. “It’s like I’ve never really known what sex was until now.”
“It was pretty amazing for me, too.” He was playing with her hair again, combing his fingers through it.
She buried her face in his shoulder so he couldn’t see her as she went on. “No one’s ever cared ... ever asked me what I liked ... what I wanted. Never made sure ...” Sh
e stopped. Almost afraid to go on, to admit what had happened to make her so emotional. But she owed him the truth. “Never made sure I was, what did you say we’d be? Happy? Anyway, I’ve never had ... never been able to come during sex with a partner. Only by myself. Not until tonight.”
His hand froze in her hair. He slumped back on the pillow, snorting. “Huh. I’ll be damned.”
She untangled herself from his hand and moved a few inches toward the side of the bed. She had opened herself up to him, and he’d laughed. How could he? “I’m glad it amuses you.”
He was quick to pull her back into his arms even though she struggled to keep a distance between them. “I wasn’t laughing. It’s just that I spent hours today, I swear, worrying about whether I’d disappoint you in bed, assuming I ever got you here. I’d have been a lot less distracted if I’d known what you just told me.” He kissed her on the forehead. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
“You were worried? Why?”
“Like I said, it’s been a while and I’m a lot older. Plus, I’ve only been with one woman. I figured I might not be up to your standard.”
“My standard, if you can call it that, is a high school boyfriend who was as inexperienced as I was and a boyfriend in Portland who thought all I needed to do to have a good time was loosen up with a lot of wine before we went to bed. The truth is, I was worried I wouldn’t live up to your expectations. I figured, with all the time you had with one woman, you’d be good, and I wasn’t sure I could keep up.”
“The part about you not keeping up isn’t true. You more than keep up. You turn me inside out.” He grinned and she touched his dimples, like she’d always wanted to.
She smiled back at him. “So tell me, is it experience that makes you so amazing or are you naturally good in bed?”
“Is anyone ‘naturally good in bed’? I was like your high school boyfriend, I imagine, when Paula and I were first together. Over the years, we learned how to give each other pleasure.”
“She was a lucky woman to have you to learn with.”
The grin reappeared. “Is this what pillow talk is these days—discussions about former bed partners right after sex?”
“Actually, it’s supposed to take place before the sex, not after. You know, to find out about STDs.”
“Since we established that neither of us had been with anyone for a long time, I think we sorta covered the subject, didn’t we?”
“Not necessarily. But I was tested regularly at Golden Years so I’m sure I’m ...” She tried to stifle it, but a yawn overtook her.
“You’re about to fall asleep, aren’t you? It’s been a long day. We can finish this conversation in the morning.” He spooned around her, kissed her shoulder, and pulled the sheet up over both of them. “Sleep well, sweetheart.”
Chapter 13
Quanna woke to an empty bed. She wasn’t sure how long Jack had been gone. She thought she remembered him slipping away sometime in the night, but she couldn’t recall hearing him return. Now she wondered if he had gone into another room, maybe because he wasn’t used to sleeping with anyone in his bed. Or she snored. She didn’t want to think it was something else. Like regrets.
She slid out of bed and put on her panties and shirt. It took only a few minutes to establish he wasn’t in any of the rooms on the second floor. Barefoot, she padded down the steps listening for sounds of someone else in the house, but there were none. There was definitely the aroma of coffee so she knew he had made it to the kitchen at some point.
He was still there. As she crossed the living room, she could see him sitting at the breakfast bar, his favorite mug in front of him, head bent, staring down at the counter, his hands on his forehead. She got to the doorway without his hearing her.
“You look like a man who’s having morning-after second thoughts.” His head jerked up. He didn’t smile as he usually did when he saw her. She tried to sound upbeat and positive even though her heart was breaking. “It’s okay. I understand. I’ll leave as soon as I get dressed and we’ll rewind to last week before any of this happened.” She wasn’t sure how she planned to do that but if she wanted to retain any of her sanity, much less her job, she’d have to. She’d start figuring it out as soon as she left for home. Which she better do quickly before she made her tears last night look like nothing. She spun on her heel and took two steps toward the stairs.
“Regrets? Leave? What are you talking about?”
She didn’t want him to see how hurt she was so she didn’t turn around to face him. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? You were so eager to get away from me you left your own bed in the middle of the night. And right now you look like a man who’s miserable. Not like someone who ...”
“Made love to a beautiful woman last night?”
She felt his presence behind her even before he touched her. “I don’t want you to leave, sweetheart. Unless you want to.” He turned her and wrapped his arms around her. “Do you want to?”
“No, I don’t. But I’ll go if you don’t want me here.”
“I want you here. Believe me, I want you.” He rested his cheek on her head, and she could feel the vibration of his deep voice as he said, “I didn’t desert you in the middle of the night. I woke up at five like I always do. I watched you sleep for a bit—you looked so peaceful. You needed sleep so I didn’t want to wake you. But I knew if I stayed, I’d pounce on you like a hawk on a sage grouse so I left to get away from the temptation.”
She looked up at him, sure the relief she was feeling must show on her face. “The explanation was working until it got to the part where I’m a sage grouse.”
He didn’t laugh, didn’t even smile. “Well, I didn’t like it either but probably not for the same reason. It got me thinking. Was I a predator, too, like the hawks we saw yesterday? I’ve been sitting here trying to decide.”
“A predator? Why?”
He took her hand, led her to the couch in the living room, and settled her with her head on his shoulder. Stroking her arm, he continued. “A predator takes advantage of someone who’s vulnerable. Is that what I’m doing? You depend on your job here, hell, your family depends on your job here. Maybe you felt you couldn’t say ‘no.’ I mean ...”
She didn’t know if she was more relieved or amused by his explanation. It was apparent he wasn’t having regrets; he was merely being the man he was. Amusement won. And a little fake righteous indignation. “You think I slept with you to keep my job? What kind of woman do you think I am, Jack?”
“I didn’t say that. Or at least, I didn’t mean that.”
“Sure sounded like it to me.” She sat up, trying to look as stern as she could. “Listen carefully to me, Jack Richardson, because I’m only saying this once. If the subject ever, and I mean ever, comes up again, I’m out of here faster than you can say—oh, I don’t know, some short word.” She wagged her finger at him when she thought he was about to laugh.
“If anyone is a predator,” she continued, “it’s me. Hitting on a vulnerable, lonely widower whose only company is his horse and his kids.” She couldn’t stop him from laughing this time. “Seriously, I’ve come close to quitting my job here because I wanted to see if I could get you to look at me as a woman and not your kid wrangler. The only reason I didn’t is I didn’t want to fail my family. Well, and I fell in love with your boys and couldn’t bear the thought of leaving them.”
“For God’s sake, don’t quit. My kids would kill me.” He kissed her softly. “And forgive me for what I said. I should have warned you how bad I am at figuring out romantic relationships. I’d do better if you were livestock or wheat. Those I can figure out.”
“All of a sudden, sage grouse doesn’t sound so bad.” She wound her arms around his neck. “But if we’re finished comparing me to various forms of animal and plant life, could we go back to bed?”
“I was waiting for you to wake up so I could make you breakfast.” He stood and held out his hand to help her up.
; “Later. I thought I might get you to give me more of the benefit of your years of experience learning how to give a woman pleasure.”
“That, sweetheart, I’m more than willing to do.”
• • •
“So, what’s on your ‘to do’ list today?” Quanna was clearing the breakfast bar after the pancakes Jack had fixed for them.
“Nothing fun. I have some chores to get done. Then maybe we can watch a movie. I should have told you to bring something to entertain yourself while I’m mucking out the stables.”
“Movie sounds great. But let me help with the mucking. I’m good at it. After all, I muck out Lucas’s room on a regular basis.”
“Thank God you do. Otherwise we’d lose him in the mess he makes every day.” He took the dishes from her and began to load the dishwasher. “I appreciate the offer, but if I let you wallow around in horseshit as part of our first weekend together, it would cement my reputation as the least romantic man in the state.”
She hip-bumped him out of the way. “You cooked. I clean up.” She changed the arrangement of the dishes as she continued. “You should worry more about my ratting you out about how cute you are when you apologize for kissing me.”
He grabbed her and pulled her toward him. “Since I’ve already earned the humiliation, I might as well give you another example to back it up. This time I’ll apologize in advance.” He took her chin in his hand. “I’m sorry for distracting you from your chore, sweetheart, but it’s been too long since the last time I did this.” She was smiling when he kissed her.
Quanna won. She helped muck out the stable. Fresh hay was spread, with the totally predictable suggestion they have a roll in it. Horses were fed and watered. After another shower, during which he did press her to the wall and make love to her, they watched Iron Man, which Quanna admitted she kinda liked. Until he told her there were two more they could watch if she was really interested. She confessed she hadn’t liked it that much.
When Jack began to make noises about dinner, Quanna said, “I think I should go home after we eat. I don’t want to wear out my welcome.”