by Amber Cross
“I’m going to miss you,” he admitted into the silence that descended on them. It had been only minutes but seemed much longer.
“Hmmm. Me too.”
Slowly he levered himself away from her body and righted his clothing. She tried to do the same, but a dizzy spell assailed her, and she fell sideways on her first attempt before getting her bearings on the second. The blood must have rushed to her head while she lay jackknifed over the arm of the sofa.
When they were both dressed again, she followed him to the door. “Are we on for chess tomorrow night?” he asked, retrieving his coat from the floor. He put his hand into one pocket and withdrew a paper bag from a local pharmacy.
“Of course. I should be home at the usual time.”
“For you.” He held the bag out to her. When she took it, he pulled her into his arms and gave her the long kiss she wanted to indulge in back in the diner. The one that made her toes curl and tempted her to drag him into her bedroom and keep him there for days, nights, weeks. But he broke the kiss after a few minutes. “The kids are waiting for me.”
Only after he left and she locked the door behind him did she look at what he gave her. His presumptuousness made her laugh out loud. His optimism warmed her heart. Inside the bag was an entire box of condoms.
Chapter Eight
Her dizzy spell returned later that night and again the next morning. Not good. Not normal for her, either, so she made an appointment to see Doctor French at the general practice in town after lunch. She had a client booked for that time slot, but one of the benefits of being self-employed was she could rearrange her schedule when necessary. One of the downsides of being self-employed was she didn’t get paid when she didn’t work, so she needed to take care of this, whatever it was, before it got any worse and caused more cancellations.
A sinus infection. She hadn’t had one in years, and although she didn’t feel stuffy, the doctor said it was possible to have one without that symptom being noticeable. So she went to the pharmacy after seeing her last client and went home armed with a bottle of five antibiotic pills.
Glen called within minutes of her taking the first dose. They began their conversation as usual.
“What time is it in Somerset today?”
“Ten oh six in the morning.”
From there they deviated. “I missed you last night.”
“I slept with your smell all around me. In my bed. I can’t wait to get under the covers again.”
His laugh was a groan. “The things you say.”
Eventually they talked about their Mondays, about her sinus infection and Darcy’s upcoming appointment to go over lab results. They played chess for an hour, stopping only when Abby experienced a dizzy spell so severe she couldn’t bend over the game board any longer.
“I’m sorry, I guess I need to get some sleep and take care of this.”
“No need to apologize.”
“Hopefully it will be better tomorrow. They say this stuff acts fast.”
A few more exchanges about nothing very important and they were ready to end the call when he suddenly said, “Come to New York for the weekend.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” He chuckled. “That was easy.”
“Is that a bad thing? Should I have kept you waiting for an answer?”
“No. I like my women easy.”
“Good.” Deliberately she paused before adding, “Because I like my men hard.”
****
By the time she arrived on Friday night, the only thing she was feeling was wiped out. First there had been the two-hour drive down to White River Junction to get the Greyhound bus that would lead to New York City by way of four New Hampshire stops and a bus change in Boston. To say the trip was long was an understatement. Even with an audio book, a briefcase of paperwork to read, her cell phone to play games on, and a book of crossword puzzles, she had trouble entertaining herself for ten hours of traveling.
It didn’t matter when she saw Glen waiting for her at the station. Head and shoulders above much of the crowd, blue eyes beneath a slightly damp forelock searching only for her, he made every discomfort fade away.
She was probably beaming like a young girl deep in the throes of her first crush, but she didn’t care. All she wanted was to throw herself into his arms and ignore the people around them.
Instead she asked, “How on earth do you make that trip so often?”
“I don’t.” Grabbing her weekend bag by the strap, he slid his arm around her shoulders to lead her out of the Port Authority building where the bus station was located. “Lately I’ve had a little extra incentive to get up there.”
“Flattery will get you…almost anything.” She smiled, loving the feel of his lean body against hers and the masculine scent of his cologne. “Even so, you must be exhausted by the time you get to Somerset.”
“I drive it, which doesn’t take as long. A little over six hours, but it’s still pretty miserable.” He opened the door and waited for her to precede him out onto 42nd Street where he took her hand before continuing. “I used to go a few times a year; in July for a day or two of haying. Thanksgiving every other year, alternating with Christmas. A day or two in February for sapping. Maybe one other time if something special was going on.”
He stopped at the edge of the sidewalk. A bitter wind pelted against them and pedestrians eddied around them, but he ignored it all, and putting one hand to her cheek, dipped his head and kissed her. “I’m glad to see you, Abby. Now let’s get you home.”
Ten minutes later they arrived at his condominium on West 56th Street. It was in an old building across from Carnegie Hall and close to Central Park with interesting architectural features and an elaborate security system. Above the main entrance the numbers 1926 were engraved in the stone arch to indicate the year of construction. Abby knew it cost a boatload of money to buy here, especially when he explained that his was a three-bedroom corner unit.
“I hope you didn’t mind taking a taxi,” he said as he punched in the code for the door to his tenth-floor unit. “My car is in a parking garage, and I thought a cab would be quicker than going to get it, especially since I’d have to find a place to park down at Port Authority.”
“The taxi was fine.”
“I also didn’t want you getting cold walking back to the car if I could avoid it. How are you feeling today? Antibiotics still working?”
“All better. I took my last dose on the train.”
His concern touched her, but she didn’t want to make small talk. There were only two things on her mind. One was making love to him, the other was sleeping. Since both involved her body being naked or nearly naked beside his body in the same condition, she didn’t care which one came first. Well, okay, maybe she had a preference but it was close.
Inside his unit, a small foyer gave way to a spacious living room with high-beamed ceiling and large, double windows on the far wall. He put their coats away in a closet by the door, then took her hand and said, “Let me give you the grand tour.”
To the left of the foyer was a bedroom obviously used by Colin, surprisingly neat for a teenaged boy. The next bedroom, accessed off the living room, was without question Darcy’s, and it was a mess. Between them was a shared bath. Also accessed from the living room was Glen’s bedroom with its own bath tucked behind the small kitchen, which he could enter in the mornings through a connecting door or by going through the living room.
Dropping her bag on the floor at the foot of his bed, he asked, “Do you need anything?”
An easy question to answer. “Just you.”
He held his hands out at his sides invitingly. “I’m all yours.”
Sinking against him and having his arms fold around her was like coming home. She clutched his waist and buried her face against his shirtfront. In only a short time his embrace was as welcoming, as comforting as hugs from her grandparents who she waited all year to see. She had only left Glen five days ago, but their separation felt as
long as the months between visits to the islands and the delta.
A gentle finger nudged her chin up, and she looked into soft, blue eyes searching her own. “Are you okay, Abby?”
Emotion suddenly overwhelmed her. She wanted to cry but wasn’t sure why. The lump in her throat, even after swallowing it down, made it difficult to speak, so she simply nodded.
Pulling her close once more, he kissed the top of her head, then simply held her. He didn’t stroke or pet, just kept his arms around her and let her drown in his warm embrace. When she finally pulled herself together enough to speak, she leaned back and whispered, “Am I the only one a little overwhelmed by what’s happening between us?”
Now it was Glen who communicated silently, with a single shake of his head.
She sighed with relief and laid her cheek against his chest once more. “Good.”
Running his hand gently through her hair, he kissed her temple. “Would you like to go to bed now, Abby?”
“Mmm-hmmm.”
Fifteen minutes later the travel, the beat of his heart beneath her ear, and the rightness of being with him all combined to send her into a deep sleep.
****
Waking the next morning, she rolled and stretched, basking in the warmth of the body curled against her own.
“Hello, Abby.”
His voice had that husky, just-woke-up-and-haven’t-had-coffee quality that made her want to purr like a kitten and beg to be stroked.
Opening her eyes, she gazed into the slumberous blue of his. Soft. Direct. Lit with the same desire slowly pulsing to life inside her. Not wanting to disturb the moment, she kept her voice soft, a mere whisper of sound. “Good morning.”
“Sleep well?”
She nodded. Rubbed her feet against his calves and sifted her fingers through the whorls of dark hair on his chest.
“What would you like to do today?”
Rolling onto him, she propped herself up with an elbow on each side of his head and kissed him, long and slow and with all the hunger she had banked that week while she thought about their time together.
“I want to explore every inch of you.”
Blue eyes lit with answering desire. Reaching behind his head, he adjusted the pillows so he was propped up against the headboard to better watch her. “Be my guest.”
She touched, tasted, rubbed, and nuzzled every part of him until he was rock hard and she was drunk on the pleasure of having him all to herself for an extended period of time. “I want to ride you,” she said. A question. A confession.
His answer was one word in a guttural voice. “Please.”
Stroking her breasts against his torso, she levered herself up until she was sitting on the tops of his thighs, poised above his erection.
“Condom,” he panted.
“Can we have one time without it?” She wanted to feel his heat, his hardness, his flesh with no piece of latex between them. To show him how good it could be, she rubbed her clit against his erection and exulted in the way he leaped in reaction.
“Too risky.” Despair echoed in his voice. The veins on the side of his neck stood out.
“I promise I’m healthy and on birth control pills. You can trust me.”
The pained look in his blue eyes told her that he wanted to.
“I swear on my Oath of Allegiance to the State of Vermont. I’ve never had sex without a condom, and I want this, us, to be special.”
He surrendered on a groan. “Do it.”
She sank onto his hard flesh until he was so deep inside that her body seized up in reaction. “Oh, that’s good,” she whispered. “I’ve never felt anything like this before.” Already she was shaking, little tremors beginning where the two of them were joined and rippling out through her nerves until every part of her was sensitized.
“Touch me,” she begged, afraid she might die from need if he didn’t put his hands on her.
Even better, he surged up inside her. So deep her breath came in on a gasp and left her on a gurgle of sound when he fell back to the bed and she followed him down, the movement sending him even deeper than he had been before. He did it again. Plunge and retreat. Plunge and retreat. Until she found the rhythm, taking over where he began, scraping her fingers across his chest and rolling her hips against his thighs as she moved above him. Her body filmed with sweat, and her nipples hardened to the point of pain.
This time she didn’t have to ask for his touch. He flicked one finger against a turgid peak, and a shower of sparks ignited inside her. She faltered in her movements, drew a jagged breath, and ground herself against him. Her head fell forward. Flung back. She rocked frantically against him and it hurt, but she needed more. Through glazed eyes she looked at his male beauty and desperately hurtled toward a completion that seemed just out of reach. She sat back and adjusted her position, but still she couldn’t get there.
He flicked both nipples and her stomach convulsed. His body hardened beneath her. Their breathing was erratic and loud in the room.
She changed the tempo, changed it again when that didn’t bring her any closer to orgasm.
“Let me help,” he whispered.
“Please.”
Palming her breast in his right hand, he used the thumb of his left hand to stroke her clit. She swayed into the caress. He feathered the thumb against her lower belly, and she reeled back from the soft caress. Too sensitive to endure it. He stroked her clit again and violent tremors shook her frame. His fingers danced against the soft skin above her mound and she doubled over at the waist, trying to move out of his reach without losing contact between them.
“I want to watch you come for me,” he said, and her eyes flew open to meet his gaze, direct, determined. He stroked her clit again, but this time he didn’t pull away. This time he circled the sensitive flesh again and again, lifting his hips from the bed until she folded over and he could bring her nipple to his mouth.
One suckle and her world exploded. Lights flashed in front of her eyes. Breathing became a reflex action, one she barely even noticed because the only thing that mattered was the blast of heat coming from him as he reached his own peak. It bathed her womb and seared her soul.
“Again,” he said.
Again? She barely had time to process the word before he pulled her nipple between his lips and pushed down hard on her clit, and a second orgasm ripped through her body.
****
Coming awake the second time was like wading through warm, melted butter. She could barely move her limbs and didn’t even try to lift her head from where it lay against his chest when she’d collapsed against him. “I’ve never fainted before,” she admitted. “You are fabulous.” And though it sounded inadequate, she added, “Thank you.”
Gently he lifted her chin with his fingers until she met his gaze. “You are welcome.”
They grinned at one another. He kissed her lips, her cheek, her forehead. “Would you like a cup of cinnamon tea?”
Surprise brought her head up and back. “You have some?”
“I bought it for you. But we’ll have to be quick because I get to choose our next activity.”
Half an hour later they had showered, shared a large raisin bran muffin with sections of orange, and drank their respective hot beverages. Glen put their dishes into the dishwasher, then lifted her down from the breakfast bar stool with a warm slide of front to front contact, saying, “Time to get on with the rest of our day.”
Following him into the bedroom, she hoped he planned another round of lovemaking. “What did you have in mind?”
He waggled his eyebrows in a lascivious manner. “I’m taking you to an undisclosed location.”
She was happy to play along. “And what will you do to me there?”
“Leave you.”
“What?” That wasn’t what she expected to hear. Plopping down on the side of the bed, she waited for an explanation.
“There’s a pool at the gym where I play basketball. I don’t want you to miss your daily work
out, so I got a visitor’s pass for you to swim while I get my own workout.”
This too was unexpected. “That was thoughtful of you,” she said, taking his hand and kissing the palm. “I didn’t bring a swimsuit, though.”
“No problem; I anticipated that.”
Turning away, he pulled gear from a bag in the closet, and when she saw the maroon swim cap and black swimsuit with maroon trim dangling from his hand, she couldn’t hold back her laugh. Both items bore the Bates name and bobcat logo. “That was very naughty of you.”
“I thought my alma mater might look good on you.”
“You look good on me.”
“And I’m going to again.” He palmed the back of her head and pulled her close for a kiss that raised her blood pressure. “And again.” One more quick kiss. “But right now we’re getting a different form of exercise.”
They walked to the gym, buffeted by a brisk wind that seemed to come from the rivers on both sides of the peninsula. It lifted Abby’s hair and sent it into skyward-bound spirals. “Let me help.” Catching her hair in his hands, he smoothed it down into a makeshift ponytail and tucked it beneath her coat collar. Then he wrapped one arm around her back and brought her into the shelter of his body. “I like the way you fit me,” he murmured.
It was that simple. Mentally, emotionally, and physically, the two of them were made for one another.
****
An hour later Glen watched as she came out of the locker room area. It was warm and damp in the corridor, and little ringlets escaped from beneath the heavy shawl of her chestnut hair to bounce against her pinkened cheeks. She wore a long-sleeved T-shirt over yoga pants, and the casual outfit highlighted all of her womanly curves. He wanted to take her right there, against the glossy wood paneling, or on one of the glass tables behind him in the sitting area, or stand here and stare at her all day with a dopey grin on his face because he didn’t know if anything had ever looked so good to him before.
“What are you looking so happy about?” she asked.
“You.” If he looked like a teenager in love, well, he felt like one, and he wanted everyone to know it.