Souvenirs (8 page)

“A little over a year. You?”

“Almost two. Anyone since her?”

“No,” he said as he stretched his legs in front of them. “I meet women, but they’ve all left me with the same impression, and I’ve learned to trust my instincts.”

She snuggled closer. “I’ve not dated either. I’ve been focused on work. Then there was Bill’s illness and Mom . . . after. I was glad I could be there for her.”

They sat cuddled on the bench, banishing exes to their past and talking about nothing in particular. Darkness was deepening over Salzburg when Grace looked up with a soft smile.

“Ben? Take me home.”

During the cab ride to the hotel, Grace saw the sights. At least Ben thought she did. Every time he leaned close to glimpse what she was seeing, he smelled her perfume. Then he caught himself staring at her, watching her eyes twinkle, memorizing the tilt of her lips.

In the hotel, Grace’s gentle laughter echoed as he leaned on the call button for the lift.

“What?”

She pressed a soft kiss to his lips and tugged a strand of his hair. “Relax, sweetheart.”

He took a deep breath as the lift doors opened, and caught his reflection displayed on the back wall. “I do look like I’m storming Juno Beach, don’t I?”

“A little, yeah.” She kissed him again, longer this time.

The walk down their hallway was much calmer, and the room didn’t have the same nervous energy as before.

“I’ll get a shower so you can take your time,” he offered.

She nodded as she opened the closet. “Go ahead.”

Ben closed the door, only to open it again. “I forgot my jim-jams. Could you hand them to me? They’re stacked on top of my bag.”

It was another intimacy in a long string of firsts. When she handed him the pile, her fingers trembled under his. He took the clothes and closed the door.

Alone in the bathroom, he started the shower and reached for his toothbrush. There were two of them now, and he tried to remember which was his. Her makeup bag sat next to his shaving kit, and her perfume lay on the vanity. Warmth curled through his torso, and his fingers twitched with the urge to open the bottle and smell it.

His goofy reflection stared back at him.
Get in the shower before you use all the hot water, nob.

When he emerged from the bathroom, they did an awkward dance in the hallway, each trying to get out of the other’s way.

“I’ll be out in a bit,” she whispered.

He stopped her progress and ran his knuckles down her cheek. “Take your time.”

She closed the door, and he started the TV to drown out the thoughts of her naked in the next room. Falling into routine, he arranged things to make it easier to pack for the train tomorrow. When he finished, the shower was still running.

He retrieved his purchase from this afternoon and sat on the edge of the bed. After programming the alarm, he placed the box on the tabletop.
Subtle.
He moved it under a pillow.
Visit from the condom fairy.
He stashed it in the drawer. The water stopped, and the hair dryer started.

He pulled his shirt over his head and leaned back against the headboard.
Sure, Ben. Greeting her starkers won’t scare her at all.
He put his shirt back on, and reached for his waistband.
Surprise.
He left his pants on. The hair dryer was still going.

He picked up his book and his glasses.
Oh, yeah. Wanna shag a pensioner?
The book went back on the nightstand. The hair dryer went silent.

Tell her
, the angel on his shoulder counseled.
Grace, I’m kinda famous.

The bathroom door opened, and she stole his breath along with every word he’d planned to say. It looked like someone had draped her in a very short watercolor. As she moved, the fabric flowed with her.

Mesmerized by the sway of her hips under the fabric, he stilled until she stood between his knees. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

Her warm hands on him helped loosen it, and her kiss finished the job. While soft, it wasn’t a touch and retreat sort of kiss. His balls tightened as she licked her way into his mouth while her fingers toyed in his hair. He reached for her, trying to discover where the silk stopped and her skin started.

Her nails nipped his shoulders through the cotton of his t-shirt. “I thought you would have gotten rid of this.” Her honeyed voice was thick against his lips.

“I didn’t want to assume.” He eased away enough to yank the shirt over his head and hurl it away. His eyes drifted closed again as her fingers skimmed across his skin and she resumed the kiss.

“How did we end up here?” she whispered.

“Dumb luck?” His slipped his thumbs under the straps at her shoulders and pushed. As the silk slithered down her body, Ben knew he’d never been so lucky in his life.

He stroked her nipples and hesitated when she whimpered, but she swayed toward him, begging for more. He answered her plea with his lips, tormenting one bud with his teeth and the other with his fingers. She melted into him.

“Ben.”

Her rough whisper tightened his lungs while making his heart swell. He explored further, the curve of her shoulders, the arch of her back, and the shape of her hips. His erection strained against his pants in an attempt to reach her.

With her head thrown back, the rest of her was on display, begging for his attention. He started with her breasts, entranced by her pale, soft skin and lush weight, contrasting them with her dusky pink, pebbled nipples. Her musky perfume surrounded him, and her sighs and groans filled his ears. Anchoring her to him, he curled her onto the bed and resumed his exploration as she tugged the tie at his waist.

“You were hell-bent on not making this easy, weren’t you?”

“Again,” he breathed into her ear, “I didn’t want to assume.”

Her laugh dripped sex appeal. “Assume next time, sweetheart.”

“Yes, Id—”

“If you call me Idgie
now
, I’m going to hit you.”

He forced himself to release her in order to finish undressing. “Then I think you need something to do with your hands.”

Her lips journeyed across his skin while she explored the newly exposed territory. His moan encouraged her to continue the torment, and he resumed his as well.

His fingers brushed against her center, and the moisture there tightened all his nerves. Vowing more foreplay next time, he slid one finger inside her.

Her mouth fell open as the muscles in her legs shifted, and her heat scorched his skin. He added a second finger and groaned as she put her hand over his and guided him where she needed him to be. Her flesh softened while his stiffened.

Her hand left his, only to close around him, stroking and circling while her thumb brushed his most sensitive skin.

He devoured her lips, and as she drew him further in, their tongues mimicked the movement of their hands. He writhed, showing her where he needed to be touched, and she found erogenous zones he hadn’t realized he possessed.

Her skin was delicious, but her nipples were his favorites. More than the way they tightened on his tongue, it was her whispered pleas as she clutched him to her and the way her body arched beneath his.

Ben scraped one hand across the cool sheets and then to the unyielding nightstand. Willingly blind and increasingly desperate, he felt his way—corner, drawer, pull. It wouldn’t budge. He tugged harder. Nothing. Raising his head, he focused on the cockeyed drawer. He needed both hands.

“Shit.”

Grace’s laughter shook the bed as he balanced enough to open the drawer and attain his goal. Returning to her side, he reached for her, intending to renew their play. She plucked the condom package out of his hand, tore it open, and rolled the latex over him. The sensation decreased, and he whined with regret.

With one hand, she continued to stroke him. With the other, she explored his abs, thighs, and backside. Once he was panting, twisting into her touch, she rose enough to kiss his chest and sighed the way she did when she ate chocolate. Teasing his nipple with the tip of her tongue, she trailed her nails up his spine. As she reclined, she tightened her hand on his erection, encouraging him to follow her down to the mattress. It wasn’t necessary. He’d follow her into hell for this. She rubbed her feet over his thighs, up his hips, to the small of his back.

Every inch of him twitched, throbbed, and yearned for her. Sensitive, but in a different way.

Clever girl.

“Look at me,” he whispered. He wanted this memory for the rest of his life.

As he eased into her, he fought the instinct to close his eyes and hide. Instead, his vision darkened until Grace became the bright spot at its center. He breathed in raspy gulps, his body moving as hers responded.

Trembling, she raked her fingers over his body. He obeyed the silent plea, plunging deeper within her.

“Relax, baby. It’s just me.”

“Just you,” she groaned and closed her eyes, a sensual smile on her lips, as he pulled out, only to fill her again. This time the tremors were his, and he lifted her hips as he kept his pace slow.

“
Please,
Ben
.
Sweet . . . heart, please.”

Her broken plea snapped his control. He thrust and retreated, her body surging to meet him. Again. Again. Faster, then slower. Her legs tightened around him and her nails scored his skin as she urged him on. With a growl, he stroked as deeply as possible. Her body arched to his, and refused to let him go. As her cries of pleasure filled his ears, he was vaguely aware of his hoarse gasps echoing in the room.

He rubbed his hands over Grace’s sweat soaked skin, memorizing her muscles and how they flexed in the light.

She kissed him then, hard and hungry, tangling her fingers in his hair and holding him close, shuddering. Her muscles clenched around him, increasing the friction, and Ben grew wild. Vaguely aware of the crash of the headboard against the wall, the buckle of the mattress, he surged inside her, driving deeper until he found his release.

Ben rested his forehead against hers as his heart pounded in his ears and his breath heaved through his lungs. Grace quivered beneath him. Worried he might crush her, he eased away.

Her legs tightened around his hips, restraining him. “Don’t.”

“I must be heavy.”

“I like it.”

He propped on one elbow and stared into her dilated gaze and shy, tired smile. A dangerous emotion squeezed his heart, delighting him and terrifying him at the same time. He felt better when her hand shook against his back.

“Let me get a quick shower,” she whispered. Leaving the bed, she didn’t reach for her gown. Her hair swished against her bare shoulder blades with every sway of her hips. His pleasure deepened as she braced her hand on the wall to steady herself and combed a hand through the tangles at the crown of her head.

When the shower started, he found the dustbin across the room, disposed of the condom, and turned, surprised to see the bathroom dark despite the open door. Curiosity pulled him forward.

The light from the room spilled through the door and against the sheer curtain, casting her into shadow. She ran her fingers down her arms, then sluiced water from her face, before rubbing her neck.

He stepped halfway into the shower and waited for her to scold him. When she didn’t, he joined her.

“Do you always shower in the dark?” Ben murmured as he slid his hands to her waist. Warm water streamed down his fingers while cooler drips splashed from her body to his.

She relaxed against him the way she had yesterday in Vienna. Had it only been yesterday? Standing in the rain, he’d imagined what she’d look like with water glistening on her naked skin. Had he known, they’d still be in the woods outside the palace.

“If it’s late, yes. The light wakes me.”

“Have a lot of late nights, do you?” He brushed his lips along the curve of her shoulder. She’d tied her hair up to keep it dry, giving him all sorts of new skin to explore.

“Umm, not like this.” She gasped the last word as he tasted skin at the top of her spine. “I can feel you smiling, you know.”

“If that’s all you can feel, I’m worried.”

He kept her against him while he ran his hands down her lather-slick skin, tracing over her thighs, along her hips, across her stomach, up to her breasts.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

Her gentle laugh shook her against him. “It’s dark, Ben.”

She closed her hand over his renewing erection. Soapsuds and warm water intensified the intimate massage until his hoarse groans were louder than the shower. Her nipples pebbled against his fingers, tempting him to taste the sweet skin. Grace’s grip tightened, and he thrust into her hand.

He reached around her and shut off the spray. Cool air shivered over his wet flesh.

When she turned and groped for a towel, he pushed her against the granite wall and lifted her hips. “Wrap those gorgeous legs around me, doll.”

Tightening his arms around her and drying his feet on the bath mat, he strode from the bathroom to the bed. Laying her in the middle of the mattress, he retrieved another condom only to drop it as the sight of her locked his muscles. Kneeling to retrieve it put her within tasting range.

“Give that to me,” she breathed. “I’d like all your fingers free.”

He traced the tip of his tongue up the silky skin of her inner thigh. “I don’t think I’ll need my fingers.”

“Oh God,” she whimpered as she tangled her hands in his hair.

Hours later, Ben woke in the dark. The chaos of the neighboring bed brought a smile. They’d used the sheets as shower towels, and then Grace had pulled them from the bed in the throes of her last orgasm.

Mindful of not waking her, he eased himself upright and reached for his book and his glasses. He’d read until he got tired.

After ten minutes, he abandoned the ignored page. Instead, he stared at Grace’s curves accentuated in the glow of the book light. His skin tingled, as if every nerve had reconnected. Before, the feeling had always started with his fingers wrapped through hers or maybe his lips when he kissed her. Now it originated from his center and worked its way outward.
He craved her, and not only her body, though God knew it was incredible. Her laugh, her voice, her joy intrigued him.