She felt his lips curve into a smile as though some private thought amused him. “What’s so funny?”
“Only that this last week and a half has been crazy. I’m not sure I’d ever want to go through that again.”
She pulled away from his embrace and stared
at him. “We wouldn’t have seen each other otherwise.”
For a moment his eyes darkened with emotion. “You’re right. And that would have been the worst thing that’s ever happened to us.”
“Gabe,” she whispered. “What do you want from me?”
He seemed sure of himself as he took charge with quiet assurance. “Come here.”
In one magical heartbeat, she was by his side.
“I’m here,” she murmured softly. “I’ve always been here for you.”
Gabe wrapped his arms around Rebecca.
Touching her was a necessity.
Loving her was inevitable.
“Even though we can’t be together, in my heart and mind, I’ll always be with you.” Her words struck him deep inside.
It was the same for him. When this was over and she was gone from his life, he knew she’d be in his thoughts, feelings. Even in his dreams.
He ran his hand down the long curve of her back, feeling the soft cotton of her pajamas and the inviting curves he knew lay beneath.
He undid another button on her pajama top,
watching her lids ease shut. She looked so peaceful, so happy, and he wished he could keep her that way forever.
“Hmmm?” she whispered.
“Reb, look at me.”
Slowly, she opened her eyes, her gaze soft and full of promise.
“You love me, don’t you, Reb?”
She froze for a few seconds. “You … you know I do, but it doesn’t change that I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“I know,” he said. “But you’re here with me tonight, aren’t you?”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Gabe’s chest tightened at her soft words of confession. God help him, but he loved her.
“Reb, let’s play a game.”
His gaze traveled from her lips to her wide eyes. Her hair, still piled up on top of her head, was artfully held together by those damn pearl studs.
Lord, but she was beautiful.
She gave him a smile. “What kind of a game?” Her voice trembled a little.
“I’m going to start touching you.”
A surprised gasp caught at the back of her
throat as he removed one pearl stud, his finger lingering at the back of her neck.
A thick strand of hair fell, brushing against his hand. Her hair felt silky soft and cool on his skin.
“And you have to tell me what to do or I’ll stop.”
He brought the curls to him, inhaling deeply, just like he’d imagined hours ago. The scent, so fresh, so sweet touched him deep inside.
She wriggled out of his embrace to study him. “You’re kidding.”
He shook his head. “I’ll stop unless you tell me what to do. Those are the rules. Okay?”
“Anything?”
He could see the skepticism in her eyes, hear the hesitation in her voice.
“Anything.”
“What if I tell you to leave?”
“I’ll have to leave.”
He stroked her cheek with his knuckles, then with the back of his hand. He brought his fingers close to her mouth and watched as her lips parted on a sigh.
“But I have the feeling you’re not going to tell me to leave.” He drew little circles over her
top lip, then her bottom lip. “Or rather, I’m hoping that you want me to stay.”
She took in a sharp breath.
He could see that he was rousing her passion, as his own grew stronger. He was shocked at his eager response to touching her in this simple way.
“You’re right,” she said. “I’m not going to tell you to leave.”
“So, you understand all the rules.”
She nodded.
“All right.” His voice was deceptively calm. “Tell me what to do.”
She hesitated as though measuring each thought and action in her mind.
He waited, his heart pounding in his chest.
“I want to feel my hair hitting my shoulders. Look into my eyes and undo my hair.”
Their gazes locked as they breathed in unison. He pulled a pearl-studded hairpin free. Then another. Then the last one.
Her hair cascaded across her shoulders and tumbled down her back in one shimmering mass.
A rush of pink stained her cheeks. “Run your fingers through my hair.”
With both palms, he cupped her cheeks and ran his hands up her face and into her thick hair.
A quiver raced through his veins at the touch of her velvety curls.
She bit her lip to stifle her cry as he gently massaged her head and her temples.
She tugged on his arms, snuggling closer. “Hold me tight, Gabe. I want to feel your arms around me like you’ll never let me go.”
He brought a quick breath deeply into his lungs as though he was starving for air. It took a split second for him to wrap her in his arms.
“Closer,” she whispered.
He choked back the moan and brought her roughly to his chest. The need for her cut through him like a knife, making him unsure if he’d be able to finish the game. The urge to make her his immediately was almost uncontrollable.
He wanted to give her everything, anything, even another chance at giving her a child.
A slight smile curved his lips. The change in him felt good. Even the thought of children felt good.
She pulled them down to the sheets, and buried her face against his throat. A few seconds later she gazed up at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. You stopped, so I stopped.”
She gave a small laugh and her eyes gleamed
with a white heat he hadn’t seen before. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
He lowered his head close to her ear. “Uh-huh,” he whispered.
She shivered at his nearness. “Okay, I’ll try. Rub my back.”
He ran his large hand up her back and gently kneaded.
“No, under my top,” she instructed in a soft voice.
Holding back a sigh of relief, he drew her to him. His hand slid under the floral pajama top with ease. He held his breath as he caressed the smoothness of her back, gently squeezing as he went. His fingers massaged deeply into her tight shoulder muscles, causing her to softly moan his name.
“That feels wonderful.”
“You’re doing good, Reb,” he said, captivated by the feel of her under his exploring hands. “You catch on quick.”
Reb closed her eyes and concentrated on the moment. Every nerve ending was alive. Every one of her senses and emotions was working overtime.
“Gabe?”
“Hmmm?”
“Unbutton my top.”
A second later, Rebecca felt the last remaining buttons fall open. A wave of air hit her chest, cooling her heated neck, arms, and breasts. She looked at him. His eyes blazed so fiercely, she thought she’d never felt so aroused.
“Touch my breasts.” Her voice nearly cracked with desire. Her breasts felt heavy, hot, in her anticipation of his loving caress.
His hand lightly touched her hardening nipples, drawing tiny circles around the hard nubs, then her entire breast.
“Kiss me now.”
“Where?”
“Kiss my ear,” she said, trying to control the shivers that shook her body. “I want to feel your tongue in my ear.”
His lips were warm as he touched the soft spot below her earlobe. As he moved upward, his tongue traced the outer rim of her ear, then slowly explored the inside. He drew her earlobe into his mouth, making her squirm with delight.
His kiss was slow and thoughtful. Tender and spine-chilling.
“Kiss my neck. Don’t forget my neck,” she
urged. She wasn’t about to let him stop the fever he was slowly creating inside her.
His lips seared a path down her neck, her shoulders, then quickly returned to the hollow at the base of her throat. Her pulse beat hard. Then in one swift movement his lips captured hers. His mouth was hard and demanding, sending new spirals of ecstasy through her, pushing every ounce of air from her lungs.
He pulled away for a second. “I’m sorry. I got carried away. I’m breaking my own rules.”
She gasped for air. “I, ah, I was going to tell you to do that anyway. You move too fast for me, that’s all.”
He brushed his mouth across hers. “Then tell me, sweetheart. What do you want?”
“Kiss the back of my neck. My shoulders.”
He pulled her to a sitting position, his mouth finding its way to the back of her neck. His kiss was urgent and exploratory in his need to satisfy her.
“Ah, yes,” she moaned as he gently nipped at the back of her neck and in between her shoulders.
“How about my breasts?”
She fell back against the plump pillows.
“Gladly.” He leaned over her, his lips teasing a taut, dusky pink nipple. Then the other.
“Touch me.”
His hands, warm and smooth, slid up her firm stomach to the swell of her hips to her breasts. His caresses were light and painfully teasing.
“Squeeze them,” she said, not being able to stand it anymore. “Kiss them again.”
With both hands he cupped her breasts, running his thumbs over each nipple. Squeezing ever so gently, he brought her to him. His mouth closed over one nipple, licking and tasting her.
“Ooh, that feels so good.”
“It feels good to me too.” His ragged voice betrayed his mounting passion.
“Hold me tight,” she commanded.
“Like this?” His hands moved gently down the length of her back, wrapping her closer to him.
“Yes,” she sighed. Instinctively, her body arched toward him. His body imprisoned hers in a web of growing arousal.
“Gabe.”
“What? Tell me what to do.”
“Take off your clothes.”
He eased away. With quick dexterity he unbuttoned his shirt.
She concentrated on the sounds of his irregular breathing and the pounding of her heart. She sunk lower into the softness of the bed, pushing aside the pillows.
She could hear the swoosh of his shirt as he yanked it off his arms, the cool sound of his zipper, the rustle of sheets, and the dropping of his clothing to the floor.
She swallowed the lump at the back of her throat. “Don’t forget me.” Their gazes locked in a heated stare.
He slid the pajama bottoms off her hips, down her legs. Discarding her bottoms, and the unbuttoned top, she lay naked beneath his gaze.
“Come here, and kiss my stomach.”
The expert touch of his warm mouth on her heated skin sent her even higher. She cried out for release, grasping his head in her hands, holding him to her.
“Do you like this?” His lips brushed against her stomach as he spoke.
“You’ll never know how much.”
“How’s this?” He kissed a little lower, then raked his tongue to the apex of her thighs.
“Oh, yes,” she moaned. “Kiss my thigh.”
He grabbed the warm flesh of her inner thigh and then he kissed her. Up and down.
Rebecca could only close her eyes and feel the hot, pulsating coil of her need near the breaking point.
His arousal was hard and ready.
“You’re so good,” she barely whispered. “Kiss me right there.” She guided him closer.
“You’re teasing me, Reb.” He stroked her with his words.
Shivers vibrated through her body. “No, you’re the one who’s teasing. Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.”
“Close enough for you, sweetheart,” he murmured softly against the softness of her skin.
“Almost,” she softly cried.
She wanted to tell him to whisper words of love to her, but she couldn’t.
She wouldn’t.
“I want to make you purr,” he murmured against her.
“I need to feel you.” She stretched, as every muscle in her body ached and burned. “I want to feel you warm and hard inside me.”
Exploding in a downpour of fiery sensations, she met him halfway as they joined together as one.
Maybe for the last time.
Waves of ecstasy throbbed through her.
She clutched his shoulders, and he buried his face in her neck, murmuring words she couldn’t understand. She couldn’t control the cry of pure delight and rapture as her body screamed for release.
Suddenly, he grabbed her hips and lifted her up against the headboard of the bed. When he pressed harder into her, she wrapped her legs around his waist and let her head drop close to his face.
She could feel the hardness of him pressing into her, throbbing as they rocked together in one passionate movement after another. She took in his scent, his breath, the burning heat that came from his body.
It was painful. It was heaven.
He pressed his lips into her neck. “Reb, we’re almost there. Look at me.”
Their gazes locked as the shuddering release shook them both over and over again.
He grabbed her shoulders, and with tangled legs and hot, slick bodies they slid to the mattress.
“Let me hold you,” he whispered. “You feel so good in my arms.”
He pulled up the floral sheet to cover them, the cotton cooling her heated body. He wrapped
his arms around her, drawing her close to his chest.
“You’ll always be mine, sweetheart,” he murmured against the pulse of her neck. “Always.”
She choked down the hot tears that came to her eyes. Her chest squeezed tightly as she listened to his heavy breathing ease to a slow, steady pace.
He’d never uttered a word about a reconciliation. Or that he loved her.
She only hoped that she had the strength to walk away because it would kill her more to stay.
“You’re a damn fool,” Evelyn said the second Gabe walked into the living room of the main house the next morning.
He took a deep breath and slumped onto the couch. “I suppose I am.” If ever there was a time he had to admit that his grandmother was right, it was now.
He was a damn fool. Maybe even worse.
“She’s gone, you know.”
“I know.” He’d known when he’d opened his eyes that morning. The small bedroom, where they had shared their last incredible moments together, had felt empty.
And he knew exactly why.
Reb was gone, and gone for good this time.
He took in another painful breath, telling
himself that it was best to end it this way. He should be happy that Reb had made it so easy for him by leaving the cottage while he was still asleep.
Yet he wasn’t happy.
Far from it in fact.