Waiting for You (RightMatch.com Trilogy) (20 page)

“You’ve already seen this part.”

“Not nearly enough.” Leaning over, he cupped a breast, lifted it into his callused palm and kissed it gently. Then he licked her nipples, startling her.

“That feels so good.”

“It’s been too long since you made love, sweetheart. I’m so sorry you missed out on all this.” As he spoke, he kept up the motions, intensified them.

“You’ll have to make up for my drought then…oh, God, yes, Joe, yes.” Her head fell back against the pillows and her eyes closed to savor the sensations—his fingers kneading her, his hand squeezing her, his clever tongue taunting her.

After moments of his tender attention to her other breast, he asked, “Want to slip the pants off? You can get under the sheet, then.”

She nodded. Standing, he turned his back to her.

Dana’s eyes moistened at his sensitivity and acceptance as she removed her panties along with the pants and lightly covered her legs with a sheet. She felt no embarrassment about the rest of her being naked in front of him.

“You can turn around now.”

His gaze was hot when he perused her nakedness, which was kissed by the moonlight. “You are
gorgeous.”

“Let me see if you are.”

Standing before her, he undid the button of his jeans. Then he took his time with the zipper. She was mesmerized by his slow, slower, slowest lowering of it. With confident laziness, he pushed down the jeans to his hips, his thighs, all the way to the floor and stepped out of them.

His tight navy briefs did nothing to disguise an impressive erection. Thumb in the waistband, he said in a gravelly voice, “More?”

“Oh, yeah. More. All.”

Soon he was naked and beautiful, her own private David, sculpted out of muscle and sinew and pure masculinity.

“Can I come to bed now?”

“Uh-huh.”

Reaching over, he switched off the light. With only a small lamp on in the corner, semi-darkness closed around them. “That what you need, honey?”

“Yes.”

He slid onto the mattress. Bracing his arms on either side of her, he took her mouth possessively. “I hate that you’ve deprived yourself for all this time, but I am so pleased, honored really, that you picked me.”

“I’m glad, too.”

His hand went to her cheeks, her neck, then he cupped her breasts again. He touched her with an honest passion, which in itself excited her. He suckled a nipple hard and she bucked when desire shot right to her groin. She’d forgotten about that. “So, so good,” she uttered.

He kissed her abs, her thighs, trailed his mouth back up to the juncture of them. Raising his head, he looked for permission to go further and she groaned, “Yes.”

Gently, he separated her legs, touching only her knees to do it. Then his mouth closed over her intimately. He licked, laved, took her over a crest that started out gentle, turned acute fast and made her moan—loud, long, wonderfully.

With pure male satisfaction, Joe watched Dana come. God, she was beautiful. The look of her, the smell of her, and now the taste of her made him rock hard. When he sat upright, he asked, “Good?”

“Good enough to make me wonder why I’m still alive.”

“Just wait. I want to be inside you. I
have
to be inside you. How should we do this?”

“Lie on your side and face me.”

After he slipped on a condom, he positioned himself. She inched close and pushed off the sheet only to her knees. On her side, too, she said, “Lift up my leg and lay it over your own.”

Her muscles were toned beyond belief, the softness of the inside of her thigh an aphrodisiac. Did she know she was helping him lift? He’d have to ask her later, but right now his restraint was close to snapping.

“Okay,” she said, lying back on her pillow. “The rest is instinct.”

“Now
that
I’m good at.” He slid into her easily, though she was tight. But she was also wet and pulsing with aftershocks of her orgasm. He pushed himself to the hilt. She made the kind of moan a man dreams his lover would make. “I…I forgot what this feels like. I…missed it and didn’t even know.”

Gritting his teeth, he began a slow, even glide. He wanted her to come again; he wanted to wait for her and was doing just fine until she clenched her inner muscles around him. Hard. Jesus. He gasped for breath, and his body took over, quickening the pace, thrusting of its own volition, then pounding into her. The last thing he heard was her outcry when she joined him in orgasm.

o0o

An easy sleep drifted over each of them, both filled with satisfaction and promise as they clung together spoon fashion. Dana woke first. The red dials told her it was two a.m. She and Joe had separated during the night, and now she turned on her side, clutched the sheet to her breasts and with the moonlight coming through the slats of the blinds, watched him sleep. He was on his stomach, an arm arched around the pillow he had his face buried in. She could see his outline, not the details of his body. For a minute, she regretted being in semi-darkness. For a minute, she forgot why she’d done it.

Lifting her hand, she traced a finger over his scratchy jaw, the curve of his lips. His teeth came out and clamped on it, startling her. “I thought you were asleep.”

“I was.” He opened an eye. “Ready for round two?” he asked, his voice gravelly.

“I…I guess I am. After so long, I’m probably insatiable.”

Turning over then, he stretched up his arms and linked his hands over his head. “I guess I’ll just have to let you have your way with me.”

She wished she could.

“Dana?”

“I was just thinking about the book you brought tonight.”

He grabbed the slats of the headboard and hiked up a bit. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Oh, Lord, no. Everything was perfect.” She leaned over and kissed him. “More than perfect.”

“Then what?”

“The book said to share your fantasies.”

His head plunked back onto the pillow. “Oh, God, you’re gonna kill me. You’ve got one you wanna do now, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Just so it doesn’t involve a dog collar, I’m game.”

“Nothing so daring. It’s tame really.”

Her insecure, maybe melancholy tone sobered him. “What is it, sweetheart?”

“I like to be on top.”

“On top of what?”

“Jo-ey!”

“Oh, you mean on top of me?”

“I told you it was tame.”

The moon shone brighter and she got a better glimpse of his expression. He was watching her intently. “You don’t think you can do it that way again, do you?”

“I think I might be able to. But I’ll need help. And I’m not sure if I can hold the position without my thighs cramping.”

“Or your legs going into a spasm. Remember what the books said about that!”

She managed a smile. “What if we start that way and I can’t finish?”

“We’ll shift positions. It’s no big deal.”

“You won’t say that if you’re ready to come and I fall off you.”

His face turned totally serious. “We’ve got tons of sex ahead of us, Dana. If this doesn’t work, we’ll try something else.”

She started to question this risk but stopped herself. She’d just had the most amazing sex of her life, like any able-bodied person, and she wanted more.

“I’m wait-ing,” he said in a sing-song voice.

Oh, hell. She sidled as close as she could get and draped herself over his chest. “Can you reach my leg?”

“Piece of cake.”

“Drag it over to the other side of you.”

Soon she was sprawled over him. She was able to drag her knee up and bend her leg. Years of yoga had helped with that.

His hands were gentle as he clasped her behind the knees and tugged them up so tenderly that she wasn’t afraid anymore. “There. Now, can you raise yourself up? Or should I hold your hips and help?”

“Let me see what I can do first.” She’d never tried this, of course. She exerted pressure on knees she had no feeling in. “Oh, oh, Joe, I can. I can raise my hips myself.”

“Then do it, woman. I need attention here.”

Dana lifted her torso high enough to take him inside her, slide down him.

“Oh, dear Jesus Christ.”

“Good?” she asked. Even to her own ears it had a smug quality to it.

Dana felt incredibly feminine, alluring, enticing again. On a visceral level, she recalled that sensation, recalled how it curled inside her like a stroke of her back, a stroke of her ego. Right now, she believed she could do anything.

He grabbed her hips. “What do you think?”

“That it’s wonderful. That you’re wonderful.”

“Then like I said, have your way with me.”

And for the first time in twelve years, she did.

Chapter 13

By the following Saturday morning, Joe felt as if he could fly, find the cure for cancer or stop crime in the city. It had been a week and a half since he and Dana had first made love, and his life had changed so much. It was as if he’d known her for years, could tell her anything, could slay dragons for her. He also decided something. He was going to concentrate on the good things, the positive things in the relationship, and to hell with his doubts and worries.

His mother noticed his good mood. They sat on a bench at an elementary school playground near Cole’s house while his girls pushed Ellie in a baby swing. Joe was meeting a group of Sundowners here for a pickup game of soccer later in the afternoon and the girls had come to watch.

“You’re pretty chipper this morning,” his mom said. They’d met at the shady spot because she was babysitting her youngest grandchild.

“Yeah, I am. It shows?”

“To me. Does this have anything to do with Dana?”

“Uh-huh.” He thought of how rumpled—and satisfied—she’d looked this morning when he’d left her in her bed. “We’ve gotten…close.”

His mother gave him a sideways glance. “I know the meaning of close, dear.” She reached out and grasped his hand. “I’m glad for you.”

“I feel great, Mom.”

“Honey, you aren’t going to like this any more than the first time I talked to you about sex, but how did it go with her disability?”

“It was a little awkward at first. But then when we got into it, we almost forgot about what she couldn’t do.”

“That’s as it should be. Your father and I kept our sexual life active as long as we could.”

“Now, that
is
TMI, Mother.”

She laughed. “Children never want to know these things.”

Watching the girls chase Ellie, who’d just started walking, Joe’s feelings surfaced. “I want to do so many things with her besides that. We spend most of our waking hours together, and I’m pushing for her to be in the marathon in the city next month with me. We could train together.”

“Has she run, I mean, wheeled them before?”

“Only the ones held solely for people with disabilities.”

His mother’s gaze stayed on the girls a few seconds longer. Then she faced Joe. “Are you sure you should encourage her to participate? It’s really hard getting people out of their comfort zone.”

“I know you tried to do that with Dad. I read a letter about it.”

“I don’t remember that one. What did it say?”

Joe had practically memorized the missives. “He wrote at first that he got angry at you when you tried to draw him out. He knew you were doing it with love, but taking chances was hard for him.” But she wouldn’t leave it alone. “Then, when you forced him to try a speed chair—this was while he still had the use of his limbs—he was glad. He felt invigorated, whole again.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “I still miss him. I love Rick, of course, but your dad was one special man.”

Joe squeezed her hand.

Raising her chin, she said, “Like father, like son, I guess.”

“Thanks for saying that. I’m glad pushing him out of his comfort zone worked in the end.”

“Sometimes it did. Sometimes it backfired. I got him in a few embarrassing spots, and all it did was end up making us both feel bad.”

“Well, Dana’s healthier than Dad was. We have to find the right balance.”

“All right, just keep it in mind. Speaking of Dad, I’m going to ask you something and I want the truth.”

“Would I lie to you?”

“No, you just keep things from me. You always have, especially when a situation is difficult for you.”

That was true. He closed down at times like that, just like Dana used to do.

“I hear you saying all the wonderful things about being with Dana, but I suspect she brings back some unpleasant memories for you. No, more than that. Difficult associations, on a gut level.”

His stomach clenched. “Ruth and Dana said the same thing, but I’m not sure it’s true.”

“Well, maybe you’re suppressing the reactions. I know that whenever I have occasion to be with people in a wheelchair, or who have ALS, my stomach clenches with…remembered pain, I guess. I react on a visceral level that I can’t control. Because of it, I had to stop volunteering at the rehab center after Dad died.”

Joe stood. “I don’t want to talk about bad things, today. And I’m totally sick of analyzing my relationship with Dana. I’m just going to enjoy it.” He motioned to the kids. “Look at that, they’re taking Ellie on the slide.”

“You’re avoiding the issue, honey.”

“If I am, I don’t care.” He cupped his hands. “It’s pretty high. Be careful girls, she’s so little.”

Kaelyn turned and waved from where she was standing at the bottom of the slide while Kara helped Ellie climb the ladder. When they got to the top, she set Ellie down and slid behind her. Joe saw the intention was to have the baby between her legs as they went down the slide.

“I’m going over. I’m not comfortable with what the kids are doing.” He strode away. But not before he heard his mother say, “It’s not good to run away from this, Joey.”

But Joe would be damned if he’d let her concerns ruin his perfectly happy mood.

So he was glad when his mother decided to leave, and he and the girls headed over to the field, where people were gathering.

“You like so many sports, Daddy,” Kaelyn said. “Mom says you’re a real jock.”

He and Leona were amicable enough, especially with the girls, so he didn’t take that as an insult. “There are worse things to be, munchkin.”