Part 23 (1/2)

She kicked off one shoe then the other, and they tumbled along the carpet.

He palmed both tempting mounds at once, and she arched into his touch with a gasp. Slowly, gently, he ma.s.saged her, enjoying the way her head dug back into the pillow. She kept her arms over her head as if pinned by invisible cords, her fingers flexing open and closed.

Trailing his hands until he stopped at the top of her jeans, he slid the b.u.t.ton free, exposing another inch of tantalizing flesh. And, ah, what a time to notice her belly b.u.t.ton ring, a simple gold rod offering a hint of the old rebellious Shay. No way could he resist leaning to press his mouth against her there, clicking the metal against his teeth with his tongue.

She rocked her hips. ”You're really good at that, you know.”

”I'm giving it my best effort.” He glanced up at her as he took her zipper between his teeth and pulled . . .

Down.

Down.

Down until her pants parted and his chin rested right against her sweetest curve of all. Her fingers stretched straight and open and taut. A flush swept her body. He would have liked to see her brown eyes open and locked on him, pupils widening with pleasure. Still, she appeared so intensely in the moment.

A total turn-on.

He tugged her jeans along her hips, nuzzling briefly against her soft curls. The scent of her threatened to send him over the edge, and he s.h.i.+fted his attention to peeling her pants off her legs. A tantalizingly long task as he worked his way down her killer gams.

She kicked her jeans and panties free, bowing up off the bed and kneeling to reach for his belt buckle.

Again he smiled. ”Let me.”

She hesitated, then leaned back onto her elbows to watch. She eye stroked him with appreciation as firmly as if her hands roved his body. Words seemed scarce, but he was so busy taking in the nuances of seeing her, smelling her, feeling her, his brain lacked the capacity for much else.

Then his pants were gone, and he worked his way back up her body, nibbling her hip, down to her thigh. She'd mentioned enjoying hiking and camping, and the exercise showed in her long, defined muscles. He knew well the power of her legs locked around him.

He skimmed his mouth down to the back of her knee, nudging between her legs with his shoulders. After a second of hesitation, she parted for him. Caressing her calf, he crooked her leg to give him access to her pretty ankles, pink-tipped toes, and yes, spreading her wider for his journey back up. Nip after nip he retraced his path. He worked his way along creamy skin, past her knee to the inside of her thigh.

His mouth met slightly raised lines.

He opened his eyes and saw pale scars, thin striations faded by time until they were barely visible. But he didn't question for a minute what they represented, what she'd done to herself.

She tensed against him. He buried his face harder against her in counterpressure to the pain that had led her to do this to herself. He stroked her carefully until she relaxed again.

G.o.d, it ripped him up inside thinking of how much she'd suffered, too. After the night Tommy died, they'd never spoken again. Shay had dropped out of Civil Air Patrol. They'd gone to different high schools for senior year. He'd never called.

And here they were seventeen years later, even hotter for each other.

He kissed her intimately, as close as he could be to her, letting her know how much he wanted her, past and present. Her sigh spurred him.

Her head flung back and her hips arched. He drew in her scent, wanted more and took it, stroking and laving. Her moans ma.s.saged him higher, harder, coaxing him on because he wouldn't stop until she found her completion, even though holding back was just about killing him.

She gripped his shoulders, her fingernails digging in deeper, insistent. Her groans swelled, her hips writhing against the anchoring pressure of his hold. He teased his tongue and teeth against her until her whole body went taut, bowing upward with her uninhibited release. Moans built to cries, louder and louder until she flung her wrist across her mouth to m.u.f.fle the sweet sounds.

He stayed with her, working every last ounce of pleasure for her, even though his body throbbed with a driving need to be inside her. With a final sigh, she sagged back, and he crawled up her body. Her deft hands slid a condom over him before he could even think to mention it, much less reach for the packet. He covered her, entered her.

And he didn't want to leave.

Shay didn't want to leave the hotel bed and face the uncertain world outside.

She kept her eyes off the clock and on a magnificently naked Vince. The alarm had been set. Egyptian cotton sheets tangled around their bare bodies, and Buster slept at their feet.

Perfection? Maybe.

Scary? Definitely.

Her head resting on Vince's phoenix, she toyed with his dog tags. Tink, tink, tink. ”I wish we could stay here for a week.”

”That can be arranged.” He trailed a rose from the vase up and down her spine.

Her stomach flat-out pitched. ”First, I have to get my life back together.” She would much rather focus on Vince's hard-muscled body and the pleasure they could bring each other. ”I never realized how difficult it could be to replace everything in a wallet. I'm definitely going to have a plan B backup in the future.”

He teased the rose over her nose, the sweet perfume mingling with the musky scent of s.e.x. A heady combination. ”Are you planning on getting mugged on a regular basis?”

”You know where I work. It's a possibility.”

He skimmed the rose between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, back and forth. ”I would offer you money, but I suspect you wouldn't take it.”

”You're correct.” Especially not now that they'd slept together and with the possibility of that week in bed together looming.

”Why not ask your parents for a loan?”

”I'd rather sleep in a tent.” She cringed at even the thought. Her brother was the one who asked for money in his constant quest for another degree. Not her. She had her own realm for disappointing them.

He set the rose aside on her pillow. ”You really do resent your father that much?”

She rolled to her back, studying the crown molding bordering the ceiling. ”We have our problems.”

”I'm surprised you didn't end up in the air force, too. We may have only spent six months together in Civil Air Patrol, but you really were a first-rate flyer.”

She turned her head on the pillow and faked a smile. ”I was only there for the boys.”

He grazed his knuckles along her jaw as if to soften his words. ”Stupid me, I thought you were there to get your father's attention.”

Her smile pinched as tight as her chest. ”If that had been true, I would be flying right now, don't you think?”

”You're following in your old man's footsteps, whether you realize it or not.”

”I'm a nurse, and he's some spooky agent type.” Both helping teenagers. Duh. At least Vince wasn't gloating.

His cobalt blue eyes deepened. ”It's dangerous for your father if you talk about those things.”

She traced the edges of his goatee. ”And for you?”

”I'm just a plain old zipper-suited sky G.o.d.” He kissed the inside of her palm.