Part 24 (1/2)

He had her in his arms again in a second flat. Sliding his hands into her hair, he kissed her and kissed her, needing the rea.s.surance of knowing that this was happening, that he really was this lucky. Soon kissing was not enough, however, and his hands began to roam, smoothing up her rib cage and onto her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, sliding over her b.u.t.t and between her legs. She murmured and moaned and he felt the damp heat growing between her thighs, even through the fabric of her leggings.

Gaining access to all the areas he needed to touch and taste proved to be a time-consuming task. Her sports bra had about a million clasps and catches, and he had to slide it over her head before he could get his hands and mouth on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Then she had to toe off her shoes and roll down her leggings before they could get any more intimate.

”Ten points on the blanket, negative five for the sports gear,” he growled against her stomach as he nibbled his way down her body.

She just gasped and threaded her fingers through his hair and wrapped her legs around his back.

He wanted to go slow, to make this moment last forever, to ride the realization that he was going to wake up with this woman, hold this woman in his arms, love this woman for the rest of his life. But primitive instinct demanded more. He wanted to take her, claim her, bury himself inside her.

Shucking his running shorts with efficient haste, he centered himself in the cradle of her thighs, the head of his erection probing the moist plumpness of her inner lips.

”Condom,” he said instinctively.

She just smiled up at him and lifted her hips. He grinned back at her, then closed his eyes as he slid into the exquisite, wet, tight heat of her.

”I love you,” he said as he began to move. ”I love you.”

”Yes,” she breathed.

He figured he had about sixty seconds left in him, between her writhing body, the slick pressure between her thighs, and the four weeks of pent-up need rising inside him. Pumping into her furiously, he sucked a nipple into his mouth and tongued it firmly, savoring her taste and the animal cry she made. He felt her body flex like a bow, and then she threw her head back and he felt her body tighten and release around his.

”I love you,” he said between clenched teeth as his own pa.s.sion rose up to take him. She stared into his eyes, and she pressed her palm against his cheek as he spun off into pleasure, his body shuddering into hers powerfully.

They lay in the dappled sunlight not speaking for a long time afterward, hands soothing each other's bodies, lips meeting for frequent, lingering kisses full of unspoken tenderness and promises.

”I knew the moment I met you that you were trouble,” he finally said, pressing a kiss into the nape of her neck.

”Oh yeah? I thought you were trouble, too-my kind of trouble,” she said.

When he looked into her eyes, he saw so much love and vulnerability and hope there that it nearly slew him.

”Definitely. The kind of trouble I could handle a lifetime of,” he said.

”Deal,” she said. She offered him her hand, her mouth quirked into a lopsided smile.

”I think we can do better than that,” he said.

And he proceeded to show her how much better.

Epilogue.

TAKING a deep breath, Claudia stared at the rustic door in front of her. She felt rather than saw Sadie and Grace join her on the stoop, and knowing they were there for her gave her the courage to knock.

The Safe Ground Residential Treatment Center was situated in Monte Nido in the Hidden Hills area of Calabasas, and the house before them was a rambling mountain home, the sort of house that had been added on to a dozen times over the years. Claudia knew that it accommodated forty patients, all of them alcohol or drug addicts. Her brothers had described the rooms inside to her-the big hall with a Ping-Pong table, old couches and shelves of books, the industrial-sized kitchen staffed by the residents, the rambling backyard full of outdoor seating for visitation day. They hadn't seen the dorms where their mother was sleeping, since those areas of the house were for residents only, but Claudia felt she had a good idea of what to expect from the center itself.

It was her mother she was unsure about.

The door opened, and a slight middle-aged woman gave them an inquisitive smile.

”I'm Claudia Dostis. I'm here to see Talia Dostis,” Claudia said.

”You're on our list. Please come in,” she said.

It took a few moments for them all to sign in and be taken through the rules. Finally, the woman led them through a series of cool, dim rooms until they reached a door to an outside porch. Stretching out behind the house was a broad expanse of lawn, already littered with other family groupings on visitation.

”Talia, someone to see you,” the woman called.

Behind her, Sadie and Grace placed a hand each on her shoulders, silently rea.s.suring her that they were there for her. Leandro had wanted to come, but Claudia didn't want him to meet her mother like this. For the first time in years, she'd allowed herself to believe that her mother might stand a chance at beating her demons, and she wanted Leandro to meet the woman Talia Dostis could have been, should have been.

And, somehow, it felt fitting that Sadie and Grace should be here with her. They'd been through so much together over the years. They were her conscience, her courage, her compa.s.sion.

A woman was walking toward them, her steps slow but determined. Claudia stared at the healthy glow of Talia's makeupless skin, noted the clarity of her dark brown eyes, and the fact that her mother no longer had bones poking angles in her skin.

”Claudia,” she said.