Finding Home (33 page)

“Now that’s just creepy.” Megan grinned.

He squeezed her hand, then let go, but after a few silent moments he asked, “So how soon can we go out?”

The first night back in her apartment, Megan slept heavily, drained by the emotional intensity of the day. Work the next day was weird. She was still numbed by the shock of her mom’s abrupt death, and it hit her again and again throughout the day. Rossi made it clear she wouldn’t be expected to do much that week, and was welcome to knock off early if she wanted to, but Megan tried to find solace in work. After all, it had kept her sane during the months after Sean left.

That evening, when she came home, she cried. It was so unfair that the moment Sean reappeared, this should happen. What fucked up karma decreed if one thing in her life was going well, another collapsed? Her career had only really taken off when Sean left, and now he was back, it was her mom she’d had to sacrifice. All the words of comfort she’d heard over the past few days made no difference. Even her dad’s assurance he knew this wasn’t the end meant nothing. She just hurt.

The one bright point in her week was her prospective date with Sean. They’d settled on Thursday. Sean was to meet her near work for a lunch date. The brief time Megan had allotted and the public venue would ensure they’d behave and not spend the time groping each other. It was going to be a real test.

By Wednesday evening, she wondered why on earth they’d decided to take it so slow. Her rational side knew she shouldn’t launch herself headfirst into a relationship, but damn, she missed him! His body, the feel of his lips on hers, his touch… just the thought of him sent her into lust-filled daydreams.

Megan dragged her mind back to the article she was writing about the closing of another L.A. trauma center. Her interviews with protestors were going to be part of a longer piece about the issue of shrinking emergency provision in the city. Megan noticed the light in the living room fading abruptly and raised her head to look out the window. The sky had gone dark and fat drops of rains were falling. Within minutes, it turned into a rare event in Southern California, a tropical downpour. Megan spared a thought for pissed-off pedestrians and unwary convertible drivers.

Ten minutes later, as the rain eased, her doorbell rang. Perhaps Sasha was back in town and had decided to drop in and seek shelter from the storm.

When Megan looked through the peephole, her heart leaped. Sean stood in her hallway.

She ran her hands through her hair, fluffing it up and hoping she wasn’t just creating a tangled mess, then unlocked the door and opened it. “Hey. What are you doing here?”

He’d been standing in profile, gazing down the hall, and turned when she opened the door. He was soaked. Rain dripped from the hair plastered to his head, darkening the gold to brown. His face shone wetly and his eyelashes were clumped into spikes that shed tiny droplets when he blinked. “Hi.”

“Come in.” Megan stepped aside to let him into the apartment. His T-shirt was molded to every muscle of his torso and the soggy denim of his jeans made a chuffing noise as he walked past her. “Did you walk here?”

“From the bus stop.”

“Let me get you a towel.” She turned, but he caught her wrist in his cool, damp hand.

“I know I should have called first, and I know we said we’d take things slow, but I couldn’t wait ‘til tomorrow.” Sean pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Beneath the cold clamminess of his shirt, his skin burned hot. Her hands pressed against the solid muscle of his chest, behind which his heart hammered. His hungry kiss assaulted her mouth. He half-lifted Megan off her feet and pressed her up against the wall of the foyer.

Her hands slipped from his chest, to his shoulders then around his neck. They threaded through his cold, wet hair, grabbing fistfuls so she could press his mouth even tighter to hers.

His lips pressed against hers and his tongue explored her mouth, flicking lightly across her palate and tangling with her tongue. The kiss went on and on. When he finally pulled back, they were both gasping for air.

Sean looked at her through half-lidded eyes, so sultry Megan’s crotch tightened then released in response. Her shirt was wet through from contact with his soaking clothes. A shiver passed through her, a combination of chill from the cool air against her damp skin and pure, naked lust.

“I couldn’t wait any more.” His voice was rough as sandpaper. He leaned slowly back in for another kiss, giving her plenty of time to refuse if she desired.

But Megan fisted her hands in his hair and pulled him to her again. “Good, ‘cause neither could I,” she murmured.

His mouth was warm, soft and giving at first as it moved against hers, but soon grew more urgent, feeding at her lips and sucking her tongue greedily.

Megan kissed back just as hungrily, her hands moving from his hair to clutch the back of his shirt and twist the sodden material in a tight grip.

He pulled away once more, resting his forehead against hers, his eyes closed and his breath panting between parted lips. “Sorry. I know we shouldn’t be doing this. I know we were supposed to be friends for a while first, but God, I’ve missed you so much. I think about you all the time.”

“It’s okay. I don’t care about waiting or being cautious anymore. I just want you.” She stroked the side of his face with one hand. It was rough with stubble, wet and warm under her palm.

Sean’s eyes flickered open and he looked deep into hers from so close she could see the gradations of color in his irises and the expansion and contraction of his pupils. “I love you,” he said hoarsely.

Megan’s insides liquefied at the words she’d never expected to hear from him. Her breath caught and she felt lightheaded and disconnected from reality for a moment.

“Love you, too.” A high, squeaky voice that couldn’t possibly be hers answered him. Tears prickled her eyes and she blinked fiercely. “Damn it!”

He grinned at her loss of control and lifted her up again in a hard embrace. Megan pressed her face into his neck and smelled his rain-soaked skin. She straddled his hips with her legs, locking her ankles around his waist. He supported her ass and carried her through the apartment to her bedroom.

Laying her gently on the bed, he straightened, peeled off his wet T-shirt and unfastened his dark blue jeans. Because they were so soaked and stiff, he struggled to push them down over his hips.

Megan laughed when he lost his balance and almost fell over.

After kicking off his shoes and stripping the jeans the rest of the way off, he pounced on her. “You think that’s funny?” He tickled her mercilessly

She shrieked and laughed until tears ran from her eyes. “Stop! I give!” As her laughter subsided, she eagerly scanned him. “God, just let me look at you. It’s been so long.”

Sean crouched over her, unbuttoning the front of her shirt with a frown of concentration. As each button parted, he caressed the exposed skin behind it with his calloused fingertips, sending shivers of delight up Megan’s body.

She stretched, exposing more skin to his touch, until her shirt was open and his hands caressed her breasts through her bra.

“Seriously,” she said. “I want to look at you.”

Sean let go of her and sat back. He towered over her, knees on either side of her hips, wearing only a damp pair of boxer briefs. They molded to his body, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. Megan’s gaze glided from the bulge in his underwear upwards, along his flat stomach with its tightly defined abs. A faint trail of hair led toward his chest. She examined the hard planes of his chest, his peaked nipples, the sharp lines of his collarbones and his broad, muscled shoulders. The curve of his neck led to his face.

Sean looked down at her, lips slightly parted, his wet hair messy on his forehead, his blue eyes caught between arousal and amusement. As their eyes locked, he ran his tongue across his lips.

Megan sighed. “Jesus, Sean,” she breathed. “You’re beautiful.”

She was gratified to see blood rise to his cheeks for a change. He could parade naked in front of her without the faintest trace of embarrassment. Yet a simple compliment made him blush.

“I’m…no. You’re beautiful, Megan,” Sean whispered. He leaned forward and slipped her shirt down her arms. Megan lifted her shoulders to help. He slid a hand behind her back and undid her bra then removed it and trailed his fingers along her torso, sending shivers down her body. He didn’t stop to caress her, but zeroed in on her jeans, unbuttoning them, undoing the zipper and pulling them off her with her panties. When she was entirely naked, he gazed at her body.

Megan lay immobile and completely exposed. The naked desire in his eyes fed her arousal in turn. Her heart beat in her throat as his gaze roamed hungrily over her body, his look so intense it made her skin burn. It was unbelievably erotic, like foreplay without touching.

But she wanted him completely naked, too, and she reached toward him. Running her nails lightly up the sides of his thighs, his muscles twitching under her touch, she hooked her fingers in the waistband of his boxers and tugged them down, peeling the fabric away from his skin, until his erection was revealed.

Sean pulled off his underwear and lay down, facing her.

Megan exerted all her willpower to stop herself from grabbing him, and focused on using just her eyes for now.

They stayed that way for several minutes, drinking in the sight of each other like parched earth soaking in the rain after a drought. Megan thought she’d never tire of his body, with its hard angles and planes of solid muscle, its soft nuzzling spots, the hollow of his neck, his full mouth, the crook of his arm, and its irresistible sex appeal.

Sean was the first to crack, his hand reaching to touch her cheek, grazing her mouth with the tips of his fingers. Megan’s lips parted under his touch. His fingers slipped in, stroking her lower lip, a caress so delicate and incredibly arousing it melted her.

His voice was husky. “You don’t know how much I’ve thought of this.”

Megan nodded, her tongue darting out to touch each of his fingers in turn. She did know, she knew exactly how much he’d been thinking of it. She could tell by looking at his eyes, gradually losing focus as desire took over, because she mirrored his arousal in her own. This barely-touching game, with the intense sensation concentrated on the tips of his fingers and her mouth, drove her crazy.

She had to make a move. Hesitant at first, she placed her palm flat against his chest, feeling his heart beating under the skin. She stroked him, her hand gradually descending down his abdomen, tracing the hard muscles of his stomach, until her fingers tangled in his light brown curls.

Sean’s entire body was taut and shivering with anticipation. He caught his breath with a whimper as she slid a hand over his cock. His eyes stared into hers, but he wasn’t really seeing her, overwhelmed by her touch. When she wrapped her hand around him he groaned in pleasure, pushing into her fist.

Megan slid her hand up and down his shaft. God, she’d missed the feel of him. She tried to keep to the slow rhythm they’d adopted, but her resolve faltered.

Sean slipped his fingers from her mouth and leaned in to kiss her, a deep sensual kiss which turned into a hungry mashing of lips and tongues. Suddenly everything sped up, acquiring an urgency which had, until now, been contained under the surface. Sean’s hand wandered to her crotch, slipping inside her damp cleft.

Megan’s whole body arched in response, her clit eager for his touch. When he circled the erect nub with his fingers simultaneously entering her, she cried out. She’d waited so long for this, for him.

It was as if the past six months had been erased, and the world was once again focused on the two of them, on their bodies coming together, each so attuned to the other they knew exactly what to do, when and how.

They kissed and stroked each other until Megan came, riding his fingers, gasping out his name, on a wave of intense pleasure. She was still throbbing, coming down off it, when Sean gave her a meaningful stare then sheathed himself in a condom.

She lay back, legs spread for him, waiting, welcoming, expecting, and when he thrust into her, she grabbed his ass and pulled him deeper, as if she’d never let him escape again.

They rocked, hip to hip, slowly, deeply, the contact between them intense, their bodies fused together.

As the heat and friction increased slowly, so did the steady rocking, until Sean plunged deeply into her, eliciting a moan from Megan. She peaked again, pleasure radiating throughout her, the tingle spreading to her fingers and toes. She breathlessly muttered obscenities as Sean pounded into her, his grunts adding to her excitement. By the time the climax tore through her, she was moaning continuously, oblivious to her surroundings, her mind entirely focused on her pleasure.

Sean stiffened and came on the heels of her orgasm, biting her neck as he found his release, then he collapsed against her breast, panting.

She stroked the back of his neck, felt the softly curling hair at the nape tickle her hand. His hot breaths blew over her skin and his fingers kneaded lightly at her upper arms, clenching and unclenching with the dying waves of his orgasm. It all felt so familiar, so perfectly—right.

Remembering the barren months without Sean, Megan felt she’d aged several years during that time and even more since this past weekend. It was as if the elusive maturity she’d been chasing had finally come to her, attracted by pain, loss and loneliness. She’d always known one of the reasons Sean was so adult for his age was the amount of heartache and trauma he’d dealt with from an early age, but now she understood it a lot better.

Even though Megan had recovered and found herself again on the other side of the pain, her life without Sean had been a pale, poor thing compared to this. God, she never, ever wanted to be without him again.

“Well…” She drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “This kind of pre-empts our official ‘first date’, doesn’t it?”

She felt his smile against her skin. “Yeah, I guess.” He turned his head and kissed the top of her breast. “So, are we still on for lunch tomorrow?”