Kiss And Dwell (39 page)

“
Hey, I can
’
t let you in on all my secrets, and I was trying to impress you.
”

She giggled.
“
It worked.
”

“
But anyway,
”
he continued,
“
I started my own business, something Dad had always
wanted to do, and I traveled around the globe trying my luck at pretty much
every extreme sport known to man. However, once I jumped out of a plane, I was
hooked. Every Saturday found me skydiving. Six thousand jumps, and all of them
near-perfect.
”

“
What went wrong that day? I
’
m guessing it had something to do with your friend,
Mike?
”

“
It was his twenty-ninth birthday, and I told him I
’
d take him anywhere he
wanted to go for his birthday. He wanted to go skydiving. He
’
d been before, a
few times, but didn
’
t have nearly the number of jumps under his belt. That was
why I thought we should turn back when the rain started to fall.
”

“
But Mike didn
’
t want to turn back?
”

“
It was his birthday, and he wanted his present on the actual day,
”
Ryan said,
grinning.
“
He isn
’
t known for patience.
”

“
Isn
’
t?
”
she questioned.
“
Mike is still on this side?
”

Ryan nodded.
“
He
’
s married now and has a kid on the way. I
’
m happy for him,
really, I am.
”

“
What did Mike
’
s birthday jump have to do with your death?
”
She scooted up on
his body and propped her arms on his chest, like a child in school, waiting for

the teacher to give the answer to a question. Except Ryan was fairly certain she
wouldn
’
t like the way this story ended, even if she
’
d already read the last
page.

“
Mike jumped first,
”
he said.
“
Looking back, I realize that he
’
d never jumped in
the rain before. It
’
s a different sensation, and it tempts you to do things you
wouldn
’
t normally do. The impact of hitting the rain at a hundred and thirty
miles per hour tends to mess with your reasoning. I guess it messed with his.
”

“
What did he do?
”
she asked.

“
He waited too long before pulling his chute. If the chute had been packed
correctly, it wouldn
’
t have mattered that much, but it wasn
’
t. It came out
tangled and was completely useless.
”

“
But you said Mike lived.
”

“
He did. He remembered what to do and cut the chute free, then pulled his
reserve in time to make a safe landing, rain and all.
”
Ryan closed his eyes, saw
that tangled chute again, dark green and menacing, like a gnarled claw, reaching
through the sky.

“
What happened to you?
”

Ryan opened his eyes, saw her searching them for answers, concern etched on her
features.

“
What happened?
”
Monique repeated, while the rain beat against her bedroom
window, reminding him of that fatal rain, that fatal day.

“
His primary chute sailed away, into the sky, and into my chute. Mike was so
anxious to get it out of the way so he could use the reserve that he forgot to
check for other jumpers. Forgot to check for me.
”
Ryan grinned uneasily.
“
Hell,
all of those jumps before, over six thousand of them, but I didn
’
t stand a
chance when that loose chute caught hold of mine. The two tangled, and I
plummeted. Didn
’
t stand a chance.
”

“
Oh, Ryan. I
’
m so sorry.
”
Her lower lip trembled slightly, and she visibly
swallowed, her emotion palpable.

He chuckled, but the sound was cold even to his own ears.
“
Don
’
t be. I blacked
out way before I hit the ground and didn
’
t feel a thing. One minute I was in the
land of the living, the next I was in the middle.
”
He squeezed her against him,
“
Hey, if you
’
re weighing different ways to go, that one isn
’
t so bad.
”
He
touched his finger to her mouth, rubbed it across her lower lip.
“
And it wasn
’
t
a completely negative experience. The jump started out oddly exhilarating, more
than any other I
’
d ever experienced, because of the rain.
”

“
Because of the rain?
”
she asked, the gold flecks in her eyes glittering in the
subtle darkness.
“
How?
”

Smiling, Ryan rolled her on her side.
“
I
’
ll show you.
”
He trailed the back of
his fingers down the column of her throat, across the swell of her left breast,
then lower.

“
Have you ever felt the back side of a raindrop?
”

She shook her head.

“
Think about it. A raindrop is tear-shaped. The round fullness at the bottom is
what we usually feel, when it lands on our skin. But when we jumped that day, we
were behind the rain, hitting it full speed, so that the top of each drop, that
pointed tip at its peak, snapped against our skin. But there wasn
’
t just one
droplet, there were thousands. And we passed through the shower, while they
pinged against our exposed skin like tiny wet needles.
”
He leaned over her,
smiled.
“
I
’
ll show you.
”

* * *

Monique held her breath as Ryan nuzzled her throat, then pressed a warm, wet
kiss against the slope between her neck and her shoulder. Before his mouth moved
away from her skin, however, he bit her flesh, making her gasp, then he sucked
the tender spot and kissed it again.

“
The top side of a raindrop,
”
he murmured, while her insides fluttered.
“
When
they touch you, they touch you everywhere.
”
His mouth moved a fraction, toward
the center of her throat, and he kissed, bit, sucked and kissed again.
“
Lots of
tiny, wet pinpricks,
”
he continued, before moving lower, to the top of her
sternum, and repeating the process, while Monique melted at his touch.

“
Look at the window, Monique,
”
he said, before starting on her right breast
.

Kiss. Bite. Suck. Kiss.

She inhaled deeply, held it while he edged his way toward her nipple.
“
Oh,
Ryan.
”

His lips curved into a smile against her breast, and he looked up at her, his
black eyes glittering with desire.
“
Monique.
”

“
Yes?
”

“
Look at the window.
”

She turned her head and focused on the elongated glass, the way the moonlight
shimmered through the curtain of rain, the shadow of the magnolia branches
forming a leafy dome above the driveway in the distance. Then Ryan moved to the
other breast and kissed, bit and sucked the burning point, and she lost all
interest. Monique closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his mouth massaging
her nipple, his teeth grazing the tenderness, his kiss making her stomach quiver
and her uterus clench in anticipation.

“
Monique.
”
His mouth moved over her sensitive breast as he spoke.

“
Mmmm
?
”

“
Look at the window.
”

“
Oh. Right,
”
she said, like a kid whose attention had wandered during her
teacher
’
s lesson, and oh, what a lesson this was.

He chuckled softly.
“
Watch the way the rain hits the glass and imagine it, feel
it, touching every inch of your skin. Like this.
”
Another kiss, then a
pinch-like bite on the outer swell of her breast combined with the vision of the
rain, pinging against the window, before running down its length.

With the Mississippi River on the other side of the levee, a natural breeze
almost always sent the rain toward the house at a slant. Now was no exception
.

It collided with the glass in little pinpoints, the way Ryan
’
s mouth collided
with her skin, an almost painful sensation. With the quick, sharp bites to her
flesh followed by a blissful sucking, then a final kiss, before he repeated the
process again and again.

As the rain continued to pelt the window, Ryan continued to pelt her skin. He
made his way to her stomach now, yet while his mouth concentrated on her
abdomen, his hands pushed against her thighs, opening them wide and preparing
her for what she knew would come.

The storm picked up, rain fell faster against the window, yet Ryan was unhurried
in his pursuit of his goal, moving in an excruciatingly slow but direct path
toward the very part of her that could feel each bite, each suck, each kiss. She
wanted to feel that there.

She wanted to feel Ryan there.

He was so close, directly above her aching center, and covering her with small,
quick, sharp bites, while the wind whistled outside the window and the rain came
in even harder. Each droplet hitting the window intensified the sensation of his
mouth against her flesh.

Monique couldn
’
t take any more.

“
Ryan, please. Don
’
t wait.
”

He didn
’
t. He moved directly to her clitoris and bit it while she writhed, then
he sucked and kissed the tenderness, while Monique closed her eyes and saw
stars. She fisted her hands in his hair through her climax, then pushed him away
from her center and gazed into his deep, dark eyes.

“
The tip of a raindrop,
”
he said, then added huskily,
“
The last thing I felt
before I died.
”

And with that thought, that he
’
d experienced something so unique, so
exhilarating, and then lost everything, Monique knew what she wanted to give him
now.

“
Let it be me this time. I want the last thing you feel before you cross to be
me.
”

Wordlessly, she moved away from him and guided him to her previous position,
lying on his back, his head resting on the pillow. Then she leaned over him and
kissed his forehead, the bridge of his nose, his mouth. Ryan moaned as she moved
to his neck, nuzzling it the way he
’
d nuzzled hers.

“
You
’
re beautiful,
”
she whispered against his skin and remembered when she
’
d
called him that before, the way he
’
d laughed, and she smiled.

Easing her way down his muscled chest, she did her best to make sure no part of
him remained untouched by her kiss. If the last thing he
’
d felt before death was
the stinging rain, the last thing he
’
d feel before crossing would be her adoring
kisses.

And she did adore him, truly.

Moving between his legs, she paused to look at him, his arousal so hard, so
ready for her touch. She kissed him there, at the tip, then placed soft kisses
around the swollen ridge, then down the entire length. Soft, wet kisses while
his entire body tensed beneath her touch. Then she opened her mouth and took him
inside. Ryan
’
s low growl filled the night. She drew him in deep, eased him out
slowly, drew him in deeper, eased him out even slower.

His hands fisted in her hair.
“
On top of me,
”
he directed.
“
Now, Monique.
”

She gave his manhood another kiss, then did as he asked, moving above him until
she was pressed against the end of his erection, then she guided him inside. She
kept things slow and deliciously rhythmic, easing over him. His eyes,
heavy-lidded and intensely aroused, drank her in, and Monique made certain she
gave him a vision to remember.