Authors: Barbara Delinsky
"Spence?" she whispered breathlessly.
He unhooked her bra and reached for her hands. "If I don't feel you, I'll die. " Pulling her hands down, he drew the dress and bra from her breasts.
"Here?" she cried, then cried again when he took her warm flesh in his palms.
"Oh, yeah, here. " He felt her swell and wished he could see her. Since he couldn't, he lowered his head.
"Someone could walk in—" She caught her breath sharply when he opened his mouth on her breast. She said his name again, pleadingly this time, and while he was waiting for her to push him away, she surprised him by fastening her fingers in his hair.
He drew her into his mouth, nipped her softly with his teeth, used his tongue to make her wet. His thumb rolled over that wetness while he moved to the other breast, and when it was as wet, he left both hands on her and rose to her mouth. For the first time, her kiss was as open, as deep, as hungry as his was.
Needing her more badly than he'd have imagined possible, he dragged his mouth away. "Help me, " he whispered, and pulled up her dress.
"Are you sure we can do this?" she whispered back, but her hands helped his.
"The only thing I'm sure of, " he said as he opened his pants, "is that we can't
not
do it. "
She clutched his bare hips. "What if someone comes along?"
"I'll take that risk. " He splayed his hands over her bottom and lifted her onto the table. When he felt her legs circle him, he captured her mouth and thrust into her.
He would never get over how tight she was, or how delicate, or how sweet smelling, or how right. She was made for him. Their fit was ideal. Again and again, he buried himself in her, only to withdraw for the sake of stroking the warm, wet walls that hugged him. He was thinking that nothing could be better when she started to come apart in his arms. Her first small cry sent him into a shattering orgasm.
Afterward, she was the first to speak. "My God, I don't believe this. " There was, indeed, disbelief in her voice, but delight as well.
He was still breathing heavily. "The room?"
"Room, table, building—" She paused and in a smaller voice said, "That was the first time I've ever climaxed during intercourse. "
He suspected she wouldn't have confessed in the light, and he knew the feeling. In a voice that wasn't so much small as humble and the tiniest bit awed, he said, "Do you know how rare it is for two people to come at the same time?"
She drew her head away from his shoulder. "Is it?"
"Yes. It's only happened to me once before in my life. "
"I don't believe you. "
"So help me God, it's true. "
"But you're so
experienced. "
"Yeah, well, not in the kind of thing we just shared. " And that included the one other time he had climaxed at the same time as his lover. That time had been purely accidental. This time there had been deep emotions involved.
He stroked her legs all the way around to her ankles, then reluctantly eased them from his hips. "I guess we blew the missionary position, huh?"
"Guess so, " she murmured. He could tell by the small, slithering sounds that she was putting on her bra.
"Are you gonna hate me in the morning for this?"
"Of course not. "
He pulled up his pants. "Do we get to do it again tonight?"
"I don't know. We shouldn't. "
"Because I won't be at full potency? Somehow I don't think that's an issue here, and it's got nothing to do with ego. " He zipped up. "You have a powerful effect on me, Jenna. "
The sounds that had been telling him she was putting her dress back in place suddenly stopped. Hesitantly she asked, "Is that really true?"
"Can't you tell?"
"Words are words. A person can say what he or she thinks the other wants to hear. It's done a lot. "
Annoyed that her earlier experience with men had been so deflating, he snapped, "Not by me. " He gentled his tone. "And besides, it isn't only the words. It's the action that goes with them. Do you think I could make love to you the way I do if my attraction to you wasn't potent? And with nearly no foreplay!"
Jenna was quiet.
"Well?" he prodded.
"Okay. "
"Okay, we can do it again tonight?"
"Okay, you're attracted to me. "
He sighed. "Such enthusiasm. "
She went back to dressing. "I'm pleased. "
"Such
enthusiasm. "
It was her turn to sigh. "Enthusiasm can be a dangerous thing. We're leaving tomorrow. "
"We don't have to, " he said because it seemed like the time. "I'm pretty free right about now. "
"I'm not. I have McCue's. "
"And you're the boss. " He ran his hands up her arms to her shoulders. "You're not punching a time clock. " He reached behind to raise her zipper. "You can take another day off if you want" He barely had to move to put his mouth to her temple. "Do it, angel. Spend another day with me. "
"Oh, Spencer, " she whispered, and slipped her arms around his waist.
Once upon a time, Spencer would have heard that whisper and felt those arms, and turned and run in the opposite direction as fast and as far as he could. No woman had ever tied him down. He had never allowed or wanted one to. And he wasn't sure he did now. All he knew was that the sound of his name, whispered so sweetly by Jenna, made his heart swell, while the feel of her arms warmed something he hadn't realized was cold, until now.
What he felt was confusing. He and Jenna didn't have a future. Not in the long run. He had his travels; she had McCue's. And then there was the matter of the baby. She was vehement in her determination to raise it alone, and that was fine, because he didn't want to change diapers.
But, damn it, he liked being with Jenna.
"Stay, " he whispered. "Just for the fun of it. One more day. I'll be a good boy and get on top, and I'll make sure you don't move for an hour afterward. I'll even do it in that bed again, though it goes against my better judgment to make love in the same place twice. "
She growled in frustration. "Ugh, Spencer, you're impossible. "
"But irresistible. Will you stay?"
"I'll stay. "
"Until Wednesday morning?"
"Until Wednesday morning, but I
have
to leave then, and I mean it, Spencer. I have a board meeting on Thursday morning. I'm the chairman. I can't miss it"
"You won't. " He tipped up her chin and planted a smacking kiss on her mouth. "Thank you, Jenna. You won't regret this. "
Jenna didn't, though if Spencer had told her what he'd intended, she might have had second thoughts.
He didn't make love to her on Monday night, which threw her off balance partly because she wanted him to. Rather, he came up with tickets to see the Kirov Ballet at Wolf Trap Farm, and hired a limousine to take them there. It occurred to her that he might try something risque in the long back seat on the way home, but he didn't, and once in the hotel room, he settled her comfortably against him to watch a late movie that he swore was classic horror. Never a horror fan, she fell asleep as soon as she realized that he fully intended to watch.
She woke up in his arms on Tuesday morning. He shifted her against him. He stroked her back and kissed her softly. She knew he was aroused, could feel it in his body, yet he made no move to make love. Instead, in a lazy voice, he told her about his place in the Keys and what it was like to wake up to the sun spilling across the ocean.
"I know what it's like, " she told him. "I see it, too. "
"But you're up north where it's cold. In my neck of the woods, you can walk stark naked on the deck just about year-round. "
"God help the neighbors. "
"No neighbors close enough to care. Kind of like your patio. Only warmer. "
That said, he climbed out of bed. He was naked— he always slept naked—and though she saw only his back as he went into the bathroom, that was enough. His hips were narrow, his buttocks tight. Both made his shoulders look all the broader. His back and legs were tanned a dark bronze. His walk was smooth and fluid.
Jenna had seen many a male model in her line of work, and while some had been younger and more handsome, none could hold a candle to Spencer for sheer virility.
When he emerged from the bathroom moments later, he was wearing a robe, but she couldn't forget what he looked like without it. The image haunted her, stirring her blood each time she gave in to it, which was often. She didn't have anything—like work—to divert her mind. And Spencer was there, never farther from her than a yell.
They had breakfast in the room. While he showered, she called her secretary to say that she wouldn't be back until the next day. Then she took her turn in the shower. When she was done, they set out for Georgetown.
Had it not been for the ache inside her, the day would have been as carefree as the others had been. But alongside that image of a naked Spencer was one of his small plane heading south in the morning. If she was pregnant, there wouldn't be any excuse for their meeting again. He might be attracted to her, but he didn't want anything to do with a baby, and she still wanted the baby—now more than ever. While Spencer chased after his adventures, she would have his baby to love.
But he wasn't gone yet. She was reminded of that time and time again—when he caught her hand in his, when he grinned at her, when he turned his blue eyes on her in a way that promised good things to come. He seemed oblivious to the women who looked at him, who were drawn either by those eyes or his height or his scar. He made Jenna feel as though she were the only one worthy of notice. No man had ever made her feel that way, which was why, by the time they'd had dinner that night and lingered over a third cup of coffee, Jenna was ready to follow him to the ends of the earth. When he asked if she wanted to go back to the room, she didn't trust herself to do anything but nod.
The hotel was quiet. They took the elevator to their floor and walked down the hall. Spencer unlocked the door and followed her in. Then, coming up behind, he wrapped her in his arms.
"Jenna?"
She closed her eyes and leaned back against him. "Yes?"
"I want you. "
That much was becoming clearer by the minute, to her infinite relief. "You could have had me last night"
"I know. But I wanted to wait. I wanted you to feel the wanting, too. "
Softly, clasping his wrist, she said, "I do. "
"Will you do something for me, then?"
"That depends what it is. "
"I want you to leave the nightgown in the bathroom. I won't put the light on, if that'll make it easier, but I want to feel all of you against me. "
Two days earlier, Jenna might have balked, but two days earlier she hadn't known this awful wanting. Shyness was just fine, until it interfered with satisfaction, and satisfaction was what she needed from Spencer. He was her lover, yes,
her lover.
She couldn't deny it any longer. He wanted her naked against him. She wanted it, too.
"Okay, " she said softly, and heard him drag in a rough breath.
"You will?"
"Yes. "
Turning her in his arms, he kissed her with a tenderness that might have brought tears to her eyes if she hadn't been burning inside, burning inside already. That was what he did to her.
She was hanging on to the lapels of his shirt when he released her mouth. "Will you undress, too?" she whispered.
"I always do. "
"But when I do? At the same time?"
"If you want. "
"I do. "
He gave her another, even softer kiss, then began to unbutton his shirt. She stepped out of her flats and unfastened her belt. When it was discarded, she unzipped her walking shorts and slipped them off. Spencer was unfastening his pants, but his eyes were on her, and though the room was dark, she imagined those blue eyes saw everything. Once she would have found that daunting, and she still half expected a wave of modesty to hit, but it didn't. The night was a veil of emotion, telling her that what she was doing was right. So she drew her shirt over her head and dropped it, then did the same with her bra and panties. When she looked at Spencer, he was standing in the shadows, as straight and naked as she.
"Come here, " he said quietly.
Her feet made no noise on the carpet. Heart pounding, she stood before him, half wishing she could see more of him, half grateful she couldn't. When he still didn't move, she touched his chest. "Spence?"
His voice was low when he said, "That's what I want. Touch me more, angel. Your hand feels like heaven. "
For a minute, she didn't do anything. She had never been much of an activist where sex was concerned. But touching Spencer seemed as natural now as holding his hand had been earlier. It was satisfying in ways she hadn't expected. And stimulating.
Her hand trembled over his chest. She shaped her palm to his shoulder, and when the fit felt incredibly good, let the other palm do the same. His skin was smooth there. Seeking more texture, she dragged her hands down his hair-roughened chest, touching nipples that were tiny and tight. His breathing grew more ragged, but that goaded her on. Lightly her fingertips followed the wedge of dark hair that tapered into a thin line down his middle. She flattened her palms on his waist and slid them down his flanks, then to the front of his thighs.
He whispered her name in a sound of sheer pain. Her hands froze; her eyes flew to his. While she tried to read his feelings, he made another, more strangled sound. "Don't stop, angel. Don't stop now. Keep going. I need you to touch me there, too. "
Jenna would have laughed in relief if she hadn't been so curious. She touched him where he had asked. He was stretched into silk—she was amazed at how sleek, and how hard, how erect. She explored him with one hand, then with both until his groan reminded her that the rest of him was still waiting. Slipping her arms around him, she came against him naked for the very first time.
That full-body touch was his undoing. Whatever restraint he'd had was suddenly gone. He kissed her and touched her like a man who couldn't get enough of either. He brought her to one climax before, then another when he was inside her, and after he had come himself, he stayed with her only until he had recovered his breath. Then, albeit careful to keep her on her back, he started all over again. This time, he kissed her everywhere. His mouth learned her body by inches, silencing the few protests she made without a word. Jenna was so stunned that anything could feel so good for so long, that she soon ceased protesting anything. She trusted that Spencer knew what he was doing, and put herself into his care.