Winter Interlude (62 page)

He
tossed her jeans aside and
concentrated on her sweater
.
His lips were warm and wonderfully enticing as
they
moved
over her
body in
slow motion,
kissing and
baring her skin
all the
way to her neck before
he lifted
the garment off her shoulders
.
S
he
closed her eyes
trying to hold on
to the sensations cascading over her
.

When he touched her chin and waited, she finally peered at him with eyes at half-mast
.
His gaze scorched her with its intensity, saying more than words ever could that
she was
essential to his existence
.
Her feelings were reflected in her face; how
she wanted him inside her
.
Wanted more of his kisses
.
Wanted him for a lifetime
.

After
he
slipped off
her
bra
,
baring her to him,
s
he
reached for him
.
He
jumped off the bed and said with a boyish grin, “
Patience
.”
Still, h
e
rushed
,
shedding
his clothes
in seconds
and was
soon
lying
close to her
.

H
aving him right where she wanted him, she wrapped her arms around him
.
He smiled lovingly and
lower
ed
his
head
, but not before
teasing
, “Okay
—
where were we
.”
H
is smile turned
devilish
.
“Oh yeah
!
I remember,” he murmured into her mouth.

Heat and need slammed into her
.
Nothing in her life prepared her for the emotion filling her as
Paul entered
her
.
Kate
knew she’d
never
be the same again
.
S
he’d
belong to him forever
.

~

L
ater
,
Paul
kissed the top of
Kate
’s
forehead
and
adjusted
so that she
could
lay with her head in the crook of his shoulder
.
Holding her close and basking in the aftermath of their lovemaking, he
stroked
her arm
with his free hand.

“I’m sorry I left without fully understanding your motives
for going ahead with your date,” he finally said, disturbing the peaceful silence
.
“
But
I
’
d like to know why
you felt you had to do it
.
”

“
Does it really matter?
”

“
I think so…so h
umor me.”

“I
’m not completely sure
why it seemed important
.”
For several seconds
Kate
drew figure eights
on
his chest
.
Then
,
she sighed
.
“
It seems kind of silly now.”

“Feelings are never silly
.”
He stilled her hand
.
“
We have some really strong ones between the two of us
and we need to be able to deal with them.”

“
Don’t I know
it
!
E
very time I’m around you, I’m overwhelmed
.
What I felt scared me and my best
guess
is that
I needed the date with Mike
to
shield
myself from feeling too much or getting hurt
.”
She
rose up on an elbow to
look closer
into his
eyes
.
“Then
,
there is the fact that you can
be
somewhat
bossy
a
nd I’ve never
like
d
anyone telling me
what to do.”

He smiled at that
.
“
Kate
, have you ever thought that I have to be
firm
to deal with you
r personality, one that tests
me at every turn
?
”

“
I
don’t
test you
.”

“Yes
, subconsciously
you do
.
You have a strong
will
that
I find exhilarating
and
challeng
ing.
But
i
f I let you, you’d walk all over me
.
”

She thought about his comment. “Okay. I’ll
admit it
. I can be a
little
tenacious at times.”

“Just a bit,” Paul agreed. “
But
,
I
also
realize it goes both ways
.
I’ll try and remember that
.”
He remained
silent for
a lengthy moment before picking up her hand
.
He kissed it
.
“Let’s promise that when either of us
hurts
the other
,
we’ll talk it
over
instead of lashing out and
creating more hurt
.”

“I never wanted to hu
rt you
.”
Tears welled up in her brown
eyes
, making them
appear
larger and more beautiful
.
His heart did a s
o
mersault
.

He put a finger to her lips
.
“It’s ancient history
.
Let’s worry about the future.”

Nodding, s
he flashed
him
a warm smile
.
“
I promise to talk to you and tell you how I feel, if you’ll do the same
.”

He
weaved his fingers with hers and
bestowed another kiss on her hand
.
“
It’s a deal
.”

S
he hesitated,
her smile wobbl
ing
a little
.
“What about Judith
?
I know you’ve both said you are just friends, but I worry about her reaction
when she finds out
.”

“
Don’t worry
.
I’ll break the news to her
as gently as I can
.”
Paul
sighed
.
“And
if there is a reaction, I’ll deal with it.”

“
We’ll deal with it together,” she said,
squeezing his hand
.
“
You’ve been hers for so long
.
I
can’t help
feeling
like I’ve taken something that belong
s
to her.”

“
Then, I’ll be doubly careful
.”
H
e
exhaled a long sigh
.
“
But after seeing the two of us together, she’ll probably figure it out on her own
.
James sure picked up on
it
quickly enough
.
”

“Yeah, he did,”
Kate
agreed
.
“
And he stuck his nose
where it
didn’t
belong.”

Paul laughed
.
“Well, I for one am glad he
did
.
I owe him big
-
time.”