When he returned from his journey to visit her mouth, she interrupted the kiss. “I didn’t mean…me. This is…supposed to be…about you.”
His smile was pure sin. “It is about me. I’m worshipping your body.”
“But you need—”
“I’m getting exactly what I need.” And he kissed his way back to her breasts to worship them some more.
He did a fabulous job, too. Too fabulous, actually. He was pushing her to the brink, and she craved all he had to give. But there was an important item she hadn’t factored into the equation. “Do you have condoms?”
He lifted his head, gazing up at her through his lashes. “Yes.”
Thank goodness. “Are you planning to use one of those condoms anytime soon?”
Evidently he found that funny, because he was laughing as he reached into the bedside table drawer. “I’d be delighted to.” He kissed her forehead, her nose and her mouth before leaning back so he could suit up. “But just so you know, that’ll be game over.” He moved between her thighs. “I’ve delayed on purpose.” He probed her entrance.
Her breath caught. “I suspected.”
“Now that you’re here, I don’t want this to be over.” He slid only the tip of his cock inside.
She closed her eyes, savoring the sensations he was creating. “Me, either.”
“I want to remember every moment of this night.” He eased in a little deeper.
“So do I.”
“Good.” He took a deep breath. “Remember this.” And he plunged deep.
She gasped and clutched his hips, holding him there.
He put his lips close to her ear. “Perfect.”
Her response drifted on a sigh of pleasure. “Yes.”
Drawing back, he shoved home again. “Simple.”
“Uh-huh.” Tiny fires ignited along the path of exquisite friction he created.
“Elegant.” His warm breath bathed her sensitive ear canal as he stroked again, and again, creating a tantalizing rhythm that tightened the inner coil poised to give her a climax.
“Powerful.” He moved faster, drove deeper. Tucking his big hands under her hips, he lifted her higher, changing the angle, intensifying the pleasure of each thrust.
Her climax arrived, blasting through her like a freight train, tearing cries of joyful release from her throat until she was hoarse and gasping for air.
“Yes!” His bellow of triumph followed soon after as he pushed home and pulsed within her, his big body shuddering, his ragged breathing drowning out her cries.
Slick with sweat, she clung to him as her world spun and gradually slowed. Eyes closed, she worked to steady her breathing.
He nestled his cheek against her shoulder. “So great.”
“I know.” Better than her wildest dreams, and she’d had some whoppers.
To her amazement, he roused himself long enough to dispose of the condom, whereas she was so blissed out she could barely move.
Then he came back to bed and gathered her close. “Don’t let me fall asleep.”
Making love to Wes and enjoying the most amazing orgasm of her life must have altered her brain chemistry because she considered that a reasonable request. “Sure. Okay.”
“Thanks.” He gave her a sweet kiss and settled back with a sigh.
She closed her eyes, savoring the warmth of his body cradling hers.
* * *
The room was still dark when she woke. After a moment of confusion, she oriented herself—Wes’s apartment, Wes’s bed, Wes, stretched out beside her with his arm around her waist. She’d agreed not to let him fall asleep. That had certainly worked out well.
No telling how many hours had passed, but she’d better find out. Sliding out of bed without disturbing Wes was easy. Quite likely he wouldn’t wake up unless the ENHS marching band came through playing Stars and Stripes Forever.
She gathered her clothes and took them into the kitchen where the light was still on. Wes’s phone sat on the counter and she checked the time. Three on the dot. Her internal alarm had worked perfectly.
The six-pack of beer sat warming on his kitchen table. He’d had only a few sips of the one he’d opened, but it would be flat by now. After throwing on her clothes, she poured out the beer and put the bottle in his recycling bin. Then she stuck the pot of chili and the cornbread in the fridge, along with the rest of the beer.
No telling how long Wes would sleep. Or whether he had appointments this morning. As conscientious as he was, he’d probably set an alert on his phone if he did have to be somewhere.
Picking up the phone, she walked back to his bedroom and laid it on his nightstand. He didn’t stir.
Back in the kitchen she located a scrap of paper and a pen.
Dear Wes,
It’s three o’clock and I’m heading back to my place. I’ve put the chili, the beer and the cornbread in your fridge. When you surface, if you have time, text me. I had a wonderful time.
Ingrid
A wonderful time, indeed. As a bonus, she’d helped pull him out of the psychically draining place he’d fallen into. He was a talented practitioner with empathy for the struggles of his clients and patients.
He might consider that a flaw, but she wouldn’t change a thing. Over time he’d learn how to handle the resulting stress. Considering his amazing family and his own natural resilience, he’d be fine.
After turning off the light in the kitchen, she left his apartment and walked back to her own. She didn’t want to leave him. They’d made love but they hadn’t talked afterward. The experience felt warm, cozy and…incomplete.
If his work schedule continued to be crazy, they might not have a chance to be together again any time soon. Unless he created an opportunity. After what they’d shared, he just might.
Funny how the hallway changed dimensions depended on how she was feeling about Wes. When she’d been afraid that their relationship was becoming too intimate, the hallway had seemed dangerously short. But after tonight, when she’d been as close to him as she’d ever been to another human being, the hallway seemed to stretch for miles.
Chapter Sixteen
Wes woke to the sound of his phone alarm and rolled over to silence it. Only it wasn’t on the nightstand where he always put it. It was on the other nightstand. Still groggy, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Why would he have…oh, yeah. Ingrid must have brought it in.
He glanced around the room as if she’d somehow materialize. Naturally she wouldn’t because sunlight streamed in his bedroom window and tempting bakery smells drifted from downstairs. She was working.
While he’d been sawing logs, she’d already spent several hours involved in a demanding job after losing sleep because of him. She’d also chosen to make love to him. Imagine that.
Flopping back onto the pillow he stared at the ceiling and allowed the wonder of last night to flood through him. When he’d left her on Sunday he’d figured there was only a fifty-fifty chance such a thing would ever happen. He’d spent a fair amount of time cursing her ex for making her so gun-shy.
Then he’d heard nothing for days other than her brief replies to his texts. She hadn’t initiated any texts to him, so he’d figured his chances were dwindling.
To be fair, he hadn’t been around much, especially the past day and a half. And she was the kind of person who would deliver her response, yay or nay, in person.
Well, she’d done that last night. Miracle of miracles, she’d taken the plunge. He might have convinced himself he’d dreamed the whole thing, except the scent of lemons and pastries clung to his sheets.
Climbing out of bed, he wandered into the kitchen and read the note she’d left. I had a wonderful time. His body warmed. She’d mentioned texting when he was awake, but he craved the sight of her, even if they couldn’t talk while she was working.
His first appointment wasn’t until eleven. He’d moved a couple of them to next week when he’d figured out the colic situation was dire. Then he’d neglected to res
et his alarm, which meant he had plenty of time to spare for a change.
Before he went downstairs, though, he needed a shower, a shave, and something to eat besides pastries. Even his iron stomach wouldn’t be able to handle coffee and a bear claw when he hadn’t eaten real food since…yikes, night before last. No wonder he was spacey.
After a nice long shower and a careful shave, he had chili and cornbread for breakfast while he checked on the mare’s post-op progress and talked briefly with his client. The mare was doing fine and his client sounded much better today.
With forty minutes to spare before he had to leave for his appointment, he was ready to mosey down to Pie in the Sky. He picked up his hat on his way out of the apartment and started down the stairs.
Ingrid came through the door carrying a white bakery box. Clearly startled, she paused and looked up at him. “Hi! On your way to an appointment?” She sounded out of breath and her cheeks were pink.
His breathing wasn’t all that steady, either. She looked great. “On my way to see you.”
“I’m on a break.”
“How long of a break?”
“Twenty minutes. I was just going to…never mind. This is perfect, running into each other. We need to talk.”
“All right. Do you want—”
“I’ll come up. This is for you, anyway.”
“You brought me pastries?” Life just got better and better.
“I did.”
“Thank you.” I don’t need them, though. Just let me kiss you and hold you and I’ll be on a contact high all day. He backed up the stairs and waited for her on the landing.
“I wasn’t sure if you were awake yet since you hadn’t texted.”
“I decided to get cleaned up and just come down.”
“Now you won’t need to. We only had one more chocolate éclair in the case. I decided to snag it, plus a couple of bear claws and a cheese Danish.” She reached the landing and handed him the box.
“Wow, thank you. All my favorites.” Except now he was holding a bakery box instead of Ingrid. “We can go into my apartment. It’s closer.”
“That’s okay. I was hoping we’d have a chance to talk, but we can do it here.” She was breathing fast.
“We can, but wouldn’t you rather—”
“Not really. I mean, if we go into your apartment, then…”
“What? I’m not going to try and seduce you on your twenty-minute break.”
“I know.” She glanced toward the stairway. “But I don’t want Abigail to suspect anything.”
“Does she know you were bringing these to me?”
“I didn’t specify what I was going to do with them.”
“Ah.” He was getting the picture. “You want to keep this on the down-low.”
“Under the circumstances, I think that’s a good idea.”
“What circumstances?”
“For starters, we’re neighbors.”
“Yes, ma’am. Last time I checked, that was still the case.”
“It’s not like I didn’t think of that before, but I hadn’t considered all the implications.”
“Such as?”
“Abigail still has her apartment here, too. She wasn’t here last night, thank goodness, but what if she had been? She might have heard us.”
“Would that be so terrible?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.” She glanced at the stairway again. “I never expected to have sex with the man who lives down the hall from my apartment and over the bakery where I work. It makes this…complicated.”
He hadn’t considered how that might impact her day-to-day life, except in positive ways. Apparently she was concerned about negative ones. “It doesn’t have to be complicated.”
“It already is.”
“Do you regret what happened last night?” He didn’t really want to hear the answer, but he had to know.
Her brow furrowed. “No. Please don’t think that. It’s just—” She blew out a breath. “I’m making a mess of this.”
He shifted the pastry box to one hand and cupped her chin in the other. “No, you’re not. It’s fine. Whatever you need, that’s what we’ll do.”
Some of the sparkle returned to her eyes. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He yearned to kiss her, but he couldn’t without dumping the bakery box. He loved that she’d brought him pastries but the box was seriously cramping his style. “Are you available tonight? If you don’t want Abigail to know we’ll be together, then we can—”
“She already mentioned she’ll be at Luke’s the next two nights.”
Lady Luck was smiling on him. “Are you free, then?”
Excitement flashed in her eyes. “I am, but what about you?”
The box had to go. He set it on the floor and nudged back his hat. “I’m all yours. I’ll put the out of office message on my phone alerting my clients before I go to my next appointment.”
“Oh.” She licked her lips.
His groin tightened in response.
“What time did you want to get together?”
His heart rate jacked up as the possibilities expanded. “I was thinking from about six until…” Oh, hell. Might as well go for broke. “Actually, I want to spend the entire night with you. But we’ll sleep, I promise. I don’t want to mess up your—”
“Yes.” She sounded breathless. “My place, then?”
“Sure. I’ll bring pizza.”
“Pizza would be great.”
“Then I’ll be there at six.”
“Make it five-thirty.”
“Even better.” He took a step toward her.
She backed up.
He halted. “Hey, I’m not going to pounce. I just—”
“It’s not you. It’s me.” She swallowed. “I’m afraid I might grab you.”
And boy, did that turn up his thermostat. He’d said he wouldn’t pounce, so he shoved his hands in his pockets. “You’re welcome to grab me anytime, anywhere.” It didn’t come out as casually as he would have liked.
“I’ll remember that. I’d better get downstairs.”
He checked his phone. “You still have a little time.”
“Not much.” She turned to leave. Then she spun back and clutched his face in both hands. “Consider yourself grabbed.” She kissed him hard on the mouth, let him go and started toward the stairs.
He caught her by the arm before she’d taken two steps. Pulling her in tight, he lowered his head. “My turn.”
She melted into his arms with a sigh that stirred his blood and made his jeans pinch. Last night he’d been nearly catatonic from stress and exhaustion, and her kiss had brought him back to the land of the living.
This morning he was awake, from the crown of his hat to the sole of his boots. He intended to savor the intense pleasure of exploring her mouth. Sure enough, it was more delicious than any pastry in the box at his feet. He couldn’t get enough.
No telling how long he would have kept on kissing her, but eventually she pressed her palms against his chest and put some distance between them. He groaned in protest.
“I have to go.”
He gazed into blue eyes hot with passion. “We’ll continue this tonight.”
“I suspect we will.”
“Count on it.”
“Now I really have to go.” She wiggled free and backed away. “Do I look kissed?”
“You do to me, but I’m the guy who was just kissing you.” And he couldn’t wait to repeat the pleasure.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I can do this.” She smoothed a hand over her hair before starting toward the stairs. She paused with one hand on the railing. “Oh, and Wes?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t forget the other item. The one from your nightstand.”
With that parting shot she disappeared down the stairs, leaving him standing like a department store mannequin.
It took a few minutes to get a rein on the lust she’d just mainlined into his veins. Once h
e had his body back under some semblance of control, he pulled out his phone and recorded his out of office message. It sounded a little guttural, but that couldn’t be helped. He glanced at the time before he slipped the phone in his pocket.
Six hours, forty-five minutes and counting.
Chapter Seventeen
After work, as Ingrid straightened the apartment and put fresh sheets on the bed, anticipation revved her up more than one of her Firecracker lattes. Last night Wes had been wiped out by his ordeal. This time he’d be rested. She couldn’t wait for five-thirty.
She stood in front of the fish poster. “Okay, fish, what’s your take on this? Are you up for bike-riding lessons? Or is this an incredibly stupid move on my part?”
The fish didn’t answer, but somebody rapped sharply on her doorframe. She walked to the partially open door and flung it open.
Wes stood there in all his cowboy glory, a pizza box in one hand and a bottle of red wine in the other.
His smile tugged at her heart. “I would have come riding up to your door mounted on a white horse and wearing a white hat, but it’s tough to get those on short notice.”
“Come in, you crazy cowboy. That’s a huge pizza. You must be hungry.”
“Oh, I am.”
I hope you’re hungry because I’m not a fan of leftover pizza.”
“One more thing we have in common.”
“You’re making that up. Most guys I’ve known are fine with day-old pizza.”
“I’m not most guys.”
“That’s becoming abundantly clear.” She glanced at him. “Do you want to eat in the living room or in the—”
“Don’t care.” He put down the pizza and the wine on the coffee table. Then he laid his hat brim-side up on the box before walking toward her. Heat flared in the depths of his eyes.
Heart pounding, she held his gaze. There was no mistaking his intentions. “What about the pizza?”
“I don’t give a damn about food right now. I’m hungry for you.” Closing the distance between them, he scooped her into his arms and carried her down the hall, just like he had during the three-legged race. Crossing the finish line tonight would be even more fun.
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