Cautious Lover

by Stephanie James

  “I guess I’m a greedy woman,” Elly admitted hum­bly.

  “Mmm.” He removed the next pin. “I’m glad.”

  “You are?”

  “Definitely. Elly, my love, if you and events in gen­eral hadn’t pushed me a little during the past couple of weeks, I might have taken months getting around to ac­knowledging my own feelings. What a waste that would have been.”

  She smiled gently. “Why?”

  “Because I’ve decided I like admitting that I love you. It’s a great relief, you see. I no longer have to worry about maintaining my control when it comes to you. I began realizing that after the first time I took you to bed. Everything felt good afterward. It felt right. Now I know I can just relax and surrender to the inevitable. I don’t have to worry about the end results. You taught me not to fear them, sweetheart, t owe you for that. And I in­tend to spend the rest of my life thanking you.” “You do?”

  “Beginning right now,” he assured her. Under his deft touch more pins came free from her hair, and a moment later the braids tumbled down around her shoulders. “I love to take your hair down, Elly. There’s something so full of promise about the whole thing.” He threaded his fingers through the chestnut strands, loosening them until they cascaded over his hands. “I want you, Elly.”

  “I’m glad,” she said simply, her eyes brimming with her love. “Because I love you so much, Jess.”

  His palm cupped her face as he looked down at her with an intensity that took away her breath. “In the be­ginning I told myself you had nothing to worry about because I would take good care of your love. I promised myself I would treasure it, protect it, keep it safe. Now I know that I want to give as much as I get.”

  She caught his hand and turned her lips into the warm palm. “I’ll treasure your love, Jess. I’ll protect it and keep it safe.”

  “I know. I trust you, Elly. I’ve never really trusted a woman before in my life. But I trust you.”

  She looked up at him, aware of-the depth of truth in his words. She decided to take the risk of clearing up one last point. “Once you called me a witch. It was that first night we made love. Remember? We argued afterward and you called me a witch.”

  “Did I?” Jess didn’t seem particularly interested. He was lifting her to her feet and standing up beside her. Strong hands settled on her shoulders. “That worried you?”

  “Because it’s what you always called Marina.”

  “There are two kinds of witchcraft, my sweet Elly. Haven’t you read enough fairy tales to know that? Be­lieve me, I’ve learned about both kinds the hard way. From Marina I learned about the dark, destructive sort. But you taught me about the other kind—the kind asso­ciated with sunlight and life and love. There’s no one who’s more certain of the truth than a man who’s seen both the false and the real. Trust me to know the differ­ence, honey.”

  She wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. “I trust you, Jess.”

  He bent and scooped her up in his arms. “While we’re on the subject of trust,” he began as he strode toward the stairs with her in his arms, “this is probably a good time to mention that I don’t particularly want to be protected from certain facts in the future. I want you to trust me completely, Elly.”

  Elly lifted her head. “Do I hear a lecture coming on? Something pithy about the way I neglected to mention Damon’s lingering presence in the community?”

  “You’re very perceptive, sweetheart.” He reached the top of the stairs and turned toward Elly’s bedroom.

  “I hope you’re not going to get into the habit of lec­turing me every time you carry me off to bed. It could spoil the mood, you know. Might give me a headache.” She let her fingers slide persuasively up to the nape of neck.

  “I have an excellent home remedy for headaches.” He stood her on her feet and removed the burnt-orange sweater she was wearing. It came free in one easy sweep of his hands and his eyes shadowed with desire as he touched the tips of her breasts. “Guaranteed not to fail.”

  She felt herself growing warm with the beginnings of sensual tension at the husky tone of his voice. “Unfor­tunately, I don’t have a headache so we won’t be able to experiment with your remedy.”

  “Then we’ll go straight to bed. I’ll get back to the lec­ture later.” He undressed her with an urgency that told its own story, his fingers trembling slightly as he stroked her.

  Elly fumbled with his shirt until it joined the growing pile of clothing on the floor, and then she unfastened his jeans. As the last garment fell away, he pushed himself into her hands, letting her know the full weight and readiness of his need.

  “Elly, my sweet, exciting Elly.” He picked her up again and settled her on the bed. “Do you know what I regret most about the last couple of months?”

  “What’s that?” She reached for him as he came down beside her.

  “I regret my own stupidity in waiting so long to take you to bed. When I think of all the nights together we missed…” His words broke off as he leaned down to kiss the swell of her breast. Then his hand tightened on her hip. “I could kick myself.”

  “That’s what you get for being so schedule-conscious.”

  “Don’t sound so smug. There’s a lot to be said for schedules. I’m good at them. For the most part I stick to them.” Suddenly he lifted his head and gave her a searching glance. “Is that going to bother you? I can’t change myself completely, honey. In the last analysis, I’m afraid I tend to run my life on an organized basis.”

  Elly laughed softly. “I’m not worried. Lately you’ve shown yourself to be highly adaptable.” She pulled him close, pushing her leg tantalizingly between his thighs. His low groan of arousal was her immediate reward. When she let her fingertips trail down his chest to the ex­citingly rough hair below his flat stomach, he groaned again.

  Jess reached out and felt the shape of her hip with his hand, letting his fingers sink into her soft, resilient skin. “I’m amazingly adaptable when it comes to making love to you. Haven’t you noticed? I didn’t really mind the first time you threw off my schedule by trying to seduce me ahead of time. I’ll be just as adaptable forty or fifty years from now. A man has to be flexible about some things.”

  Elly grinned, touching him intimately. “Flexible isn’t exactly how I would describe you at the moment.”

  “I warned you. I told you that if you were going to push a man, you’d have to learn to take the conse­quences.” He rolled over on top of her, pinning her be­neath him. The brief humor faded as he felt her wrap herself around him. Gray eyes gleamed in the shadows, and the lines of his harsh face became etched with his hunger.

  “I love you, Jess.”

  “I know,” he whispered. “I’ve never known what it was like to be loved until I met you. I could never let you go now. Do you realize that? I love you so much, Elly. It’s such an incredible relief to finally say it.”

  He moved then, joining his body to hers in a rush of passion that brought with it a sense of forever. Elly didn’t question the feeling. She clung to it and to’the man who created it. Jess was giving himself completely, just as she had given herself to him. Jess Winter always seemed to know what he was doing.