After treating both of her breasts this way, he rose to kiss her mouth. He pressed his body tight up against her tingling breasts and abdomen and she felt his erection, hard and heavy against her belly.
She wanted her hands free so she could touch him, but he either didn’t notice her tugging or chose to ignore it.
Since her hands weren’t free to caress him, she rose on tiptoe and spread her legs until his erection sprang free and she could trap it between her thighs. She began moving her pelvis, rubbing his hardness against the magic spot that ached with need.
He groaned, his kisses growing more demanding. The water pounded against his shoulder, her breasts, splashed against her face. The steam smelled of citrus.
At last he let go of her wrists to stroke both his hands all the way down her sides, to her hips.
“I need you now,” he whispered.
“Yes.”
He cupped her upper thighs and she wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, opening herself to him as he thrust deep inside her.
Not the pounding spray of the shower, not even his mouth covering hers, could completely muffle her cries as he drove deep within her body to the places that had been so empty without him. When the sweet ache was more than she could bear, she squeezed him even more tightly to her and let herself go. His own groan of satisfaction soon followed.
“So, that was goodbye, then,” she said as calmly as she could as they dried off using the big white fluffy towels she kept in her bathroom.
“Hell, no,” he said. “That was just a warm-up.”
Chapter Five
The phone rang while Charlotte was in the middle of an energetic Sun Salutation. She smiled smugly feeling a sense of euphoria that wasn’t entirely Yoga-related. Her body was warm and limber this morning and completely relaxed from her night of loving.
She hoped it was John on the phone. He’d said last night was goodbye, but it wouldn’t be. Not if she had a vote. Sex that fantastic—no, she corrected herself—lovemaking that fantastic wasn’t something you threw away for no good reason.
The odd thing was, now that he’d officially renounced their engagement and said goodbye in his own spectacular fashion, she believed him. Deep down, she must always have known he and Sonya were discussing business strategy in that hotel room.
Maybe John was right and it was the whole wedding thing that had freaked her out. Death do us part and all that. With both her parents divorced—twice each—and her older sister’s divorce almost final, she hadn’t wanted to make public vows. What if she failed? What if she and John were terrible at marriage?
But was her yearning loneliness really any better?
Her brow furrowed as she fought the unease she’d felt since she’d awakened alone this morning. He always used to stay for breakfast and early morning chitchat. It was one of the routines she’d loved.
Had he meant what he said? Was he really only replacing a bad memory with a good one?
She unwound herself to answer the phone. “Hello?”
“It’s John.” Warmth flooded her body at the sound of his voice—echoey, which probably meant he was on his cell.
“Good morning,” she practically cooed.
“Listen, I’m double-parked downstairs. I’m all packed to go but I think I left my wristwatch on the bedside table.”
“Yes, you did,” she said, glancing at the plain stainless timepiece she’d strapped to her own wrist. She knew it was a childish gesture, and the darn thing was so big it kept bumping her wrist bones, but she’d wanted to extend her connection with him, however tenuous.
“Can you run it down?”
That’s right. He was leaving. She’d been so happy-fogged she’d forgotten he was off on his vacation. It was supposed to be their honeymoon, she remembered with a pang. She’d just rubbed out the lines she’d penciled across her calendar and planned to work the next couple of weeks. Before he left, she had to let him know she wanted to see him again when he returned. “Sure. I’ll be right down.”
She grabbed her purse on the way out, then locked her door and took the elevator down to the lobby. She jogged out and saw his car idling in her building’s loading zone.
She couldn’t help the flush of pleasure she felt creeping up her face as she approached the open window on the driver’s side, or the pang she felt knowing he’d be going away. “John, I—”
“The building super’s already yelled at me twice,” he said, sounding harried, staring into the rearview mirror.
“Whatever it is, hop in and tell me.”
“But I—”
“Quick.” He leaned over and opened the passenger door and she scooted round and jumped in. She shut the door and he pulled out and headed into the busy downtown street.
“Did you get my watch?”
So much for sweet nothings about their spectacular night together—a night he hadn’t even bothered to see all the way through. “Yes,” she said tartly, undoing it and passing it over.
He thrust his wrist at her. “Can you put it on?”
She sighed and complied, secretly enjoying the chance to hold his wrist, look at his hand and remember all the places it had been last night. Mmm, she grew warm just remembering. “John, I was wondering…”
“Mmm-hmm?”
“I had a really good time last night.”
“Me, too.” He glanced at her and grinned in a way that made her flush.
“What I’m trying to say is…” A highway exit sign flashed by her. “Where are we?”
“Going for a drive.”
“I thought we’d just go around the block.”
“You thought wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m kidnapping you,” he said calmly, checking his rearview as he merged into the highway traffic.
She turned to stare at his profile, looking for the smirk, waiting for his laugh and a “gotcha.” His face seemed perfectly serious.
Since he didn’t laugh, she did. “And why are you kidnapping me?”
“The usual reason.”
She played along, enjoying the game. “Ransom?”
He nodded.
“But you have tons more money than I do.”
“I’m not after money.”
“You’re not.” Her chest started to feel tight, squeezing her lungs so she felt breathless. A semi roared by and she jumped. “What are you after?”
He shot her a quick glance, but still there was no joking in it, only a tenderness that made her quiver, and a heat that made her blush. “Your heart.”
“My heart.” She sounded like a ninny repeating everything he said in this stupid fashion, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
“That’s right. You give me your heart and I’ll take you back home.”
For a long moment she just stared at his profile, its clean-shaven angles and planes, the straight blade of his nose, the determined chin. Tears blurred her vision as she accepted the truth. She’d never stopped loving him. She took a deep breath. “You already have it,” she said in a husky voice.
He nodded like a satisfied salesman who’d just closed a big deal. “I thought so.”
She laughed helplessly. “You can take me home now.”
He shook his head. “I’ve got my reputation as a kidnapper to consider. If I take you home now, I’ll look like a wimp. Besides, I can’t just take your word for it. I need proof.”
She opened her mouth to argue, then shut it again, realizing she’d been just as irrational when she’d wanted proof he didn’t sleep with another woman. Their future together wasn’t just about love, it was about trust. Her breathlessness was back—if anything it was worse. “What kind of proof?”