LITMIR.BIZ

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      As he drove back to his house, Rachel’s nerves became more and more obvious. She half jumped out of her skin after he parked the car in the driveway and touched her arm.

      “How about we take a walk on the beach?” he offered.

      “But I thought …?” she began, obviously flabbergasted.

      “That I was going to pounce on you the second we got back?” He wrapped his arm around her slim waist and pulled her snug against his side. He had no intention of telling her that his body was revved up to make love, but his emotions were playing sentimental tricks on him. “I thought you’d be more receptive after a sunset stroll.”

      “How thoughtful of you to consider my romantic needs.” Beneath her dry tone he heard a throb of anxiety.

      Max dropped a kiss on her head. “Just shut up and enjoy the moment.”

      Her chuckle vibrated against his ribs, easing the tension. They shed their shoes by the beachside stairs that led to his deck and stepped onto the warm sand. Fine white grains slipped between his toes as they strolled along the beach. The moon had risen early and shone as a narrow, white crescent against the deepening blue of the eastern sky. Max estimated it was somewhere close to low tide because they were able to walk on the hard, packed sand near the water’s edge. The breeze was too light to push the waves onto the beach with any force.

      “Thank you for bringing me here this weekend,” Rachel said. “I didn’t realize how much I missed the beach until now.”

      “Why’d you move away?”

      She paused so long before answering, Max began wondering if she’d heard his question.

      “After Dad died we went to live with his sister in Biloxi.” She settled into her story like someone perched on the edge of a soft couch, too afraid to get comfortable. “Hailey wanted to stay and graduate with her friends, but I insisted we’d be better off if we were close to family.”

      “So, you don’t have any family around here? What about your mother?”

      “I barely remember her. She left when I was four and Hailey was two. Didn’t have much use for us. At least that’s what Daddy said.” She slipped into a drawl that sounded very much like the local accent.

      That’s when he realized she’d stripped as much Alabama out of her accent as she could at some point since leaving here.

      “And you never knew your grandparents?”

      “I never knew anyone from Mom’s side of the family. Sometimes it felt as if Hailey and I had been left on Daddy’s doorstep.”

      “What about your other grandparents?”

      “We met them a few times. They lived in Iowa and came down to visit from time to time until my grandmother got Alzheimer’s and had to be put in a nursing home.”

      This was more of her background than she’d shared before. Five years ago, she’d sidestepped every question he’d directed at her. She’d been so accomplished at keeping the conversation focused on him that he hadn’t been aware how little he knew about her until she was gone.

      What had prompted her to open up to him now? Was she starting to trust him a little? Trust him enough to tell him about her problems?

      They walked west in companionable silence, enjoying the play of rich oranges and purples across the sky. The clear night allowed the sun to glow red for a long time before it disappeared below the horizon. As daylight faded, they retraced their steps.

      As peaceful as he felt with a soft, curvaceous Rachel relaxed against his side, the closer they got to his beach house, the more anticipation tightened his nerves into bowstrings. His earlier decision to take things slow now became the biggest mistake he’d made in months. Why had he taken Rachel first to dinner then on this long walk on the beach when they could have grabbed takeout and eaten dinner off each other’s naked bodies?

      Need tightened his gut as he watched Rachel dust sand off her feet on the deck. Patience snapping, he caught her hand and pulled her into the house.

      “I can’t wait another second to kiss you,” he said, closing and locking the sliding glass door. Putting his arms around her, he tugged her hard against his body.

      A breathy laugh escaped her. “Then I guess we’d better get started.”

      His lips captured hers in a fervent kiss that paid homage to her vulnerability while giving her a glimpse of how waiting had fueled his impatience. She met his demand with no sign of her earlier hesitation. Her arms came around his neck. He cupped her head and held her still for a deep, exploring kiss hotter than any they’d exchanged. She arched her back, pushing her lower half against his erection, letting him feel her urgency.

      “Make love to me, Max.” She tugged his shirt free of his pants and found his skin burning for her. “The romance has been nice, but I need you inside me.”

      In complete agreement, he drew her down the hall toward the master bedroom. Flinging aside the comforter, Max stripped off his shirt and kicked off his shoes. Despite the cool air blowing across his naked shoulders, he felt feverish. Kissing Rachel set him on fire. Making love to her threatened to reduce him to ash.

      “Max.”

      He turned at the sound of his name and caught Rachel staring at him, her hand behind her, sliding down the sundress’ zipper. The look in her eyes stopped his breath. The uncertainty lurking in their velvet blue depths was gone, replaced by confidence. She looked radiant in the rapidly fading evening light.

      The smile she offered him was equal parts bold and encouraging. “Are you going to stand there and watch or help?”

      She didn’t need to ask twice. He brushed the straps off her shoulders and the dress fell to a pool at her feet. Clad in a lavender bra and matching panties, she stood still for his inspection, her chest heaving with each ragged breath.

      “Beautiful.” He played his fingertips along her collarbones and then dragged reverent caresses along the bra straps to the edge of the bra. “Your skin is like silk.”

      She placed her palms on his abs and fanned the fire banked these five years. But he’d promised himself he’d take it slow. He wanted to learn every inch of her skin again.

      Her fingers crept down his stomach, past his belly button to the low ride of his waistband. Beneath the buttons that held his jeans together his erection strained toward her questing touch. A groan erupted as she freed him. His hard length speared at her belly, searching for the soft, hot sheath that awaited him. Before he guessed her intentions, she grasped him in her hands.

      Sensation exploded through him. A guttural moan tore from his throat as she closed her hand around him. The years fell away. There was no awkwardness in her caresses. She remembered exactly how he liked to be touched. Before her ministrations could cause a premature end to their fun, he swept her into his arms and deposited her on the bed.

      “I get to play first,” he told her, rolling her beneath him and pinning her hands above her head.

      Her thighs parted as he inserted one leg between them. She bent her knee and rocked her hips, grinding her pelvis against him in a slow, sexy wiggle that short-circuited his willpower.

      He captured her mouth with his again, his tongue easing past her full lips to sample the exotic pleasures that awaited him beyond. Frantic mewling noises erupted in her throat as she tugged to free her hands. He released her, having better uses for his fingers than holding her captive.

      “Better,” she murmured, hands riding his shoulders and back with provocative flair.

      Taking his time, he drove her mad with feather-light kisses across her soft, fragrant skin. Inch by inch, he eased his way down her body, revisiting all her ticklish spots and the ones that made her gasp. Five years had gone by, but he knew her body as well as he knew his own. Maybe better.

      His teeth latched on to the lace edge

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