In the back of her mind came the realization that she’d lost something more, something she couldn’t possibly get back. She’d lost her heart
* * *
Kevin felt the sweat bead on his forehead. The muscles in his arms jerked with the strain of attempting to take things slow. His control hung by a fragile thread. She affected him on so many levels he couldn’t begin to count.
He didn’t want to think about what that meant and the only thing to do was bury himself deep inside her willing body. Her moist heat beckoned and blocked out all thoughts other than of the release they both sought.
Lose himself in her again. With Nikki, sex wasn’t an impersonal act because she had the ability to reach inside him. As much as he fought the notion, she wasn’t just some woman he’d taken to bed. She was his wife, as much by choice as by bargain.
If he let her, he had the feeling she’d be his friend as well as his lover. If he let himself be hers, he’d be setting her up for disappointment and a letdown once more.
“Kevin...”
“No talking. Not now.”
She nodded, but he caught the glimmer of disillusion in her eyes. But as he’d asked, there were no more words. No need for them. Their bodies spoke for them and with more meaning than anything they could say.
She wanted him. He felt it in her caress, heard it in the soft moans and contented sighs that escaped from her lips. Settling himself between her legs, he eased inside her bit by excruciating bit. She’d never know how difficult was his restraint.
He stroked a kiss across her lips, pausing to nibble and savor her sweet taste. As if to prove her words, she raised her hips a fraction, taking him ever deeper.
He groaned. Moist, warm, welcoming, and his. Kevin couldn’t say which thought drove him over the edge, but with one thrust, he edged firmly inside. An expression of pure ecstasy covered her flushed face and he’d put it there.
“Kevin.” Coming from her lips, his name sounded like the sweetest caress.
“Right here.”
She sighed and whispered something that sounded suspiciously like “mine,” before her muscles clenched around him. That’s all it took. He hadn’t realized he was so close to the edge, so ready to fall. He thrust in and eased out, each motion harder and deeper than the last. Caught up in the rhythm and beauty of Nikki, he came hard and fast. His climax not only caught him by surprise, but shook him to the depths of his soul.
Even as the aftershocks pulsed through him, Kevin knew he was in trouble. The only consolation he could find was knowing that Nikki was right there with him.
TWELVE
Married. Nikki rolled over expecting to find Kevin stre
tched out beside her, but her husband apparently had other ideas. She sat up in time to see him, fully dressed, attempting to slip from the bedroom. The disappearing act had eerie undertones of a night long past.
“Looking to avoid me?” she asked lightly, though she couldn’t have felt more different.
He turned. Expecting to see guilt etched into his features, Nikki was relieved to see he merely looked like a man who’d gotten up earlier than his... wife. Since she was stumbling over the word, she hoped Kevin was having an easier transition to their newly married state. Of course last night had been spectacular, but then nights with Kevin always were. “I didn’t realize you were awake.”
“I wasn’t till a minute or so ago.”
“I thought so. You were out cold.”
She smiled. “That’s because you wore me out”
He stepped toward the bed, heat and desire unmistakable in his dark gaze. “I could say the same.”
She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “Then where are you off to so early?”
“To visit Max. His doctor checks in around ten A.M. and I want to make sure I’m there to hear everything. Otherwise I won’t get near the truth.”
The slight wrinkles around his eyes testified to the concern he felt for his father. Though he wouldn’t admit it aloud, and perhaps he’d never admitted it to himself, he loved the older man. Nikki was certain.
She just wished he didn’t have to beat his head into a brick wall every time he dealt with Max. But at least he wasn’t alone anymore. She tossed the covers off and swung her legs over the bed. “Give me ten minutes and I’ll go with you.”
He stiffened. “No.”