“I want to make love to you, Sue. Now.”
“Rick…” That was it. She couldn’t come up with anything more.
“I like it when you say my name.”
She liked him. Too much.
“I wasn’t kidding, Rick. I don’t do intimacy well. I can’t come through for you.”
“Why don’t you let me decide what you do for me?”
Shaking her head, Sue told herself to move away from him. She had to get away. She wasn’t arguing the point; she just wasn’t moving yet, either.
“I’ll hurt you,” she said.
“How can you if I have no expectations?”
She thought about that.
“You’ve been honest with me from the beginning, Sue. About everything. You and I don’t agree about Carrie’s future. You’ve been very clear about your need to remain unattached. And I believe you.”
“Then…”
“I still want to make love with you.”
“Why?”
“This is the first completely good feeling I’ve known in months. I don’t just want to have sex. I’m consumed by this need to make love to you. I want your mind connected to mine, your heart and soul. And your body. Just for moments, if that’s all you have. I’ve never felt anything like this and I damn sure don’t want to die never knowing where it goes.”
She wanted him, too. For the moment.
“If I say stop, you stop,” she told him. “No matter what.”
“That’s a given.”
“And when I disappear, you don’t get mad.”
“Of course not. It’s mutual all the way or it doesn’t happen. Period.”
“And no expectations.”
“None.”
Her body was so on fire she could hardly hold on to rational thought. “I’m not going to change my mind about Carrie,” she told him.
“I know that.”
“I can’t do what you want.”
“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong. I’m aching and miserable and you are exactly what I need to get to heaven.” Rick leaned forward, pushing her back along the couch, coming down to lie on top of her. With one of his legs between hers, he moved along her thigh. Back and forth. Up and down. Rubbing his thigh against her as he did so.
And his penis against her leg.
He was rock hard. And felt so good. So right. So…hers.
“I give up,” she whispered, licking her lips and then his. “Make love to me, Rick, before I lose what sanity I have left.”
RICK TOOK HIS TIME. He should be racing to the finish, unable to wait after so long. Hornier than horny from their nights of sex talk. Instead, he savored every second with her. Being with Sue wasn’t about orgasm. It was about connecting with her. Learning her better than anyone ever had before.