‘I’m just going downstairs. I’ll get some breakfast. The bathroom’s through there.’ She couldn’t hear her own words and hoped her voice didn’t sound too shaky.
She was in the kitchen, tugging at the inner canister of the breadmaker, trying to free it from its moorings, when a movement, right on the periphery of her vision, made her jump. Matt’s fingers brushed her elbow, and his arm appeared, closely followed by the rest of him. He was bare chested and beautiful, fresh out of a shower that must have taken him all of two minutes.
Beth. She’d taught him how to sign her name last night, and he was already using his limited vocabulary to its full extent. His meaning was clear, though. His open hand held her CI and the hearing aid for her other ear.
She tried to turn away from him, but he moved with her, gently tipping her face up towards his. His eyes echoed the silent question on his lips.
‘Okay, okay.’ She held her hand up in a gesture of submission and took the CI from him, putting it in place on the side of her head. ‘Better?’
‘Much. This, too.’ He handed her the hearing aid. ‘Thank you. I want you to hear me.’
He’d said something of the sort last night, when he’d almost begged her to keep her CI on while they made love. Please hear me. And he’d been right. She wouldn’t have missed any of his sweet words, not for the world. This morning, things might be different, though.
‘I…I need to take the bread out before it burns.’ Beth turned back to the counter top and renewed her efforts with the canister, snatching her hand away as the hot metal scorched her fingers.
‘Let me.’ He reached around her and flipped the canister out, wrapping it in a tea towel and tipping the hot bread onto the rack. His hand found hers and raised it to his lips and she felt his mouth, soothing her burned flesh. ‘What’s the matter, Beth?’
‘I…I’m afraid, Matt.’ If last night had only taught her one thing, it had taught her this. Whatever her doubts, whatever her feelings, she could trust him enough to share them with him.
‘Me, too. You terrify me, because I love you. You told me you loved me last night.’
‘I do love you. But when I woke up this morning it all seemed too good to be true. I couldn’t believe that you wouldn’t have second thoughts.’
‘I meant every word I said last night.’ He dropped her hand and she felt his lips brush against hers. He tasted of peppermint and dreams. ‘Should I run through it a second time? Perhaps I didn’t make myself quite clear.’
Oh, yes. He could run through it as many times as he liked. She reached out for him, feeling muscle and sinew flex beneath the smooth skin of his shoulder at her touch. ‘I think we already did that. The second time.’
‘I remember.’ His touch turned into an embrace and he lifted her slightly, perching her up on the worktop and moving in close to wrap his arms around her.
‘You have no regrets, then?’
‘Just one. That I didn’t wake up with you in my arms.’
Heat shot through her veins. She wrapped her legs around his waist, holding him tight, tracing the thin, long healed scar that ran across his shoulder with her finger. ‘Perhaps we’ll have breakfast later.’
‘My thoughts exactly.’ One of her slippers had fallen to the floor, and he pulled the other one off, tossing it over his shoulder, to clatter unheeded into the sink, with the plates from last night. Gently he tugged at the tie of her dressing gown. ‘I think we have some outstanding matters to clear up first.’
‘Now that you mention it, there are a few points I’d like you to clarify. Oh!’ His hands had found their way inside her dressing gown and her body flamed into trembling desire as his fingers trailed across her skin.
‘That one of them?’
‘Mmm-hmm. There are some others.’
‘Lots of others. We’ve only really touched the surface so far.’ His lips descended on hers, trapping them in an insistent kiss.
‘Well, I’m free all day.’
‘It’s going to take longer than that to cover all the ground.’
‘I’ll check my diary. When shall I pencil you in?’ Beth lifted one of her feet and planted her cold toes against the warm skin of his back and he gasped, jerking convulsively.
‘Every page.’
He had her out of her dressing gown almost before she could b
reathe, and when she twisted the button of his jeans undone he slid them off, letting them fall in a crumpled heap on the floor.
‘Upstairs. The condoms are on my bedside table and anyway it’s too cold down here.’