She put the baby monitor on the table before she sat down on the double lounger next to him, and he reached over to take her hand in his. “Thank you.”
She gave him a quizzical look. “For what? You already complimented me on dinner.”
“Thank you for my son. I didn’t realize until tonight how great a gift he is. You could have made a different choice, given that I wasn’t in the picture. I wouldn’t have blamed you at all,” he said. “And I never would have known what was missing in my life.”
She felt her throat close and tears burn the back of her eyes. He would never know how hard the decision had been, given that she had been on her own and that he was her family’s sworn enemy. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” He pulled her into his arms so that her head was cuddled on his shoulder. Then he moved around so they were on their sides facing each other.
His hands swept down her side to her hip, his fingers flexing on her buttocks. He traced a pattern on her hip and she moved a little closer to him.
“Do you trust me now?” he asked. His voice was deep in the quiet of the night.
“Yes, Dec,” she said. It was nothing less than the truth.
“Good. Will you let me make love to you?” he asked. “Since we were together, I’ve been limiting myself to good-night kisses since that night in your office to give us both a chance to really get to know each other, but I don’t think I can wait any longer,” he said. He rubbed his hips against hers and she felt his erection.
“Me either,” she said. She’d been aware of the boundaries between them that she’d set that night in her office, but that had changed. She wanted to be in his arms again. To be honest, it was all she’d thought about for the past few weeks. As much as she hadn’t been sure she could rely on him, she’d still wanted him. After the revelations she’d had this afternoon, nothing would make her happier than to make love with him tonight.
He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her gently but thoroughly. With only the moonlight overhead and the fragrant blossoms in the backyard surrounding them, she felt like they were in paradise.
She put her hands between them and unbuttoned his shirt until she felt the springy hair of his chest under her fingers. She rubbed her hands over his hard pecs and traced the hair as it tapered down his stomach. His belly flinched as her fingers moved lower, and he put his hand over hers.
She pulled her mouth from his and looked up at him, but he lowered his head to her neck, dropping nibbling kisses down the length of it as his hands moved down her leg to the hem of her skirt and drew it up.
With long, languid strokes of his hand up and down, he caressed her thigh. She squirmed and reached again for his belt buckle. She undid it and then struggled with the button at his waist when his hand slipped under her panties and drew them down her legs.
He rolled her over onto her back and she stared up at him in the moonlight, and in his eyes she saw the emotions she’d craved. She saw the love and the caring that she felt for him reflected back in his eyes.
He nudged her knees apart with his and settled his hips overtop of hers. It was a shock to feel the warmth of his erection against her naked flesh. He shifted his hips, lightly rubbing his manhood over her center and she felt herself moisten as she got ready for him.
He pushed her thighs farther apart and held himself poised at the entrance of her, with only the tip of his erection inside her. She shifted under him, trying to force him inside of her, but he wouldn’t be budged.
She looked up at him and he brought his mouth down on hers hard, thrusting his tongue deep inside her mouth as he finally entered her fully. Spasms of pleasure shook her as he continued to thrust deep inside of her. She wrapped her thighs around his waist and urged him to move faster, with her heels against the small of his back.
She tangled her tongue with his as she felt her orgasm wash over her. She tore her mouth from his and cried out his name as he thrust into her again and again, burying his face in her neck and suckling on the pulse point as he came with a final thrust and his entire body shuddered over hers.
She rocked her hips against his one more time. He settled over her for a moment and she thrilled to have his full weight on her. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and held him with all her strength. He kissed her lightly, and when she looked up at him he was staring at her with a look of tenderness she’d never seen in his eyes before.
He rolled them to their sides, cuddled her close and stroked his hand down her side and back. She tried to shift, afraid her weight might be too much for his arm, but he held her where she was and urged her to place her head on his chest, right over his heart.