For an instant, he worried he might be restraining her, his weight too heavy against her as he pressed her into the wall. He pried his eyes open to watch her, make sure she was okay, just in time to see her expression still and her eyes flutter close. Seeing her orgasm only made his last longer.
She was so damn beautiful. So important to him.
He just hoped the intensity of what he felt for her didn’t scare her off. Because this time, he was gambling everything and telling her how he felt and what he wanted—her, always. He just needed to figure out what kind of life he could offer her besides a few weeks out of the year when he wasn’t aboard a ship. But before that? He would make damn sure no one else could ever hurt her again.
* * *
IN THE LIGHT OF MORNING, staring at the dent in the pillow where Danny had slept beside her up until an hour ago, Stephanie could see that she’d been lying to herself to think she’d ever wanted something light and temporary with him. The frantic need for him that had overtaken her last night like a wild beast should have proven that her feelings were far more complicated than she could articulate. Hell, it had been easier to tear his clothes off and let her body do the talking than admit she might feel...
Love.
It was the ultimate vulnerability. For a woman terrified of ever being defenseless again...the knot of complex feelings inside was scary. Obviously it was a different kind of scary, but it had taken her so long to get her head on straight after the abduction, she wasn’t sure if she was ready to risk another kind of hurt. Maybe that’s why it had taken forever to work up the courage to see him again. Perhaps she’d known all these years that their relationship had the potential to explode into something this powerful. She remembered she’d shut down those feelings five years ago when she’d had to say goodbye to Danny the first time....
* * *
“I WISH WE HAD another day,” he told her as they stood in the living room of the crappy Long Island apartment she’d rented to give herself some space from her New York–based parents.
Her bags were packed and her coworkers at the news magazine were having a little going-away party for her and Christina before they left for Iraq. She had been excited for a new adventure and a chance to prove to her mother that she could handle the pressure of a gritty assignment overseas. But as the days ticked down, she found herself wondering what life would be like if she stayed in Long Island and saw what happened with Danny.
He was based in Massachusetts, but that wasn’t all that far away. Besides, he might be making more frequent trips into the city after the success of his gig in Manhattan earlier that week. His band had a single that was starting to get some independent radio play. Mostly, she just enjoyed being with him. He never made her feel that she didn’t live up to his expectations.
“What would we do if we had another day?” she asked him, tormenting herself with one last look at what might have been. Her taxi would be here any moment and he’d insisted on staying to help her load her bags to take into work, where a company car would then drive her and Christina to the airfield.
“Hmm.” He seemed to take the question seriously, peering at the ceiling as if there were answers up above. “We’ve already entertained ourselves thoroughly in this apartment. I would say that if we had another day, we’d have to venture out into the world and see if we had as much fun together away from home.”
“Away from a bed, you mean?” she teased, recalling how many places and ways they’d made love...er, had sex...in the past few days.
But the attraction was fierce and it didn’t take much to ignite.
For a moment, she wondered if he was going to say something serious, because his expression turned intense. Darkly brooding. Sexy in its own way and yet... She swallowed hard. She couldn’t afford to care about him any more than she already did. Not when she was going away for at least three months—six if the reports she and Christina did were popular with viewers.
Then, he smiled and she could tell he was making an effort to keep things light.
“Exactly. Today, we’d see if we could make it to the corner market without needing to run back here and get naked.” He kissed her cheek, the whiskers from the soul patch on his chin teasing her skin. “Then, we’d see if we could get as far as the theater a mile down the road.”
“We’d never make it,” she said, the words sounding more plaintive than she’d intended. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I mean, one look at the chocolate syrup in the corner market and I would be so overwhelmed with memories, I’d have to sprint all the way home.”