“Christ, Cam, glaciers are faster than this.”
He ran a hand up her bared leg and slid a finger beneath the edge of her panties, stroking through the drenched heat. “But glaciers aren’t this hot.”
Norah’s legs jerked, and she swore at him as he chuckled, returning to the other stocking. She was going to incinerate before he ever finished. Every inch of her skin felt tight and hot as he finally slipped off the panties and garter belt.
He nudged her legs further apart, gripping just below her ass. “I’ve dreamed of having you like this, at my mercy.”
The heat of his breath against her sex caused another slow pull in her belly. “I’m not seeing a lot of mercy.”
“I haven’t even gotten started yet.” He pressed his mouth between her thighs.
The orgasm whipped through her like lightning. Gasping for breath, muscles quaking, Cam’s hold was the only thing keeping her upright. She rode the knife edge between pleasure and pain, her vision blurring as he sucked and licked and drove her ruthlessly, relentlessly up again.
At the cusp of that next, brutal peak, he stopped. Norah whimpered as he eased her back from the edge, rising from his crouch to lay her, at last, on the bed. A rustle of clothes, the rip of foil, and the mattress dipped beneath his weight as he came back to her, skin against glorious skin. Opening her arms, she got her wish, watching his face in the silvered light as he slid smoothly inside her. Home.
They held there, joined and trembling, and she stared into eyes gone dark with passion.
I love you.
It was too soon to say the words, but she lay one hand over his heart and threaded the other through the hair at his nape.
He began to move, a slow retreat and thrust that seated him deeper with every stroke. Her body arched, straining for more of that exquisite friction. She murmured his name, drawing him down to take his mouth. Sensation built upon sensation as he picked up speed, at last losing that infinite patience as he drove them up that final crest toward release. His breath went ragged, his body tensing. Wrapping her legs tight around his waist, she held him deep as he lost himself, and moments later flew joyfully over the edge behind him.
He weighed a ton. Her face pressed into his throat, breathing in the healthy scent of sweat and sex and Cam, Norah decided she was entirely okay with that. Her body felt loose and used and relaxed for—possibly the first time in her life. With a little purr, she stretched beneath him, running one foot up the back of his thigh.
“Well, you are nothing if not a man of your word.”
“Mmm?”
“Apparently mine wasn’t the only brain you obliterated.”
“You aren’t supposed to be able to form coherent sentences yet.”
She nuzzled his ear. “I’m an overachiever.”
“I’m starting to learn that about you. Give me a year or so, I’ll catch up.”
“You know, for once, I’m not on city speed. I don’t want to go anywhere or do anything but stay right here with you.” For maybe the rest of my life.
The realization had her heart kicking back into high gear. She wanted a life with him, wanted a future with him. And tonight had given her a glimpse of what that might look like. It wasn’t the kind of clear-cut plan she liked, more a glimmer of possibility. But she hugged that glimmer close to her heart as she held him close to her body. A secret wish.
It was terrifying and exhilarating. And when her practical side tried to point out the problems, Norah reminded herself that if it could happen anywhere, it could happen here. Wishful was, after all, a town where wishes came true.
Chapter 14
“…Oh, and we finally found a venue for that fund-raiser dinner,” Molly said. “Tom Thatcher’s going to host it at The Spring House. It is, unfortunately, a much smaller location, so we’re limited to about half the head count, but we’re working on ways to maximize that.”
“Then I need to finish drafting the press release for the regional newspapers.” Norah checked her watch for the fifteenth time before scanning the crowd assembled on the town green. Eighty three locals had shown in response to the call. The bulk were members of the coalition or related to someone who was. Several had tool belts slung around their hips. All were dressed for a day of hard, messy labor. While they were waiting for her instructions, most circulated through the line of the coffee station generously provided by Cassie Callister. Some of them for the second time.
It wasn’t enough people to execute her plan. Not by a long shot. Molly followed her gaze but said nothing about the turnout. This was Norah’s show, and the coalition chair was standing back, letting her run it.
Had her Hail Mary failed? Had the promise she’d elicited earlier in the week meant nothing? The timing hadn’t been awesome, what with today being the morning after Valentine’s Day, but she’d thought surely some of them would show.
Cam joined them where they stood across from City Hall. “The natives are getting restless.”
She checked her watch again. Nearly half an hour past time to start.
Cam reached up, began to knead at her shoulders, and she leaned into him, her mind taking a quick detour to how those hands had felt, slow and languid in the hour before dawn. The morning air wasn’t frigid enough to cool the blush that heated her cheeks.