Nikki tugged. "Then let's stay here."
"I'm pretty messed up in the head and we both know what happens when I can't think straight around you."
"Have you been drinking?"
"No." He wanted to, but was hanging on now, thanks to her.
"Neither have I." She tugged again. "Stay. Let's look at the stars and talk if we need to or just be quiet. But I don't think either of us is ready to go back yet."
He knelt beside her. "How did you get so smart so young?"
"It's in the music."
He knew better.
The age difference excuses weren't going to work for him anymore. While there were certainly a legion of other problems they would have to deal with later, for tonight at least they were both on even footing and in need of something they could only find together.
Cradling her face in his hands, Carson gave up the fight and kissed her.
Nikki didn't even think of pulling away from Carson and the warm pressure of his mouth against hers. In fact, she didn't expect to pull away from him at all for a long time tonight.
Halfway through his outpouring about speaking with the families, her heart had softened the rest of the way toward forgiving him for what happened before. Any man who noticed the vulnerability in a woman spinning circles to find her shoes in a crisis...well, that man had a deep and tender heart.
She wasn't sure what she intended to do with him after tonight, but she would never be able to move forward if she didn't finish what they'd started months ago. What better place to be together than out in the open? Away from the world that seemed to intrude too often and insist they were wrong for each other, for a litany of reasons she couldn't remember because the bold sweep of his tongue stole every thought right out of her head.
What was it about him? Could it simply be his experience that made men her age seem like boys? He certainly did know his way around a nerve-humming kiss that made her forget the nip in the air. In fact she could swear her skin was steaming as hotly as the blood coursing through her veins. His palm sketched along her stomach, bared as her sweater hitched, the bottom button already open in a V.
Arching—was that a purr coming from her?—she savored his calluses gained from years sailing, the gentle rasp a tantalizing abrasion against her oversensitive skin. She wanted more, more kisses, touch, sensation.
Everything, here under the bower of trees and light of a harvest moon glinting on the water.
He leaned forward, or she angled down, or they both simply followed gravity to the sleeping bag. She wasn't sure and didn't care as long as they both were flat. Soon. Yes. She sank into the giving softness, his body blanketing hers while he braced on his elbows to keep his weight off her.
Her legs locked around his at the knees, her hands urging against his rippling shoulders. "I want it all tonight."
No half measures like their other time together.
Still he kept the full press of himself off her, the sleeping bag only offering so much protection from the steel truck bed. He peered down at her, blue eyes deepening to a midnight hue almost as dark as the sky. "Things are moving fast here tonight. Are you sure this is what you want?"
"Do you plan to walk out on me afterward?"
"I tried to stay away and we saw how well that worked for me. I've thought about you every damn second for seven months."
"Good." Nice to know she hadn't suffered this alone.
"So there's a vindictive streak in you after all." His mouth creased up in a smile she burned to explore with the tip of her tongue. "I was wondering how you could forgive me so easily when you're well within your right to be kicking my ass into eternity for what I did."
"Actually, I think I owe you an apology, as well, for what happened then. I knew you weren't in any shape to make an important decision like going to bed together."
It felt good to finally voice the guilt she'd been hiding for months. As much as his walking away had hurt her, it was about time she accepted her own role.
He flipped to his side, palming the bared patch of skin above her low-riding jeans. "While I still think any culpability rests squarely on my shoulders, we can start clean tonight."
She liked the sound of that. "Does that mean we're back to a first date? Because I won't go to bed with a guy on a first date."
His hand tunneled a hint higher up her sweater. "How about a clean slate with a history of friendship and dates."
"Sounds good to me." Especially if he would keep stroking her rib cage.