“Off,” she said without hesitation. If she didn’t do this now, she never would.
He didn’t take his time or give her even a second to think—thank heavens. Her shirt sailed across the room to hook on a lamp in a heartbeat.
She knew what she looked like now. She’d stared at her altered chest in the mirror often enough.
And she so didn’t want to think right now.
He gazed at her for a moment that seemed to stretch forever but probably was all of five seconds. She wondered if he would make some big ceremonial deal out of touching her scars which would make her cry and she so didn’t want to cry.
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, bringing her chest flush with his and holy cow, he was still aroused. Relief beyond anything she ever could have imagined flooded her, followed by joy.
And desire. Sweet, wonderful, unrestrained pleasure.
She wriggled closer against him until she could feel the gentle abrasion of his chest hair against her skin. The sensation caught her by surprise. She’d been so caught up in thinking about the feelings she would lose, she hadn’t thought of what she would enjoy. And the way he’d positioned them, she didn’t feel so exposed. How ironic, how delightfully wonderful to find such surprising empathy from a guy with a call sign “Lurch.”
He hadn’t made this about cancer or scars, but about enjoying the moment. Perfect.
Then she stopped thinking at all.
She inhaled the scent of Rick’s spicy aftershave permeating the room. No more of her potpourri taking over the room. This was a man’s place now, regardless of how many floral sheets or froufrou comforters she brought into the place. The sheer masculinity of it sent a rush through her.
Rick dipped his head to trail nibbles along her ear with rambling whispers of how much he wanted her, needed her, his heated words as much an aphrodisiac as his touch skimming away her shorts and underwear.
All righty. Getting down to business. Yes. Her heart rate raced and her greedy hands grappled for his shorts, his h*ps lifting to accommodate, then—oh my—her hand wrapped around the heat of him. Something else so very familiar in this moment.
She remembered well the size and weight of him in her hand, in her. She remembered too his growl of appreciation in her ear, the sense that she knew instinctively what to do for him just as he knew how to bring her such sweet pleasure.
“Nola…”
A groan or a question?
“Yes?”
“Condom.”
“Oh.” She couldn’t string together more than one word at a time, either, which posed a serious problem for finding birth control anytime soon. They didn’t have to worry about conceiving, but in this day and age, condoms were always wise with all the diseases out there.
Think.
“Wallet,” he continued in between working serious magic on a newly discovered erogenous zone at the base of her neck. “Table.”
“Ah. Right.” Now she saw it resting by the lamp and thank goodness he’d thought ahead because, heaven help her, she surely hadn’t.
Leaning, Nola reached, so grateful he stayed with her during the whole stretch of foreplay, never breaking the amazingly shivery contact. Her hand slapped to rest over his wallet, grappled until she fished out the thin packet.
Straightening again, she ripped open the birth control and sheathed him in a smooth sweep that sent his arm twitching around her, muscles taut.
“More?” she teased.
He slid two fingers home inside her. “More.”
Much more.
He teased her again and again with a familiarity he couldn’t possibly have remembered from before yet somehow he seemed to know just what she enjoyed most. When she thought she couldn’t take any more without finishing here, now, he slid both hands to her back, down to cup her bottom and grip. A slight shift and lift upward brought her mouth to his again for a deeper kiss, more kissing while they continued. More intimacy. Her heart raced faster along with her breath threatening a hint of hyperventilation, because with the joining of their mouths, she adjusted her body to accept…
Yes…
His body moved into her hers again with a familiarity that washed away the awkwardness and yes, the fears, too.