Page 38 of Natalie's Nighthawk

She sighed as he lightly ran his fingers across her back.God, that felt good. He certainly knew how to make her come apart. She sighed again as an image of the two of them in the shower flashed. What he’d done to her had been mind-blowing. Her past sexual experiences could only be described as conservative at best. But with Graham?it was sensual, freeing. She found she craved more and more.

“You sound relaxed,” he whispered near her ear.

“Mmm,” was all she could manage. She felt his smile as he kissed her shoulder. His hand stopped suddenly over her scars. He pushed himself up on one elbow to look at them, his body tensed up. “It’s okay, you know. I’m okay.”

He shook his head as his fingers gently traced the long scar. “No, Chickadee. It’s not okay. I wish I could go back and put some serious hurt on him.” His anger was palpable.

Natalie turned on her side to face him. She reached up to stroke his jaw as she saw the agony reflected in his eyes. “Just the fact that you care enough to want to hurt the one who hurt me means more to me than you’ll ever know.”

He grabbed her hand and kissed her palm. “I do care. I’ve always cared. Through all these years, I’ve never forgotten you. I was just too stupid to realize how important you were to me.”

His confession shocked her. She knew she’d carried a torch for him, but she never imagined he would have the same feelings. She hadn’t considered he gave her a single thought since. Having watched the interview and hearing his confession just now, she knew she’d been wrong. He wasn’t the only one who’d been an idiot, though.

“I watched the video of the interview,” she admitted. “What you said about me …”

“Figured that out, did you.” He flopped onto his back, an arm thrown over his eyes.

“I had no idea. I wish I had seen that video months ago.”

“I wish I’d looked you up years ago. Maybe I could have spared you all the hurt.” He traced her scar again.

“No, Graham. You can’t think like that. You are not to blame for what happened to me. Besides, I could have tried to look for you too.”

“We were both stupid,” he muttered.

“True. But that day at the lake?it was barely a few hours spent together. How were we supposed to know then how important that time would become for us? We were young, too young to truly understand anything.”

“Young and stupid.”

“Exactly.”

“I just wish …”

She placed a finger over his mouth to stop him. “I know. But we’re together now. And I, for one, am not feeling stupid at all.” She knew what she was feeling but was terrified to say it out loud. Her feelings were too new, too fragile. She’d thought her heart was too broken to ever love again, but each moment spent with Graham was a balm on her shattered heart, mending it bit by bit. Was she ready to risk her heart again? For the man beside her, she might be, especially when he looked at her like he was right now, a devilish tilt in his lips.

“You’re not feeling stupid? Apparently, I didn’t do a good enough job in the shower then.” He pushed her back as his mouth captured hers.

“Couch sex and shower sex all in one day. This certainly has been a weekend of firsts for me. What’s next? Sex on the kitchen table?” she joked.

“If you’re lucky,” he said, kissing her nose.

Much later, they were cooking dinner together. Spaghetti with sauce from a jar, and a salad that Natalie tossed together – fast and easy and just what they needed. They needed sustenance, especially if the night proved as entertaining as the previous one.

They talked about nothing in particular as they ate. She shared a few fun stories about some of her students, showing him some pictures on her phone of their projects. The pictures she’d shown him of Lucy’s paintings had him in awe of the little girl’s talent.

“I know, right?” she said after seeing his jaw drop. “Her talent is unmatched. She’s a wonder.”

“I can’t believe someone so young could make something this incredible. It’s so realistic.” Lucy had drawn her dog managing to capture the joyful expression on the dog’s face as he panted. “It’s amazing.”

He described some of his memorable rescues. As she listened, she remembered something he’d said the previous night in her studio.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.” He rinsed off their dishes and placed them in the dishwasher. When she hadn’t asked her question for a moment, he paused while drying his hands. She was suddenly nervous though unsure why. She didn’t want to pry. If he wasn’t ready to talk about himself, she didn’t want to push him away. “Natalie?” he asked, concern etched into his face. “What is it?”

“I … I need to know about something you said last night,” she continued hesitantly. She began to pace. “You don’t have to tell me if you’d rather not.”

“Natalie.” He caught her wrist as she paced past him, bringing her to a halt in front of him. “Why don’t you ask me and let me decide if I want to answer or not.”

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