Page 43 of Love, Take Two

"All day?" I ask, my hands already exploring the curves of her waist through the silky fabric of her dress.

"Since this morning when we had to say goodbye," she confirms, her voice rough with desire that matches my own. "I kept thinking about your hands on me."

The confession destroys what little restraint I've been maintaining. My hands slide up her back to find the zipper of her dress, pulling it down slowly while I kiss my way along her neck.

"You smell incredible," I murmur against her throat, breathing in the scent of expensive spa treatments mixed with something that's purely her.

"New perfume," she says with a gasp as I find that sensitive spot just below her ear. "Thought you might like it."

"I like everything about you," I say honestly, helping her step out of the dress that pools around her feet like emerald water.

She's wearing black lace underneath that makes my mouth go dry with need. The spa treatments have left her skin glowing and soft, and when I cup her breasts through the delicate fabric, she arches against me with a soft moan that makes thinking practically impossible.

"Your turn," she says, her fingers working on the buttons of my shirt with increasing urgency. "I want to touch you too."

When my shirt hits the floor, her hands immediately explore my chest and shoulders with the kind of focused attention that makes me groan softly. Her touch is confident and deliberate, relearning the landscape of my body while I try not to lose my mind from the sensation.

"Bed," I manage to say, though moving away from her hands feels like torture.

“Yes,” she agrees, taking my hand and leading me toward the ocean-view windows where moonlight streams across white linens.

What follows is desperate and passionate and absolutely perfect. She's responsive and beautiful and everything I've been craving since we woke up together this morning. When I worship every inch of her skin with my mouth and hands, she makes sounds of pleasure that drive me crazy with need.

"Emory," she gasps when I find particularly sensitive spots, her hands clutching at my shoulders as I work my way down her body.

"Tell me what you want," I say against her skin, though her body is already telling me everything I need to know.

"You," she breathes, pulling me up to kiss her with desperate intensity. "All of you. Now."

When she falls apart beneath me, crying out my name with abandon that suggests she's completely forgotten we're in a resort with other guests nearby, the sound pushes me over the edge into my own explosive release. She wraps around me perfectly, moving with me in ways that make everything else disappear except the feeling of being exactly where I belong.

"God, you feel incredible," I tell her, trying to make this last despite the overwhelming need to lose myself completely in her.

"So do you," she manages to say, though her voice is unsteady in the most beautiful way. "Don't stop, don't ever stop."

We lie breathless and tangled together afterward, both completely satisfied and slightly amazed by the intensity of what just happened.

"That was incredible," she says eventually, her voice sleepy and content.

"Better than incredible," I agree, pulling her closer so her head rests on my chest. "That was exactly what I needed after missing you all day."

"Twelve hours really did feel like forever," she admits with a laugh that vibrates against my skin. "I don't think I'm cut out for long-distance separation."

"Good thing we're not planning any long-distance separation," I say, pressing a kiss to her hair.

"I don't think I'll ever want to," she says with certainty that makes my chest warm with contentment.

"Good," I say, settling deeper into the pillows with her curled against me. "Because I'm planning on keeping you very close from now on."

"How close?" she asks with obvious interest in my answer.

"Close enough that spa days require joint participation," I say, which makes her laugh in the way that always makes me want to kiss her. "Close enough that fishing trips are out of the question unless you're in the boat with me."

"I think I can live with that level of closeness," she says, settling more comfortably against my side.

As we drift toward sleep with the sound of waves and the satisfaction of being together again, I realize that twelve hours apart taught me something important: I don't just enjoy Vada's company, I actually need her presence in my daily life in ways that probably should scare me but instead just make me more certain about our future together.

Tomorrow brings Jared and Erika's wedding ceremony, but tonight we have privacy and contentment and the growing certainty that what we're building together is worth every moment of separation anxiety.

---