Page 70 of Always

James pulled off her sandals, kissing the delicate arch of her foot, then her calf, trailing his way up to her thighs. He seemed to give off five times the heat of a normal person, she could feel it radiating from his mouth, his tongue, his hands every place that they touched her. It made her skin burn as well, and her whole body started to ache with the desperate desire to be touched by him.

He began to lick and kiss and touch between her legs. She remembered something else about him now, how he was so good with his hands, how he could do a dozen things at once. He made her flesh turn to liquid, so she was melting, melting, melting into the bed.

She began to build to a climax. The size, the intensity of the wave building inside of her almost frightened her. She knew when it broke, she would have no control whatsoever. But she didn’t care. She wasn’t worried anymore what James would think of her. She knew that he loved her absolutely, that she didn’t have to worry anymore how she looked or sounded.

So she let the wave break as hard and as long as it wanted to, she was as loud as she wanted to be, she held nothing back.

While she was still coming down off it, before she had recovered at all, James got up on the bed and climbed on top of her, thrusting inside of her.

Immediately the feeling began to build again. This time it was even stronger, even more intense, almost painful. She could feel how broad and strong James’s back was, how tightly he gripped her. She felt like he could snap her in two if he wanted, but she knew he wouldn’t hurt her in the slightest. It was like riding a tiger.

The ferocity of her second climax was like nothing she had felt in her life, it felt as if it would rip her into pieces. Sparks of light burst behind her closed eyes. She clung to James with all her might, every muscle clenching and trembling, and then she collapsed, limp as a rag.

But James wasn’t done with her. There were years of pent up longing between the two of them. Added to that, in recent months, acute frustration and points of near desperation.

James flipped her over and kept going from behind, holding her upright with her body pinned tight against his, her back against his chest, his hands on her breasts. He slammed their bodies together over and over, exorcizing every ounce of the yearning and craving they had both experienced in their time apart.

At last he slowed just a little, his chest shining with sweat. Anika turned around to sit upright on his lap, her arms wrapped tight around his neck, her legs around his waist, their foreheads pressed together. She rode him gently, looking into his eyes. When she felt a climax beginning to build again, she whispered in his ear, “Come with me.”

They moved together, in perfect sync. They climbed the mountain together, and they came rushing down the other side, Anika biting down on his shoulder, James with his hands wrapped tight in her hair.

It was the most intense and present moment of Anika’s life. Her mind had never felt so clear. Never had she experienced such acute feeling in every cell of her body. Every one of her senses was tuned to a fever pitch. She could hear the beating of their hearts, the panting of their breath. She could smell the delicious scent of James’ skin, his light sweat and his warm, clean flesh. She could taste his arousal when their mouths met, and she could see the tiny golden-brown hairs on his arms standing up from the potent electric charge between them. And most of all, she could feel him – feel every millimeter of their skin in contact, throbbing with pleasure from that connection.

It was a moment that seemed to last a thousand years. One that she never could have forgotten, if she lived a thousand more.

And then at last it ended.

They lay down, still locked tight together. They lay that way for a long time, neither one willing to let go.

They might have dozed for a while. It had been such a long time since either of them slept. And the satisfaction they were feeling, the sense of absolute peace and completion, had been ten years in the making.

When Anika woke, James was awake too, looking at her.

“I’m so sorry,” Anika said.

“What are you sorry for?”

“I should have come to California with you.”

“I should never have asked you to make that choice,” James said, “when I knew you weren’t ready yet.”

Her heart was aching in her chest. Looking at his beautiful, deep blue eyes, his smile of complete acceptance and understanding, she couldn’t imagine how she had survived without him.

“We could have had so much more time together,” Anika said, tears in her eyes.

“It doesn’t matter,” James said. “We’ll have so much more. We’ll have the rest of our lives together. Besides, being here with you now, I can’t wish that anything was different.”

“You can’t?”

“No. I thought I loved you then, but I had no idea what my life would be without you, how empty every achievement and every experience would seem. Now I know how black it is without you. Now I can appreciate you the way you deserve.”

“It’s true,” she said slowly, “We were kids then. Now we can be more than lovers, we can be partners.”

“That’s what I want,” James said fervently. “You know, I’ll have to come back here once or twice a month while Liam and I set up the fund—will you come with me? They have so many good designers here. You could find some to do guest collections for the Red Line. So you don’t have to count on Bennet all the time.”

Anika laughed as she realized something.

“You know, you’re going to be his boss now,” she said.

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