Page 93 of Always to Remember
She ran her hands back up to his shoulders before slowly moving her splayed fingers toward his chest. He wrapped his hands around hers to stop the exploration. He feared, even in the darkness, she’d discover things about him that he’d rather she didn’t know. “I like it when you touch my back,” he said as he guided her hands around his sides.
Leaning forward, she trailed little kisses along his throat, branding him with the heat from her mouth. “You can touch me, too,” she whispered just before she nibbled on his ear.
He flexed his fingers and touched them lightly to her cheeks. He angled her head away from his ear and covered her mouth with his own. She sighed softly, and he held back an answering groan. She’d probably think he was in pain if he continued to sound like an animal every time she touched him.
She shifted her body, and he felt her breasts whisper along his chest. She moved her hands off his flesh, and he felt them working between their bodies. He snapped his head back. “What are you doing?”
She ducked her head as though embarrassed. “I’m hot.”
He watched in amazement as the material of her blouse parted and her throat came into view.
She peered at him. “Would you like to do this?”
“I’ve … I’ve never unbuttoned a lady’s blouse before.”
“It’s not much different than unbuttoning your shirt. You just slip the button through the hole.” He could hear the laughter in her voice as she demonstrated with ease and exposed a little bit more of her flesh.
Clay felt as though someone had just stuffed cotton into his mouth. Rubbing his hands along his thighs, he tried to calm their trembling. He reached for the button, and his knuckles grazed the inside swells of her breasts. He jerked his hands back. “Maybe you’d better unbutton that one.”
She shook her head slightly. “I want you to.”
He took a deep breath and returned his fingers to the button. His hands didn’t want to cooperate. They didn’t want to push a button through a hole. They wanted to open and cup her breasts. He tried to force them to forget they were nestled between the lush valley of her breasts. Her button went flying out into the night.
“Damn!” He moved his hands away from her blouse. “If we find it, I can sew it back on.”
She wrapped her hands around his. “I’m not worried about my button. I’m worried that maybe you don’t want what I’m offering.”
He swallowed hard. “What are you offering?”
“All of me.”
“Oh, Lord.” He bowed his head. “I want you so bad, Meg, that it hurts. I’ve loved you so long that I can’t remember when I didn’t.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “You won’t even say my name.”
“I will.” She pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I promise I will.”
“When?”
“When it’ll mean the most.”
“Do you still hate me?”
She shook her head. “No. I haven’t hated you for a long time. I tried to hate you. I pretended that I did because it frightened me to have all these feelings again. I loved Kirk. I wanted to die when he did. I didn’t think I’d ever fall in love with anyone else.” She laid her palm against his cheek and smiled tenderly, with tears welling in her eyes. “But I have.”
Taking her hand, he pressed a kiss into the heart of her palm. “I don’t know how to show you what I feel without fumbling all over myself … and you.”
“Then I’ll show you,” she said in a voice as sultry as the night.
He didn’t know if he’d survive her showing him, but he was willing to chance it. She presented him with her profile as she worked her shoes off. He tugged off his boots and tossed them aside. He’d worry about finding them later. She touched his knee and might just as well have touched his heart, so tender was her caress.
“I’ll finish undressing you in a minute,” she said.
She hiked her skirt over her knee, and he watched as she slowly peeled her stocking down her calf, over her ankle, and past her toes. Where was a full moon when he needed one? One that would shine on her and not on him.
Abruptly, she spun around and placed her stocking-covered foot in his lap. “You can take this one off.”
He wrapped his hand around her calf. “You’re so smooth, so soft.” He rolled the stocking down, slipped it off, and covered her foot with his hand. “You have such small feet.”
“And small ears.”
