Page 94

“There are things I want to do first. Things I’ve wanted to do since I first met you.”

Phoebe swallowed. “And you can. You can do whatever”—her stomach swooped with joy and anticipation—“whatever you want with me. But first, I need to do what I want with you.”

She guided him backward so he sat resting against the headboard.

“Take those off.” She gestured to his pants.

He obeyed.

“I’m putting this on now. Okay?”

He nodded.

Phoebe rolled the condom on, stifling a whimper at the feel of him in her hand. Then she straddled his lap, curled her legs around him, and kissed him deeply as she took him inside.

The tension and yearning of many years exploded between them. They couldn’t pull each other close enough, couldn’t kiss hard enough. Phoebe rocked against him, fast and urgent. She flung her head back as he dipped his face to her breasts. After only a few minutes, when she could feel the pleasure building to a peak inside her, she rested her forehead against his and looked into his eyes.

“Jonathan,” she whispered.

“Phoebe.”

They came together, cradling each other’s faces, breathing in their gasps of delight.

Afterward, they stayed like that for several long minutes. Naked, entwined, Phoebe’s legs tangled around his torso. He traced his fingers up and down her back, making her shiver. She ran her thumb over his lotus tattoo, marveling at the softness of his skin.

Finally, they disentangled themselves. Phoebe crawled under the covers. Jonathan went to the kitchen and returned with two glasses of water. After they gulped it down, they lay down together and faced each other, grinning. Neither of them knew what to say. Phoebe wasn’t sure if anything needed to be said. She let out a snort of laughter. It set Jonathan off, and they both started laughing so hard, they couldn’t stop.

Eventually, they rolled over to look at the ceiling, catching their breath. Phoebe wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Okay.” Jonathan had his hands tucked behind his head. Phoebe desperately wanted to caress the biceps closest to her but didn’t want to be weird.

“Okay what?”

“Are you ready?”

“Ready for…?”

“You had your turn. Now it’s my turn.”

“Oh.” Phoebe was spent, her body limp with the aftermath of pleasure. But she wasn’t about to protest as Jonathan covered her body with his again, kissing her deeply before making his way down. Phoebe thought fleetingly that she should let Jonathan have his way forever from now on. And then she didn’t have another coherent thought for the next hour as Jonathan Lee showed her exactly what he’d been wanting to do for the past eight years.

Chapter 34

Arden

Under a cold, gray morning sky, Arden stepped outside to find Sam waiting for her on the sidewalk. Seeing his smile directed at her made her feel like the sun had come out.

They held hands as they walked the ten minutes to the restaurant Sam had chosen. It was called Toulouse Petite, and the outside looked like it had been plucked straight out of New Orleans. Sam had made a reservation online, so they were seated right away.

Arden slid into the booth, and Sam sat beside her. Their booth was one over from the floor-to-ceiling window, so they had a view of the street outside without being right next to the cold glass.

“Wow.” Arden looked around appreciatively. The restaurant was bedecked with red-and-green Christmas ornaments, gold tinsel, and a thousand tea lights. The candles were lit this morning to fight off the late-December gloom. “This is gorgeous.”

“Just wait till you try the beignets.” Sam reached for Arden’s hand and held it on the bench between them as he perused the menu.

“I’ve never been to New Orleans. Have you?”

“No. I would love to, though. For the beignets alone. I also love jazz. It would be so cool to see the Marsalis brothers play.”