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Raina let her head drop back against the arm of the couch and closed her eyes, giving herself over to the delicious sensations that poured through her. One moment Nolan’s hands and mouth were at the edge of her panties and the next her panties were gone and she could feel the heat of his breath against the soft skin of her inner thighs.
He pressed a wet kiss against her skin, and then blew out cool air. She shivered as anticipation threatened to destroy her mind even as her body coiled in hope and eagerness, awaiting his next touch. She wasn’t disappointed. His fingers traced a delicious line from her hip to her groin and back again before moving ever so slowly lower.
She knew she was wet and ready for him and yet when his fingers parted her outer lips and traced the entrance of her body she almost jolted right up off the couch.
“Too much?” he asked softly.
“No, not too much. Never too much,” she gasped.
She forced herself to relax and let her thighs fall open, giving him easier access to the secrets of her body. When he eased one finger inside her she murmured her approval and clenched against him involuntarily, sending delight spiraling outward from where he touched.
“You feel so good,” Nolan said, his voice growing huskier by the minute.
“You make me feel so much,” Raina countered breathlessly.
She could feel her climax hovering just on the periphery and knew, without a doubt, that it wouldn’t take much more to send her on a trajectory of pleasure that would shatter her into a million pieces. Nolan eased his finger from her body and then reentered her with two. She loved the sense of fullness it gave her, and as he brushed against that magical part of her, she felt the first pull of orgasm.
Her last rational thought was of his mouth closing over her, of his tongue rolling around the tight bead of nerve endings at her center and of the draw of his mouth as he pushed her gently over the edge and tumbling headlong into bliss.
Nolan gathered her into his arms as the final waves of satisfaction petered away into lassitude, and he lifted her off the couch. She made no protest as he carried her down the hallway and deposited her in her bed, but it wasn’t until he pulled the comforter up over her naked body that she realized he didn’t intend to join her there, or stay.
“Nolan?” she asked, reaching out for him. “We haven’t finished.”
He bent and pressed his lips to hers. “We have—for tonight.”
“But you... I...” She was lost for words to describe the imbalance of what had happened.
“It’s okay. Now sleep. Tomorrow’s another day. I’ll let myself out.”
This wasn’t how she’d imagined things ending tonight at all, Raina thought as she lay in the darkness and heard the front door close, shortly followed by the sound of Nolan’s car driving away. And, while her body was sated, she still felt as though an essential ingredient was missing. She reached across the vacant expanse of her bed and realized that she already missed him. And still she didn’t have the truth.
Fourteen
Raina spent the next few days in a blur of confusion about her feelings for Nolan. Their evening together had been wonderful, truly so. And he’d made her feel cherished and special and all those things that she’d decided, after Jeb, were nonnegotiable. But high on her list was honesty, too. Was withholding things about himself the same as being dishonest? She began to worry that the longer it took, the less likely it was she was going to hear about his past from him. And Raina knew she didn’t want to hear it from anyone else.
Even so, it didn’t stop her from looking forward to seeing him as she had at lunch on Monday, and then for a quick coffee yesterday afternoon. Her father had cautioned her about rushing into things too fast, with a reminder about where that had left her the last time, and she’d acknowledged his concerns. After all, hadn’t he been the one to stand by her through all the fallout from each previous disastrous relationship?
The thought brought her back to Jeb. There had still been no contact from him and when she attempted to call his cell phone, it was disconnected.
At least there were still some things in her life she kept a handle on. She smiled to herself as she adjusted the Christmas display in her store window. The antique Santa and the child’s sled had garnered a great deal of comment from passersby, bringing them into the store and boosting her small-ticket item sales quite comfortably. And the sled itself had sold, too—with the new owner planning to pick it up before New Year’s Eve.
