her was cold and narrow, but Rick’s hold on her made her feel safe enough to enjoy the thrill of the moment. To concentrate on nothing more than the hard, solid strength of him driving into her body.
Eileen lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist as her climax neared. She moved into him, rocking as much as she dared, taking as much of him as he gave, offering herself and pulling him closer, deeper, within her.
The rain started.
Icy pellets of water sluiced over them in a rush.
As if the sky had reached the point of no return and hadn’t been able to hold back any longer.
Eileen knew the feeling.
With rain cascading over them, she shook her wet hair back from her face and fought for breath. Her mind splintered. Her body exploded.
‘‘Rick…Rick…’’ Her fingers flexed on his shoulders, her nails digging into his flesh, holding on, squeezing as he pushed her up that last, sweet climb to release. She looked into his eyes and watched him as he kissed her. His tongue swept across her lips, her teeth, moving inside, taking her breath and giving her his. She felt it all. Felt the magic build. Felt the sudden sway of her body tipping into oblivion, and then she groaned and rode the wave of completion, locked within his grasp, his mouth muffling her cries.
And before her body had stopped trembling, he plunged deep within her and stiffened, reaching his own release in time to join her on the slow slide down from heaven.
Five
His body still quivering with reaction, Rick lifted her off the railing, and keeping his body locked tight within hers, carried her inside, out of the rain.
She wrapped her arms around him and kept her legs twisted about his waist like a vise. Burying her face in the curve of his neck, she shuddered, then whispered, ‘‘Okay, that was impressive.’’
He chuckled, and holding her close, made his way carefully across the darkened living room to his bedroom. ‘‘And that was wet. I do my best work when I’m dry.’’
She lifted her head to look at him in the dim light. ‘‘Well heck,’’ she said, ‘‘hand me a towel.’’
He gave her behind a sharp pat. ‘‘That’s the plan.’’
‘‘Love a man with a plan,’’ Eileen said, keeping her gaze fixed on his as he stepped through the doorway and into his room.
Rocking her hips, she moved on him and he sucked in air through clenched teeth. Slapping one arm across her behind, he held her still. ‘‘You’re killing me,’’ he admitted.
‘‘Oh,’’ she said, shaking her head, letting water droplets fly, ‘‘not yet.’’
One corner of his mouth lifted as he eased down onto the soft mattress, his body still deep within hers. ‘‘Got your own plans, have you?’’
‘‘I’m making it up as I go along,’’ she said, reaching to cup his face between her palms.
‘‘You’re doin’ fine,’’ he assured her. ‘‘Don’t stop now.’’
‘‘Don’t worry about that.’’ Now that they’d started, giving in to the tension that had rippled between them all week, Eileen didn’t want to stop. She wanted more of him. She wanted to feel that building excitement within again. She wanted to experience the crashing explosion of desire and the throbbing pulse of satisfaction.
She hadn’t expected this.
Hadn’t planned on it.
But she was smart enough to enjoy it once it had happened.
The old quilt beneath her felt warm and soft. Cotton brushed her skin and wrapped up around her like a cocoon. She felt surrounded by warmth even though her skin had been chilled by the rain, now beating down on the roof like tiny fists in a fury. Occasional flashes of lightning were the only illumination in the room, but it was enough to see Rick’s face, read his features, and know that he was feeling the same things she was.
He moved within her, hard again and she arched into him like a lazy cat waiting to be stroked. Tipping her head back into the mattress, she unwound her legs from his hips and planted both feet on the bed. Then rocking her hips against his, she opened wider for him, taking him as deeply as she could and wishing she could take him completely inside her. He was so big, so hard, she felt as though he was touching the base of her heart when he plunged inside her.
‘‘More,’’ she demanded, dragging her nails along his back, down his spine.
‘‘More,’’ he agreed and suddenly flipped over, taking her with him, until she straddled him and he lay flat on his back.
Rick watched her in the half-light and wished he’d taken the time to light some of the candles that were sprinkled around the room. Apparently there were lots of power outages around here. And a few lit candles would have been enough to let him completely enjoy the sight of Eileen atop him.
With her legs on either side of him, she braced her palms on his chest and fingered his flat nipples, stroking, caressing. She moved on him, rocking her hips and bucking, arching her back as though she were riding a half-wild horse in a rodeo.
Her skin still damp with rain, cold drops of water dripping from the ends of her hair to splatter against his body, she looked fierce and tender and free. Her head fell back and her eyes closed as she moved on him, taking him deep within her and grinding her hips against him. She drove him higher, higher than he’d expected. Higher than he’d thought possible. And the flashing need erupting inside him nearly strangled him.
He reached up, covering her breasts with his hands, his fingers and thumbs squeezing her hardened nipples. She pushed herself into his touch and he smiled, before dropping one hand to the spot where their bodies met. He fingered her center, toying with that small nubbin of flesh that held her secrets, cradled her need.
‘‘Rick!’’ She groaned his name and moved harder on him, swaying, moving with a rhythm that rocked him to his bones.
‘‘Feel it,’’ he ordered, watching her face, seeing the pleasure streaking across her features.
‘‘Too much,’’ she murmured, shaking her head, biting her bottom lip.
‘‘Never enough,’’ he told her, and kept stroking her center as she moved on him, rocking, swaying, taking.
She gasped as her body tightened on his. The first tremors took her and she moved quickly, fiercely, heightening her own pleasure while demanding his.
‘‘Never enough,’’ she echoed as he erupted inside her, then cradled her gently as they took the fall together.
Minutes, hours…heck, it could have been days later, for all Eileen knew—or cared—she collapsed beside him in a boneless heap. She licked her lips and tried to fight off the buzzing in her head long enough to say, ‘‘That was…amazing.’’
‘‘In a word,’’ he said, his voice nearly lost in the crash and boom of thunder.
‘‘You know…’’ Eileen took a long, unsteady breath and blew it out again before continuing. ‘‘For a guy who looks like Mr. Uptight and Closed Off, you do some great work.’’
‘‘You’re not so bad yourself,’’ he said.
She smiled in the darkness, then felt that smile slowly fade away as reality came crashing down on her. ‘‘We’re gonna be sorry we did this, aren’t we?’’
‘‘Probably.’’
‘‘That’s what I thought.’’ Eileen studied the play of slashes of light across the beamed ceiling and listened to Rick’s heavy breathing in the quiet. Her thoughts raced across her mind in such a blur of speed she couldn’t really nail one down long enough to examine it. And that was, no doubt, for the best. Considering that if