His gentle touches became firmer, more insistent. Lana’s body tensed, spiraling near and nearer to her peak. “That…would…be…now,” she rasped.
James pulled away, and then his hands were on her hips, digging deep. He slid through her wetness, pulling her back as he pushed inside, until he was deep, deeper than fingers could go. Lana’s eyes watered as the overwhelming fullness eased into exquisite pleasure.
With a groan, he moved within her, sending tremors through her body. Then he eased out and thrust back in. Her sex clenched around him and she gritted her teeth against the urge to scream or whimper or both.
Holding her steady, he pounded in and out, surging like the tide within her, filling her ear with whispers of all the things he wanted to do to her—dirty things, naughty things, wicked things. Each thrust took her closer and closer to the edge, until she was coiled tight and ready to explode.
“Now,” she growled.
With a chuckle, he slid his hand over her hip, seeking out her swollen clit. One stroke. Two. A pinch. And then the world sheeted red as pleasure surged through her body like white lightning, spreading outward to her fingers and toes.
Before the waves subsided, James tightened his grip on her hips and hammered into her until he became impossibly hard, swelling against her sensitive tissue. With a low groan, he came inside her in long heated jerks.
For a long moment he rested on top of her, his body like a warm blanket. Finally he eased out and knelt behind her, pulling her back into his chest. Lana turned and rested her cheek on the soft mat of hair and listened to the drum of his heart as she soaked up the comfort of his embrace.
“How did you find this place?” she said softly. “It’s so beautiful. Quiet. Peaceful. Private. It’s like a little oasis in the middle of nowhere.”
He stiffened and his arms tightened around her. “Christine, the woman in the picture, was a recreational pilot. We came out to Surrey quite often so she could keep up her flying hours. We flew over here one time and it stuck in my mind.”
Lana looked up at his stark expression. “How did she die?”
Although his gaze slanted down at her, his lips stayed closed. After the intimacy they’d shared, his silence hurt, but then she hadn’t shared her past with him—at least not the things that mattered.
She rested her hand on his chest. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
He drew in a ragged breath and stroked his hand down her hair. “I want to tell you. It’s just…hard. But you should know because she’s the reason I left and why I don’t know if this can work.”
Lana’s blood chilled but she forced herself to stay calm, still. Listen. Not one of her strongest abilities.
His voice rough, he said, “She was my partner when I was a beat cop, and then my lover. And then we got engaged. It was against the rules, but we thought we would sort it out after we were married.”
“I can’t believe you broke the rules,” Lana said lightly.
“First and last time. I learned my lesson the hard way.” His voice tightened and on impulse Lana turned and wrapped her arms around him.
“Keep going.”
His fist clenched and unclenched against her back. “One morning we were getting ready for patrol and she got a text. I picked up the phone to hand it to her and saw who it was from. He was a homicide detective who’d been fired for…unethical behavior. He wasn’t a friend of ours and no longer part of the department so I read the text.”
Lana’s heart squeezed and she inhaled sharply. She didn’t need him to tell her what it said.
“He was married.” James’s voice broke. “He had kids. That made it ten times worse for me. There aren’t many things left in the world that have meaning, but to me marriage is one. I didn’t ask Christine to marry me lightly. I thought of it as a lifetime commitment, an enduring partnership and an unbreakable bond. You don’t run away from a marriage. If something is wrong, you try to fix it. You don’t break the trust.”
Lana’s stomach clenched and nausea roiled in her belly. He could not have said anything to make her feel worse than she did right now.
“I didn’t tell her I saw the text,” he continued. “I asked her if she was having an affair. She lied to me. I didn’t pursue it. I wanted to give her time to think about it. I trusted her to tell me the truth.” His arms squeezed Lana tight, and she closed her eyes to fight back the tears of her own betrayal.
“You can’t stand lies,” she whispered, more for her benefit than his. Lost in his memories, he didn’t respond.