“I don’t have to go in if she’s not better.” Then he heaved a sigh. “I suppose we should both go to bed,” he said, nothing remotely suggestive in his words.
Lana nodded. “It’s been a long day.”
He went to move away, then stopped. “Call me if I don’t hear her.”
“I will.”
He left the room and exhaustion swooped over Lana. The thought of bed and sleep sounded like heaven.
Only, once she’d had her shower she felt incredibly thirsty and decided to get a cool glass of milk or she wouldn’t sleep until she did.
And this time she remembered to slip on her satiny bathrobe over her chemise nightgown.
Just in case.
It was as well she did. At the kitchen door she got a jolt to find Matt standing there in his pajama bottoms, looking out the window over the back garden, the moon giving enough light for her to see his knuckles gripping the edge of the sink.
She moved toward him in concern. “Matt?”
He didn’t turn around.
“Matt, are you okay?”
He took a ragged breath. “I’m not sure I can handle this parenting stuff, Lana,” he muttered. “Tonight almost killed me worrying about her.”
Her heart softened. Oh, she so knew how he felt. It was a tough job at times.
“Too late,” she said gently. “Once you’re a parent there’s no going back. She has our heart.” Without thinking, she rested her hand on his shoulder and felt his muscles tighten.
“Don’t touch me, Lana. Not right now. Not tonight.”
The breath hitched in her throat. “Why?”
“I may not be responsible for my actions.”
A knot rose in her throat. “Then don’t be,” she whispered, squeezing his shoulder.
He sucked in a sharp breath and slowly turned to face her, his eyes riveting on her face. “Are you sure?”
She nodded.
His hands slid onto her hips and held. “I’ve never wanted a woman like I want you.”
Oh God, he was turning her into mush.
“If we make love, I’m going to share your bed from now on, Lana.”
She swallowed. “You are?”
“It’s no use us pretending we don’t want each other.”
Her heart thudded. Did he mean …
“But I make no promises.”
Her heart hit the floor, then picked itself up.
Her eyes clung to his. “I don’t want any promises, Matt. I don’t want anything but for you to make love to me over and over.”
He groaned and pulled her into his arms, his mouth capturing hers, her lips opening in invitation. He took slow sips from her mouth, drugging her with his taste and his velvety tongue.
And then he stepped back and held out his hand, his eyes glittering in the dark. “Shall we make ourselves more comfortable?”
Without hesitation she slipped her hand in his, happy to follow him wherever he led.
They stopped briefly to check on their daughter, who thankfully continued to sleep peacefully, and they smiled at each other with deep connection.
Then they went into his room and shut the door behind them, tucking themselves away, fully aware there was no need to hurry their lovemaking this time.
He held her in front of him. “You’re gorgeous,” he said huskily, his eyes going over her from the top of her head, down over her satiny bathrobe, to her bare feet. Then his eyes rose upward. “God. I almost don’t want to take your clothes off you.”
She became fascinated by the vein that pulsed in his neck. “You don’t?”
“I’m lying.”
She moistened her lips. “I’m glad.”
“So am I,” he murmured, undoing the sash at her waist and peeling the robe off her shoulders, leaving her standing there in her pearl-colored chemise. “Oh yeah, sweetheart. I’m … so … glad.”
He pulled her close and started kissing her again.
Deeply, this time.
Deeper than any other time, not so much in touch but in intensity.
And intimacy.
This time it wasn’t about two people making love together, but about two people being intimate.
And then he reached down to her hem and lifted the nightgown over her head, leaving her naked.
She gasped as his hands slow-traced her hips … her derriere … brushing over the bare skin of her back … exploring her body from behind.
And then those wonderful hands moved up and around to her front, touching her breasts, circling the sensitive skin before cupping them as he weighed and measured them in his palms, before lowering his head and fitting one of the brown nubs in his mouth.
“Oh my heaven,” was all she could manage, her mind reeling as he gently nipped and licked her body to life … a life that had her clutching his bare shoulders, wanting to touch him as he was touching her.