“It’s snowing,” he said, not quite believing it.
“It’s magic,” she whispered, pulling him down for a magical kiss.
They kissed with the snow falling softly around them then watched the fat flakes land silently on the cold surface, disappearing without ripple or sound, merging with the water. He wrapped Mia up, merged with her, and thought of merging more fully when they got back to the hotel.
* * *
THEIR HOTEL ROOM OVERLOOKED a quiet New York street covered in a blanket of white. He undressed her slowly, peeling away the layers until all that remained were her delicate panties. He stood behind her, trailed his lips over the skin of her shoulder, felt her shudder when he grazed his teeth up the tender skin of her throat. The reflection of their bodies superimposed on the glass like they were part of the outside scene even as they stood in the dark warmth four stories above.
It never got old and always felt new. The feel of her soft flesh under his hands, sliding along his lips. Her sweet scent something he only ever associated with Mia. He kissed around the shell of her ear, then paused and spent some time on the sensitive spot just behind. Her soft sighs and quick inhales were his guide. They were like one heart, in sync. Fluidly she turned in his arms, and he kissed her cheeks, her forehead, then watched as she reached up to undo the buttons of his shirt.
He let her work the shirt off and sighed when her hands ran over him. Almost lost his plans of slow seduction when she laid a line of open-mouth kisses across his chest. He caught her face, tilted it up to his, and ravaged her mouth. Just shy of rough, he nipped at her bottom lip, plundered until he felt her sway.
He laid her on the bed, drank in the sight of her, from her toes to her eyes, then with his lips he tasted her the same way. Starting slowly at her feet and working his way up, laying small kisses behind her knees then taking some time at her thighs and higher until she was squirming, lifting her hips, begging him to focus on that center where she needed him. But he was going to make this last. He was going to love her all night. He had no need for sleep.
She reached for him, trying to pull him up, trying to rush him.
“Shh… be patient.”
“No. I’m not patient.”
He brushed his lips back over her abdomen, nipped at her hip. “My Mia, so hungry for more.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Please.”
When he skimmed his thumbs over her nipples, her breath hitched. He lifted his head to watch her face as he cupped her breast, molded it in his rough palm. Felt her tremble and arch into him when he drew her into his mouth. Her skin was hot now, damp with sweat, as he drew that need to the surface.
He kissed her parted lips. “I love the way you look at me when I touch you.”
“I’m not looking… I’m… I can’t think.”
“Exactly. Your eyes glaze over. You lose focus until I know there’s nothing going on in that head of yours but me. Just us and this bed and my hands on you.”
He traced down her stomach and over her hips. He was patient in his exploration, even more determined every time she quivered in response to his touch. He ran his palms up the insides of her thighs, his thumbs going closer and closer with every pass.
“Nick.”
“I’m right here.”
“I know but… I want—”
“I know what you want. I know what you need.” He hooked his fingers in the elastic on either side of her waist, slid the last silken barrier away— and now he was the one quivering. Even in the darkness of the room he could clearly see her outline, the curves of her pale skin, the shadow between her legs.
He made himself at home there and drove her to the edge again and again before finally taking her over.
She lay limp and loose, and he pressed his hammering heart to her chest, skin to skin. He needed to cover himself with her, her scent and voice, and fill himself up for however long it would be before he was with her again.
This is what he dreamed of every night when they were apart. She was real, and he was here with her.
The storm gathered, and the heat rose as he pushed inside. “I love you. I love you, Mia. You’re everything. Everything.” He didn’t hold back now, as if being inside her broke down any barriers he might have had, and the words flowed. He whispered them as he moved. She was all. His life. His heart.
Then he pressed a kiss to the arched column of her throat, held his lips there as she cried out her release, and he followed.
* * *
HE’D BEEN BACK IN Virginia exactly one month, dreaming every night of a New York hotel room, when he answered the door. His heart took a leap. Mia stood on his front porch, suitcase beside her, a huge smile lighting her eyes.