of pleasure. She felt him tense, then with a harsh groan, he threw back his head and gave a final, deep thrust. After his shudders subsided, he rested his forehead against hers, their ragged breaths bouncing off each other.
Maddie lay beneath him, sated, limp, delicious aftershocks still rippling through her. His weight pressing her into the mattress felt decadent and so lovely she wouldn’t have moved even if she’d been capable of doing so, which she wasn’t. She wasn’t sure how much time passed before he raised his head. When she felt him brush aside a strand of hair from her cheek, she forced her heavy eyelids open. And found him studying her with an expression that looked as bemused as she felt.
An unexpected tenderness suffused her, one that she wouldn’t have thought to associate with casual sex. But then, she was pretty inexperienced as far as casual sex was concerned. She swallowed then reached up so her fingers could explore his features. “Okay, I want the unvarnished truth, Jack. Was that as good as I think it was?”
He turned his head and pressed a kiss against her palm. “Would you believe me if I told you I think it was even better?”
Relief filled her. “Glad to know it wasn’t just me.”
“Not just you,” he assured her.
“Probably it was just because it had been such a long time for both of us.” She studied his face in the dim light. “Right?”
She’d expected a lighthearted answer, but instead he gazed at her through serious eyes. “I don’t know.” He studied her for several more seconds, then one corner of his mouth quirked upward. “So I vote we do it again. Since it’s now been less than ten minutes for both of us, we’ll be better able to judge.” He dropped a quick kiss on her lips. “What do you say?”
She gave a feigned casual shrug. “Fine. Good. Whatever you say. But I vote for doing it
He heaved a put-upon sigh. “Oh, all right. If you insist. I’ll try not to complain too much.”
“Good. Because you know who likes a whiner?”
“Who?”
“Nobody.”
He chuckled. “Let’s take a shower, then you can model some of those other lingerie goodies you have in your suitcase.”
“Hmmm. I have quite a bit of lingerie in there.”
“And you won’t catch me whining. Nope. ’Cause you know, nobody likes a whiner.”
“That’s right. About this shower…” She tickled her fingers down his smooth back to his butt, liking the heat that flared in his eyes. “I plan to get you all in a lather. In more ways than one.”
“Good. Fine. Whatever you say.”
Jack stomped through the damn woods, trying to concentrate on what he was supposed to be concentrating on-which was finding the various colored flags he and Maddie needed to locate on their orienteering outing so they could then make their way out of the damn woods-but he was failing miserably. The only thing he could concentrate on was the woman walking beside him.
The woman who, thanks to hours spent in sensual exploration last night, he now knew a whole lot about. And damned if he didn’t like everything he’d learned.
After a leisurely shower-during which they’d both been worked into a lather in more ways than one-they’d raided the minibar. While sharing a can of peanuts and a soft drink, they’d talked about their lives and interests. Aside from the fact that she was a generous, uninhibited, and exciting lover, Maddie was smart, funny, savvy, and possessed an almost encyclopedic knowledge of movies and baseball stats. When they discovered they’d attended rival universities, a friendly debate had ensued regarding whose school was better.
He learned she was an only child and that she envied him his close-knit relationship with Claire and Sophie. That she loved animals, played a mean game of tennis, a horrible game of chess, loved shopping at flea markets, collected antique teapots, and considered her curly hair a curse-an opinion he thoroughly disagreed with. She loved to cook, hated doing laundry, adored the beach, had never been snow skiing, and hoped to vacation in Italy next year.
He’d felt completely at ease with her and more than once he mentally shook his head, unable to believe this intelligent, interesting, sexy-as-hell woman was the same person he’d dubbed “Mad Dog” and had been at odds with for the past month. With each new thing he discovered about her, he found himself wanting to know more. Wanting to know everything. It had been a damn long time since he’d felt such a connection with a woman. A connection that went beyond mere physical attraction.
Not that he could deny he found her very physically attractive. He did. Painfully so. How the hell had he missed those beautiful soulful brown eyes? That gorgeous smile? Those luscious feminine curves? He didn’t know. Clearly he’d had his head in the sand. But now he knew, and he wondered how he was going to be able to forget now that their one-night stand was over.
After their can of peanuts and soda picnic on the bed, they’d made love again then fallen asleep. When the phone rang at five a.m. for their orienteering outing, he’d awakened to her snuggled against his side, one shapely thigh draped over his, her hand resting on his chest. And he’d liked the feeling. A lot. It had been a long time since he’d woken up with someone, and it brought home the realization of how lonely he’d been. How much he missed having someone special in his life. Missed being in a relationship. Being part of a couple. Caring for someone and being cared for in return.
Those feelings grew in intensity when she’d opened her eyes and greeted him with a sleepy good morning smile. And then a bout of soft, slow, morning sex-the perfect ending to what had been, as far as he was concerned, a perfect night.
He’d returned to his room to shower and dress for their orienteering outing, then met her in the lobby, where he was smacked with the realization that their night was indeed over. Maddie was all business, greeting him with a cool, professional smile, severely pulled back hair, black-rimmed glasses, and her no-nonsense attitude firmly in place. As if less than an hour ago they hadn’t been naked with each other.
Which unreasonably annoyed him. During the van ride to the heavily wooded orienteering course, his common sense reminded him that that’s what they’d agreed to, yet some other part of him was pissed-and incredulous-and damn it, maybe even a little bit hurt that she could so easily set aside what they’d shared. Because as far as he was concerned, what they’d shared had been… amazing. And certainly uncommon, at least in his experience.
“According to my calculations, the blue flag should be about four hundred yards due east,” she said, pointing to the right. She paused and consulted her map. “What do you think?”
He raked a hand through his hair.
Maybe because he’d enjoyed it so much. Too much.
“Jack? You okay?”
Her voice jerked him from his thoughts and he realized she was looking at him with a quizzical expression. He much preferred seeing arousal in her eyes. What would it take to see it there again? He didn’t know, but he sure as hell wanted to find out.
He took a step closer to her and noted with grim satisfaction the desire-and wariness-that flared in her eyes.
She retreated another step. “Oh? The sun getting to you? I have some sunscreen in my backpack.”
He shook his head and kept advancing in pace with her backwards retreat. “It’s not the sun that’s getting to me, Maddie.”
Her back hit the thick trunk of an enormous tree, stopping her. He halted a foot in front of her and planted a
