sensations she was causing and could no longer control his reactions, gasping and moaning with each stroke she took, arching on the bed, his hands clutched in the sheets.
“Oh, that feels so good,” he murmured.
She increased her tempo slightly and another moan slipped from deep in his chest. His hips rocked in time with her rhythm and she sensed that he was coming close. But Rachel wanted to make him last, to draw his orgasm out as he had done for her.
He reached down and buried his fingers in her hair, urging her to continue, frantically moving with her. And though she tried to slow down, Dec was already there. Uncontrollable spasms rocked his body and she continued to stroke him with her hand as he came.
He jerked a few times, gulping for breath as he gave in to the pleasure that wracked his body. And when it was over, and he was spent, he threw his arm over his head and groaned. “What the hell did you do to me?” he muttered, reaching down to touch the small pool of cum on his belly.
“No more than you did to me,” Rachel countered, sliding up to lie beside him.
He raked his hand through her hair, then kissed her. “Is this payback?”
“Just returning a favor.” She snuggled against him, throwing her leg over his waist, the dampness of his orgasm sticky on her skin. “So was it as good for you as it was for me?”
He chuckled softly. “Hell, yeah.” Dec dropped a kiss on her forehead. “A nice way to start the day. A guy could get to like that a little too much, I think.”
“A nice way to end the day, too.”
He sighed, distractedly toying with her hair. “We need to go back today,” he reminded her. “I need to stop by the Providence P.D. and check out this Jerry guy.”
“I thought we could spend the day together.”
“We can be together in Providence. If we want to be.”
“And do we?” Rachel asked. “Do we want to be together?”
“I don’t know,” Dec murmured, frowning. “Do we?”
Rachel wasn’t sure what to say. If she said yes and he didn’t intend to continue seeing her, then she left herself open to a lot of hurt. He was an adult, he could make up his mind on his own. The fact that he wanted her to make up his mind for him was a cop-out. And if he’d been one of her listeners, she would have told him just that.
She always did this, expected more than any man was willing to give. But not this time. She pushed up on her elbow and smiled at him. “I guess we’ll have to play it by ear,” she said.
Funny how they were so comfortable with the physical attraction between the two of them, but when it went beyond that, they both hesitated. Rachel drew the sheet up around her naked body. “It shouldn’t take me too long to pack,” she said.
He ran a hand down her arm, then toyed with her fingers. “We don’t have to leave immediately. We could lie here for a little while longer. I could return the favor that you returned to me.”
“No, I want to get back. I have work and I need to move my things out of that apartment and back into my house. My life can get back to normal now. It’s about time.” Rachel tossed the sheet aside and crawled out of bed, then wrapped her robe around her body.
She hated this. They’d started out so honestly and simply, both of them wanting the same thing-each other. But now, everything had turned complicated. Suddenly, there were feelings involved-and after just a few days together!
“You should probably take a shower,” she murmured, pulling her suitcase from the closet. “And I have to pack.”
Dec tugged his boxers back up, then got out of bed and followed her across the room, stepping up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the curve of her neck. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“I don’t know.” She paused. “This was all such a fantasy, coming up here, being together. But now we’re going back to our real lives.”
“Do you think real life is going to change this thing we have for each other?”
“I don’t know,” Rachel murmured, her voice wavering. “I guess we’ll have to see.”
He kissed her again, then walked out of the room. She watched him go, staring at his finely muscled back as he left. Then she shook her head as if to rid herself of the haze of passion that had been obscuring her thoughts the past few days.
Rachel found her purse, then dug through the contents until she found her cell phone. She turned it on, hoping that it was charged, then waited to see if she had a signal. When she did, she punched in the number of her office.
Simon picked up the phone after the second ring. “Professor Merrill’s office,” he said.
“Simon? It’s Rachel.”
“Professor Merrill, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. I’ve been calling your cell, but you haven’t picked up.”
“I-I accidentally turned it off,” she lied.
“Professor Ellsworth has been trying to get you as well. The editor for your journal article called and they need the final edits back by the end of this week, not next. Professor Ellsworth said that he won’t approve the article without your final input.”
“Tell Daniel I’ll be in later this afternoon and we’ll finish then.” Daniel was the only one outside of Trevor Ross’s people who knew about her stalker. He’d understand why she hadn’t been available. “I’ll see you later, Simon.”
She hung up the phone, then began to gather her things, trying to turn her thoughts toward the work she had to complete before the next semester began. It was usually so easy to focus on her professional projects, but her mind was easily distracted lately.
Rachel pulled a dress from the closet, then tossed the rest of her things into her bag, not bothering to fold or smooth anything. She let her robe drop to the floor, then tugged the dress over her head. She found a pair of panties in the top drawer and pulled them on, then threw the remainder of her underwear on top of her other clothes.
When she was finished, she zipped up the bag and dragged it out to the hall. She was just passing the bathroom when Declan emerged. His hair was wet and standing in spikes and though he carried a towel, he hadn’t bothered to wrap it around his naked body.
She stopped short, then moved to the left at the same time he moved to the right. They went back and forth a few more times, each mirroring the other’s attempts to get by. Finally, Dec cursed and grabbed the suitcase, then set it behind him. In the next instant, he grabbed her around the waist and brought his mouth down on hers, kissing her deeply and thoroughly.
He pressed her back against the wall, her arms pinned up over her head, his mouth hot on her skin. At first, Rachel was stunned by the ferocity of his desire, but then she decided she liked it. It was a wonderful feeling to have a man want her so fiercely that he couldn’t keep his hands off of her.
The towel dropped to the floor and Dec’s hands tangled in her hair. The kiss grew more intense with every second that passed as Dec ravaged her mouth with his tongue. When he finally drew away, he looked down into her eyes. His lips curled into a satisfied smile as he glanced down at his hard penis. “Any questions?”
All Rachel could manage was a breathless “nope” before he turned and walked into his bedroom. The door clicked shut behind him and Rachel fell back against the wall, her knees suddenly weak.
THE RIDE BACK TO PROVIDENCE was so different from the ride up to Maine, Dec mused. The earlier trip had been full of laughter and conversation, good music and, most importantly, anticipation. But all of that had given way to something else on the return trip. Conversation seemed stilted and Rachel seemed horribly ill at ease. In truth, the first two hours on the road were the worst kind of hell Declan had ever experienced with a woman. He’d thought he’d made his feelings clear to Rachel in the hallway, proving to her that no matter where they were, he’d still want her.
But in retrospect, Dec wondered if his little “attack” had done more to scare her than to reassure her of his desire. By the time they’d reached the other side of Boston, Dec had decided to use Rachel’s tactics to get her talking. “So,” he said. “When I went down on you last night, how did it feel?”
She gasped. “What?”
