So kind and tender yet strong as an eagle’s. She could stare into them forever. In fact, she couldn’t look away, or even blink, when he finally entered her. His filling her with the hot, hard proof of his life filled every hole in her heart.
Tears rolled down her cheeks while she rode him.
“I found you,” she cried with every stroke. “I found you!”
He caressed her breasts and ran impossibly gentle hands over every part of her he could reach. His eyes were wide and filled with love as he said her name, over and over again. If anything, his time off had made the tender side of him even stronger.
He leaned up, cradling her in a face-to-face sitting position. “You’re beautiful when you cry, but I wish you’d stop.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to make you happy.”
“You do.” To prove it, she pressed her lips to his beard and his neck and inhaled his warm scent like a drug.
After their long absence, it enfolded her like a blanket. He reminded her of the swamp itself. Earthy, mystical, hidden away from the world. It made her want to stay. Forever. Here. Wherever he was.
“Are we rocking the boat?” she asked.
“I think we’re rocking the whole state of Louisiana.”
She’d never been so wet. So turned on. They were generating enough lubrication to float the boat a hundred times over. The sounds of his cock sliding in and out of her tight flesh matched the water lapping the hull. As if they’d become the wilderness around them. Or it had become them.
His expressive mouth was hard one minute and soft the next. He lifted her hips, angling his erection deep into the back side of her core. Hitting the nerves there with explosive force. So hard she yelled as she tightened around him. He answered with fireworks of his own, bathing her inside with hot explosions of life seed.
She tried to get off him, but he held her close.
“We’re already more than a little messy,” he pointed out, “and I need to hold you a bit longer.”
She dropped her head onto his shoulder and combed her fingers through the damp locks of his hair. Love burned deep inside her. It may have shrunk down to embers, but it had never completely died. She’d been a fool to think it ever would.
“Oh, Rodney. What have we done?”
“Something beautiful.” He stroked a finger across her wet cheek. “Please tell me you’re not going to marry that man.”
Dread filled her, cooling the heat they’d created. Breaking up with Ted after he’d been so patient and caring would not be easy.
“No. No, I can’t marry him now.” Not after what she’d done. Not the way she felt for someone else. She would have to end up alone.
“Then we have a chance?” he asked, hope burning in his dark eyes.
“A chance at what?” she asked, finally disengaging from his body. “We have completely different lives.”
“What else is new?”
When she found the roll of paper towels, she pulled some sheets off to clean herself and handed it to Rodney. He did the same.
“I should never have broken up with you,” he said. “But we’ve been given a second chance. I don’t intend to blow it, this time.”
She fished her panties and shorts from the tumbled covers.
“I’m an attorney general in Washington, which keeps me too busy to travel much. You’re here with no identity or money to get an airline ticket.” She cringed. “You’ll probably never want to set foot on an airplane again, anyway. I need something more solid than a string of one-night stands.”
“It wouldn’t be easy,” he agreed, “but anything could work if we decide it will. Why don’t you live here with me? Your parents are happy living off the grid, aren’t they?”
She paused in her tracks. A few weeks ago, she would have given her eyeteeth just to be with him. No matter the situation. Living here would be so easy and carefree, not to mention inexpensive. She’d been so obsessed with income, she’d forgotten lowering costs provided financial security as well.
And, after the love he’d just made to her, she was sure she’d reached nirvana.
Lost in thought, Dee bit her bottom lip. No, she couldn’t do it.
“I was elected to serve the people. I can’t turn my back on them.” She stared out at the peaceful, mirror-smooth water. “I’m too young to retire. I’d feel unfulfilled if I wasn’t helping anyone. Besides, I need to be able to take care of my parents financially.”
“They could live here, too,” he suggested. “Once my ankle fully heals, I’ll be able to take on more work.”
“I’m sorry.”
Rodney stood and combed his hair behind his ears with his fingers. “Then, why don’t you go be with that Ted guy? Sounds like he’s more your speed than me.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then, what is it?” he demanded. “Because all I’m hearing is a bunch of excuses that could be worked around some kind of way.”
“You’re right. I wish I knew. It’s just a gut feeling that it won’t work.”
She stepped onto the deck, staring at the water for answers. What was wrong with her? Rodney was the love of her life. Why wasn’t she in his arms right now, planning their future?
After washing her face, she fished her cell phone out of her purse to check her flight status. She needed to hurry if she was going to make it.
Ted had sent a text. Just checking in. Did you survive your night in the swamp?
Guilt flooded her. He didn’t deserve to be jilted.
Yes, still in one piece, she texted back. The rest, she would tell him in person.
After checking her airline’s app, she clicked the news feed by habit.
“Your brother’s voice gave out at a hate rally last night,” she said. “He threw a tantrum, and they had to cancel
