“But…we should wait.” Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips. “Your back. It isn’t healed.”
His mouth nibbled along her neck. “We’re not going to make love today, Abby. We’re going to take things very slowly.” He nuzzled a spot under her ear while he continued to stroke her waist. “You might trust me with your safety, but you still don’t trust me with your body, do you?”
She thought about that for a long moment, knowing that his comment wasn’t exactly right. When the realization came to her, she held her breath. She trusted him with her body, yes. Completely. But she didn’t trust him with her heart. That was the real risk she took right at this particular moment. And it scared her more than she’d thought possible.
“Zeke, we should…”
“Shhh,” he whispered. “Just tell me when to stop. We’re only going to make out tonight. Just like in high school.”
Was that more dangerous? She didn’t know and she didn’t have a chance to figure that out. Because he was kissing her again. His lips were surprisingly gentle. Brushing his lips against hers, he nibbled and teased until she uttered a protest and lifted her head, capturing his mouth with hers.
That’s when things became dangerous! Abby moaned as he took control of the kiss, his lips moving sensuously over hers, urging her to open her mouth. When she did, his tongue took over the teasing while his hands continued to slide along her skin. With every new inch of skin he touched, her body trembled and she felt as if she wanted to wrap herself around him!
Every muscle in Zeke’s body was tense with the effort to keep himself under control. They were out in the open and, it wasn’t probable, but it was possible someone could come upon them here by the creek. So as much as he wanted to make love to Abby right here, right now, Zeke held back, controlling his touches and refusing to let himself pull her sweater off so that he could feast his eyes on her breasts. He wanted to taste her nipples and…he shook his head and pulled back, his erection throbbing at the idea of tasting her everywhere!
“We should stop,” he groaned, but he didn’t move. His hips were between her legs, their jeans the only thing stopping him from pressing into her body and finding the nirvana he knew he would find there.
Abby arched. “You started it!” she hissed.
He laughed, shaking his head in a pointless effort to disperse some of the lust clouding his mind. “Yeah. I know and it was a mistake.” He pushed away, sitting up but his jeans were pretty uncomfortable with the painful erection pressing against the zipper. “Damn, Abby! You get me hotter than a teenager!” he groaned with a chuckle.
Abby sat up as well and he could see that she was shaking. “I’m…” he started to reach for her, but she pushed away, laughing. “Don’t you dare touch me again, Zeke Jeffers!” And she stood up, putting several feet of distance between them. Shoving her hair out of her eyes, she looked around. “No touching until…” she sighed, bowing her head. “No touching until your back is healed. Two more days, Zeke. Two more days and then, if you are still interested, then I’ll…” she jumped back as he lunged at her.
“My back is fine,” he vowed, reaching for her.
But Abby jumped out of reach again. “You can’t even see your back, Zeke. And it’s healing beautifully, but it’s not ready for the strain of what’s on your mind. My stitches are good, but not good enough for what will happen when we finally…”
“Get naked,” he finished for her and stepped closer, not letting her jump away from him again. “That’s what we’re going to do, Abby,” he growled with barely restrained frustration. “We’re going to get naked so fast that it will make your head spin.”
She stared up at him, not sure what to say after that. “Right. But um…”
“You’ll enjoy it,” he told her, reading her mind. “I promise that you will be screaming my name until you’re hoarse.
Abby laughed, not believing him. “Um…Zeke, I’m not really the screaming sort of woman.”
His fingers dug into her waist just a little. “Just you wait, Abby.” He looked into her eyes. “Screaming! You’ll be begging and it will be amazing! Freaking amazing!”
He could see in her eyes that she didn’t believe him, but that was okay. He had two more days to wait, and then he’d prove it to her. And afterward, when she was in his arms, breathless and limp, he’d repeat her words right back at her.
In the meantime… “It’s still early,” he commented. “Why don’t we pack this up and see if there’s a movie we want to watch?”
She looked up at him, surprised by his question. “A movie?”
He started to pack the rest of the food away. “Do you not like movies?”
She chuckled and bent to help him. “I love movies. I just…”
He realized where she was going with that statement and laughed. “Abby, I like you. I enjoy spending time with you.”
Abby paused, looking over her shoulder at him. Confused. “It’s not just sex?” she challenged, tilting her head quizzically.
Zeke snorted at that question. “Hell yes! It’s sex. But,” he paused, looking at her as if he didn’t really understand it either. “But there is more to it than just sex. So much more.”
She blinked up at him and Zeke wanted to shout or laugh or…hell, maybe howl. “I just scared the hell out of you, didn’t I?”
Abby nodded slowly, chewing her lower lip.
He kissed her again, but this time it was a gentle, sweet kiss. “Don’t be scared, Abby. We’ll take it slow. I promise not to scare you away.”
She laughed
