When her breathing was slow and steady, he kissed her hair and said sotto voce, “I love you, Stella. Till the day I die.”
A while later, he got out of bed and walked into the large walk-in shower in his en suite bathroom.
He couldn’t see Stella open her eyes when he turned on the water.
He didn’t see her hug his pillow, inhaling his scent, and he didn’t see her wipe away a tear when she whispered, “I’ll always love you, too.”
CHAPTER 32
Stella—July 2018
F
ingers danced over her skin—gentle, caressing, teasing.
Stella moaned.
Phantom fingertips barely touched the side of her breast and found their way to her hip. They continued down the side of her leg. And up again. They slid under her T-shirt and circled her breast, cupping it, and playing with her nipple.
She needed more. This was too much. And it was cruel. Those hands hadn’t touched her so intimately in so long.
The fingertips went down again, stopping just above her knees, moving to the inside of her thighs. Only one fingertip branded her, taking its time going upward. The fingers reached the edge of her panties, traced them, until they slid under the silky material.
Please, yes. Just once.
She didn’t often have erotic dreams, and this one was more than she could take. Seeking release, she reached down.
She touched the back of a hand. His hand. Their fingers interlaced over her throbbing spot. With just the right amount of pressure, he circled it and pressed down. She arched into his hand, shaking with the force of her climax, and cried out the only name that mattered to her.
Still trembling with the aftershock, Stella opened her eyes.
In her dream, David held her while she slept, undisturbed by nightmares. But it wasn’t a dream. She had slept in David’s arms all night, and he just made her come with a single touch.
He kissed her shoulder, then rolled her on her back and covered her mouth with his. His kiss was demanding, challenging, owning. He removed her T-shirt.
“Let me see you, my angel. Come again for me.” He never stopped the teasing of her sensitive spot and took her over the top again when he pulled a nipple into his mouth and suckled like a baby.
“You’re not a dream.” She reached for his face and stroked her fingers over his stubble before cupping his cheek.
“I can assure you I’m very real. But I don’t mind proving it to you again.” He smiled while his fingers embarked on another journey over her body.
She didn’t know what to say, but she knew what she wanted to do. She let her hand trail over his chest and abs and heard him hiss when she reached the waistband of his boxer shorts.
“Baby, don’t. Today is about you,” he whispered in a husky voice and stopped her hand.
“No way. You give, you get.” She took him in her hand. His erection pulsed while she stroked him. Her hair fell over her shoulders as she placed kiss after kiss over his belly and further down, following the straight line of coarser hair.
“You know I’m hot for you, and I’m not sure I can hold back,” he panted.
“I know, love.” She kissed every hard inch of him, teasing his swollen head with the pad of her thumb, until he groaned and pulled her up. He kissed her hard and her hand found its way back to his erection. She stroked and squeezed until he let out a guttural sound and erupted, ravishing her mouth until the spasms pulsating against her palm eased.
“Oh, my God, baby, what are you doing to me?” He reached for the tissue box on the nightstand and cleaned himself.
“Are you complaining?” she asked and gave him her best innocent expression.
“What a silly question.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “And it sure beats the cold showers.”
“How many did you take last night?” she asked while she played with the spattering of hair on his chest.
He only shrugged. “Are you ready for a nice, warm shower? I’ll wash yours if you wash mine.”
“David, you say the sweetest things,” she snickered. “And then I need coffee!”
His deep laugh warmed her through and through, and the kiss he followed up with expressed more than a thousand words.
“I could get used to room service.” She sat in bed, again wearing David’s T-shirt, and reached for a croissant. She had already devoured chunks of a fresh baguette with butter and jam and was on her second cup of coffee.
“I’ll keep it in mind.” He stretched out on the bed next to her and took a brioche out of the breadbasket.
Stella pulled in her bottom lip and focused on the beam of sunlight coming through an open section of the floor-length curtains. She didn’t have the courage to look at him when she asked the one question bugging her. “David, was there anybody else when we were apart?”
He put his half-eaten brioche back on his plate and held her face in his hands.
“No. I swear to you, I didn’t even look at another woman. You’re the only one for me.”
“But you must’ve been lonely or had, umm…desires.” She chewed her bottom lip. Yes, she wanted to believe him, but the nagging little voice wouldn’t shut up.
“I was very lonely, and I had plenty of desires, but I was longing for you. You came to me in my dreams, your face was the one I saw in my sleep.”
“You could’ve reached out to me. You know where I live.”
“That’s near the top of my long list of should-haves, my love.”
An hour later, they got out of the taxi and stood in front of
