“No. I try never to repeat my mistakes.”
She looked relieved. “Good to know.”
* * *
Jeanette ordered the pizza as they drove the few blocks to her house. She must have sounded vaguely desperate, because it arrived within minutes after they did. Usually Rosalina’s operated at a slower pace.
At any rate, by the time it arrived, Tom had already lit a fire and all the candles in her living room and popped the cork on a bottle of red zinfandel she’d been saving for a special occasion. This definitely qualified, she thought with anticipation. He’d also piled all the cushions from the sofa on the floor in front of the fireplace. Clearly he’d had some experience at this whole romantic seduction thing. Another time she might question that, but not now. Now she would go with the flow.
“It looks cozy,” she said as she brought the food, plates and napkins over to join him.
“I was going for romantic,” he said as he drew her down beside him.
She trembled under the intensity of his gaze. “That, too.”
“Jeanette...” His voice trailed off as if he’d lost his train of thought.
“What?” she murmured as he cupped one hand behind her neck and leaned in to kiss her. The slow, simmering kiss drove all thoughts of food and everything else right out of her head.
When he pulled back, he looked as dazed as she felt. Still, he reached for the wine and poured two glasses, though she noticed that his hand was shaking. He held out one. She accepted it, took a sip, then set it aside.
“Tom...” she began, her gaze locked on his lips.
He studied her intently as if not entirely certain of the signal she was sending. “I thought you were starving.”
“My priorities have changed.”
He looked more hopeful. “Really?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Then dinner can wait?”
She nodded. She could eat anytime, but she’d waited way too long for this moment. “I think it should. I mean, the pizza smells great, but I’m pretty sure you could distract me if you put your mind to it.”
His lips curved into a slow smile that was all male. “I’ll certainly give it my best shot.” he said, sealing his mouth over hers again.
Jeanette let herself drift into the kiss. For the first time, she let go of all her doubts about the future and her memories of the past and allowed herself to live entirely in the moment. It was quite a moment, too. Heat swept through her, followed by a yearning so intense it nearly overwhelmed her. She’d known he was an excellent kisser, but she’d had no idea how inventive he could be when he threw himself into the task, no idea how many nuances there could be to that one simple act between a man and a woman.
One minute his lips were soft and gently persuasive, the next he seemed to be devouring her, his tongue plundering in a way that turned her insides to molten lava. Even when he scattered tender little kisses across her brow, along the curve of her neck, it made her knees go weak.
Why in heaven’s name had she been denying herself this? she wondered as his fingers got into the act, reaching for the buttons of her blouse, skimming along bare flesh. As he touched and explored—a gentle caress here, a more intimate stroke there, he kept his gaze on her as if assessing what she wanted, what she needed, then accommodating her.
Sometimes he made her wait, made her long for something more—a deeper kiss, a more intimate touch, something. Eventually, when she was about to push his hands aside and undo the last of the buttons herself, he flicked open the final one, then pressed a soft kiss to the skin he’d revealed. He did the same to every inch of flesh exposed as her blouse drifted down her shoulders. Completely bare except for the lace of her bra, she trembled under his dark gaze.
He leaned forward then and took the tip of her breast in his mouth, teasing the nipple through the lace until she could feel moisture gathering and her hips rose off the floor, seeking him. This moment, so long coming, now couldn’t happen fast enough. She wanted it all, wanted him buried inside her, wanted to experience that astounding instant when they became one.
Tom, unfortunately, was in no rush. He seemed determined to savor every second, to draw it out until she was quivering beneath his touch.
“You are so beautiful with the firelight dancing across your skin,” he murmured, his fingers following the light, dipping into the shadows until she thought she would come apart just from the reverence of his gaze and the exquisiteness of his touch. He seemed just as eager to give her that satisfaction, but now she was the one who wanted to savor.
“Wait,” she whispered, stilling his hand in place on her thigh. “Let me.”
She made quick work of unbuttoning his shirt and tossing it aside, then lifting his T-shirt over his head to reveal a muscular chest and solid abs that felt warm and unyielding under her eager fingers. He moaned softly as she explored, then gasped when she unbuckled his belt and reached lower, her hand encasing his impressive arousal. He moved restlessly, his impatience now a match for hers. That was what she’d wanted, what he’d claimed to want not that long ago—to be on the same page.
His pants came off, then her slacks and then they were back together, skin on skin, heat seeking heat, their hands and mouths everywhere, teasing and taunting until both of them were breathless and hungry with need.
“Now,” she pleaded. “I’ve waited so long for this.” What an idiot she’d been to wait so long! And yet she knew that weeks ago it wouldn’t have been like this at all, wouldn’t have been two people in tune with each other on so many levels. Then, it would have been just sex.
