anticipation. Music met her as she hesitated in the doorway. An instrumental version of 'The Shadow of Your Smile' surrounded her. Apparently he'd found the tape player and the stack of her mother's favorite tunes on cassettes. He stood inside waiting for her, two glasses of wine in his hand. He held out one to her when she entered the small octagon-shaped shelter, centered directly behind the swimming pool.
Ashe had changed into a pair of faded jeans and a zippered fleece jacket. He looked incredible. All muscle and firm flesh, tanned and lean and waiting for her.
She accepted the wine. He nodded toward the padded poolside chaise longue that had been stored for the winter. Seating herself, she glanced around inside the twelve-by-twelve-foot room. A dozen fat pink and yellow candles, half consumed on a previous occasion, circled the inner perimeter, casting a mellow, romantic glow over the room.
'To the most beautiful woman in the world.' Ashe saluted her with his glass.
Her smile wavered, but she managed to keep it in place after she took a sip of the white wine. 'You're beautiful, too, you know. You always were. The most beautiful boy, the most beautiful man. I never could see anyone else except you.'
Hurriedly she downed the remainder of the wine. The tune changed to 'What Are You Doing for the Rest of Your Life?' She'd heard her mother hum these old tunes for as long as she could remember. They were such romantic songs, meant to be shared by lovers.
Ashe took her empty glass. 'Want a refill?'
'No.' She looked up at him. 'I don't dare drink any more. I'm already drunk from just looking at you.'
He set their glasses on a small round glass and metal table, then took Deborah's hands and lifted her to her feet. Drawing her into his arms, he rubbed his cheek against hers and danced her slowly around the room.
'You don't have any idea what your honesty does to me, do you?' He caught her open mouth before she could reply, thrusting his tongue inside, loving the taste of the wine that lingered in her mouth.
When he ended the kiss, he smiled when he saw her face. Eyes closed, face flushed, she was so beautiful it tore at his heart to look at her. 'I can't believe how much I want you.'
'Oh, Ashe, I never dreamed this could happen, that you and I… But it's real, isn't it? We're here, together. Lovers.'
'Lovers, in every sense of the word.' Reaching down, he loosened her sash belt until her robe fell open. Seeing that she was naked beneath the green satin, he swallowed hard. 'My God, Deborah!'
Her shaky fingers grasped the metal pull on his jacket zipper and opened the hooded blue sweatshirt. She laid her hand on his chest. He covered her hand with his.
'I don't really know anything about this. I don't have any experience. Teach me, Ashe. Show me what you want.'
'Take off my jacket,' he said.
She obeyed, sliding it off his shoulders and tossing it on the floor. 'Now what?'
'Remove my jeans.'
Without hesitation, she unsnapped, unzipped and tugged off his jeans. He kicked his shoes off and to one side, then spread the satin robe away from her body, allowing it to fall to her feet.
They stood, only inches separating them, naked and unashamed, passion wild within them both. He took her hands in his, lifted them for a kiss, then placed them on his chest before lifting her in his arms.
Ashe was magnificent. Big, tall and lean. He carried her back to the chaise, but set her on her feet.
'Night before last we were so hungry for each other, we didn't take the time to savor the moment. Not the first time nor the second time. Tonight, I want to learn every inch of your body, and I want you to know every inch of mine.'
'Whatever you want, Ashe.' She moved closer, her breasts brushing against his hair-rough chest. She gulped down a sigh as shivers of pleasure shimmied through her.
'No, honey. Whatever you want.' He cupped her buttocks, bringing her completely up against him, letting her feel his arousal, telling her, even without words, how much he wanted her.
'I just want you, Ashe.' She slid her hands up his chest and around his neck. 'I just want you.'
He kissed her until she was breathless, then he painted a trail of warm, moist kisses across her shoulder and down to one breast. All the while he caressed her hip with his other hand. She quivered, then cried out when he suckled her breast. Her knees weakened. He stayed at her breast long enough to have her panting, then knelt on bended knee and delved his tongue into her navel at the precise moment his fingers found the soft inner folds of her body. Her knees gave way and she would have fallen if she hadn't caught Ashe by the shoulders, bracing herself.
He covered her stomach in kisses, then moved back and forth from one thigh to the other, kissing, licking, nipping her tender flesh. She moaned with the pleasure, shivering as she dug her nails into his shoulders.
Lifting her, he laid her on the chaise and came down over her, one knee resting on the side of the cushion, his other foot on the floor.
'Touch me, Deborah. Feel me.'
She sucked in a deep breath, then began a timid exploration of his chest and belly. Garnering her courage and enticed by his glorious body, she ran her fingers over his hardness. He groaned, but she knew the sound was one of pleasure and not pain. She circled him. He covered her hand, teaching her the movements that pleased him. But as quickly as he'd instructed her, he pulled her hand away and laid it on his hip.
'I can't take much of that, honey.'
Lowering his head, he captured her nipple in his mouth, teasing it, then sucking greedily. She arched her back up off the chaise. He delved his fingers between her satiny folds, finding her most sensitive spot. She writhed beneath him as he fondled her. Within minutes she shuddered and he swallowed her cries of completion in a tongue-thrusting kiss. As the last wave of pleasure shook her, Ashe lifted her hips and entered her. One sure, swift move that joined their bodies and began the mating dance.
Slowly. Precisely. In and out. Hands roamed. Lips kissed. Bodies united in pleasure. Soon the rhythm changed, the waltz became a wild fandango. Slow. Quick. Slow. Quick. Deborah clung to Ashe as the tension in her body mounted. He thrust into her harder and faster, sweat forming on his body.
She called his name over and over again as her pleasure climbed upward, closer and closer to the apex. Ashe's movements became frantic, his need for this woman growing hotter and hotter.
She cried out in the moment of release, spiraling out of control and into oblivion. Ashe thrust once, twice more, and followed her over the precipice. His own hardy male cry blended with her feminine ones, their breaths ragged, their bodies coated with perspiration.
Ashe maneuvered Deborah so that they fit together on the chaise, their bodies stuck together with the moisture of their lovemaking.
'We're going to stay here all night,' he told her.
'Yes. I know.' She kissed him, taking the initiative, smothering him with all the passion she'd buried deep within her eleven years ago when he had walked out of her life.
But he was back and for however long Ashe McLaughlin stayed in her life, she planned to be his lover. Maybe nothing lasted forever. Maybe they didn't have a future. But for tonight, she would pretend. Tomorrow was a million miles away. Nothing mattered tonight, nothing except loving and being loved by Ashe.
Deborah opened the door to her bedroom. Ashe circled her waist with his arm, pulling her back against his chest, nuzzling her neck with his nose.
'Get in your room. It's nearly six. Mother will be up and about soon,' Deborah said, but turned in his arms, kissing him.
He shoved her away, turned her around and swatted her behind. 'See you downstairs for breakfast in about an hour.'
Deborah stood in the open doorway, watching until Ashe disappeared down the hall and into his room. Smiling, she walked into her sitting room, humming 'Goin' Out of My Head,' the tune that had been playing on the cassette when she and Ashe had made love right before returning to the house.
'Good morning,' Carol Vaughn said.
Deborah came fully alert, stared across the room and saw her mother perched on the edge of the window seat. 'Mother!'
