For the first time, she had a better appreciation of what being judged on his looks had done to him. "I think you’re smart, and funny, and incredible in bed. I think you’re kind and generous, and you make a great omelet. I most definitely do not think you are a dork."

  He grinned. "How about when I do this?"

  He made the stupidest face she’d ever seen on a man, but it made her laugh out loud. "Except when you do that."

  He rearranged his features into a more normal expression. "Just checking."

  He reached for the remote control and turned on a classic movie station. Then he pulled her onto his lap. "Didn’t you say something about making out?"

  She’d been joking, a little, but readily accepted his kiss. "Sure."

  And make out they did. She hadn’t kissed for so long at a time without getting naked since…well, since high school. Back when a boy’s hand on her breast was an advance to be gracefully fended off, rather than an expected pleasure.

  Back then, hours of kissing on the rec room sofa had left her stomach a tight mess, her panties damp, her breasts aching for a release she didn’t really understand. A lot had changed since high school. Now, though the affects on her body were the same, Lila knew exactly what she was missing.

  Tom had pulled her legs over his lap, but though one strong hand moved back and forth from her thigh to her hip, he hadn’t even made a move to touch her anyplace else. His entire concentration focused on her mouth, her lips and face, the curve of her neck, the lobes of her ears.

  Lila slid her leg closer, over the hard bulge in his pants. Tom’s breath caught in his throat, and he paused in kissing her to cup her face in his hands. She thought he would say something, but he didn’t…just bent back to brush his mouth lightly on hers in a teasing kiss that made her groan in frustration.

  "You’re driving me crazy," he whispered.

  Lila laughed. "Me? Driving you?"

  Tom nodded, eyes bright. He ran his tongue across his full mouth, and Lila had no trouble imagining how it would feel on her skin. "Kissing you is…hard."

  That made her frown and punch him. "Nice. Thanks."

  "No. I mean, only kissing you is hard. I want to make love to you so bad."

  She tilted her head to look at him, then ran her fingers down his cheek. "So what are you waiting for?"

  "I don’t know." His grin melted her further. "I don’t want it to be over yet. I want to make love to you forever."

  That was possibly the sexiest thing a man had ever said to her, and her thighs clenched in a pre-orgasmic spasm so strong it rippled her entire body, and a low noise escaped her throat.

  Her breath hitched. "Forever’s a pretty long time, Tom."

  In reply, he leaned forward and kissed her again. This time, he didn’t tease. His tongue swept inside her lips, plunged deep, and he did with his mouth what she’d been longing for him to do with his penis. He made love to her with nips and licks and kisses, and the thrusts of his tongue echoed the clenching in her belly and thighs.

  She was going to come, and he hadn’t even touched any part of her body other than her face. Oh, she was going to come, now, and all he had to do was keep kissing her. If he touched her, she’d explode, go off like a rocket, all it would take was just the right pressure, the lightest touch, a breath.

  Now she was on his lap, straddling his hips, her center pressed to the metal of his belt buckle and his hands holding tight to her butt. He bit her throat hard enough to make her gasp, but it didn’t hurt, just it sent a spear of pleasure straight to her clitoris. She rocked against him. Her fingers tangled in his hair, and she pulled his head back so she could devour his mouth like he’d been devouring hers.

  Even with the layers of clothing between them, Lila had no trouble feeling the throb of his penis against her. Tom lifted his hips to rub her further, until her orgasm quaked through her and sent her reeling into an abyss of ecstasy.

  A minute later, when she could think again, Lila blinked and looked into Tom’s heavy-lidded eyes. As with everything between them, Lila didn’t get embarrassed at her passionate display. She sighed and snuggled close to him.

  It wasn’t until the field in front of her suddenly bloomed with flowers the size of her head that Lila awoke with a start. She’d been dreaming, which meant she’d been sleeping. Guiltily, she sat up, wincing at the stiffness in her legs from the awkward position. If she was sore, she couldn’t imagine what Tom felt like.

  "Sorry," she said. "I fell asleep."

  "I didn’t care." Tom shifted her weight so she no longer sat on his lap. "It was nice. Holding you like that. I can’t feel my legs anymore, but it was nice."

  "Oh, no!" she cried, chagrined. "Tom, you should’ve woken me up."

  He grinned, and despite the recent sexual explosion, his smile sent a tingle of arousal through her. "Ah, who needs legs anyway? Mine are too long. Can’t find pants to fit."

  "You’re such a goofball," Lila told him. Heat flared in her cheeks at the memory of what had passed between them. "How long was I out?"

  "Maybe fifteen minutes or so. Not long."

  More guilt poked her. "That was amazing."

  Heat blazed in his gaze. "Yeah. It was."

  Lila had never been with a man who gave pleasure without expecting immediate payback. She waited to see if Tom would gaze pointedly down at his still-bulging crotch, or even take her hand and put it on his erection. He didn’t. And maybe, she thought with some amazement, he wasn’t going to. Maybe he really was content to have given her an orgasm without demanding one for himself.

  "You are so different than I expected," Lila told him, and was pleased to see his mouth quirk into a self-effacing grin.

  "So you’ve forgiven me for being pretty?"

  She took his hand. "Forgiven."

  Tom kissed her, softly, with a promise of more to come. "Let’s go to the restaurant."

  "The Foxfire?" The change of subject confused her. "Why?"

  "Because I’m starved, and I happen to know you don’t have any food in the house. C’mon, Lila, we can walk there from here easily."

  "We’ll have to," Lila reminded. "The roads are closed."

  "Even better. We’ll be able to make snow angels in the street without fear." Tom grinned as he squeezed and kissed her again.

  "I don’t have any skis." Her protest was weak. Already she knew his enthusiasm was going to win her over, but she had to make a token effort. "There’s a blizzard outside. Wouldn’t you rather stay in here by the fire with me?"

  Her wheedling had no affect on him. Tom was up and off the couch so suddenly he almost dumped her on the floor.

  "Me need food." Tom grunted, cave-man style. He hopped up and down while thumping his chest fiercely. "Lila come with Tom for food!"

  Lila got the giggles. He was acting ridiculous, but she didn’t care. In fact, his total disregard for how silly he might look or sound only made her feel more comfortable with him.

  "I have some ice cream left." She tried to be as seductive as she could, knowing her ploy to stay out of the cold wouldn’t work.

  "Ice cream not food! Me need man food, steak and potato!"

  Lila groaned. "Tom, it’s cold out there!"

  "Lila." Tom mimicked her whining tone perfectly. "The walking will keep you warm."

  "You’d rather walk a mile in the freezing blizzard than stay here with me?" she asked mock-sadly. "The magic’s already gone."

  She sighed, shaking her head. With a Neanderthal’s roar, Tom jumped on her and began pummeling her with the sofa cushion. Lila grabbed the nearest pillow she could find and tried in vain to defend herself.

  In no time, Tom had pinned her arms to her sides. "Are you trying to make me feel guilty for wanting to eat instead of make love to you?"

  "Yes." She tried to catch her breath after all the laughing.

  "A relationship based on sex will never last, Lila." His eyes were a picture of wounded masculinity. "I can’t tell you how it hurts me to hear you say you’d rather make love to me than feed me. How selfish of you, to put your own base, perverted needs before mine—"

  He didn’t have time to finish his sentence because Lila had shoved a cushion in his face. The pillow fight was on again—the two of them wrestling like children. Only when Lila threw a pillow at Tom, knocking over a lamp, did they both stop.

  "You’re pretty immature, Lila." Tom grinned. "But I like it."

  Her stomach rumbled, and the exercise had heated her up enough that facing the cold didn’t seem so daunting. "Now I’m hungry."

  "Hungry enough to brave the weather outside?"

  She looked out the window. "Yep. But I still don’t have any skis."

  "Got a cookie sheet?"

  She frowned. "Yes, why?"

  Tom just smiled. "You’ll see."

  Behind him, Lila was letting out little gasps of hysterical laughter. With every forward movement of his feet, she let out another stream of breathless giggles. She’d been laughing for fifteen minutes straight.

  "You’re going to pee your pants," he remarked over his shoulder.

  More laughter. It had taken on a high-pitched, desperate quality. He glanced around to see Lila clutching the edge of the cookie sheet with one mittened hand and her stomach with the other.

  "Stop!" She burst into another peal of laughter as he jerked forward on the ropes again. "It hurts! Oh, it hurts!"

  Tom slid his next foot forward. "You think you hurt." The ropes he’d attached to his waist jerked again on the cookie sheet. "I’d like to see you tug me around on a cookie sheet."

  Lila laughed harder. Suddenly, his load lightened so much he knew she had fallen off even before he heard the snow-muffled thump of her landing. Without the weight to hold him back, Tom shot forward too fast and lost his balance. He went arse over elbow into a pile of drifted snow; his skis tangled like taffy.

  Thankfully, they’d reached the restaurant. It even looked like the snowplow had managed to get through the main street, so all he had to do was crawl another few yards and climb over the mountainous drift and he’d be all clear. For the moment, Tom was just content to lie in his crumpled heap and listen to Lila laugh.

  "Tom, are you all right?"

  Her nose and cheeks were red as raspberries, and her eyes shone with tears of laughter. Most of her hair was tucked up inside the ugliest ski cap he’d ever seen, but a few dark curls had managed to escape around her face. Snow covered her from hat to boots as she climbed to her feet. She looked so lovely he didn’t even mind having to watch her from a pile of snow.

  "Whose bright idea was this anyway?" he growled as he struggled to get to his feet. It was obvious he’d only be able to do that by kicking off his skis, so he did. Lila reached out and grasped his hand to help him up. He took her offered mitten, not because he thought she’d really be any help, but because he wanted to touch her.

  "Yours." She showed no shame at all. "Totally yours, as I recall. I was completely content to stay in by the fire, but no! You had to traipse out into the wilderness in search of steak and potato."

  "Lila." Tom held up his secret weapon. "You do realize I have a handful of snow, don’t you?"

  She shrieked and tried to run, but the snow was too deep. She only managed to tangle her feet and fall next to him in the drift. Her lips were like ice against his, but their kiss soon warmed them both. His tongue stroked the velvety inside of her mouth and she responded. They stayed there, kissing, long enough for his fingers to grow numb even through his heavy gloves.

  "Think we can make it over this mountain?" Lila pointed at the massive mound of snow pushed up by the plow.

  Tom tipped an imaginary hat at her. "Race you!"

  The climbed over the top, slid down the other side, and landed right in front of the door to The Foxfire. Some civic-minded person had been along the sidewalk earlier with a snow blower. Though the blizzard had dumped several more inches since then, the way was at least clear enough for them to get inside.

  "It’s dark," Lila said. "And cold."

  Tom could fix that, and he did. Leading her back to the kitchen, he turned on the lights and lit the oven. Within minutes, the industrial size oven had warmed the room considerably.

  "We need to get our clothes off." Lila shivered. "We’re both soaked."

  Tom pulled her closer for another kiss. "Sounds like a good idea to me."

  Lila pushed him away gently. "We could’ve done that at my house, stallion. We came here to eat, remember?"

  She began peeling off her layers of clothing, and for a moment, all Tom could do was watch. She tugged off her hat and set free the coiled masses of her hair. It tumbled around her face in wild disarray. She didn’t even bother to comb through it, which he loved. He could think of any number of his female acquaintances who would have been mortified to be seen in such a state, but Lila didn’t care.

  Next came her bulky field coat and mittens, the two pairs of thick sweatpants and her sweatshirt. Finally, she wore only a thin set of insulated underwear that clung to her like plastic wrap. Her perfect breasts and hips were completely outlined by the thin fabric, and he swallowed heavily. What made the sight even more erotic was that Lila obviously had no idea about the way she looked. That, coupled with the fact his penis was still half-erect from all the foreplay earlier, made him take a step back to keep from charging over to her and ravishing her right there on the kitchen floor.

  "C’mon, Tom. You’re going to catch a chill."

  He physically had to shake himself in order to clear himself of the spell he’d been under. She was right. Already he felt his sodden clothes making him shiver.

  She watched him with the same intensity with which he’d watched her undress. Their eyes locked as he stripped down to his final layer, boxer briefs that did nothing to hide the way he was feeling at the moment. He hooked his thumbs in the waistband, but paused. Tom knew as well as any man the difference even one article of clothing could make. He didn’t want to destroy the sensuality of the moment.

  "Look at you." As if in a daze, she reached out to run her hand along the smooth curves of his chest. At her touch, his erection strained against the black fabric of his briefs, but he forced himself to remain still. Lila caressed his nipples and softly rolled them beneath her fingertips. She let both hands slide along the rippled flatness of his stomach and moved closer until he could feel her breath on his skin. Still, he didn’t move.

  Slowly, almost reverently, she traced the waistband of his briefs and dipped her fingertips slightly inside. His knees felt weak. She stared at him hungrily, taking what looked like an almost masculine delight in the sight of him. Her intense study of his body was incredibly erotic, and Tom didn’t want to break the mood.

  Lila dropped gently to her knees in front of him. Still keeping her eyes fixed on his body, she languidly tugged his briefs down, over his thighs, and finally to the floor. Tom clenched his jaw. He wanted to see her face, but Lila didn’t look up.

  "Hmmm." There it was again, that wordless sound of approval. Or maybe "Mmmm." He still couldn’t be certain. Either way, the noise kicked his arousal up several more notches.

  Without warning, Lila closed her mouth around him. The wet heat of her mouth made him groan. His knees nearly buckled, but Lila’s hands, now on his buttocks, kept him standing. Blindly, Tom sought the edge of the counter with his hands to keep himself steady.

  She made love to him with her mouth, a slow and steady movement that brought him to the edge within minutes. As if sensing his impending climax, she eased off and teased him with her lips and teeth. She cupped his rear and held him close, then moved him away from her.

  Sweat broke out on his brow. His fingers were white-knuckled, gripping the edge of the counter. His other hand twined in her hair, tangling in her curls. It took great effort not to pull it hard enough to hurt her.

  She was doing things to him that no woman had ever done, and it was better, more intense because it was Lila kneeling before him. The woman he loved. He moaned her name, and she paused to press a kiss just below the navel.

  Tom could wait no longer. It was no longer good enough to receive such pleasure; he wanted to share it with Lila. No longer so careful not to pull too hard, he tugged her upward. She gasped, but the sound had more pleasure than pain in it.

  With one swift movement, he lifted her onto the counter. Their mouths molded together, and her hands clutched his shoulders. Without breaking the kiss, Tom slid her long underwear down past her hips. He pushed them off her feet and into a tangled heap.

  He slid into her with one smooth thrust that had them both groaning. Lila wrapped her legs around his hips, her arms stretched back behind her to support herself on the countertop. Her head was thrown back, and the sleek line of her throat begged for him to kiss her there.

  They moved together like clockwork dancers freshly coated in oil. Every thrust into her slick heat had him wanting to last forever, but as Lila rocked her hips against him Tom knew he wasn’t going to last even two minutes. He slipped his thumb against her swollen clitoris and pressed gently in counterpoint to his thrusts.

  "Tom." Her eyes opened.

  Tom brought his mouth down on hers again, though kissing her made the position awkward. Neither of them cared. They had reached the point where any movement could only increase their pleasure. The rocked together, Lila’s fingers clawing now into his back.

  She let out a cry that was different, and he knew she had reached her orgasm. The thought sent him spiraling into his own climax, and he whispered her name with his final thrust.

  Her eyes met his. She was smiling. A thought sprang into his mind, and he saw the look in her eyes change at the same moment. She had thought the same thing.

  "I didn’t use anything."

  Lila nodded. "I know."

  They moved away from each other slightly so Lila could slide off the counter. She busied herself for a moment with the dishcloth he handed her. When she had finished and slid her pants back up around her waist, she turned to look at him.

  "I’m on the pill."

  Relief flooded him, but it was still no excuse. Not in today’s world where loving someone could mean killing them. Tom folded her hand in his.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62