Love Me Forever (5 page)

“Did you marry? Have a family?”

Carrying her full glass back to her, he said, “No. Had a long-term relationship but we kind of drifted apart. When we realized we had nothing left to offer each other, we split up.”

Another brief kiss, tasting of Jen’s wine, held off the urge to take her to his bed. If he weren’t careful, they’d spend the evening making love and not eat until midnight
.

When the oil in the wok began to spatter, Matt tossed in the scallops. “You said you’re divorced.”

“Mmm-hmm,” she said, turning to look out the window. She was shutting down again.

He wanted to let the matter slide, but part of him said it wasn’t healthy to keep avoiding the subject. If the wound was still so tender, talking about it might begin the healing process. “How long were you married?”

“Eight years.” She made a noise between a sniff and a snort
.

“You must have married right after college.”

Jen swallowed more of her wine, continuing to stare at her glass after setting it down. She took a deep breath. “That’s right. We married the summer after I graduated. That fall I went to work as a teacher. He went on to law school.”

Holding her glass by the stem, she spun it back and forth, the wine sloshing up a bit but not spilling. “Once he made partner at the firm he joined, I quit work. I thought we were ready to have a family, but he kept putting it off. I volunteered some, and kept house, although he worked such long hours there wasn’t much cleaning to be done. Mostly I played hostess or looked proper on his arm at social affairs.”

“Why didn’t you go back to teaching?”

She glanced up, barely smiling. “He didn’t want his wife to work. He was old
-
fashioned enough
-
or egotistical enough-to think a working wife meant he wasn’t a good provider. The real question is why I went along with it.”

Matt wasn’t sure how to continue the subject. She’d been married to a caveman, apparently. That didn’t fit the image he had of her. “Well, volunteering can be fulfilling.”

Rising, she hobbled to lean on the counter beside him as he cooked. “Really, Matt, you don’t need to try to sugarcoat my life after the fact. It wasn’t awful or abusive. Maybe very bland and politically correct, but it’s done now.”

Watching the emotions play across her face, he decided her adjustment to the divorce was mostly over, but something still caused her pain, or at least discomfort. He stepped behind her, planting his feet on either side of hers, wrapping his arms around her to reach the stove. “As sorry as I am for you that the dream didn’t end the way you planned, I’m happy for my sake that its end brought you here.”

He felt her tense momentarily, then grow relaxed against the length of him. She quickly lowered her gaze. “Me too.”

Matt added the vegetables and cooked shrimp, stirring carefully to keep everything in the pan. He had difficulty concentrating when he’d rather be stirring the pot with Jen. All in good time. The week was young.

He kept the conversation on safe ground while they ate, then he helped her into the living room. He punched the buttons on his remote to turn down the volume on the wireless sound bar
.

Sitting close to her on the couch, he set his glass on the coffee table. He stretched an arm across the back of the cushion and toyed with her braid. “I am so glad you came back to Maui.”

Lifting her chin, she looked his way. Her lips pressed together, although he thought they quivered first. “I had to go back to the last time I was truly happy. It’s part of my healing process.”

His hand lowered to rest on her shoulder, absorbing her warmth. Part of him celebrated that she still thought happily about their time together, but he ached that she’d been hurt enough by something to need healing. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” she admitted. “Let’s not spoil the night. Tell me what you are up to these days.”

Stretching out his legs, he leaned back into the cushions. “I do pretty much the same thing I did that summer we were both here. Help people be safe in the ocean. Teach them to properly use the equipment.”

She frowned. “I don’t understand how you could go from such a successful job to working for nothing. Don’t you ever wish you’d moved up, gotten promoted to management or something along the way?”

Matt held back a laugh as realization hit. “I seem to have skipped that part of my story. I own the rental business now. The whole resort. I guess that makes me the big kahuna. I’ve got a slew of kids helping out in the peak season, and you’ve met a lot of the staff in the hotel. I kept on the management staff when I bought it. I don’t enjoy standing around being the boss. I’m doing the part I love, out in the water and sun.”

Her eyes rounded. “Oh! I thought…”

“I know. I never said anything to make you think otherwise. But we never really got into it. Just like we haven’t discussed what you’re doing these days.”

Now she brightened, twisting her upper body to face him. “I went back to school online in the last years of my marriage and got a degree in gerontology. When I get home, I start a new job as assistant manager of a retirement community.”

With her face lit up like that, Matt felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. Her beauty sucker-punched him. The ten years had added something-character, maybe just experience-but whatever the change
,
it fine-tuned what had already been striking beauty
.

Jen’s hand came up from her lap and grasped the back of his neck, tugging him toward her. He didn’t fight the pull. Leaning down, he tentatively pressed his lips to hers. The warmth that met him spread through him.

With a groan, he nibbled at her mouth. His tongue traced the full bow of her lower lip. The scent of her body wash, a faint, delectable vanilla, wafted from her skin, increasing his hunger.

His hand found the waves that’d freed themselves from her braid, and stroked at them as he captured her mouth. She arched, rose to meet him, her tongue pressing between his lips.

He let her explore, then tangled the tip of his tongue with hers. He wanted so much more. This time he wanted to see her. Really see her. What they shared in the past had been in the dark of night, sheltered by trees and the large fern.

Stroking her back, he pressed her against his chest, flattening her soft breasts between them. “I have wanted this for so long.”

“Me too.”

With a growl, he kissed her again, letting the sound of her breaths lead him. A surge of need coursed through him. In the back of his mind he heard
slow down
but he paid no heed. Suckling her earlobe made her squirm, and his shaft swelled.

For a moment her thought about all the years they missed, all the loving they should have shared. Would he have grown tired of this amazing feeling he had when she enjoyed his touch like this?

She leaned back and he followed, lying over her, adjusting her hips to make room for him beside her so she wouldn’t have to bear his weight. Her breasts rose and fell, her nipples already hard. He couldn’t keep from cupping the nearest one, rubbing his thumb over the fullness.

Soft. So incredibly soft. Her top scooped low enough to offer a tempting hint of the curves beneath. Drawn to the pale skin there, he traced a finger along her neckline. On the return trip he dipped just below the fabric. Her back arched, bringing her closer to his touch.

“Your skin is like porcelain. You’re like a fragile china doll.”

“If you don’t hurry and touch me, you’ll find out how unfragile I am.”

“As you wish.” He tugged at the tank top, pulling the strap off her shoulder and the neckline down to bare one cup of her strapless bra. Teasing fingers flicked at her nipple beneath the white lace and watched it grow.

Jen whimpered, clasping his shoulder. “Please, Matt
.
”

“Please what?” He leaned down and hovered over her breast, not quite making contact. First he flicked his tongue, then he rubbed his lower teeth against the hardened nub.

The little noises she made were the fucking hottest thing he’d heard in years. He bit the edge of the bra cup and tugged, baring her to his gaze. Her pale pink areola puckered as he watched. As much as he loved the sight of her, he needed to taste.

He took as much of her flesh in his mouth as he could, kneading with his tongue and pulling back slowly. “Damn, you’re so sweet.”

She stroked his shoulders and down his arms, her fingers working under his sleeves. Sitting up, he tugged off the t-shirt and tossed it aside. Her gasp was a stroke to his ego, which was swelling as fast as his shaft
.

Her thumbs brushed the contours of his chest, finding areas of sensitivity he’d forgotten. She continued to stare as she explored. “I thought you were so hot when we were younger. I had no idea what hot was.”

As he bared her other breast, he said, “I think we have a better appreciation as we get older. We’re not looking for instant satisfaction.”

“Instant, no,” she agreed. She lifted herself to him.

On a sudden urge, he pulled away, standing and shifting her to lie completely on the couch. Sitting beside her hips, he said, “Sit up a bit.”

She struggled to rise on one elbow and he took off her tank top and reached behind her to unhook her bra. Then he adjusted the throw pillow behind her head and let her relax. “Perfect.”

He nudged at her elbow. “Put your arms up over your head.”

She did, her eyes never leaving his.

“I want to learn every inch of you. Then memorize it. All those years I had just shadowed memories of how you looked. As hard as I tried to picture you, I could only remember how you felt in the darkness.”

Jen reached for his arm but he caught her. “Nah, put that arm back.”

She waited, searching his eyes, then lifted her arm again.

“That’s my girl.” Her flesh swelled beneath his touch as he stroked with light fingers, tracing the pink edge of her areola. He tasted her again, tugged on the nipple and watched her head tilt back in pleasure.

With his tongue he traced a trail between her breasts, down over her ribs, stopping at her navel. There he circled before dipping inside. Her hips bucked, and he wrapped a hand around her hip. The denim fabric held her warmth, kept him from exploring further.

He watched her eyes for permission as he unbuttoned and unzipped the shorts. Grabbing the waistband in both hands he tugged them down, leaving only her lacy bikini panties between them.

Her eyes widened when his hand smoothed across the curve of her belly. Matt continued to stroke, wondering for a moment if he moved too fast. Should he wait, take this slowly? How could he tell if she was really ready for this? Emotionally ready.

The fact that their time together would end soon created urgency, a need to squeeze as much lovemaking into their hours as possible, but they weren’t young and careless anymore. He concentrated on the softness of her skin and the heat of her body. Her hips bucked beneath his hand, silently encouraging him to move on.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” he asked.

“Good God, you can’t be thinking of stopping now.” She reached for her panties.

He stopped her. “My job. Put your hands back where I told you.”

Groaning, she put her arms back above her head. “Only if you hurry up. I want to touch you, too. I can’t take this torture.” She lifted her hips to allow him to take off her panties, her legs parting as she lay back on the cushion.

“Such sweet torture,” he murmured, his hand moving down one thigh. “Sweet, sweet…”

They created a rhythm, his exploring fingers, and her rocking hips. He continued to tease, down one leg, up again and across her belly, just above her black curls. He kept his gaze on her legs, watching as they drifted further apart each time his thumb brushed her inner thigh.

“Please, Matt, touch me. I need you.”

Lifting the nearest leg, he shifted to sit between them, letting her leg drape over his lap. With a glance at her face, he let his hand move closer. “Like this?”

Her legs parted still more when he reached the apex of her thighs. Her gasp cut through him, heat shooting through his shaft. He loved to give her pleasure, loved to see her react. More than any woman he’d been with since their first time, he was all about her enjoyment. “You sound so eager
.
”

“I’m getting desperate for you. I need you inside me.”

“In good time, sweetheart.”

Her caressed her, searching for the spot that would drive her mad. When she bucked and cried out, he knew he’d found it. He continued to stroke and tease as her body grew tense.

Crying out, she jumped beneath him. He chuckled. “Easy girl, we’ve got a long way to go. Stay with me.”

“Oh God,” she moaned.

The noises she made told him how close she was, assured him he was doing what she wanted. When she reached just the right pitch, he went to work, drawing an orgasm from her.

Finally she shattered, her whimper and gasp obliterating his control. As she stilled, he kissed the inside of her thigh.

Jen reached down and pulled him to lie above her. She captured his mouth, her tongue dancing wildly against his. He groaned, and she wrapped her legs around his hips.