My Way Back to You (Harlequin Large Print Super Romance) (6 page)

A few couples were taking a turn on the floor, dancing to the pleasant melodies of the soloist with the smoky voice and her accompanist. When the server came to take their order, Jeff didn’t ask her preference.

“We’ll have a bottle of Pol Roger Brut Réserve and two glasses,” he said.

“A whole bottle of champagne?” Maggie asked as the server walked away. “That’s a little much, isn’t it?”

Jeff grinned, his white teeth gleaming against his tanned face, made darker by the dim lighting. “Only three glasses each. And we’re not gonna gulp them. We’re going to sit here and savor them for as long as we want.” He cocked his head in question, his gaze flitting over her face. “You better now?”

“I’m okay.”

“Good.” Her hand lay on the love seat between them and he patted it lightly. A couple of hours ago, that touch would have sent a shock wave through her. But saying goodbye to Russ seemed to have desensitized her, leaving her a little numb. Jeff pointed out the window to the street beyond. “What a shame. You came all the way to Chicago and didn’t have a chance to shop the Magnificent Mile.”

“I actually had a couple of hours this morning. While you and Russ were playing your practice round, and having man time with Spike, I was hitting the shops.” She tried to sound contrite, but she couldn’t keep the grin from her face when Jeff cringed at the mention of Spike. “All you two got were sore ears and a plastic trophy. I scored a dress, two pairs of capris and three pairs of shoes.”

His face sobered, and he took a long breath. “Kind of like old times. Me slaving in the hot sun while you shop.”

What a low blow!
Immediately, Maggie went on the defensive, her spine stiffening, bracing for combat. But then she saw the edge of his mouth twitch. He was toying with her. Well...she could play, too. “
Really
like old times. You on the golf course. Me left to my own entertainment.”

He pinned her with a hard look, but then both corners of his mouth twitched, and he dissolved into laughter. “We were quite a pair, weren’t we?”

She nodded her smiling agreement just as the server arrived with their order. The young woman opened the champagne discreetly—no big fanfare to draw attention to the dark corner—and filled the two glasses.

Maggie leaned forward on her elbows, watching the bubbles as they caught the light and danced their way to the top. “It looks like some kind of magic potion.”

“It is.” Jeff picked up the two glasses and handed her one. His gaze was direct, his eyes soft. “Drinking this will wipe away all the bad times and help us remember only the good. Like Russ...and last night’s kiss.”

Maggie’s heart skipped a beat—apparently she wasn’t so numb, after all.

Jeff raised his glass as one of his eyebrows arched in both question and challenge.

Maggie tipped her glass, touching the edge to his. “To the good times—past and future.”

* * *

M
AGGIE
’
S
WORDS
SENT
an impact through Jeff that left a crater the size of Lake Michigan, which instantly filled with desire. The kiss last night had lit the fuse, and all day he’d been affected by the slow burn. He’d managed to throw the energy into his golf game, crushing the ball with his driver at each tee box, playing like he’d never played before.

But now, it was Maggie he wanted to crush...in the most tender of ways. But he couldn’t simply suggest they go up to one of their rooms and get it on, even if that was precisely what he wanted to do. This was a special night—the kind that came once in a lifetime. He would make it last.

The champagne truly was a magic elixir. He watched it bring a sparkle to Maggie’s eyes and a blush to her cheeks after just one glass. But when a girlish giggle bubbled out of her during one of his stories that wasn’t
that
funny, it gave him pause. Getting her drunk wasn’t the plan. This was a night to make memories—he wanted them both to remember it come tomorrow. He ordered a fruit-and-cheese plate to give them a reason to slow down the drinking.

While they waited for the food, the pianist broke into a jazzy swing tune. Dancing was one of the things they did together in college and were good at—second only to lovemaking. “Want to dance?” he asked, unsure if it was something she still enjoyed.

“Yes!” Her answer was nearly a squeal.

As they fell into the rhythm, the years fell away, and their bodies moved in perfect precision. They swung, they twirled, two hands clasped, then one hand and an underarm turn. Both of them anticipated the movements of the other as if the entire dance had been choreographed. Jeff was vaguely aware they were clearing the dance floor, but he didn’t let it stop them—tonight was all about the good times. Besides, he and Maggie had often done the same thing in college.

“Ready?” he asked as the song neared its end, and she nodded.

“Ready.”

He sent her into an impressive set of underarm twirls and prayed she didn’t get sick like she did that time at the frat house—their first clue she was pregnant. The last notes brought her tightly against him and he dipped her dramatically. The lounge went silent and then a hearty round of raucous applause exploded from every corner. To Jeff’s amazement—and slight embarrassment—the open passageways into the lobby had filled with onlookers as people had stopped to watch the impromptu show. With their arms around each other’s backs and a couple of waves to the crowd, they sauntered back to their table and anonymity, short of breath, panting and hanging on to each other for support.

“I haven’t danced like that in twenty years.” Maggie’s words were punctuated by gasps as she plopped onto the love seat, sliding over to make room for him.

“Me, neither.” The exertion from the dance had given him a momentary respite from the erection he’d sported most of the day, but Maggie’s breathless exclamation shifted it back into forward gear. He tried to ignore it as he poured them more champagne and relaxed against the back of his seat.

Maggie stacked some cheese onto a crostini and drizzled it with honey, then held it up in offering. Rather than taking it from her, he opened his mouth and she fed it to him. He closed his lips around the bite, deliberately catching the tips of her fingers in a small suck to gauge her response.

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t draw back. On the contrary, she allowed the tip of her middle finger to linger a fraction longer before dragging it down the middle of his bottom lip. Her lids drooped to half-mast, and she gave him a smoldering smile as she leaned back against one shoulder, her face and body turned slightly toward him.

His eyes dropped from hers to her mouth, mesmerized by the way her lips parted sensually, her tongue touching them, making them glisten in invitation.

He took a sip of champagne to wash away any of the lingering cracker, then leaned toward her, bringing his mouth to hers in answer. She left her hands as they were—one lying between them on the seat, the other relaxed in her lap. Her lips coaxed him deeper, parting for him, allowing small, sexually charged whimpers to escape, which sounded like both need and satisfaction.

And that kiss was just the beginning.

As they talked and laughed away the rest of the champagne, it was obvious that they both knew exactly how this magical night was going to end.

And so, during the last dance—a slow one that pressed her against him, making her aware of the effects she was having on his body—it came as no real surprise when she whispered to him, “Do you have condoms?”

“That’s a loaded question,” he whispered back, enjoying the way his breath on her neck caused her to shiver. “If I say no, where does that leave us? But if I say yes, it’s as good as admitting I went to the drugstore in anticipation of this after last night.”

Her cheek rested against his as her fingers played softly with the hair at the nape of his neck. “I hope the answer’s yes.”

“Then it’s yes.”

Her response was a contented sigh as she pressed her body closer to his.

CHAPTER SIX

K
EY
CARDS
WERE
such wonderful inventions. No fumbling with locks—just a smooth transition from outside to inside, public view to privacy...exes to intimates.

Somewhere deep in her mind, a voice screamed that she was making a huge mistake, allowing this man to crack the safe place she’d built to contain her feelings for him.

But she couldn’t hear the screaming over his soft murmurs when his mouth left hers for just a moment. They kissed long and hard, a frenzy of passion and excitement—as if there were no tomorrow.

Because, for them, there wasn’t.

Tomorrow wasn’t anything that needed to be discussed. Everything they desired had to be acted on tonight, then tucked away and forgotten.

Clothes came off hurriedly, amid giggles and kisses, and the condom package made its appearance. But just as she moved for the bed, seeking shelter under the covers, Jeff stopped her. “Not yet, Mags.” With his hands on her hips, he turned her to him. “I want to see you.”

His gentle tone and the way he nuzzled her neck eased her discomfort some, though not completely. He hadn’t seen her up close and personal in sixteen years. What would he think of her now? “I’m not twenty-one anymore,” she cautioned.

He tugged her hands away from where she’d positioned them across her breasts. “Neither am I.”

True, he’d added a few pounds—a thickness that only made him appear more solid. Her additional weight had become a soft roundness through the belly and hips that had been flat and tight, almost boyish, when last he’d seen them.

He guided her into the shaft of light that shone through the space where the drapes were slightly open. They stood for a while, naked amid the lights of the city, exchanging pleasant touches—he, using the backs of his fingers, she, smoothing her palms across his biceps and triceps, appreciating their toned definition. His caresses heightened the awareness of every nerve ending he touched.

“You don’t see how perfect you are.” His fingers brushed a path from her breasts to her neck and into her hair. He tilted her face up to meet his gaze. “Firm in the right places. Soft where you should be.” He covered her mouth with his in a scorching kiss, stealing the breath from her lungs.

The girl she’d been once upon a time stepped from her hiding place into the light. Beautiful. Cherished. Unlike Zeke, Jeff had never failed to make her feel that way in the bedroom, which was probably one reason it had taken so long to get over him.

But she had.

And now, here he was again.

This time the girl vanished as quickly as she’d appeared.

Maggie wasn’t someone who could be charmed into believing anything lasted forever. That girl had been replaced by a resilient woman who knew that some things lasted only one night. And those things had to be enjoyed when they offered themselves.

She consciously gave herself over to the moment, bringing her own heat to the kiss. An appreciative sound rose from the back of Jeff’s throat.

He backed up and sat on the end of the bed, breaking the kiss but running his hands over the soft mounds of her rear as he pulled her to stand between his parted legs.

His mouth, still hot from the kiss, burned a wet path across her stomach, pausing to let his tongue explore her navel, and then his lips moved upward to caress the underside of her breasts. He lifted them, kneading them gently as his tongue flicked along the crease.

It was a new touch for her, and she let her head fall back, mewing her pleasure, massaging his scalp with her fingertips, following his head anywhere he moved it.

His hands roamed her back while his mouth explored her front, sucking first one nipple then the other, making her ache in the most delicious way. As his mouth moved downward, she stepped back instinctively to give him access to other areas. He slid to his knees, flicking his tongue across her most sensitive spot, making her gasp in pleasure and thrust against him. But the urgency built up too quickly, became almost painful, and she stepped away suddenly.

Jeff’s head shot up, his dark eyes full of question.

“It’s been a long time for me. Not since Zeke.” She stopped. “Years.”

He stood and pressed against her. “What a waste of time.”

She smiled at the compliment, the ache between her legs lessening to bearable. This time, when she took his hand and led him to the bed, they lay down together, snuggling under the sheet. She intended to keep things slow. But after a few more deep kisses, his hands in constant exploration, growing bolder with each touch, she abandoned the plan, unable and unwilling to take responsibility for the actions of her body.

She guided his hand to where she needed him most, stroking him boldly to inflame him with the heat she felt until he finally admitted in a ragged breath, “Mags, I can’t take much more.”

She laughed. “Oh, thank God.”

He tore open the condom package he’d thrown on the pillow and made quick work of sheathing himself.

And then he hovered above her. The face she’d yearned to see for so long, positioned exactly where she’d fantasized it would be.

But this was no fantasy.

This was a chance to end things better than they had the first time.

* * *

M
AGGIE
WAS
GAZING
into his eyes, and damn if she wasn’t chewing her bottom lip!

At this point, sixteen years ago, he would’ve ignored the nuance. His rocket would have been fueled, loaded and ready for blastoff.

He lowered his mouth to hers, catching her bottom lip when her teeth freed it from their grip, then proceeded to nibble and suck on it himself. He felt her position shift slightly, readying for his entry. Then he watched her eyes widen in surprise when he shifted, too...away from the expected.

His lips caressed her neck before traveling to her breasts, devouring each one in turn. Then he continued down the middle of her stomach, across her navel, to the juncture of her thighs. Then lower.

Her gasps of pleasure as she raised her hips to meet him were almost his undoing, but he breathed through the initial panic and retained his control.

Lower he went, his tongue gliding along the inside of her thigh. He paused at her knee, lifting her leg just enough to flick his tongue across the crease at the back. Her pleasurable groan encouraged him to continue. She reached for him but could only graze the top of his head with her fingertips as he moved lower still.

He changed his course slightly, moving to the outside of her calf, skimming his tongue along the indentation of the muscle from the knee to the ankle. He covered her entire foot with kisses, sucked her high arch and each of her toes, before switching to the other foot and repeating the entire process on the other leg.

By the time he returned to the intimate V between her legs, she was panting, clutching the sheets tightly in her fists and thrusting toward him with a body language message he couldn’t ignore.

His own body was sending messages of its own, his erection so rigid now the condom might not be able to withstand the pressure much longer.

He eased his tip into her slowly, but she was having none of that. She rose on her elbows and shifted her body in his direction, enveloping him completely in her tightness. Her legs gripped him, pulling him deeper as she danced beneath him, making small circles with her hips as she thrust. She set an excruciatingly appealing rhythm that tore him between wanting to finish and wanting this to go on all night. Fast. Slow. Harder, softer. To the edge and back, over and over.

The feel of Mags and the taste of her on his lips. Their eyes locked. The musky scent of their mingled heat. The bed pounded the wall, percussion backup to their gasps, moans, grunts and pants. The heightened sensory experience was sending Jeff into space—a vacuum where there was no gravity and no time.

Only him and Mags.

Her hands flew over her head to grasp the spindles of the headboard, and he felt her back drawing into an arch as she cried out.

He let go then as his body exploded and imploded at the same time. He wasn’t aware he’d shouted until recognition hit that it was his voice ringing in his ears. Mags still held her head and neck in a stiff arch, and he could feel her muscles clenching him in their spasms. He pushed tighter against her, wringing every drip of pleasure for her he could.

Her eyes were squeezed shut, her breathy panting coming in spurts from her sensuous open mouth.

Nothing was more beautiful than a woman enjoying multiple orgasms.

Correction—nothing was more beautiful than Mags enjoying multiple orgasms. He’d never been with another woman who’d had them.

He watched the tension leave her body, mesmerized by the sight. Slowly, her head and neck relaxed, her mouth closed and her eyes fluttered open as if she’d been in a trance. He saw her eyes draw into focus and the languid, sexy smile form on her lips. “Mmm.” Her eyes closed and opened in a dreamy blink.

Jeff relaxed, too, lowering himself to the bed, on his side but still snuggled against her. He pinned her right arm under him where it had slid onto the pillow and propped his head on his hand so he still had a good view of Mags’s face. He traced her features with the tip of his finger. “God, you were good.” He kissed the end of her nose, then her mouth.

Her smile widened, but her eyebrows furrowed slightly and she groaned. “Four years was too long to go without that.”

Jeff shifted to let her move her arm, then slid down to rest his head on the pillow, drawing her against him.

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, then let his cheek rest on the spot.

“Sixteen years was too long to go without that,” he whispered.

* * *

J
EFF
’
S
WORDS
CROUCHED
in the front of Maggie’s mind, ready to pounce as soon as she came fully awake.

Of course, she’d heard him when he spoke them, and her heart palpitated, trying to conjure a reaction. But her body was so mellow after the amazing release she couldn’t get worked up about it. Sleep came quickly, hard and deep—mimicking what she’d experienced with him.

But morning broke through the parted drapes, bringing her to full consciousness, and her heart twisted in her chest as soon as she opened her eyes.

What did he mean, sixteen years was too long to wait?

Surely, he wasn’t having second thoughts about the divorce.

Oh, good Lord, what had she done?

The two of them still lay as they had fallen asleep. Sometime during the night, she’d turned more toward him, and now his dark chest hair tickled her nose. His free arm draped across her, hand resting at the small of her back.

Mmm—it all felt so good.

Too good.

Memories of what Jeff had done—and what she’d done in return—swirled through her emotions, mixing them into a strange morning brew.

She moved to sit up, but the arm that rested across her tightened.

“Where you going?” He pulled her tighter against him and she became aware of the erection pressing on the upper thigh that she had wedged between his.

She glanced at her watch. “It’s almost nine. Time to get up.”

“I’m already up.”

She heard the grin in his voice. “So I noticed. You always were a morning person.” She wiggled her leg only the slightest but felt his immediate response. His grunt of approval made her grin, too.

“And you were always an anytime person.” He nuzzled his nose into her hair, his warm breath warming her all over.

He was right. She
had
always been ready for him—anytime, anyplace. Things had been different with Zeke. Once, sometimes twice a week. She’d accepted the decline in her libido as part of the normal aging process. That theory didn’t seem to hold up, though, as she was already feeling vibes from simply waking in her ex’s arms.

“Do you have anything
pressing
today?” He humped her leg playfully, emphasizing his word choice.

She chuckled at his movements, but then sobered. “Only the long drive home.” She sighed. “And starting the process of getting used to being alone in the house for longer than two months.”

His hand caressed her rear, fingers dipping low enough to elicit a guttural sound from her. “See there. Nothing that can’t be put off for a little while—or until they run us out of here at checkout.”

He was spot-on. She had nothing she needed to get home to. But what would another round of sex with Jeff do to her emotionally? Send her into that battle again—the one she’d fought so long to win?

No. This time his leaving wouldn’t be a surprise. It was inevitable. She was forewarned and prepared.

And the time to think about the emotional impact of sex with Jeff had passed, barely heeded, hours ago. What difference would one more time make?

Or two?

“You’re right.” She withdrew her leg long enough to sling it across his and roll on top of him to a seated position. The sheet fell away, and the morning sunshine dispelled any chance of hiding under the cloak of darkness. But she didn’t care. She was who she was. And the way his eyes devoured her at that moment made her think who she was was pretty darn hot.

And so was he.

Despite his look of pleasure and surprise, sleep still lay heavy in his eyes and a thick growth of black stubble coated his lower jaw and mouth area. She well remembered the beard burn she used to get from their morning trysts.

So worth it.

She brushed the tousled hair off his forehead and patted his bristly cheek, which did indeed scratch when he turned to kiss her palm. “No use of the mouth until you shave,” she instructed.

He sat up, locking his hands behind her back. “Oh, really?” Using his tongue, he teased the tender area along the line of her jawbone.

A delightful shiver coursed through her. “So not fair.” She sighed, but leaned her head back farther.

“How about this?” He nibbled along the same path. “Is this okay?”

It actually was quite pleasant, since his tongue had already moistened the area. She moaned in response and dragged her long nails up his back, drawing a satisfying shiver from him. Other areas were becoming moist without any direct touch.