“You okay?” he whispered.
She moistened her lips. Touched his face. Smiled. “Yes.”
He waited an extra beat, giving her one more instant to reconsider second thoughts, and then kissed her on the lips and began to move inside her.
As much as she wanted the desires to build and to know a release, she didn’t want to rush this moment. So much of her life was a rush, rush, rush from one crisis to another. No time to think. No time to feel. But not now. She wanted to feel and savor every moment.
His body snapped with tension as she wasn’t the only one familiar with deprivation. He moved faster and faster and despite her wish for a slow ride he swept her up along with him.
When climax overtook both of them, tears pooled in her eyes. So long since she’d felt any type of connection. He collapsed against her, his heart beating hard and fast. She closed her eyes, savoring the connection. She understood it wouldn’t last but she was used to temporary.
He rose up on an elbow, in no rush to break the skin-to-skin connection. He captured a tear with his thumb. “You all right?”
“Yes.” Her voice sounded hoarse and rough. She’d devoured him but knew she’d soon be hungry again.
“You’re upset.”
“No.” A winsome smile flickered and faltered. “Just overwhelmed.”
He smoothed his hand over her hair. He traced her jawline. “Really? I didn’t think that was possible.”
That enticed a throaty laugh. “It happens on rare occasions.”
He traced deepening worry lines in her forehead. “You don’t like to be overwhelmed.”
“I didn’t mind it.” A faint smile teased the edge of her lips. “But you better take a picture. Won’t happen again for a while.”
He stroked his hand over her collarbone. “Sounds like a challenge.”
“No challenge. Just a fact.” Again she couldn’t keep the candor silenced. “Moments like this are rare. As much as we want them to last, they don’t.”
“They do sometimes.”
“Not for me. Not for you.”
He traced his hand along her arm. “Maybe before, but now—”
“Don’t.” Just the implication of a promise was more than she could handle. Better to savor what was and not expect more.
A muscle flexed in his bicep. “Don’t what?”
“Make any promises.”
His marriage history rebutted any promises of tomorrows even before he could speak them. “Fair enough.”
She stared at him silently, savoring the warmth of his naked body against hers, not willing to dream beyond now.
He kissed her gently. “I like the way you challenge me. Not many people do that these days.”
She ran her tongue over her lips, savoring his taste. “I thought I annoyed the hell out of you.”
“You do. You can be a real problem. But I’m getting used to it.”
“I’m difficult. Hard to live with. I drive people away.”
“Then maybe we are suited.”
In this unguarded moment, she spoke her mind. “You’ll leave. Work will pull you away. I know that because we are a lot alike that way.” Gently she stroked the side of his cheek, kissed him, and imagined how she’d like to make love to him again. She wiggled out from under him, coaxed him on his back and climbed on top.
He cupped calloused hands on her hips. “You’ve got me all figured out.”
“Doesn’t take a rocket scientist. Two divorces under your belt are warning enough.” She moved against him, smiling as he hardened. “But I don’t want forever. I want now.”
His hands trailed up her arms to her shoulders. He pulled her toward him and kissed her hard on the mouth. He hadn’t disagreed with words but his kiss had a possessive edge that said otherwise. He rolled her on her back and entered her again.
She hissed as her body fired to life again. However passionately Deke kissed or made love, he wasn’t going to hang around. And that was okay. It was.
She kissed him on the lips and felt his body respond. This taste of sweetness would leave her craving more.
Baby stood in the new chapel, hands prostrate, staring at the simple white cross hanging above the altar. Hands clasped tight, tears welled. “Lord, let him change his ways. Let him see that he’s a sinner and make him the man he needs to be.”
Two bodies should have been lesson enough. What would it take to get him to really stand up and do the right thing?
“Who’s there?” Pastor Gary’s voice echoed in the empty chapel. He wore khakis, a white shirt buttoned to the second to top button and simple brown shoes.
Baby burrowed deeper into the folds of the hoodie. “Pastor Gary.”
A smile deepened the creases around his eyes, which conveyed surprise more than welcome. “Baby, I thought that was you. I got your message.
“You said there was a problem. Are you having a bad time?” Pastor Gary shook his head as he approached, a warm smile softening his gaze. “Remember the first time I called you Baby? You couldn’t have been more than two.”
The gentle tone of the pastor’s voice softened some of the hate in Baby’s heart. The Pastor Gary standing here now was the man so many people loved. “I don’t remember the first time. But I can’t remember a time when you didn’t call me Baby.”
Pastor Gary was silent for a moment. “Why are you here?”
“I come here sometimes when I’m troubled.”
He stood silent and tense. “Why are you troubled?”
Baby shrugged. “I’m troubled with too much temptation.”
Pastor Gary’s gaze roamed, taking in faded jeans, sweatshirt, and loose jacket. “We are all tempted.”
Baby’s head cocked with curiosity. Fingers slid to the .38 tucked in the folds of the hoodie. “Have you been tempted?”
He cleared his throat and glanced around the arena sanctuary. He saw no one but lowered his voice. “Of course.”
“Why do you give into temptation?”
“I pray to God when the devil beckons. I pray for help and guidance.”
That wasn’t true. He ran toward temptation with open arms. And until now, Baby had forgiven him. “But do you sin?”
Pastor Gary cleared his throat. “What’s all this talk about sin, Baby?” He moistened dry lips. “What have you done?”
“Lots of things.” No hint of regret darkened the words.
A frown furrowed Pastor Gary’s brow as he clasped his hands in prayer. “Baby, you
were one of the nicest people I knew. I’d have known if you did bad things.”
“Would you?” Baby wasn’t sure. “You’ve never really paid attention to me.”
“I’m always paying attention.” The confidence humming under the words spoke to his pride. He prided himself on knowing his congregation’s sins and secrets, hearing their confessions and knowing the bleakest part of their souls. However, he didn’t know Baby’s secrets.
The need to confess and maybe even pride pricked at Baby. “You received my warnings, didn’t you?”
“Warnings?”
Baby squared broad shoulders. “Dixie. Rebecca.”
Pastor Gary frowned, his pale eyes reflecting fear. “What did you do, Baby?”
Baby’s right hand remained on the gun, fingering the cool metal. “I took out the trash.”
He frowned as if a memory flickered in the shadows. “Someone else said that to me once.”
Baby nodded. “So you do remember?”
Pastor Gary took a step back. “Who sent you to me?”
“No one. I decided to come on my own.” A shrug lifted square shoulders.
“What do you want?”
“It annoyed me when you stopped coming around to visit. So I sent you the first warning with Dixie.”
His face paled as if he recalled the news accounts of the singer’s death. “I don’t understand.”
Laughter bubbled. “We both know there are two less sluts to tempt you.”
His unnaturally smooth skin strained against a frown as the weight of the words settled. “Who else knows about this?”
Baby savored his discomfort. “You look pale, Pastor Gary.”
“Dear Lord,” he muttered. “You and Rebecca . . .”
“I took care of her, too.”
Horror gave his eyes the wild look of a caged animal. “You need help.”
“Maybe I do. I’ve sinned, but you’ve sinned more, haven’t you, Pastor Gary?”
He glanced around the sanctuary, cringing. “I’ve made poor choices.”
Baby tugged at the cuff of the hoodie rescued from the church’s goodwill bin. Waste not, want not. “You are ashamed?”