“I did miss you, Jeff.” She let her hands go hesitantly to his waist, then creep around to stroke his back. “I would have called you tonight. I wanted to see you.”
‘I’m glad.” His lips moved downward, touching the tip of her nose before hovering over her mouth. “I’ve been saving this kiss for forty-three hours. Happy New Year, Autumn.”
He gave her no opportunity to respond verbally. His mouth slanted over hers with a hunger that overwhelmed her, drawing an immediate and equal response from her. His arms tightened around her, pulling her hard against him. Her own arms went up to circle his neck, fitting them perfectly together. So perfectly that she felt bereft when at length he released her mouth and stepped backward to put a few inches between them.
“Have you eaten?” he asked.
She honestly couldn’t remember for a moment. Then she shook her head. “No. Not since lunch.”
“Have dinner with me?”
“Yes.” And anything else he wanted, she told him with her eyes.
He caught his breath and looked quickly down at his shoes, forcibly clearing his throat. “I…” He paused, then started again. “I almost forgot. I brought you a Christmas present.” He reached inside his denim jacket.
Autumn watched him with a smile, finding his momentary uncertainty rather endearing. “I don’t have one for you.”
“Don’t you?” He gave her a quick grin, then held out two thin cardboard rectangles.
Curious, Autumn looked down at the tickets he pressed into her hand. “Jeremy Kane!” she said with a delighted gasp. “He’s performing in St. Petersburg next month? I didn’t even know.”
“The tickets don’t go on sale until Monday,” Jeff informed her a bit smugly. “I pulled a few strings. You’ll notice I gave you two of them. You can take anyone you like with you, but don’t forget who made the effort to get them for you.”
Autumn laughed, knowing he fully intended for one of the tickets to be used by him. Even as her laughter faded, she wondered if they would still be seeing each other when the popular magician made his appearance in seven more weeks. Jeff obviously thought they would be. Still, it had been incredibly nice of him to go to so much trouble to get her tickets to the performance that would certainly be a sellout, simply because she’d once mentioned that she wanted to see Jeremy Kane in person.
“Thank you, Jeff,” she told him. For the first time since she’d known him, she made a completely spontaneous gesture toward him, rising on her tiptoes to place a lingering kiss on his beautifully shaped mouth.
Jeff’s response was instantaneous, recently banked fires flaming again at her touch. The softness in her face just before she’d lifted her lips to his had proved his undoing. He’d thought he’d be able to restrain himself until after dinner at least, but he was shaken by a wave of desire that shattered any control he had managed to retain earlier. There had been no other woman for him since he’d first set eyes on Autumn just over two months before—for some months before that, actually—and he had wanted to make love to her from that very first moment. He’d told himself before that desire wasn’t enough. He still wanted more—much more—from her, but he loved her so much that he couldn’t wait any longer. Couldn’t find the strength to resist what she was so sweetly offering.
“Autumn,” he moaned into her mouth, “I want you so much. I don’t think I can walk away from you this time.”
“Good,” she whispered in return, her arms going around him. “I don’t think I can let you walk away this time.”
He hesitated only a moment before sweeping her off her feet and into his arms, turning rapidly for her bedroom.
Momentarily startled, Autumn glanced up at him with a fleeting frown. “You do understand that I’m quite capable of making this walk on my own?”
“Yes.” He smiled down at her without slowing his long, smooth strides.
She sighed and relaxed, allowing herself to luxuriate in his strength. “Just so you know,” she murmured, snuggling into his shoulder.
He held her more tightly, blinking rapidly at the trusting gesture. He was in danger of worshiping this woman in his arms, he thought as he lowered her tenderly to her bed. He loved her when she was prickly and defensive and independent, he adored her when she was sweet and responsive and passionate. And yet, knowing how much of him she already possessed, he could only offer more of himself. His heart, his soul, his future. Whatever she would take.
“How do you get more beautiful each time I see you?” he asked softly, his hands going to her hair to loosen the intricate braid. Fascinated by the soft, dark red curls he set free, he threaded his fingers through the thick mass and then buried his face in it. “Ah, Autumn, you feel so good.”
“So do you,” she whispered, her hands sliding slowly down his back, palms flattened against the rough denim of his jacket. “But you have on so many clothes.”
The sound he made was half laugh, half moan. He shrugged out of the jacket, tossing it to the floor before pulling his shirt over his head. He never took his eyes from her as his hands went to the buckle of his leather belt, nor did she look away. Instead, she lay still, her approval of the body being revealed to her evident on her face. He loved knowing that she found him attractive. He planned to demonstrate quite thoroughly how beautiful she was to him.
Only when his own clothes were lying in a careless heap on her rug did he reach for the hem of her soft green sweater. Moments later the sweater, her gray slacks and her lacy undergarments had joined his things on the floor, and finally they were as he’d long
ed for them to be. Skin to skin. Heart to heart. As close as a man and woman could be—almost. He held off from that final joining, determined that she would need to have him inside her as desperately as he needed to be there by the time he entered her.
He wanted to make their lovemaking perfect for her. And that included making sure there would be no unplanned consequences. “Autumn, if you’re not protected, I can—”
“No, it’s okay,” she assured him huskily, not bothering to mention that she’d given in to the inevitable and visited her gynecologist soon after meeting Jeff.
Her breasts were full and straining when he cupped them in his hands. Her skin was soft, moist, lightly dusted with golden freckles. He reveled in the feel of it, the scent of it, the taste of it. Her rosy nipples pouted for his attention, and he flicked them with the tip of his tongue, causing her to gasp and arch upward. She cried out softly, burying her hands in his hair when he opened his mouth to draw her deeply inside.