She curled into his lap, her knees against his heaving ribs, her cheek against his chest. He cupped her head with one hand, his fingertips massaging her scalp. His other arm encircled her waist, shielding her nakedness from the chill of the air-conditioning.
The roar of the rain turned to a gentle hum, and the thunder to a rumble. Alice felt like she was melting into him.
“The storm is letting up,” she murmured.
“Hmmm,” he acknowledged, sounding satiated.
Distracted.
She lifted her hips, making out his bold features in a flash of lightning.
“What
?” he asked quietly, his knowing fingertips transferring to the back of her neck. She closed her eyes briefly in pleasure as he massaged tense muscle.
“Are you really that worried?” she asked. She opened her eyes. “There’s no reason to be.”
Given his soft grunt, he remained unconvinced. She bit her lip. Despite all her confusion and trouble absorbing the events of the past few days, there was one question that refused to be suppressed or put on the back burner.
“Dylan?”
“Yeah,” he muttered.
“Can I ask you something?”
His massaging fingers stilled. “About Addie’s mother?” he asked warily.
Her throat tightened. “No,” she whispered. “I think … I think I don’t want to get into that tonight.”
His fingertips resumed their massaging motion. “I agree. There’s so much you still have to learn. So much to take in. Everything about … Addie’s parents … about her mother, that can wait,” he said grimly. “So what was your question, then?” he rumbled.
“Why did you first make love to me?”
He didn’t respond immediately. A flash of lightning—dimmer than it had been during the full force of the storm—allowed her to see his face. Was it her imagination, or did he look stunned by her question.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean …” She broke off suddenly. What did she mean? Everything felt so new and foreign to her, and it was so strange to try to assimilate everything that had happened to her since she first walked into the office and saw Dylan Fall last May, the barrage of bizarre information she’d received yesterday …
And now sitting here, curled up in his protective embrace after the fierce storm of their lovemaking. Such large, mind-blowing leaps and changes had occurred.
“Did you do it, so that you could have more control over me?” She realized how baldly negative that sounded, and hurried to smooth things over. “I mean so that there was a good excuse to have me with you during the nights, and … just a better idea of what was happening with me at Camp Durand? Dylan?” she asked uneasily after a pause, because he’d stopped his relaxing massaging motions on her neck and didn’t reply.
“You don’t know why I first made love to you?” he asked. She heard the blank incredulity of his tone, but didn’t register its meaning.
“No. Should I?” she asked bemusedly.
He slid his hands along the side of her neck, the movement making her hyperaware of the congested feeling in her throat. He cupped her jaw with both hands, the gesture tender.
Prizing.
“I made love to you because I’ve never wanted anything so much as I did you there in those stables, and every time since then.”
“Because of everything you went through,” she asked shakily. “Because of Addie …”
“Not because of Addie,” he cut her off. “Because of Alice.”
Lightning illuminated him for a brief moment. She wondered at what she saw in his expression. She touched his face in awe, like she thought she could capture what she’d seen with her fingertips, imprint it on her soul.