‘You are so beautiful.’
‘You don’t need to say that.’ She smiled, saying the words as if they didn’t matter. She really didn’t know... The thought that no one had ever made her feel any different cut him to the heart.
‘I can’t help it. Maybe you’ll trust me enough to believe me before we’re done.’
Her eyes widened in surprise. Soft and golden, and as gentle as a warm sea breeze. He kissed her, easing himself over her, his hand exploring the silk of her skin.
She didn’t reply, but her gasp when his fingers found her nipple told him that he had her full attention. He wondered how long she could hold out against him and hoped it would be for just a little while.
He told her all of the ways that she was beautiful, all of the things he loved about her. Teased her until she was drunk with the same heady passion that intoxicated him.
‘Drew. Please...’
He didn’t want her to beg. He wanted her to receive him into her arms, knowing how much he adored her. Slowly he slid inside her, feeling the warm tension of her body.
Something stirred, deep in her eyes. He wrapped his hand around her leg, pulling it up and around his hips. His next thrust was a little faster, a little harder and she groaned.
Strength pulsed through him, unleashing a hurricane. There was no going back now. She was driving him beyond anything he’d ever experienced.
In the sudden calm, before the storm reached its height, he stared down into her eyes, and saw acceptance and trust. It was then that he knew that this was more than just passion. Caro was giving a part of herself to him, and he was giving whatever was left of himself to her.
* * *
Who had the stamina to work their way through half a box of condoms in sixteen hours? And who on earth could make things perfect and then manage to improve on that? Warmer and wilder, heart-thumpingly passionate and mind-blowingly intense.
And then make breakfast.
She watched him as he carried the tray over to the bed, setting it down. Just jeans, slung low on his hips. The way he used those hips was just so satisfying.
‘There has to be something wrong with you, Drew.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Why’s that?’
‘Because you’re too good to be true. You’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.’ There was no denying that, she’d already told him. ‘And you’re gentle and very sweet, and I love it when you forget about both of those things...’ She’d told him that too. In rather plainer terms than she could use this morning without blushing.
‘Ah. You mean when you agreed with me that you were beautiful?’ He sat down on the bed, and the plates and cups slid gently to one side of the tray.
‘I think I said that was how you made me feel.’ Caro was a little hazy on the exact details. Just that he’d coaxed something out of her that she hadn’t know was there last night.
‘I’d like to make you feel that again. If you’ll let me.’
They hadn’t talked about that. But it was impossible to deny that they both wanted it.
‘I’d like that too.’ She leaned forward to kiss him, and the contents of the tray tipped back the other way.
‘My place? This evening? I’ll go and pick Phoenix up from Mum’s after work today.’
Caro had wondered whether his cottage might contain too many memories for Drew to make love with her there. It was also far less likely that an overnight visitor would escape notice in the village than it was here at Smugglers’ Top.
‘Don’t you mind? If you feel better about coming here, I’m accessible via land or sea.’
He thought for a moment. ‘No. I’d like it if you came to my place.’
Drew was moving on. She was glad for him, but something deep in Caro’s heart sounded a note of warning. She’d moved out, and then moved away, but moving on was a little more difficult. But Drew had shown her how to do so many things, and maybe he could show her how to move on too.
‘Okay. Your place tonight. I can come to the centre this afternoon to help out with the birds if you need me.’
‘We’re going to need all the help we can get. Thank you.’