Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
T racy held Adam’s gaze as he loved her with slow, deliberate strokes. She followed his lead, rising to meet him, her breathing steady. She had no experience with quickies, but she’d imagined something much more frantic.
Not that she was complaining. The glow in his eyes coupled with the clear intent in his movements promised that she was about to have a very good time. He would see to it.
Leaning down, he nibbled on her lips. “I could get used to this.” His soft murmur added to the delicious intimacy.
“That’s the idea.”
“Didn’t mean it like that.” Braced on his forearms, he continued the easy pace as he dropped feathery kisses on her cheeks, her eyelids, the tip of her nose. “Making love to you in daylight is awesome.”
She opened her eyes and drank in the warmth in his eyes, the curve of his tender smile. “Yeah?” It was all she could manage. His subtle lovemaking was sneakily effective, unraveling her control. He seemed to be holding onto his.
“Yeah.” He took a ragged breath.
Maybe he wasn’t as calm as he appeared. “I…like it…too.” More than she should.
“I’m glad.” The husky note in his voice gave him away.
Wrapping her legs around his, she snugged up the connection.
Heat flared in his eyes. “Ahh, Trace. You’re… getting… to me.”
“Meant to.”
He gasped and moved faster. “Let’s do this.”
Her willing body reacted to his words, building pressure faster now, responding eagerly to each rapid thrust. She dug her fingertips into the powerful muscles of his back.
He began to pant. “You’re…almost…there.”
“You?”
“Close. Too close.”
“Come with me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“We don’t have a lot of?—”
“I don’t care.” She gulped as the first spasm hit. “Please.”
With a groan of surrender, he pumped faster still, setting off her climax… and his. She clung to him as they rode the bright waves of sunlight and pleasure as one.
As their breathing slowed, contentment settled around her. Within her, too. He’d only been in her apartment once before, and only for a short time. Yet his presence there, in her space, in her bed, felt right. Perfect, in fact.
Don’t settle for anything but the best.
Nothing about his statement suggested he was angling for that position. The exact opposite. He expected her to move on, to protect the status quo by finding someone else.
It was the smart way to go. Maybe by Friday she’d be ready to accept that he was— uh-oh. A familiar tapping pattern drifted up from the front door.
Adam lifted his head. “Somebody wants in.”
“It’s Auntie Kat.”
“How do you know?”
“She doesn’t use the bell and she has a distinctive way of knocking. I told you she tends to drop by even if she doesn’t have an appointment.”
“But you have that sign up. Why would she keep knocking?”
“She thinks the sign doesn’t apply to her so she knocks anyway, just in case I’m here. In the winter she peeks in the window to see if my jacket’s on the rack. If it’s gone, she knows I’ve left the office. I remembered to bring it up here when I put up the sign.”
“Oh, boy.”
“You left yours.” The rapping stopped. “No worries. We’re supposed to be on that online call you talked about.”
“I left my boots down there, too.”
“Oh.” She took a shaky breath. “What if you took them off because they were muddy?”
“You have a boot scraper outside. And the ground’s frozen. No mud.”
“She told me on Friday morning that she’s always hoped we’d?—”
“She said that to me on Friday night before we sat down to dinner. She’ll think I decided to act on her suggestion.”
“Will she tell?”
“Not if we ask her to keep quiet.” He left the bed. “As soon as I take care of the condom, I’ll get my phone and text her.”
“Is it downstairs, too?”
“Yep,” he called over his shoulder as he headed for her bathroom. “I silenced it, for all the good that did. I didn’t think about the window.”
“I’ll text her. My phone’s up here.” She’d silenced hers, too. Sliding out of bed, she crossed to the waist-high double dresser and mirror combo she’d found at a garage sale.
She almost didn’t recognize herself in the mirror. That sensual, tousled lady had just been loved within an inch of her life and she’d enjoyed every minute.
Picking up her phone, she turned it back on and Auntie Kat’s text popped up. A joint one to her and Adam. “She’s already texted us.”
“She has?” He walked out of the bathroom.
No two ways about it, he was a showstopper. How was she supposed to get tired of that view?
“What did she say?”
She reluctantly focused on the screen. “ Congratulations, you two! Smart move, scheduling a rendezvous away from the ranch. Word to the wise, both Raquel and Luis have their suspicions. Mila and Claudette might, too. But your secret is safe with me.”
“It is.” His chest heaved. “She can be a pain in the patoot sometimes, but she’s a vault when it comes to private info.” He started toward the door. “But I should go grab my jacket and boots before anyone else?—”
“Like that?”
He chuckled, turned around and made for the rocker that held his clothes. “Guess not. I’m used to living alone.”
“Don’t get dressed. I’ll put on a bathrobe and go down.” She opened her closet door and took it off the hook.
“Because that wouldn’t be weird, getting caught running around your office wearing a bathrobe in the middle of the day.” He pulled on his briefs and reached for his jeans. “What time is it?”
She picked up her phone again. “Twenty till.”
“You know what?” He sat in the rocker and pulled on his socks. “We had a fabulous time. I’m grateful Auntie Kat didn’t knock in the middle of it. Maybe we should just….” Leaving the rest unsaid, he gazed at her. “An hour isn’t enough time, is it?”
He was going to get dressed and leave. She swallowed her disappointment. “Not really. That’s why I gave us two hours on Friday afternoon. Could we… would you consider talking off your socks and briefs and cuddling for ten minutes?”
The tenderness in his eyes made her breath catch. “I would.”
Replacing her bathrobe on its hook, she walked back to the bed and climbed in. “You can tell me what’s going on with the Canadian lynx.”
“I hope not much.” He settled in beside her and pulled her close the way he had before they’d drifted off to sleep Saturday night.
Resting her cheek on his chest, she listened to the steady beat of his heart. “But there might be an issue? You didn’t make it up?”
“I did not.” He stroked her hair. “I’ll attend an online meeting at three. Only one pair has been spotted. With luck they’re only moving through. This isn’t their preferred territory. They like it better up north.”
She tucked her arm around him and snuggled close. She wanted more, but this was better than having him leave. “When’s their breeding season?”
“We’re coming up on it, March to April.”
The vibration of his voice tickled her ear. “And if they did stay and have babies….”
“That could be a problem for the road project. The lawyer for the two environmental groups is from Wagon Train, interestingly enough. Her name’s Tyra and she’s doing this pro bono. She owns the tavern over there and is married to a McLintock.”
“Then she might understand your position?”
“I’m sure she does, but it’s her job to help protect wildlife in the area. I have no quarrel with that.”
“Be sure and text me details since I’m supposed to be on that call right now.”
“I will.” He sighed. “I have this urge to pack up and take off with you to somewhere far, far away.”
Surprised, she lifted her head to look at him. “You do?”
“We can’t, but it might be the only way we’d get used to this craving. I’m lying here fighting the urge to make love to you again.”
“My bad.” She started to move away.
“Don’t go.” He tightened his grip. “I love the feel of you next to me. I don’t want to leave. I—” An alarm chimed. “Is that your phone?”
“It’s my old-fashioned alarm clock. I didn’t want my phone going off during our hour so I silenced it and set the clock for one-fifty.”
“Smart.” He rolled to face her. “Which is the other thing. You’re the smartest woman I know, but don’t tell Mila. Or my mom. Or Auntie Kat.”
“I won’t tell a single person.”
“I know you won’t.” He gave her a gentle kiss. “Gotta go.”
She got up, too, and went to her closet where she’d hung the clothes she’d had on today. She didn’t have time to stand around and watch him get dressed, much as she wanted to.
“Do you think anyone would believe me if I said you and I had to work late tonight on some legal issue?”
“I think you’d be pushing it.”
“You’re right. Never mind.”
“I appreciate the thought.” Knowing he was as desperate for her as she was for him helped.
“I haven’t talked to Luis yet. Think I’ll do that tonight.” He laughed. “Get the male perspective.”
“I’m telling you, neither of us is thinking straight right now.”
“I didn’t want to believe that, but it’s true. Today I started thinking about having kids.”
“ What ?” She swung around as he was tucking his shirt into his jeans. “Is that lynx pair giving you ideas?”
“Nah. It’s just that Jodi is so cute. She gave me a hug today.” He buckled his belt and walked toward her. “Do you ever think about it?”
“No.” But now she would. “Get out of here cowboy, before you make me as crazy as you are.”
“Okay.” He kissed her quickly. “See you at two tomorrow. And I’ll bring my boots and jacket up with me.”
“You do that.” She listened to him thunder down the stairs and stayed where she was until he’d had time to put on his boots and jacket. Then she walked to the landing as he went out the door.
Kids. They were supposed to be working through their urge to have sex by having more of it, not talking about procreation. It occurred to her that Adam had no idea how to properly conduct a temporary affair.