I CAREFULLY SET Diane down on the big white bed, aware of her bruises and cast. She flopped down on her back and stared up at me. Her arms lay splayed out at her sides and her hair spread out like a dark halo beneath her head. Brown eyes framed in dark lashes stared up at me.
When she opened her mouth to speak, I placed my finger against her lips. “Shhh. Let me make you feel good.”
She nodded mutely, but her eyes followed my every move.
After I unbuttoned my cuffs and removed my shirt, I stood there in my jeans and boots. I trailed my gaze over her curves. “You’re wearing too many clothes. I think we’ll lose the jeans first.” The button released with a single finger. The zipper slid down easily, exposing pink lace underneath.
I tapped her hip and she lifted her ass to allow me access to pull down her jeans. After tossing them on the floor, I moved up to her shirt. The blue cotton resembled a man’s shirt and I remember how much I liked seeing her in one of mine.
With one finger, I traced down the buttons, pressing into her skin, letting her know exactly where I was.
When she closed her eyes, I told her to open them. “I want you to watch me, see what I do to your body.”
Her throat bobbed when she swallowed and nodded her head.
The first button exposed the swell of her breasts. The second showed me her bra matched the pink lace covering her pussy. The third, fourth, and fifth revealed all of her torso to me.
“Gorgeous.” I ran my nose down the middle of her chest, between the valley of her breasts, and over the softness of her stomach. Inhaling, I slowly brought my mouth to the top of the lace at her hip and dragged my lips across to the other side. My breath hit her skin, causing her to raise her hips. I hadn’t even touched her below the lace. To hold her in place, I rested one of my hands over her navel. My other hand nudged her thighs apart and held them open. From my position between her legs, I peered up at her face; her eyes were still open, but her lids were heavy. Her cheeks flamed pink and her chest rose and fell with her breath. My girl was turned on.
Continuing my slow explorations, I repeated the same pattern on her thighs. Nose, mouth, breath. She smelled of citrus and musk. I needed to taste her, to bury myself inside her and remind myself she was alive, here, and mine.
Her underwear had to come off and now. Once gone, I returned all of my attention to her center. I wanted her to feel everything.
Pleasure, want, need, and love.
A hand curled into my hair and tugged, giving me a sign that what I did pleased her. Inhaled breath held and clenched before a slow, deep exhale guided my tongue. Every moan and squirm, each push and retreat, was noted and obeyed. My sole purpose was to please her. To love her with my body.
My world began and ended with her.
Because the words weren’t mine yet to say, I had to show her she meant everything to me.
When she clenched around my fingers, I knew she was close. I observed her face. Her eyes had been closed, but as if sensing my stare, she opened them and stared back at me. Our eyes locked and her orgasm shot through her, rippling through her thighs and pussy until she was shaking with it. She moaned, hands fisted on the quilt and her eyes closed. I slowed my movements, drawing out the high for her until her muscles relaxed into nothingness. With a soft peck to her hip, I rose above her. Resting my weight on my elbows, I kissed her breasts, her chest, her collarbone, her neck, and finally her mouth.
Her mouth opened to me and I lost myself in her—her taste, her breath, her soft, wet kisses. My heart raced and it had nothing to do with exertion, and everything to do with having her back in my arms.
I pulled away until my nose rested against hers. She opened her eyes and tried to focus on mine. “Wow.”
I chuckled. It was rare for Diane to be speechless, but I’d reduced her to one syllable.
“Mmm,” I said, kissing along her jaw until I reached her ear. I skimmed my teeth along her lobe before nipping it. “I’m not finished with you yet,” I whispered into her ear. “Not by a long shot.”
“I hoped you’d say that,” she whispered back.
I moved to hover above her face again. “You did, did you?”
“Mmmhmm.” She rubbed her nose against mine. “You still have your jeans on and I’m still wearing my bra.”
“Is that a challenge?”
She nodded and smiled up at me.
Challenge accepted.
And met.
Steam rose up from her body. We stood in Maggie’s outdoor shower on the deck with hot water pouring over us. Cool air against my back contrasted with the heat between our bodies when I lifted her hips and thrust into her. Our bodies joined together and my head rested on her shoulder while her good hand tangled into my hair, scratching my scalp. The pressure of her fingers distracted me, helping me last longer for her. After last night, I wasn’t sure how I could stand, let alone fuck.
Not fuck. Make love. Making love—heart, body and soul.
I lifted my head and shifted her higher. I wanted her to feel good. It’s all I wanted at that moment. If I could consume her, meld our bodies into one, I would have done it.
I chased her orgasm with my own. After, I pulled away from her body, a slight tremor ran down my spine when hot water and cold air hit my cock. With a gentle kiss to her lips, I turned and dunked my head under the water.
Her plastic covered arm wrapped around my waist and she leaned her head against my chest, her other hand pressed against my heart. A happy sigh escaped with her breath.
I enveloped her with my arms and rested my head on hers. Content.
Early morning gray light brightened as we stood entwined and the water cooled. I reached over to the hooks to grab her robe and the towels while she turned off the water. Cold air slammed into us and she shivered.
“I’m freezing.” She hopped from foot to foot with her arms wrapped close to her chest.
I smiled at her standing, or hopping there, naked and wet.
I cocooned Diane into the robe and loosely wrapped a towel around her head. She looked ridiculous, like a turbaned marshmallow. She was beautiful.
The other towel I wrapped around my waist before we ran for the door and the warmth inside.
I made a note to myself to install an outdoor shower over at my house before summer. Maybe next weekend. I didn’t think Maggie would approve of Diane and I using hers once she returned.
We sprawled naked on my couch later that afternoon. So much for not having the stamina for more. Sunlight created large squares of light on the floor, but we weren’t tempted to venture outside. Somehow we went from watching one of Diane’s favorite terrible action movies to having sex with her straddling me.
Not that I complained. I hoped the hot sex would chase away the crying karma of the couch. I loved my comfortable couch.
All weekend, I showed her with my body what my mouth couldn’t say. Half a dozen times when we were naked I felt the words slip toward my lips, but even I knew better than to say them for the first time when I wasn’t wearing pants.
Diane stood and stretched, then dove behind the chair, hitting her cast on the floor with a loud bump when she rolled flat on her stomach.
“What the hell are you doing?” I didn’t move from my spot on the couch, but leaned down so I could see her head on the floor near my feet.
“Cover yourself!” she shouted at me, pulling the throw blanket off the chair and tossing it over my lap.
“Why do I need to cover myself? Nobody’s here except us and Babe. Trust me, Babe’s seen you naked before. And doesn’t care.”
“People are climbing up the stairs of your deck. People who look like they are going to come knock—”
A knock at the glass door to the deck interrupted her and I turned to see who it was. A couple in jeans and fleeces stood on the deck. The strawberry-blonde hair was familiar and so was her dark haired companion.
“Oh, that’s Maggie and Gil,” I said, giving Maggie a wave.
“I just want to die,” Diane moaned from the floor and attempted to bury her head under the chair.
“You do know your ass and bare legs stick out beyond the chair, right? Pretty sure they can see them through the window.”
“You’re not helping. Where are my clothes?”
“Too late for clothes. Here, have the blanket.” I swept the blanket off my lap and in the same movement covered my crotch with a pillow. “They know we’re in here. We might as well say hello.”
“Can I die first?” She somehow managed to wrap the blanket around herself before struggling to sit up with one arm holding the blanket to her chest.
“No, you can’t die. At least not this minute. Or for a very long time. Now, sit up in the chair and turn, smile, and wave.” I stood and held the cushion against my middle, creating a small bit of decency.
I waved the arm not hiding my cock and Maggie waved back before stilling her hand. She covered her eyes before quickly stepping away from the window. When she stepped back, she bumped into Gil and turned her face toward his chest. I laughed and almost dropped the pillow.
“Looks like Maggie’s figured out they didn’t come at the best time. Although, if they arrived about five minutes ago, they would have seen the whole shebang.” If we couldn’t laugh at the situation, well, we’d lost our humor.
Diane grumbled about first impressions and being a common hussy while locating her clothes on the floor.
“No one thinks you’re a hussy, common or not. They didn’t see anything. Plus, this is my house and if I want to make love to the woman I love on the couch in the middle of the day, then I will.” I followed this up with a strong nod.
She stood there speechless, holding her arms out with her clothes loosely piled on top.
I gave her a weird look before patting her ass. “Get dressed and we’ll go outside and say hi.”
She didn’t move.
“Hello?” I waved my hand in front of her face. “You were worried about how things looked and yet you’re standing here in a blanket with all the world to see.”
“You said you loved me.”
I blinked at her and ran my speech back through my head. Not a hussy. My house. Making love … to the woman I love. She was right. I had said it.
A slow, sexy smile spread across her face. The blanket slipped a little, exposing her breast to me. Thankfully her back was to the window. Maggie and Gil had moved away from the door and stood facing the water, giving us some privacy.
With the pillow still covering myself, I tugged the blanket up and over Diane’s breast. “I guess I did.”
“You did. No take backs.”
“Are you surprised?”
“No, not at all. I’ve known for a while.”
“You have?” I quirked my eyebrow and tried to appear serious.
“You love me.”
“I do.” I inhaled a deep breath and slowly exhaled it to calm my heart. “I love you.”
Her clothes fell to the floor. A smile split her face and she grinned up at me like a crazy woman with disheveled hair, naked under a blanket with a lime green cast hand covering her heart. She was a glorious mess. My glorious mess.
“I love you, John.” On her tiptoes she could barely reach my mouth with her lips, so I bent forward, sweeping her into my arms. The cushion fell to the ground and I pushed myself against her warmth.
She kissed me back and the blanket slipped again. When I felt her breast against the skin of my chest I moaned into her mouth and felt myself harden against her.
My moan broke her out of the kiss. “Um, are they still out on the deck?”
I peeked over her head. “Yep.”
“What’s wrong with me? I’m thinking about throwing you down on the coffee table right now and my landlord is standing outside.”
“I can send her away.”
She shook her head. “No, no we’re going to get dressed and be presentable. We can do this. They can’t stay forever, right?”
“I liked your first idea with the coffee table much better. They’ll be living next door to us all summer. We can be proper neighbors then.” I kissed her again, but she didn’t open her mouth to me. “Okay, okay. I give up. Let’s make a run for it down the hall.” I turned and ran ass-naked down the hall to the laundry room. Diane shuffled behind me in the blanket.
Once we dressed, I kissed her again and said, “I love you.” Because the block between my heart and my mouth was finally gone.