“I never stopped, Hannah. Can’t you feel it?”
She rocked against an impressive erection, and he let out a sexy laugh. “Not just with your body, babe. Inside, in your heart. Feel how much I want you, all of you.”
She stared at him, seeing the truth in his eyes, and it freed her somehow. Wriggling free, she beamed at him. He smiled back, letting out a surprised laugh when she gave him a shove to the bed. He lay back on his elbows, eyes hot as he watched her crawl up his body. “Feeling aggressive?” he asked mildly.
“I’m feeling something.” She tugged his shirt up, and when he took his hands from her to help pull the shirt over his head, she took advantage, leaning in to kiss her way across his yummy chest. As she headed south, he made a rough male noise and stopped her.
“Be sure, Hannah.”
He was looking at her as if she was the most important thing in his entire world. “I am,” she said. “I’ve never been more sure.”
As if that had been what he’d been waiting for, he rolled them, tucking her beneath him, pinning her to the bed.
“Your turn?” she asked breathlessly.
“Yeah. My turn.” His body was hard and muscular and felt so good against hers. “Pretty,” he said of her sundress, and nudged the spaghetti straps down her elbows, baring her to the waist. He smiled at her breasts. “Even prettier.”
She was busy trying to get his shorts off, but his clever hands were working on driving her crazy, and it was a short drive. Then he completely derailed her when he went on a southbound tour of her body. With his mouth.
“Mmm,” he murmured, pushing the skirt of her dress up. “Hold that for me.”
She mindlessly grabbed the material, and then in the next breath gasped, her head thrown back on his pillow as he slid off her panties, kissed her ankle just above the anklet he’d put on her, and then proceeded north to have his merry way with her.
She was still trying to find her way back to her own body when he lifted his head, bracing himself on his forearms above her. Reaching up, she entangled her hands in his hair and tugged him to her.
With a rough groan, he kissed her wildly until she was once again on the very edge, and then he produced a condom—thank god one of them was thinking—and finally slid home.
Breathless, heart pounding, she gazed up at him to find him staring right back at her, clearly just as moved. She drew a shaky breath. “I don’t get how you do this to me.”
“It’s you, Hannah.” His voice was husky. “It’s all you. You’re amazing. And you make me feel . . .”
“What?” She was struggling now for words, but she wanted to know. Needed to know. “I make you feel . . . what?”
“Everything,” he said roughly, a warm hand caressing one side of her neck and throat while his lips nuzzled the other side. Then he began to move, a slow, torturous grind, head back, eyes closed, sheer undiluted pleasure in every line of his face. When he opened his eyes and whispered her name, she lost herself in him, completely.
Just as when she was with him like this, she also felt . . . found.
Chapter Nine
JAMES OPENED his eyes, and in spite of the fact that Hannah had just blown his mind and melted all his bones, he managed to lift his head and run a finger along her temple, tucking a stray strand of hair from her eyes so he could see into them. “Hey,” he murmured.
She smiled lazily, looking so sated it boosted his ego. “Hey,” she murmured back.
He smiled. “Wish I could go back and tell teenage James that being with you is even better than I imagined. And trust me, I imagined a lot.”
That won him a laugh, which with Hannah felt like a huge victory. He knew there wasn’t much light in her world, and if he couldn’t change that, he could at least make her feel as good as he possibly could. To that goal, he nibbled his way to her mouth, and was kissing her and loving the little breathy whimpers for more when a sudden knock had her nearly leaping right out of his arms. “Shh,” he murmured, running his hands up and down her back. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay!” she whispered back, eyes wide. “You know who that probably is!”
And indeed, Harry’s voice came through the door. “See you at dawn for fishing, yeah?”
“Yep,” James called out, trying not to laugh because Hannah had dived beneath the covers. “First thing.”
“Okay then. Night, James.” He paused. “Night, Smalls.”
Hannah tugged the blanket off her face, grimaced, then called out, “Night, Dad.”
After her dad’s footsteps had faded away, she sat up. “Oh my god. If our moms were here, they’d already be planning our wedding.”
James snorted because that was true.
“This isn’t funny. He’s going to think we’re a we now.”
“Probably.” James kissed his way down her throat. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Right this moment?” she asked breathlessly, moaning when he added his hands to the fray. “Absolutely nothing.”
LATER, they dozed, wrapped up in each other. At some point, James awoke with a smile on his face and couldn’t remember ever feeling so relaxed and happy. At the odd movement next to him, he cracked open an eye and found Hannah sitting up beside him, working on her phone. Stretching, he slid an arm across her and tucked her into him.
She didn’t even look over, just kept typing while also giving a huge, jaw-cracking yawn.
Huh. Guess he was alone in that relaxed and happy state. “How long have you been up?”
“Oh, I haven’t gone to sleep yet.” She yawned again, looking completely done in.
“I could’ve sworn you fell asleep after that last orgasm.”
She smiled. “Yeah, and thanks for those, by the way. It’s been a while. Sorry if I was rusty.”
“You were perfect.” He kissed her shoulder. “You really haven’t slept?”
“No, I waited for you to fall asleep so I wouldn’t bug you.”
He lifted his head and met her gaze. “That wouldn’t bug me. What does is your working in the middle of the night when you’re exhausted and could use some rest.”
“I’m not exhausted—” She broke off for yet another yawn and then flushed. “Okay, so I’m a little tired.”
“You mean dead on your feet.”
She smiled ruefully. “I’ve got to do this. These are a few new cases I’m getting preliminary info together for that I’ll need right after the New Year.”
He nodded, starting to catch on. It’d taken him long enough. “There’s always going to be another patient, isn’t there?”
“Well, yeah,” she said, sparing him a quick glance. “It’s the nature of the job, which is what I love about it.”
“Because it allows you to bury yourself in work and never really live for yourself?”
Again she looked up, this time with a small frown. “I thought you understood.”
“Because of what happened to Jason?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, but then slowly shook his head. “No. Jason had regrets, Hannah—so many regrets. In the end, he was angry at himself for not living his life for anything beyond the job. I’d hate that for you.”