Long-Lost Mom Read online

  “It must be painful.”

  What was painful was how much he wanted her. His arousal pressed against the fastenings of his pants, threatening to cut off vital circulation. “It’ll heal,” he rasped, nearly swallowing his tongue when her hands slid down a bit, running over his hips.

  “Stone?” she whispered, bold and incredibly shy at the same time, which was a sharp turn-on for reasons Stone didn’t want to examine.

  He was a man who, ever since Jenna left, only liked sophisticated women, preferably ones looking for no more or less than what he was willing to give. But he knew that this, with her, was different, and if they continued, nothing would ever be quite the same between them again.

  Maybe a better man could have resisted, but Stone felt overwhelmed, uncharacteristically out of control, and he couldn’t have turned from her to save his life.

  “The door,” he murmured, pulling away long enough to walk through his office to the outer shop, where he locked the front door.

  Bolting the office door, as well, he reached for her again, then was surprised when she flipped off the lights and plunged them into complete blackness.

  “No one can come in now,” he assured her, bringing her back into the circle of his arms, loving the feel of having her there. Slender and willowy, yet with wonderful curves in all the places that mattered, she was a dream come true.

  His dream, and not only did he want to see her, he wanted her to be just as certain as he was. “No one will bother us. We’re safe in here.”

  “I know. I just...” Burying her face in his neck, she went mute and hugged him tight, apparently embarrassed.

  He had no idea why she would want the anonymity of the dark. Maybe she was shy. Maybe she had something she wanted to keep covered, like a tattoo.

  Which brought back, quite vividly, visions of another woman, a lifetime ago. Jenna, and her own discomfort in the dark, for she’d gotten a small rose tattooed on her hip, and she’d hated it. It had embarrassed her, but she’d been stuck with it.

  Stone had never been able to convince her that he didn’t care about a damn tattoo, he just cared about her.

  But Jenna had no place here, no place at all.

  Cindy did, and she wanted the dark, which was a small request. It shouldn’t matter, but somehow it did. It’d been so long for him, too long, and even then, he couldn’t remember it being like this. He wanted it to be real. Honest. And he wanted to be able to look at her.

  “Do... do you hate the dark?” she questioned softly.

  It was the scars, he realized suddenly, hoping for her sake that there weren’t more than he’d already seen. She was trembling now, and he held her close. “It’s all right,” he murmured. “It’s all right. We’ll just—”

  “No,” she said quickly, urgently, pulling him closer. “Please, I want this. I want you. It’s just that—it’s been so long.”

  His chest tightened because he found her admission unbearably moving. “It’s been a long time for me, too.”

  And there in the dark, amidst his grief and fear and incredible hunger and need, they came together.

  The embrace of her body was as perfect as the embrace of her emotions. Wishing he could see her expression, he touched her face.

  “Love me,” she whispered.

  “Yes.”

  His name sighed from her lips, both a question and a prayer. In answer, Stone streaked his hands beneath her blouse, cupping her breasts, feeling the tips harden against his palms. With a rough needy sound in his throat, he peeled away the material of her top and bra and took her into his mouth, making them both moan. She was soft and warm and tasted like heaven, and her sweet body drew things from him he’d forgotten existed. But he would have given it up just to see her face, and to know she was feeling everything he was.

  Jenna tried to speak, and ended up murmuring something unintelligible. She was stunned because she’d had no idea how powerful, how absolutely right it would feel to be with him again like this. It was the same, yet subtly different. Maybe it was their maturity; maybe it was simply that even in this short amount of time she’d grown to care about him so much more than she’d ever been capable of before.

  She didn’t understand, only knew that whatever it was, it made her weak and strong, needy and sure all at the same time. That Stone was trembling, too, made it even more poignant, and she touched his tense jaw. He spread her thighs and pulled her in closer until their bodies were flush, until he’d nestled her warmest neediest part to the warmest neediest part of him.

  She gasped and he shuddered, tightening his hold on her. Raising his head, he kissed her mouth again, and then again, while rocking his hips slowly and purposely against hers, until lights danced in her head and her body was on fire.

  She needed to tell him the truth before complicating everything with yet another deception, but she wanted him and the wanting went so much deeper than the physical. It was surging, fierce and undeniable.

  “Stone.”

  “I know, I know.”

  “Please, now.”

  He reached around her and shoved whatever he had on the desk to the floor. Lifting her, he set her on the cool surface. The dark consumed them, yet her eyes had adjusted enough that she could see his body loom close, and she knew a true spark of regret that they couldn’t do this properly, in the light, with honest emotions flowing.

  How she wanted that, but if he caught a glimpse of that damn tattoo she hated, he would know the truth.

  And he would never forgive her.

  He was looking at her now, and though she had no way of seeing his expression, she knew it would be powerful, piercing. His eyes would be boring into hers almost painfully, forcing her into the intimacy of what they were doing, because with Stone it was all or nothing.

  Gently he laid her back, stretching her out on the desk.

  “This should be on a bed.”

  Afraid he would stop, she reached for him, unable to get enough of how he felt, so hot and hard and wonderful, beneath her fingers. “Please—”

  “Wait, Cindy—”

  “Don’t you want me?”

  A rough laugh escaped from him. “Cindy, I want you more than I want my next breath.”

  Pushing aside her blouse and bra, he cupped her breasts, making a very male appreciative sound that turned her on every bit as much as his touch did. Dipping his head to an upturned aching nipple, Stone danced his hands up her thighs, bringing up the hem of her skirt as he went, until he’d reached her restlessly shifting hips. She’d thought it difficult to breathe before, but then he skimmed those long fingers over her panties. Hooking them with his thumbs, he tugged them off, leaving her bare, trembling and completely exposed, and more needy than she’d ever been in her life.

  “I wish I could see you.” He dropped to his knees, startling her, then pressed her legs wide apart with his big hands and kissed her. There, oh, there.

  Nobody had done this to her since... since him, and the sensations that swamped her were all the stronger for the new emotional bond they’d shared. Slowly, deliberately, he proceeded to drive her absolutely out of her mind, first with his tongue, then his teeth, grazing, sucking, nibbling until her entire world shrank to this one little pinnacle of delight.

  Her sweaty palms slipped off the desk. “Stone?”

  He murmured encouragingly and held her hips in his big hands, soothing and exciting her at the same time. She started to shake—not small graceful quivers, but huge racking tremors she couldn’t control. She couldn’t even be embarrassed. She’d never been so far on the edge. Sitting up, she shoved her wild hair from her face, grabbed Stone and yanked him close. “Now.” Desperate, she tore at the buttons of his fly. “Please. Be inside me when I—”

  “Yes.” Just as desperate, Stone managed to undo himself, but it was Jenna who pushed his pants down over his hips. Hungrily she reached for the part of him that was hot and heavy and all hers. Marveling over this, dizzy with it, she directed him to her.