Kiss And Dwell (38 page)

“
I want you. In you,
”
he said, standing, while her body quivered in anxious
anticipation. He stood and removed his clothes, quickly casting the T-shirt
aside, then following suit with the rest of his clothes. Monique noticed that,
as before, he wore nothing beneath his jeans. He was long and hard and thick,
and she wanted him deep inside. She took a breath, totally preparing to tell
him, again, what she wanted. But he didn
’
t need additional instruction. Before
she uttered a word, he eased her legs apart, settled his length against her wet
opening, then clenched his jaw.
“
Hard,
”
he said, gritting his teeth.
“
That
’
s
what you want?
”

She nodded, then screamed with ecstasy when he pushed every incredible inch
inside, deeper than she
’
d ever been touched before, and filled her completely
.

Her cry ripped from her chest and blended with the thunder claiming the sky
outside, and it forced Ryan to stop, holding himself still, while her muscles
clamped tight around him.

“
Monique, tell me this is what you want. I need to know. I—don
’
t want—to hurt
you.
”

“
It is,
”
she said, and she felt his fingers slide between their bodies, find her
clitoris and begin working their magic. She came almost immediately, as soon as
he touched the throbbing nub, and she tightened like a vise around him, her
convulsive spasms sending him completely over the edge.

He yelled, deep and low and guttural, a primitive growl that filled her senses,
almost as much as he filled her core, pushing in, pulling out, holding her legs
apart as he thrust harder and harder, and as her muscles started to tighten
again, the spiraling desire building and building, moving toward that spot where
his body penetrated hers, where he found the pleasure he
’
d needed for over
fourteen months, the pleasure he was finally getting…with her.

The elation of knowing she was satisfying him pushed her over the edge again,
and as the thunder boomed outside, Ryan joined her, his massive body convulsing
fiercely through his release, and his eyes telling Monique everything she needed
to know. She
’
d given him this. Even if she lost him today, and she feared that
she would, she
’
d also given him the pleasure he needed, the pleasure he deserved
and, she hoped, she
’
d given him a memory that would traverse the boundary
between the living and the dead.

Their bodies shuddered post-climax, and he hugged her close, until the tremors
subsided. Then he rolled over on his back, carrying her on top of him and smiled
against her cheek.

“
I
’
d planned on being gentle the first time.
”

Monique laughed softly.
“
Sorry I messed up your plans. Maybe next time?
”

He nodded, stroking a hand down the length of her back.
“
I
’
ve wanted to hold you
like this all week, to touch your skin, kiss your lips.
”
He placed a soft,
tender kiss against her mouth.
“
Touch your silky hair.
”
He brought his hand up
her back and twined it in the length of her hair, then moved it to his face and
inhaled.
“
Peaches.
”

She smiled.
“
You like peaches?
”

“
I can honestly say I like everything about you, Ms.
Vicknair
,
”
he said,
nuzzling her ear.
“
Even after I left your bed at night, I watched you sleeping,
”

he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper as he nibbled her tender lobe.
“
I
saw your face relax when you had pleasant dreams, tense when you had unpleasant
ones.
”

She remembered a couple of extremely passionate dreams that she
’
d had and
wondered if he
’
d seen her then.
“
Can you tell when I dream of you?
”
she asked
and felt his smile against her cheek.

“
You moisten your lips, then you gently push the covers down your body and move
your hands over your flesh. You touch yourself, the way I wanted to touch you,
but you never climax that way.
”

“
I couldn
’
t,
”
she admitted.
“
I didn
’
t want to do that without you.
”

“
I wanted to touch you so badly, to kiss your mouth, to run my fingers through
your beautiful hair.
”

Remembering Pierre
’
s
“
sand
”
comment, Monique raised her head and looked into
Ryan
’
s eyes.
“
What color is my hair?
”
she asked.
“
I mean, if you had to describe
it, how would you?
”

He ran his long fingers through her hair and tilted his head to one side as
though contemplating what to say.

“
Can you see it, in the darkness?
”
she asked, but she assumed he could. In spite
of the storm, moonlight spilled in from her elongated windows. Plus, Ryan
’
s own
luminescence cast the entire bed in a sensual glow. Surely he could see her
hair. But how would he describe it?

“
I see you perfectly,
”
he said.
“
And your hair is the exact color of the
brilliant light that guides souls to the other side. If I do cross today, when I

see that light again, know that I
’
ll be thinking of the way it mirrors your
beauty. If I cross, Monique, my last thought will be of you.
”

She swallowed, touched beyond measure.
“
One more question.
”

“
Okay.
”
He moved his hands down her body, massaging her back as he passed, then
cupped her bottom so her center arched forward, and his hardness nudged the apex
of her legs.
“
What
’
s the question?
”

She
’
d love to take advantage of that thick hardness that was so near her aching
core, but they only had one night, and she didn
’
t want to regret not asking him
again.

“
How did you die?
”

Monique’s question
hit Ryan with the same shocking sensation as tumbling,
freefalling, at the equivalent of a hundred and thirty miles per hour, hurling
from the sky directly toward the ground below.

He knew that feeling well.

One minute he
’
d been watching Monique pleasure herself in the shower, the next
he
’
d fled the scene, afraid of what he would do when she opened her eyes. Then
an hour later, he
’
d received that message from Adeline. He and Monique had been
granted one night before he crossed. And now that he
’
d finally touched her, had
her, claimed her as his own, she
’
d thrown yet another twist into this wild
night.

Other than briefly recounting the details to Celeste, he hadn
’
t discussed his
death since that day fourteen months ago, when living on the edge had swiftly
become plummeting over it. Though Adeline, and the others on that side, knew
what had happened and discussed it freely, Ryan preferred to avoid the topic
altogether. He
’
d been blessed, he reasoned, when Adeline informed him that the
medium assigned to his case had no desire whatsoever to know how he died
.

Despite that, he
’
d felt an urge to tell Monique a few nights ago, when they
’
d
discussed his past, but she
’
d stopped him, said she didn
’
t want to know.

But now she did.

He looked into those green-gold eyes, examined her concerned features
.

Concerned, for him, and concerned about the reason behind his existence in the
middle.

“
Dax
thought, because of the way you were willing to work on that roof in the
storm, that you might have died doing some sort of extreme sport,
”
she said, and
Ryan nearly laughed at the dead-on accuracy of her brother
’
s suspicion.

Ryan had watched
Dax
this week, seen him interact with Celeste, Chloe and the
little girl
’
s parents, and witnessed the expert way in which he kept the
interaction upbeat, in spite of the fact that their daughter was dead. The
family
’
s last week together had been a positive experience, thanks to
Dax
. Ryan
had been impressed. Now
Dax
had added another feather to his cap. He
’
d used the
limited knowledge he had about Ryan and completely hit the nail on the head.

“
When you told me you tried living life to the fullest, but went overboard with
it, I figured
Dax
was right,
”
Monique continued.

“
He is right,
”
Ryan said, running the pad of his finger across Monique
’
s lower
lip as he spoke.
“
I died skydiving.
”

“
How did it happen?
”
she whispered, that sweet mouth moving against his finger,
before she kissed it softly. She snuggled closer, as if she knew how difficult
this was.

Ryan pulled the sheet over her and welcomed the sensation of her warm flesh
cloaking him, giving him the strength he needed to speak words he
’
d never said
before.

The story of his last breath.

“
I had six thousand jumps behind me when we boarded the plane that morning
.

Basically, I was very comfortable in the air and never had the least bit of
difficulty. I packed my chute, both the primary one and the reserve, and knew
that everything was in order. Except—
”
He paused, recalling Mike
’
s face.

“
Except?
”
she asked.

“
I didn
’
t typically jump in the rain, and that morning it was raining. We—my
best friend and I—kept thinking the storm would pass, but it only got stronger.
”

His chest tightened at the memory.
“
Any other time, I
’
d have nixed the jump and
come back another day.
”

“
But why not that day?
”
Monique asked, leaning away from him so she could look
into his eyes when she spoke. She ran her fingertips down his jaw, cradled his
face.
“
Or would you rather not talk about it?
”

“
No,
”
he said.
“
It
’
s okay.
”
Truthfully, he didn
’
t want to talk about it, ever
.

But he also didn
’
t want to deprive Monique of learning everything she wanted to
know about him, his life and his death.
“
I had a friend from high school, Mike
Haggerty, who envied the way I lived after my parents died. We shared an
apartment in college, and Mike was with me when I got the call about their car
accident. He was the only one who seemed to understand what happened to me after
their death.
”

“
That you wanted to get more out of life than your parents had,
”
she said.

He nodded.
“
Yeah, but like I told you before, I went overboard. I decided there
was nothing I would miss out on, no matter what. If there was something I wanted
to try, I tried it. If there was something I wanted to buy, I bought it. Now,
don
’
t get me wrong, I worked hard, too.
”

“
What did you do?
”
she asked, and he grinned.

“
I owned a roofing company.
”

She punched him in the chest.
“
Seriously? And you didn
’
t feel compelled to
mention that when you were out there putting those tiles on at twice the speed
of the rest of us, including those roofers?
”