Love's Road Home (22 page)

She raised her arms, wanting to feel him next to her. On top of her.
Inside her.

Tom immediately responded to her request, moving over her to kneel between her wantonly-spread legs. Beth wrapped her arms around him, stroking his shoulders, back, buttocks. She didn’t care how eager she appeared. She wanted him.
Now.

But Tom apparently wasn’t in as big a rush as she was. Although he began to slide his erect penis up and down against her slick, swollen folds, he made no move to enter her. Instead, he planted his hands beside her head and kissed her as if their lips were the center of the universe. As if the twining of their tongues was the ultimate culmination of their lovemaking.

His tenderness almost made her break down in tears.

But this wasn’t a time for crying. It was a time to celebrate. Because now she knew what had been missing in her sexual encounters with Eric: heat.

Tom made her burn as he slowly traced the dips and curves of her body with his hands and mouth. Eric had all of the right moves, the right technique to get the job done, but it had never made her feel like this.

Now, as Tom leaned down to explore her breast with his tongue, tenderly caressing her hip with his fingertips, she knew why. Eric had been a cold man. And that coldness, that heartlessness, must have permeated through his skills as a lover. Because she knew that Eric had never, ever, made her feel like she was a simmering volcano on the verge of eruption.

Yet Tom had done that from the very first time she’d laid eyes on him. He made her feel alive. Beautiful.
And happy.

Even at the best time of their relationship, Eric had simply made her feel comfortable. But she wasn’t comfortable now.

Nope, right now she was wound so tight she was about to jump out of her skin. And it felt good.

Beth shoved all thoughts of the past out of her head and concentrated on that good feeling. And it became even more intense as Tom moved his mouth to her other breast, at the same time sliding his hand down to the curls covering her mound.

As he slid a long finger into her feminine core, he leaned up to press another passionate kiss upon her waiting lips. "You are so hot," he murmured just before their lips met.

Tom’s fingers continued their fantastic dance in and around her moist sheath. His thumb alternately pressed hard against her clitoris, then circled around it, sending spasms of pleasure through her entire body.

Once again his mouth captured her moan of ecstasy. Needing to catch her breath, she tore her mouth away, panting. Pressure built to an unbearable level inside her, and Beth turned her head to the side, latching on to the muscular forearm beside her like a lamprey in order to suppress the keening wail that longed to escape her throat.

The man’s fingers were more talented than she’d ever imagined.
And his lips …

Those fine instruments of sensuous torture were busy spreading soft kisses over the exposed area below her ear. As he made his way from her neck to her collarbone, Beth loosened her lip-lock on his arm.

"Tom," she whispered. "I need you.
Inside me."

He wriggled his fingers, causing her hips to jerk upward and another groan to slip out. "I am inside you, honey."

He gave one more stroke of his fingers to illustrate his point, and another sound, like that of a cat in heat, came from her mouth.

She slapped him hard on the shoulder. "Don’t be a jackass. You know exactly what I mean."

Tom withdrew his fingers from between her thighs and moved back above her, sliding his hair-roughened skin against her on his way up. He captured her face between his palms, and she could smell her sex on his flesh.

He held her gaze as his hips ground against hers, once more teasing her with the possibility of fulfillment. "Yeah. I know. But I want to hear you say it." He leaned down to kiss her cheek. "What do you want, Beth? Tell me."

Beth opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t do it. No matter how forward she’d been in stripping for him, she couldn’t say the words. They remained lodged in her throat.

Well, actions speak louder than words anyway, she thought. So she slid a hand between their bodies and grabbed hold of his erection. She firmly squeezed it and gave a slight upward twisting motion. "This," she said. "Inside me.
Now."

A slow smile spread across his face, proving her short but to the point response was quite acceptable.

Tom shifted to the side and leaned over the edge of the bed. She heard him fumble with his discarded jeans and then he repositioned himself to sit back on his heels. In his hands was a condom.

Beth watched as he donned the protection, shocked that she hadn’t given it a thought. He looked up and saw her stunned expression. "I don’t always carry these around. I was just hoping…"

"It’s all right," she said as he trailed off. "It’s fine. I’m glad you thought of it."

Tom moved over her again, took her hands into his and intertwined their fingers. He pressed his chest against hers as he pushed her arms back and into the mattress.

"Good," he said softly, his lips closing in on hers. "I’m glad we’re in agreement. Because I don’t think I could stop at this point."

"Thank God for that," she said, stretching up to seal her lips to his. Tom’s tongue thrust into her mouth at the same time his shaft thrust into her wetness. They both groaned at the utter pleasure of him completely filling her.

He rested his forehead against hers. "Oh, baby. You feel so good."

"So do you." She let out a deep breath. "Oh, yeah, so do you."

Tom kissed her forehead, then her lips, clenching her fingers tightly within his own as he slowly began to move his hips. In and out.
In and out.

With each thrust, the sensations flowing through Beth grew stronger.
Not only between her legs but also in her heart.

As he moved ever faster, she fell deeper and deeper in love with the man. She wrapped her legs around his and pushed her hips upward, eagerly meeting his hot skin with her own.

Tom murmured his approval and rocked even faster, harder. They continued to kiss as their bodies moved together in a rhythm as old as time, until finally he emitted a long groan and shuttered in a release so powerful, and a thrust so deep, that it triggered her own climax.

For the next few minutes, only their erratic breathing and the humming of the air conditioner broke the quiet of the room. Tom released her hands and rolled to his side, pulling her to face him.

He gently trailed his fingers over her cheek, and her eyes lazily drifted closed, a contented smile on her face. "Any regrets?" he asked.

"Yeah."
When his fingers stopped moving, Beth forced her lids to open once again. "That we didn’t do this sooner."

Tom rolled his eyes,
then
gave her a hasty kiss. "Lord almighty,
darlin
’. You almost gave me a heart attack." He slid to the edge of the bed and got up. As he walked toward the bathroom, he threw back assuredly, "Don’t worry. We’ll definitely be making up for lost time."

The door swung closed behind him, and Beth rolled to her back, her smile growing bigger. She stretched her satisfied body, grateful that reality had far surpassed her imagination.

Tom emerged from the bathroom and came back to sit by her side. "What’s that smile for? You happy or something?" His gorgeous mouth curved upward into a grin that matched hers.

"Or something," she answered pertly.

He combed his fingers through her hair, pulling a section of it forward to lie across her breast. The cool, damp strands made her nipple pucker, and the ever-present longing she felt for Tom surged higher once more. He continued to watch her, his hand resting just below the swell of her bosom.

And, slowly, the smile faded from his face. "Are you sure you’re doing okay? I want you to tell me if you need anything. That little gift you got earlier had to have shocked you, at the least. And I want you to know that I’m here for you."

Beth reached up to cradle his firm jaw. "Thank you. But I’m fine now. You’ve already seen to my immediate relaxation, and I’m sure security will take care of the rest. I don’t want what’s happened to ruin the rest of the tour."

Furrows appeared as his dark brows pulled together, and he shook his head. "I don’t understand how you can act so calm. I know this has been weighing on your mind—the possibility that Eric Sharpe is pursuing you."

She felt a bit strange having this conversation with Tom when they were both naked, but evidently it couldn’t be avoided. "What makes you think that? I’ve told you over and over since Baltimore that I doubt Eric would waste his time coming after me."

"That’s just it. You’ve said and done things to fool others—maybe even yourself—but all your fears about Sharpe came out anyway."

"Huh?" She waved her hands in the air, exasperated. "I have no idea what you’re talking about."

"Your dream."
Tom stood up and paced to the window. He turned to face her, one hand on his hip and the other buried in his short, dark hair. "The one you had on the bus. I know it wasn’t about your mother."

Oh, damn. "Tom—"

"It was about Sharpe." He resumed pacing back and forth between the bed and window. "You were terrified about him coming to get you, to hurt you, so you made up that load of crap when Cole mentioned the dream at breakfast."

"Tom, actually—"

"And I just can’t stand the fact that you won’t admit to anyone—especially me—that you’re scared!"

"Tom, listen to me!"

That finally got his attention. He stood still, silent and waiting.

Beth should’ve known she’d have to come clean about this. It seemed like nothing escaped his notice lately.

She sighed and pushed up to lean against the wooden headboard. "Sit down. I have to be honest with you about something."

He immediately sat next to her hip and picked up her hand. "Anything. You can tell me anything." He pressed a soft kiss into her palm.

She chewed her lower lip for a moment, pondering her best course of action. In the end she decided to just get it over with. "I wasn’t dreaming about Eric on the bus. I was dreaming about you."

The look on Tom’s face would’ve been comical if the topic under discussion weren’t so serious.

"Say what?"

She exhaled loudly once
more,
embarrassed to have to explain her thoughts. Beth focused on a point over Tom’s shoulder and rushed to get it all out. "I was having a sexual fantasy about you, but I couldn’t very well explain that to everybody, so I made up that lame story about my mother’s accident and the motion of the bus."

She forced herself to meet his incredulous gaze. "It had nothing to do with Eric. Honestly."

His lips twisted sideways for a quick second, and Beth couldn’t tell if it’d been the start of a smile or a frown. Regardless, he instantly schooled his handsome features into an unreadable expression.

"So you expect me to believe you’d been dreaming about me, huh?"

Beth cocked an eyebrow at him. "Yes, I do. It really is the truth, you know."

"Prove it."

Now she was the one to ask, "Say what?"

"Prove to me that you’d been having a sexual fantasy about the two of us. What did we do?"

She couldn’t believe he was making her do this. "Umm, well I was lying on the bed naked and you were standing next to me."