Summer Kisses (81 page)

“What’s the point?”

He locked his gaze on her lips. “You made the statement that no other man has ever gotten you off the ground. I say I can get you past the gravitational pull of the earth.”

“And if you can, so what? You admitted yourself this morning it’s just lust. It’s meaningless.”

He combed his fingers through her silky waves, arranging them neatly around her shoulders. “Oh, no. Lust is
very
important. Correct me if I’m mistaken, but wasn’t that what you were just mourning—the fact that no one else could light your fire the way your husband did?”

“So what’ll it prove if you can?”

“Maybe you’ll realize Robert isn’t enough for you.”

Abby tore her gaze away. “We went through this earlier today, and I told you I was choosing the sure thing.”

“How can you say you’re
choosing
anything? You’re making a completely uninformed decision. Why are you so afraid to find out if we’re, uhhh—
combustible
together? I’d think you’d want to know for sure before you tie yourself to a man who’ll keep you planted firmly on earth for the rest of your life.”

She gnawed on her lip, and a wistful light filled her eyes. As always, the puffiness caused by her nervous chewing made her mouth look more succulent.

He squashed the hunger her naked yearning inspired. If he kissed her and let himself get too caught up in her response, instead of proving how good it could be, they might land in bed prematurely. She would only end up angry and feeling seduced rather than consciously admitting how much she wanted him, too.

“Ahh....” Matt bobbed his head in a long nod. “I get it. You’re afraid you’ll be discontent with the dentist if you find out there’s another man who can launch you into deep space.”

~*~

Abby quaked at the shivery sensation that flooded her when Mac smiled. Maybe he’d hit the nail on the head. Perhaps she
was
afraid she’d become discontent. She’d already been off the ground with him once that morning without him even kissing her. How much of a stretch would it be for him to take her completely out of the atmosphere?

Mac scanned her face and twirled a strand of her hair around his finger. Sliding his hand along the side of her neck, he stared into her eyes and gently stroked her throat with just a whisper of a caress.

What was he doing? Certainly not kissing. This was
touching
. She took a deep breath and attempted to slow her breathing. Unfortunately, the longer he caressed her neck and shoulders, the faster she panted. She closed her eyes, reveling in his sensual touch. For a man who’d been out of the seduction game for as long as he’d been, he didn’t seem out of practice.

He cupped her face and barely brushed her lips with the softest feather-light kiss. Her breath stalled.

It was insane, letting him kiss her. But it’d been way too many years since she took a trip into space.

She moaned softly and arched her back, pressing her aching breasts against Mac’s hard chest. He traced his tongue along her lips and slipped the tip between them, teasing them into parting. A light shiver rippled through her while his warm tongue took a leisurely tour of her mouth.

Tangling his hands in her hair, he tenderly kissed his way along her cheek to her neck and back to her mouth, groaning his pleasure at each spot. “Oh, Abby, you taste too damn good.”

He sucked gently on the pulse at the base of her neck, keeping time with her heartbeat and making every cell in her body dance to the rhythm.

Letting her head fall back, she exposed the full column of her throat to Mac’s rapacious mouth. The hair on his face tickled her while he nibbled his way down to the base of her neck. She’d never kissed a man with a beard before. Maybe that was why he affected her like no other man since Matt.

Heat flared between her thighs, and she squirmed against his solid body. Spreading her hands over his broad back, she pulled him closer. He sent her hurtling straight for the moon.

Oh, no. It most definitely wasn’t his beard. When she closed her eyes, she would’ve sworn she was kissing her husband—or at least her body responded the way it had to Matt. Of course, after so many years, it would be easy to imagine a similarity.

He placed his lips back over hers and renewed his onslaught. She writhed beneath him, grabbing at his shoulders. He might not remember who he was, but evidently he hadn’t forgotten the art of seduction. He was very good at it.

His mouth journeyed to her ear and nipped at its lobe. “Damn, I want you.”

With each of his nibbles, her breaths came harder and faster. “You s-said just a simple kiss.”

“I’m not doing anything else, Sweetheart.” He ran his tongue around the edge of her ear. “I just want you to know where I’d go from here if I hadn’t agreed to limit this to just kissing.”

As he gently nipped her ear, she gasped. “What would you do?”

“Right about now, I’d strip off your blouse and bra.” He scattered hot kisses over her face. “Then I’d tease your breasts until your nipples got so hard they’d ache for me to suck them.” He brushed her lips gently with his. “Only I wouldn’t.”

Craning her neck, she reveled in the heavenly torture his mouth wreaked upon her throat and whimpered, “You wouldn’t?”

His warm breath wafted over her skin while he kissed a path up the side of her neck. “Unh-uh, I’d lick them a little first until you begged me for more.”

She moaned, thrashing her head. “I wouldn’t beg.”

He breathed softly into her ear. “Wanna bet? We can expand this little experiment.”

Abby shook her head while he sucked the base of her neck, sending her body arching up to him. His tongue trekked up her throat to her lips and traced the crease between them. Brushing her hair back, he whispered, “Where are you right now, Sweetheart? The earth, the moon....somewhere in between?”

He was so cocksure of himself, she’d be damned if she’d give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d taken her much farther than just beyond the atmosphere. She poked Mac in the ribs and pouted. “None of your business.”

“You won’t admit where you are.” He chuckled into her neck. “But I can guess. You’re just entering a lunar orbit.” He covered her mouth in a hot passion-filled kiss, leaving her breathless when his lips abandoned hers.

“How do you know?” she asked, panting in his ear.

“Because I’m right there with you,” he whispered, burying his face in her hair, his chest heaving. “You smell so good.” He pulled her tightly against his hard arousal. “I’m done simply kissing you, Abby. Unless you say otherwise, I plan to do a whole lot more—starting with getting you naked. It’s your call.”

This was supposed to end here. Somehow the words to stop him wouldn’t come out of her mouth. Mac pushed her blouse up and cupped her breast, tweaking its crest through her bra and turning her already stiff peaks even stiffer. “They’re ready for more than just touching.”

He was right. Her nipples were screaming for his mouth. Allowing him to kiss her neck was one thing, but letting Mac suck on her breasts was just wrong. Shoving him away, she yanked her blouse down and sat up, gasping for air.

Closing his eyes, he drew a deep labored breath through his clenched teeth. “So I guess the sure thing still wins.”

Abby looked away. What did Mac want from her? Did he think, because he could make every fiber of her body sing and get her to forget everything but the pleasure in his arms, she would abandon a relationship with a man who truly loved her?

A hot wave of guilt swamped her. Rob deserved someone better than a fickle woman who couldn’t forget the heady exhilaration she’d once enjoyed in bed with a man she loved. Maybe she
should
consider ending things with him—even if a relationship with Mac was totally out of the question.

Oh, Lord, if only Rob could make her melt the way Mac did.

But it wasn’t his fault her desire was so misplaced. This was completely about her wanting it
all
in one man. She’d already had that. She couldn’t expect to find it twice in one lifetime.

She pushed herself up from the bed. “You didn’t honestly think the outcome of a kiss would change my feelings for Rob, did you?”

“No, I suppose not.” He dropped his gaze to the homey appliqué and names she’d embroidered on the quilt and then glared pointedly at the picture on the night table. “It’s obvious how loyal you are. Are you sure Rob’s my real competition?”

It was a question she refused to answer—at least for him. All his kiss had accomplished was to make her question her own moral fiber and values. She didn’t really know what she wanted anymore. Shouldn’t she be worrying more about what she had in common with Rob than about the lack of sparks between them? In thirty or forty years, when her physical needs waned, wouldn’t those things be more important than passion?

“Damn it. Who am I trying to kid?” Mac swiped his fingers through his silver-laced hair. “
Yes
, I hoped this would change things. I thought after you saw how good it could be between us, you’d realize you need to postpone your wedding to give us time to figure out what our attraction means.”

She had to get out of the bedroom before she did or said something stupid. She headed for the door and turned back at the threshold. “And exactly what
is
it you feel?”

“I’m not sure. I just know I want a chance to find out.”

And so did she. But letting herself fall for him, wouldn’t change the final outcome.

When he followed her down the hallway toward the kitchen, she suddenly spun toward him. “I’d be stupid to jeopardize a solid, caring relationship with Rob simply because you get me fired up. A good marriage is about compatibility and wanting the same things in life. It’s about a lot more than hot, wild sex.”

If she kept telling herself that, maybe she’d eventually believe it.

She might not be as physically attracted to Rob, but she had those other things with him. And he wasn’t aching to have a houseful of kids. She knew in her heart of hearts, Mac would lose interest in her the second she told him she couldn’t give him children.

“Believe me, Mac, you really don’t—” A knock on the back door cut her off. Her attention flew to her watch. Ten o’clock? Had they spent that much time making out? It’d seemed like just seconds.

Abby opened the back door to let Lucy in. Her friend’s gaze traveled up and down her with a curious glimmer in her eyes. Could Lucy tell what they’d been doing?

Excusing herself, Abby fled to the bathroom to check the mirror. Her hair looked as if an eggbeater had run through it. She gasped at the sight of her flushed cheeks and puffy lips.

If Lucy couldn’t guess, she was blind.

Abby splashed some cool water on her face and ran a comb through her hair before rejoining Lucy and Mac in the kitchen. The tears streaming down Lucy’s face compelled Abby to wrap her arms around her friend. “Royce and you are so much better off without Bill.”

“I know.” Lucy wiped her eyes. “I didn’t tell Royce this morning because I didn’t want to send him to school upset. I thought I’d break the news to him tomorrow since it’s a Saturday.”

Mac nodded. “We sort of figured you hadn’t told him when he didn’t say anything. I’ll go get him so you can take him home.”

~*~

After Matt tucked Royce into his own bed, he joined Lucy in her kitchen where she was fixing a ham sandwich. She glanced up, wearing a tremulous smile. “Can I make you something?”

Evidently, she needed to talk.

“Sure that’d be great.”

“I don’t know how to tell Royce.” She pulled two more slices of bread from the bag. “I have trouble even thinking about it without crying.”

“Lucy, I don’t think this will be as devastating to him as you’re expecting. You told me last night Bill was barely a presence in his son’s life, so his absence shouldn’t leave much of a void.”

“I know.” She sniffled, spreading mustard and mayo on the bread. “But Royce can’t help but be hurt. He’s bent over backward his whole life, trying to get his father’s attention and love. This will be the ultimate rejection. As soon as he wakes up and sees Bill isn’t here again, he’ll know something is wrong.”

“I can help you tell him, if you’d like.”

“Would you?” Her eyes flooded with gratitude. “It would make it so much easier. You’ve already made such a big impression on him.”

Matt shifted his hips, trying to get comfortable in his jeans while visions flitted through his mind of Abby wearing that silky white nightie she’d had on when she woke him from his nightmare. He wanted to go back and pick up right where they’d left off before Lucy’s arrival interrupted them. Only problem was, if he returned to the house in the state he was in, there wasn’t a doubt he would and knock on Abby’s door. With his control so limited, it’d probably be best if he slept at Lucy’s.

“I could sack out here so I’m around when Royce wakes up.”

“I don’t want to put you out. Bill’s pool table is in the spare room, so you’d have to stay on the sofa. You won’t get a very good night’s sleep there.”

 “Believe me, your couch will feel like a featherbed compared to some of the places I’ve slept. Besides, I’d prefer not to be in the same house with Abby tonight. Things were getting a little, uhh—
tense
there.”

~*~

Abby slipped on her nightgown and flinched at the phone’s ring. Robert didn’t usually call this late. She picked up the receiver and, hearing Mac’s voice, frowned.

“Hey, Abby. Lucy asked me to stay here tonight. You can lock up, and I’ll see you tomorrow after breakfast.”

“S-sure.” She swallowed hard. “Okay. See ya.”

She hung up the phone with her mouth gaping as she wandered to the kitchen and bolted the back door.

After kissing and holding her all evening, why was Mac sleeping at Lucy’s? Was he afraid of what might happen if he returned to her house? Or had he decided to move on to a more promising prospect? In truth, she had no right to be upset. She’d essentially told Mac he was wasting his time with her.

She’d been such a fool to let him goad her into his fun and games tonight.