Seeing Michael again…the experience had been so surreal, like one of those horrible nightmares that had haunted her when he first disappeared. Upon reflection, she had to grudgingly admit a part of her was glad they had run into each other. That unforeseen meeting had forced her to search her heart, confirm what she’d already known. The moment her eyes landed on him, any lingering hope she might have harbored for his return turned to ash. No love warmed her heart. No attraction enhanced his presence. The connection they shared had died long ago, and what sweet relief to discover she was finally, truly over him.
She replayed her discussion with Tiffany, mulling over her advice about Dibs. In her heart, Tessa was confident she’d made the right decision to keep her encounter with Michael a secret. Especially after that night in her condo, when she’d cried as she related the story of how he had left. Dibs had already endured enough of her shenanigans, and she didn’t want him to worry that seeing Michael again had rekindled any unfulfilled commitment. She wanted her past forgotten, for them to start a new life together, worry free. So she boxed up the entire incident and hid it away, hoping Michael would never call and the whole horrible night would fade to a distant memory.
The purr of an engine made her spring to her feet. In the distance, a lone aircraft approached. She bounced on the balls of her feet, a hand pressed to her stomach, covering a surge of nervous exhilaration.
The plane grew larger and she smiled. White fuselage, blue and red pinstripe—it was the same aircraft on which Dibs had departed. Riveted to the runway, she hissed between her teeth when the plane teetered unevenly in the wind. The wheels touched ground and skidded.
Adrenaline tingled down her arms. Her heart tripped and hammered at a heady pace.
The plane executed a wide turn and taxied toward the hangar. The engines sputtered and went silent.
She anxiously shifted, put a hand back to her brow and squinted into the sun when the door swung down to reveal a small set of stairs.
Her breath caught and lodged in her chest. Knowing she would be in his arms in just a few moments…she couldn’t stand waiting one second longer. She finally forced her lungs to fill as first one, and then another member of the team exited the plane.
But where was Dibs? He should have been the first one off the plane, dammit.
And then, he appeared.
Her heart leapt when he stepped into the doorway and smiled in her direction. His tan skin glowed, the tips of his dark blond hair a shade lighter from the sun. A set of silver aviator sunglasses were propped on his nose and a week’s worth of dark stubble coated his cheeks and chin. Her eyes roamed his body, down his tight white T-shirt, over the tan cargo pants, ending at the black boots on his feet. Her mouth watered over all the delicious things she planned to do to him.
Oh-h-h, come to Mama...
He jumped the steps two at a time and jogged across the tarmac. Relief and happiness and excitement washed her in waves as he neared. She stuttered forward a few quick steps, and then a few more, jumping into his arms when he came up fast in front of her.
His strong arms cinched her tight, holding her aloft while she clung to him. “I thought this moment would never get here,” she whispered. “Thank God you’re back.”
He hugged her tighter still, and she drowned in the warmth of his embrace, the hard wall of his chest against her breasts.
He let her slide slowly down the front of him to her feet. “Let me look at you.” He lifted the sunglasses from her face. “My God, you look amazing,” he said quietly. “I’d forgotten how incredibly beautiful you are.”
She smiled, palmed the stubble on his cheek. “Love the shadow.” Returning the favor, she removed his sunglasses, anxious to bask in the light of his gaze, but the strain along his brow, the dark shadows under his lashes, tugged at her heart. “You look tired. I bet you’re exhausted.”
He shook his head, and his arms tensed as he leaned down and touched his lips to hers.
An eternity had passed since she last tasted his kiss. He pressed a hand on her back, bringing their lips together a second time. Desire warmed her belly when he slid his tongue in, deepening their kiss. She ran her hands through his hair, meeting him stroke for stroke, wanting no space between them. His kiss was everything she remembered, all she had imagined and been longing for. He brushed his lips up, sweeping once, then twice. Pleasure rippled down her spine when he buried his face in her hair, the rasp of his beard a perfect contrast against the smooth nip of his lips on her ear.
“Here’s your bag, Romeo.” A thud landed at their feet.
Dibs clasped the side of her throat, pulling her to his lips again and again. “Let’s just go,” he murmured. “I want to be alone with you.”
“My thoughts exactly.” She met his lips one last time before stepping back.
Twining their fingers together, he stooped to pick up his bag, but when Tessa tugged the keys from her pocket and jingled them in the air, he waved them away. “Do you mind driving? I am really tired.”
“Sure.” She squeezed his hand before climbing into the Jag and waiting for him to enter on the passenger side. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“If you don’t mind, let’s go to my place. I’m anxious to be home.”
He could’ve asked her to drive him to the moon, and she would have happily obliged. All that mattered was they were finally together.
The ride into Chicago was filled with details about the work his team had completed at the construction site, laying the foundation for the new school. He described his visits with the villagers and how most of them were ill, surviving a meager existence, battling starvation. His stories of the orphaned children broke her heart—both parents lost to HIV, and their struggles to stay clean and clothed. How the drinking water made most of them sick, the medical attention they received inadequate to fight off even the smallest of infections.
But what really killed her was the deep commitment in his voice, his determination to improve the quality of life for those who had less than most.
By the time he finished, tears brimmed in her eyes. “You’re an amazing person, you know that? My biggest concern this past week was getting those ridiculous chocolate truffles wrapped.”
He chuckled and stole her hand from the wheel, swirled the ball of his thumb in a lazy circle across her palm. “But I thought about you the entire time. It was a strange thing, being so sad and so happy all at once.” He flipped her hand and fingered the ring on her pinkie. “Hey, this is pretty. Not a present from a secret admirer, I hope.”
She smiled. “That’s my prize from the bubble gum machine.”
He twisted in the seat. “You sold the engagement ring?”
She nodded, glancing his way.
He pressed the ring to his lips, turned her hand over and kissed the center of her palm. The rough stubble on his chin tickled when he swept his parted lips back and forth over her wrist. “My God, you smell good.”
“Dibs…” Arousal shivered her skin, warmed her stomach. She laughed.
The tip of his tongue moistened the sensitive inside of her arm. “You taste really good, too.”
“I’m going to wreck the car.” An aching heat pulsed in her thighs. Maybe they could hit a rest stop.
“I’m insured.”
“That’s great, but what a tragedy if something happened before we got to your place.” She laughed again, contorting in the seat when he nibbled the crook of her elbow.
“Your skin is like silk.” His muffled chuckle bathed her skin. Goose bumps shot straight up her arm to the nape of her neck. “I’m going to eat you alive.”
A thrill cascaded through her body. She squirmed and checked the review mirror, punching the gas. “I’m getting us there as fast as I can.”
A laugh rumbled in his chest and he lowered her hand to his thigh, covered it with his own.
“Is it hot in here?”
He laughed again. “Tell me about your week.”
“Well, let’s see. I met your father.”
Curiosity…or perhaps concern creased his brow. He yawned and raked his fingers through his hair. “When was this?”
“Tiffany and I drove the Jag out to the Park on Thursday. Your father was standing beside it when we walked out to leave.”
“Oh, God. What did he want?”
She spoke from the side of her lips. “He wanted to know why I was driving his son’s car.”
He squinted. “And…what did you say?”
“Well, after I got over my initial shock, I introduced myself and told him we were friends.”
“Friends.”
She bobbled her head at the disquiet in his voice. “I said we were good friends.”
“Good friends.”
She squeezed his thigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to say.”
“Uh huh. And then what?”
“Then he said ‘I understand everything now’ and asked if I knew when you were due back from Africa.”
Dibs dug into his eye sockets with his thumb and index finger. “He’s such an ass.”
“What do you think he meant ‘I understand everything now’?”
His hand dropped like a dead weight onto his leg, and he blinked. “How long were you waiting for me, anyway?”
“You’re changing the subject?”
“No.” He chuckled. “I’m just wondering how long you’ve been stewing about that particular sentence.”
“Three days. What do you think he meant?”
His palm warmed the inside of her arm, smoothing up and down. “Trust me, Rex. If I understood half the things my father said, life would be a lot easier. But unfortunately, I don’t. Now let’s really change the subject. I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”
“What exit should I take?”
She followed Dibs’s directions and soon pulled into a three car garage connected to his five-story lakefront home. They lumbered their luggage from the trunk and entered through a side door into a large, well-lit sunroom.
Several pieces of dark rattan furniture sat in a semi-circle, mirroring the arch of a bay window, the thick cushions covered in a green and tan palm leaf fabric. A three-tiered fountain bubbled outside the pane, the surrounding landscape budding and manicured to perfection. “Nice place.”
He assessed her from under his brows, stacking their luggage near the door. She smiled, but her knees weakened over the dark hunger in his eyes.
“Enough talking.” Slipping his hands into hers, he tugged her to his chest. Their lips met for a light kiss. “And enough waiting.” He tipped his head and kissed her again, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth, his tongue flicking and teasing. He brushed the backs of his fingers up and down her arms. “And enough of this just-being-friends business.” His heated murmur sent a quiver of excitement skipping down her spine. Her nipples peaked and a sigh escaped her throat.
He swept his tongue along her top lip, tangled his fingers in her hair, tilted her head back, and trailed moist kisses down her neck.
She explored the hard planes of his stomach, the fixed muscles in his chest, slid her hands up his shoulders, and wound her fingers through the short hair at the nape of his neck. So long she had waited for this moment. He was finally back in her arms. Those were his lips tending her skin, his hands caressing her body.
She yanked his shirt from his waistband, wanting to devour every inch, to experience him like she had so long ago at the hotel. He clenched her sides, tugged her into his hips. The rigid length of his erection imprinted on her lower belly. Pleasure rippled through her legs, stole the breath from her lungs. He worked the buttons on her blouse, snuck his hands inside and danced his fingertips across the tops of her breasts. Longing surged and sparked through her limbs when his lips became caught up with hers.
He eased his palms down the curve of her bottom, squeezed, and lifted her to his waist. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his hips. His muscles tensed under her palms as he spun and collapsed to the couch with her straddling his lap.
A whimper leaked from her throat when their bodies connected. So good. He felt so damn good. She writhed and bucked against him. Hard and heated, he rocked beneath her, meeting her thrust for thrust. She urged his shirt over his head, her hands on his bare skin the moment he was within reach. He pushed her blouse from her shoulders, freeing her arms from the sleeves, gathered her close, and she gasped when he brought her roughly forward. His moan vibrated against her mouth. The heady taste of him lingered on her tongue. Her bra came loose. The straps went slack. His hips jerked, the stiff ridge in his pants prodded her inner folds, and hot embers shot straight into her core. His tongue laved her nipples, his lips nibbled and plucked, the stubble of his beard grazing the taut peaks.
The two of them rocked, his fingers clenching her hips, guiding her back and forth over his unyielding member. On a low growl, he wrapped her to his chest and stood, hands splayed under her thighs, and carried her from the room.
His long strides ate up a flight of stairs, their lips hungry, bodies tight. He moved swiftly down a hall before his thighs flexed and another flight disappeared beneath his feet.
He kicked a door open, a few more steps, and they landed together on the middle of a bed. She popped the button from his waistband, urged his pants from his hips. Eager to touch every inch, she stroked him from base to tip.
The muscles in his chest trembled. The button at her waist released. Dibs stood from the bed, flushed and erect, seized the top of her jeans, and stripped them from her legs. She laughed when he whisked them over his shoulder and pounced on top of her. He used his fingers like magic, swirled tiny circles around her oversensitive bud before delving within. She writhed when intense need flooded her veins. Euphoria sang through her body. She tossed her head back, spine bowed, as a wave of release pulsated inside.
But he deserved more, everything she had to offer, skin on skin. She pushed his hand aside and rolled on top of him, knees bracketing his hips. Unable to wait, she grabbed his shoulders and wrenched him to sitting. Tremors mounted in her thighs, vibrated through her legs.
He seized her hips, the tip of him poised at her entrance. “Protection?”