Rayna smiled when she saw the jar holding the five seashells she’d picked up on the Gulf Coast the first time Nana took her there. It had been only three weeks after Rayna’s parents were killed, a time when she didn’t think she’d ever smile again. Nana had made sure she not only smiled, but laughed out loud while the two of them walked the beach at Corpus Christi.
More jars held the blue ribbon Rayna had won at the Lanville County Fair for her oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, the tassel from her high school graduation mortar board, a copy of her first paycheck when she worked at Boot Scootin’ the summer before she left for college.
A small mesh bag filled with bird seed and tied with a pale blue ribbon from her wedding.
Rayna touched the tag on the top. She’d been so happy on that day, sure that she and Marcus would spend the rest of their lives together. That’s exactly what should have happened, what
would
have happened, if she hadn’t destroyed their relationship.
Her throat tightened, burned. She stared at that little mesh bag and thought of the vows she’d made on her wedding day, vows she had broken because it had been easier to leave her husband than face her pain.
The overwhelming need to see Marcus and apologize for hurting him couldn’t be denied. On trembling legs, she walked to her grandmother’s bedroom and located Nana’s address book in the small desk beneath the window. She found Marcus’s address at the top of the H section. She entered it into her cell phone and quickly got directions.
Ten minutes later, Rayna parked before an older house in the center of a large grouping of oak trees. The house badly needed a coat of paint. She couldn’t help but smile at that realization. Marcus made his living building new homes and repairing older ones, yet his own house needed some TLC.
The sun played peekaboo through the darkening clouds as she climbed the steps to the porch. The forecast called for rain by sunset. Rayna hoped the forecasters got it right. A shower might help cool the temperature down to a tolerable level.
She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. Long moments passed with no response. She assumed Marcus was home because she saw the Coleman Construction pickup in his driveway. She started to press the doorbell again when the door opened.
Marcus stood before her, wearing nothing but a pair of low-slung jeans. Water droplets clung to his shoulders and arms, wet hair framed his face. She’d obviously caught him in the shower.
“Rayna,” he said, surprise evident in his voice. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to . . .”
Her voice trailed off as her gaze slid across his chest to the tattoo over his left pec. Bold, dark letters in an old-fashioned font formed an arc over his heart.
DEREK
The name of their lost son.
Her body began to shake. Her throat tightened again, this time so she could barely breathe. She reached out slowly, touched the letters with trembling fingertips. Covering her lips with her other hand, she swallowed again and again to try and fight back tears. It didn’t work. Tears filled her eyes, flowed down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Marcus,” she whispered in a tortured voice. “I’m so sorry.”
7
M
arcus reached out to grab Rayna when her knees buckled. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her over the threshold and kicked the door shut with his foot. She clung to his neck and cried—deep, hard sobs that shook her body and broke his heart.
“Shh, it’s okay. Don’t cry, Rayna.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said again. “I’m so, so sorry.”
Instead of her tears slowing, they flowed even faster. No matter how tightly he held her, he couldn’t keep her body from quivering.
“Rayna, stop crying. Please.”
“I c-c-can’t!”
Afraid she’d make herself sick, he thought about what he could do to help her. He used to be able to stop her tears when they were together. They weren’t together any longer, but perhaps what he used to do would still work.
He fisted a handful of her hair, pulled her head from his shoulder, and covered her lips with his.
Her body jerked as if he’d shocked her. Then, with a soft moan, she relaxed against him. Her arms tightened around his neck, her mouth softened beneath his. What started out as a kiss to halt her crying soon turned into lust.
A jolt passed through his body. He didn’t understand how one kiss with his ex-wife could affect him so strongly, yet it did. Perhaps because it had been much too long since he’d held a woman against him, had her hands run over him in passion. His dick lengthened, thickened, in preparation to take her.
Something that couldn’t happen.
Marcus ended the kiss. He stared into hazel eyes that remained wet from Rayna’s tears. She stared right back at him, her lips parted, her breathing sounding harsh and labored.
He should release her. He should step back and not touch her again.
Apparently, she disagreed with what he should do. She grabbed the back of his head and urged him into another kiss.
Instinct, memories, hormones—whatever—took over for Marcus. The taste he remembered flowed past his lips and over his tongue. He tightened his arms around Rayna until their bodies touched in as many places as possible. Holding her ass with one hand, he urged her closer until her belly cushioned his cock.
When she wrapped one leg around his thigh and hunched her mound against him, Marcus lost all ability to think. Gripping her ass tighter, he backed her the few steps to the front door. He hooked her legs over his arms and lifted her until he could press his hard cock to the warm place between her thighs.
Rayna moaned again. She kissed him with passion, with hunger, her tongue swiping across his lips before venturing into his mouth. Marcus copied her actions, licking her lips, nipping at them, darting his tongue into her mouth to tangle with hers. The entire time they kissed, he pumped his fly into her pussy, creating friction against her clit.
Marcus moved his mouth to her jaw, her neck. He bit the pounding pulse in her throat. Rayna gripped his hair, holding him in place at her neck. She’d always loved a lot of attention to her neck and throat, attention Marcus had gladly given her. He sucked the tender flesh between his lips, bit again, soothed the bite with his tongue. The entire time he teased her throat, he ground his denim-covered cock against her clit.
He heard the hitch in her breath, felt the pounding of her heart. Recognizing the signals of her approaching climax, he covered her mouth with his again and swallowed her cries as she came.
The kiss went from full-on ravishing to the gentlest of caresses as he allowed her body to float back from the heavens. Once her breathing sounded softer, he lifted his mouth from hers. That slumberous, amazing-orgasm light shone in her eyes. But he also knew one climax wouldn’t be enough for Rayna. She’d always demanded more from him and he’d been only too happy to do whatever she needed to come over and over again.
“You aren’t through,” he said in a statement, not a question.
She shook her head.
“Do you want more?”
Instead of answering with words, she tunneled her hands into his hair again and kissed him with hunger. Marcus clamped her legs tighter to hold her firmly against him. Without breaking their kiss, he walked toward his bedroom.
Marcus saw no reason to make the bed in the morning when he’d crawl right back into it that night. The lady who cleaned for him came on Thursday, so he’d slept on his sheets for almost a week. A thought flittered through his mind that he wished the sheets could be clean and fresh for Rayna.
The way she kissed him, though, clearly told him whether or not he made his bed wouldn’t cross her mind.
He tumbled them to the mattress, putting out one hand so he wouldn’t land too hard on top of her. Her legs immediately encircled his waist, her arms went around his neck. She obviously had no intention of letting him go anytime soon.
That worked for him.
Although he loved kissing Rayna, Marcus needed more. He wanted to run his hands all over her, reacquaint himself with her curves and hollows. He wanted to suck her nipples, lick her tummy, taste the cream trickling from her pussy.
After one more long, passionate kiss, Marcus rose to his knees between her legs. “Hands beside your head,” he ordered softly.
She did as he said, laying her hands palms up.
“Leave them there.”
A nod proved she would obey his command. Marcus pushed up her T-shirt to above her breasts. Lace and satin in the palest of blue covered mounds the size of apples. He swallowed when he saw the front closure. His hands trembled. He flexed his fingers to get them to cooperate the way they should, then released the hook and drew apart the cups. Dark coral nipples stood up from the center of the areolae. Tiny bumps scattered across the colored circles proved desire still coursed through her body.
“God,” he muttered.
Gently, almost reverently, Marcus cradled her breasts, pushed them together. He watched his thumbs as he brushed them over the firm tips. A smile played over his lips when her nipples hardened even more.
He glanced at Rayna’s face. She lay with her lips parted, her hands clutching the pillow beneath her head. Her gaze traveled from his face to his hands and back to his face.
“Your nipples were always sensitive,” he said, his voice low and raspy. “Are they still?”
“Yes,” she said in a bare whisper.
He continued to thumb the crests while he kneaded her breasts. “I remember a few times I made you come by sucking your nipples.”
“Yes, you did.”
“Think I could do that again?”
“Maybe. But . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“But what?”
She lifted her hips from the bed, pointedly looked at the bulge behind his fly. “I want your cock inside me.”
His dick jumped, as if it agreed with her sexy request. He’d love nothing more than to bury his hard flesh inside her wet sheath. First, he had other things he wanted to do to her.
He tugged her into a sitting position long enough to remove her T-shirt and bra. Once she reclined with her hands by her head again, he unfastened her jeans. Panties, jeans, and shoes came off together. He dropped them over the edge of the bed, not caring where they landed. He only cared about giving as much pleasure as possible to the beautiful woman lying before him.
He rested his clenched fists on his thighs, let his gaze slowly travel over her body. He’d noticed in the hospital waiting room that her body remained slim, but her breasts seemed fuller and her hips wider. Now, with her lying nude before him, he could see he’d been correct in his assessment of her yesterday.
Some things had remained the same, others had changed. Her ivory skin continued to be unmarred by freckles that sometimes happened with redheads. The evidence of her natural red hair spread across her mound in a neatly trimmed patch. She used to shave her pussy, but no longer.
Reaching out one finger, he fluffed the red curls. “When did you stop shaving?”
“A couple of years ago.”
He looked into her eyes. “I like this better.”
He leaned over and kissed the spot he’d touched with his finger. Running his hands along her sides, he moved up her body, dropping kisses along the way. One nipple received a gentle kiss before he drew it into his mouth to suckle. He lavished attention on it for several moments before repeating the process on her other nipple. He stopped when he felt Rayna’s hands in his hair. Taking her wrists, he pressed her hands beside her head again.
“You weren’t supposed to move these.”
“I want to touch you.”
“Not until I’m through touching you.”
The wrinkling of her forehead told him she didn’t like his take-charge attitude. She’d gone along with it for a while, but she must have tired of obeying him. He fought back a smile when she released a huff of air. “You aren’t being fair.”
“You’ll think I’m very fair when I make you come another three or four times.”
Her eyes widened. “Three or four?” she squeaked.
“At least.”
“Marcus, you—”
He cut off her words with a kiss. His mouth slanted across hers, parting her lips with his tongue. She arched beneath him, pressed her pussy against his fly, her breasts against his chest. The proof that she wanted him as much as he wanted her caused his blood to flow faster, his blood pressure to rise higher. He could reach between them, unfasten his jeans, and be inside her in seconds.
To keep from doing that, Marcus tore his mouth from hers and retraced the journey he’d made along her body. He showered more attention on her breasts, kneading and squeezing one while sucking the nipple of the other. The scent of her arousal wafted between them, urging him to continue down her body to the satiny flesh between her thighs.
He covered her mound with kisses as he pushed her legs farther apart. Sliding down on the bed, he stretched out on his stomach. His kisses moved to the inside of her silky thighs. With only the light from the living room filtering across the bed, he couldn’t see her pussy as clearly as he’d like, but he could feel.
And taste.
One swipe of his tongue had her quivering and him groaning. Spreading her labia with his thumbs, he licked the full length of the feminine lips again. She tasted a little salty, a little sweet, a little tangy.
Delicious.
Marcus slid his hands beneath her ass to bring her pretty cunt closer to his mouth. He flashed his tongue across her clit, darted it into her channel, tickled her clit again. The bundle of nerves hardened, grew, beneath his tongue. Cream oozed from her sheath. He lapped it up as quickly as it formed, letting it flow over his tongue and down his throat.
She moved her hands into his hair again. This time, he didn’t reprimand her. He wanted her touch as much as she wanted to touch him. Holding hunks of his hair, she guided his mouth directly over her clit.
“Suck it,” she whispered.
Only too happy to obey her, he settled his mouth over her clit and sucked. Rayna drew in a sharp breath, tugged hard on his hair. He winced at the bite of pain, yet didn’t stop. He had no intention of stopping until she’d come again.
It didn’t take long. Mere moments later, Rayna’s body tensed, then bucked as she released a long moan. Marcus pushed two fingers inside her. Her internal walls milked them through her climax.
No longer able to wait one more second to be inside her, Marcus lifted his groin enough to release his cock from his jeans. Crawling up her body, he entered her with one fast thrust.
It was like coming home.
He kissed her while beginning a slow, gentle pumping. Slow must not have worked for Rayna, for she rested her ankles on his thighs and dug her fingernails into his ass. This bite of pain he liked. It urged him to move faster, pump harder. Marcus did both as he kissed her again.
He wanted to draw out the lovemaking and make it last, but being inside Rayna felt too good. Her slick pussy clamped his cock every time he started to withdraw, almost as if it didn’t want to release him. He didn’t know whether he should speed up or slow down.
Rayna made the decision for him when she lifted her hips off the bed. “Faster, Marcus.”
He once again slipped his hands beneath her ass and gripped it so he could pump quicker. She slid her fingernails up and down his back.... not scratching, but in a sensual caress.
Burying his face against her neck, he pressed kisses along her jaw, her neck, her shoulder. “Come with me, Rayna,” he growled in her ear. “I want to feel your pussy grip my dick when you come.”
He’d barely said the words when she arched beneath him. “Marcus!”
Wrapping her tightly in his arms, he let the little ripples inside her sheath drive him over the edge, too.