Reflecting On Wishes (The Wishes Series) (25 page)

Angel cleared her throat, pulling him from his thoughts and giving him a surge of heat when he turned to see her leaning against the door-frame wearing only a black silky robe that had a pink floral pattern that stopped at mid-thigh. Her hair was in a loose knot at the top of her head leaving the slim column of her neck bare. He desperately wanted to kiss her there.

He watched her looking around the room, a soft smile on her lips when she saw the vanilla cream candles he had lit on the counter and the far edge of the tub. He turned the water off and stood up, walking towards her as she came to him. When she draped her arms around his neck and kissed him he couldn’t keep the low groan from rumbling against her lips. The little minx giggled and raked her teeth over his bottom lip before she pulled away. By the time she reached the tub, he turned around to see her drop her robe and sit her beautiful, very bare rear end on the edge of the tub. When she slipped into the frothy water she closed her eyes, bit her lip and moaned. His growing arousal kicked behind his zipper as if it were begging to be set free. His eyes blurred and fists clenched and he wondered if she knew how he was barely clinging to sanity at this point. The urge to strip and sit her on his lap was nearly unbearable. A deep breath and a head shake later he turned to leave the room. It was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. But he wasn’t going to push or rush her, right? Give her time, spoil her, show her how much he cared about her, not just the sex. At least that was the pep talk he was giving his murky mass of brain that was focused on his raging hard-on instead of wooing his woman.

“How about you go pick out a bottle of that fancy wine you have in there and come back and join me?” Her voice sounded like pure sex licking down his body and damned if his shaft didn’t just do a drop-kick against his zipper again.

He cleared his throat and ran his hand over his closely trimmed hair, “Red or white?”

That sounded cool, calm and collected, right? Not like the raging, hormonal reply of
‘Fuck the wine, I want to bang you against the wall until you’re screaming’
kinda response he wanted to give her.

“Mmm, red…yeah, definitely red,” she practically purred out. Her eyes were still closed and the tips of her breasts peeked out from the bubbles, taunting him.

Dakota gripped the door-frame so hard the wood creaked in response.

Turning on his heel he beat a path to the
kitchen’s walk-in pantry that housed his
Vinotemp Wine Cooler
that was home to over a hundred bottles of his favorite wines. He selected one that reminded him of Angel, a
Scott Paul 2008 Audrey Pinot Noir
, named after the graceful and elegant Audrey Hepburn, which was a silky blend of both cherries and raspberries.

Once it was opened and he had glasses in hand, he rejoined her in the master bath, pouring her wine bath-side and kissing her full on the lips before handing over the glass. Leaving his wine untouched, sitting on the edge of the tub, Dakota peeled off his socks and tossed them in the hamper. Next he turned out the light, leaving the room in a soft candle-lit glow. He felt her eyes on him when he pulled his shirt over his head. The primal side of him wanted to flex for her, pound on his chest and other ridiculous notions. Instead, he let his jeans pool at his feet and walked towards her naked as the day he was born. His muscles tightened when she gave him a sultry smile and scooted towards the middle of the tub, leaving room for him to settle behind her. She didn’t seem to mind that his arousal was evident and very happy to be throbbing against her backside in the heated water that left her already soft skin feel like the purest of silk against him.

She fit against him perfectly when she lay back on his chest. The languid touch of her hand sliding down his thigh where it pressed against her hip was a soothing, albeit an arousing gesture as well. He nudged his nose in her hair, breathing in her natural fragrance as he placed a loving kiss on her head. She gave a content hum of pleasure and tilted her head to the side, offering him the slim column of her neck.

He wasn’t one to pass up on so delicate of a gift.

Tracing his tongue over the shell of her ear and giving a soft biting tug to her earlobe, were just the beginnings of the torturous strokes his tongue would be taking of her flesh tonight. The audible hitch in her breath encouraged him to further his explorations with biting kisses that led down her neck to the sweet spot that always made her squirm. Right where the base of her neck and shoulder met, he licked with the hot, rough pad of his tongue, sucking the flesh there until her knee bent up and her breasts peeked through the bubbles when she arched her back gracefully. That was when he let his teeth do what they’d wanted to do all day long. He bit down, raking over the tender spot, feeling like he’d been punched in the gut with searing heat, when her nails bit sharply into his thigh and she said his name upon a whimper. With a clanging noise, she set her glass on the edge of the tub.

Her luscious bottom backed up and rubbed against his arousal once he let go of her soft skin. It sent him into momentary blindness when she took control by lifting her hips and sitting right back down on his pulsing need. The back of his head whacked the wall, not that he felt it, as she fit to him like a wet, satiny fist. It had been so long since they had made love he was seriously teetering on the edge of spilling into her. No way was he going to let that happen. He had to regain control or else he’d embarrass himself.

The thick fingers of his left hand smoothed up her back to fist into her hair at the nape of her neck. Dakota gripped it tight enough to halt her movements without hurting her. Pulling her head back, he kissed her deeply, his tongue slipping between her lips and stroking against her tongue. In and out, in and out, just as his shaft moved inside of her. When she reached back to rub her fingers over the back of his head as he kissed her, he slid his right hand between her thighs and cupped her where they were joined.

She was w
et, hot and open for him.

It was so erotic, caressing her swollen sex while he thrust slowly in and out of her.

She cried out against his mouth, jerking her hips against his hand. Her body was arched back beautifully like a hand-carved instrument of pleasure. She was the violin and his hand was the bow that coaxed exquisite music from her. Together, they were a symphony of love, lust and passion.

Hips met at
a more frantic pace and teeth tugged lips until they crested together, sending a wave of water sloshing out onto the bathroom floor.

Amidst soft laughter and whispered words of love they took turns bathing each other, stealing kisses until the water started to chill.

Dakota took great care lifting her from the tub and wrapping her in a thick terry cloth towel before carrying her into his bedroom and sitting her on the edge of the bed, keeping her distracted with kisses the entire way.

“I could have gotten in her
e by myself you know,” she said as she rubbed a towel through her hair when he was walking back into the bathroom still wet and naked.

“I know you could, baby. The floor is wet and I didn’t want you to fall. Besides, I wanted to hold you.” He tucked a towel around his hips and used another to clean up the mess they had made. He blew out the candles and flipped off the light, rejoining her in his bedroom as she combed the tangles from her hair.

She was a vision, sitting on the rich chocolate colored comforter with her legs crossed Indian style and the towel clinging loosely around her chest. Her long, thick hair hung over her delicate shoulder like a waterfall of raven silk he itched to run his fingers through.

Angel shifted under his gaze, smiling up at him when he came to stop in front of her. “Why are you staring at me?” she said in a whisper.

He sat next to her and took the comb from her hand and resumed the long strokes through the silky mass, touching her almost reverently. “You take my breath away. I still can’t believe that you chose me.”

A blush crept up her cheeks and she lowered her lashes, “Sometimes you say such sweet things I don’t even know how to respond.”

“You don’t have to respond. It’s important for to me to tell you how I feel. I never want you to doubt how important you are to me.”

She nodded her head, “I know, and I appreciate you. I love you, Dakota.”

“I love you too, Angel.”

After that, no words were needed. He took his time combing the tangles from her hair until it was falling through his fingers like the finest of silks. Still, he continued until her hair was nearly dry and her eyes were droop
y as if she were having a hard time staying awake. Dakota pulled the comforter back, slipped the towel from her warm body and tucked her in bed, turning off her bedside light before climbing in on his side and fitting his body against hers. He smiled when she turned in his arms and nuzzled her face against his chest with a content sigh. The soft weight of her arm around his waist and the comfort of her against him was all he needed to pull him into one of the deepest, most restful sleeps he’d ever had.

***

The scent of bacon frying teased her awake, causing her stomach to rumble. Angel turned over onto her back and raised her arms above her head, stretching until the rest of her body joined the world of the living. Oh yes, definitely in the world of the living since she was sore in all the right places and had a big smile on her face even though the clock showed it was barely seven in the morning. And apparently, the love of her life was preparing her breakfast that consisted of bacon, and if her nose was telling her right, blueberry pancakes. Next time she saw his mom, she was going to have to thank her for raising him to be such an amazing man.

She rolled out of bed and saw that Dakota had thoughtfully brought her chair into the bedroom along with her robe that she had left in the bathroom the night before. Angel pulled her hair up in a loose knot, donned her robe and after cleaning up in the bathroom and brushing her teeth, she joined him in the kitchen, walking behind her chair, pushing it like a walker instead of riding in it. Dakota was standing at the stove pulling the last of the bacon from the frying pan.

“Do you always brave the unknown by frying bacon shirtless? Because that is either incredibly brave or just plain dumb.”

He chuckled and brought two plates piled high to the table. “I prefer to think
it’s brave even though my stomach agrees with you on the dumb comment.”

Her hands tugged at his hips and she planted a kiss to his abs. “All better now?”

“Mmm, yes…I mean no. I think you should keep kissing. Maybe go a little lower.” His laughter was wicked and playful.

Angel wiggled her eyebrows, “Feed me first, then we’ll negotiate the amount of kisses I owe you, next to all the ones you owe me for waking up so damn early on the weekend.”

“Now that’s a deal I can’t refuse.” A bacon flavored kiss later and they were both diving into the breakfast he’d prepared them.

“You know, we should go b
y the rehab center and get you a walker to use since you’re trying to break away from the chair.”

She smiled at him like he just made her day. “I would love that, thank you.”

He nodded and pulled out a chair for her to sit in and then got comfortable beside her.

As soon as the melt-in-your-mouth pancakes hit her tongue she groaned, stuffing one forkful after the other in so fast there wasn’t time to talk in between. She was thankful he didn’t seem to mind since he was shoveling
his in just as fast. They had worked up quite the appetite since they’d wake up every few hours, to make love time and time again. Not that she was complaining, no, not at all. In fact, after eyeballing him in his low-slung pajama pants and no shirt, she was hungry for more than just blueberry pancakes. If she had her way, they would spend the day repeating what they had done all night long.

As if he were reading her mind, Dakota stopped eating, looked at her with his
smoky gaze while a slow smile spread over his sexy, lush lips that she adored kissing.

“I made plans for us today,” he winked at her
.

S
he wanted to pout at the thought of getting dressed and leaving the house today. “Okay, what are we doing?”

“I figured
you would want to go see your niece, so we can go to the hospital first if you want.”

Angel nodded her head, feeling a little guilty that hadn’t been her first choice.

“I called Ms. Lola and she’s going to pack us a picnic we can take to the lake. We can feed the ducks like we talked about doing when we first started seeing each other.”

Okay that did it. A whirlwind of emotion clogged her throat making it hard to swallow. She took a sip of her orange juice and wiped the corner of her eye. “I can’t believe you remembered that after all this time.”

“Of course I remember, baby. I also remember your promise of some short little cutoffs…” The look on his face was pure mischief and Angel was glad she had brought her favorite pair of shorts and bikini with her.

“That sounds like the perfect day. I can’t wait.”

Lilah stretched her arms above her head, bowing her back until the tight muscles got some much needed relief. She had spent the day hunched over her desk working until her eyes blurred and stomach growled in protest. It was hard to believe it was already starting to get dark outside. It was a bit discouraging, since it was dark when she had drove into work that morning. But, they had an event to plan and Angel was scheduled off so Lilah had come in early to make sure everything got done that needed to be. Chelsea had worked the phones and filtered through a mass of emails, while Lilah booked a caterer and ordered supplies for small goodie bags to give out to the attendees. In a few short weeks they would host the first fundraiser for
Kringle Farms
. After visiting the farm several times and doing some volunteer work there, Lilah was devoted to helping them expand and renovate their facilities. It was in dire need of some major repairs.