Finally, satiated, they stilled.
“You’re fantastic in every way,” he whispered, kissing her temple lightly, trailing light kisses down her cheek and sighing as he lowered his weight carefully onto her.
Gasping for breath, she clung to him while her heartbeat and breathing returned to normal. Tony rolled to his side. He kept her with him, his legs entwined with hers.
“I don’t want to let you go.”
“You don’t have to right now. I want to stay here in your arms, against you. Tony, this has been a wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime night.”
“I agree,” he said, hugging her lightly and kissing her forehead. “Our lives have changed.”
“Not really. It may not ever again be as bad or as hateful, but tonight doesn’t really change what we’ll face tomorrow. My water problems, you telling me what I should or should not do, not to mention the next thing that’ll come up between us.”
There was silence while he toyed with locks of her hair. It seemed to her that many minutes went by until he finally spoke. “There’s one question I’d like you to answer. Is water what was behind your high bid tonight? You wanted something from me, Lindsay, and I haven’t heard one word about what it is.”
Three
At his question, she felt her very core stiffen. She didn’t want to get into that with him lying beside her and her wrapped in his arms. She didn’t want to say anything that would upset him and break the spell that had been woven around them.
“We’ll talk about that tomorrow. Tonight is special, Tony. I want to keep it magical until the sun rises and brings the reality of our regular lives back to us. Is that okay with you?”
“Sure, because I have plans for the rest of this magical night. Big plans.”
“I do hope they involve me and your sexy body and your wild kisses.”
“My sexy body and wild kisses? Wow. Definitely back to my plans for tonight,” he said, leaning down to kiss her again. In minutes he propped his head on his hand to look at her again.
She couldn’t tell from his eyes what he was thinking. “What?” she asked him.
He toyed with a strand of her hair as he answered. “At this moment I can’t imagine ever returning to the way we were. All I’ll have to do is remember tonight. All of it, darlin’.”
“You better stop calling me darlin’ when we go back to real life.”
“I can call you that if I want.”
“I suspect you won’t really want to, but it’s very nice tonight under the circumstances.”
He smiled at her. “As you said, this is a magical night. One giant surprise after another. And deep down, I know you’re right. We’ll go back to our ordinary lives and our usual fights, except maybe they won’t be quite so bad. After tonight I’ll listen, I’ll try to cooperate with you and maybe even do what you want.”
She couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Like hell you will!”
He chuckled, a deep throaty sound that she could feel in her hand as it lay on his muscled chest. Her fingers traced the solid muscles in his shoulders, chest and arms. Occasionally, she would feel the rough line of a scar. His daily outdoor work not only showed in the strength of his fit body but in his scars, as well.
He pulled her close against his side. “Do you have to go home tomorrow? I hope not. I want to stay right here.”
“I suppose I don’t, until late afternoon. I’ll need to be home early Monday morning,” she answered, thinking more about his flat stomach, hard with muscles and dusted with hair, over which she ran her fingers.
“Good. I have plans and they involve staying right here and not talking to anyone except each other.”
“I have to check out of the hotel tomorrow by noon, though. That room was paid for by the auction board.” She drew another circle slowly on his stomach.
“I’ll call and have tomorrow night put on my card, so you can get your things whenever you’re ready,” he said, rolling over and stretching out his long arm to retrieve his phone. “What hotel?”
“I can do that.”
“Don’t argue. We’re not going to disagree with each other this weekend.”
She smiled as she told him the name of her hotel and watched him get the number on his phone. Once again she thought his take-charge attitude was delightful when he focused on her.When he finished and she had the room for another night, he turned to take her into his arms again.