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 Are you okay? he asked when he loosened his arms.
 I m fine.
 Are you sure? Because I m happy to 
 I told you I didn t want to take off my 
 Do you really think I m so uncreative that I can t find a way to satisfy you without taking off your
clothes? He actually sounded vaguely insulted.
 Well, I m not sure  She broke off with a quick inhalation when she felt his hand dip under her
waistband and slide down between her legs.
She was wet again, and he would be fully aware of that fact when he&
 Oh God! she cried, clinging to his shoulders as he started to stroke her with his fingers.
It didn t take long for his skillful hand to bring her to climax and she gasped and shook on top of
him as the pleasure tightened and released deliciously.
 Oh, that was good, she groaned as her body relaxed afterwards.  You re certainly very handy.
He choked on a laugh at her bad joke and pulled her up higher so he could kiss her.
He kept kissing her. And each kiss felt like a caress.
 You re so incredible, Rachel, he murmured between the kisses.  So sweet, so beautiful, so
generous, so brave.
Emotion overwhelmed her, more powerful than her physical release. She wanted so much to hear
the words. Wanted so much to believe them.
But they were dangerous. Even before dawn, this was dangerous.
She snorted in an attempt to distract herself.  Brave? Despite how impressive your& attributes
are, it didn t take that much courage for me to 
He silenced her with another kiss, this one longer, lingering, breathtaking.  You re the bravest
person I know, Rachel. You always have been.
She didn t understand why he would think that. She didn t know why he seemed to believe it.
She didn t understand any of this, and she desperately didn t want it to end.
If it went on any longer, though, she would never recover from it.
Trying to find a compromise with herself ending the really dangerous part but not ending the
night entirely she settled into his embrace, ducking her head so he couldn t kiss her anymore.  Okay.
After that courageous effort, I m tired again.
He reached down and pulled the blanket over both of them. She felt him kiss her hair, and he
didn t say anything else.
Five
Rachel woke up to a sudden chorus of clicking and beeping.
The power had come back on.
She blinked several times, trying to orient herself to the living room, which was light from the
emerging sunlight through the bay window and the lamp that had been left on across the room.
She was still on the couch. Still curled up in the bend of David s body. His arms were still
wrapped around her.
Despite the fact that her ankle ached, her head was a little blurry, and one arm had lost circulation
from being trapped beneath her body, she felt at home there. She didn t want to move.
She felt David shifting behind her, and she knew he had awakened too.
 Good morning, he said, his voice thick from sleep. He nuzzled her neck, strangely intimate.
 How do you feel?
 Okay. She made herself pull out of his arms and sit up. She really needed to clear her head.
 My ankle is still sore, but I m sure it will be fine.
She felt him watching her as she stretched and blinked, and it made her decidedly nervous.
What the hell was he thinking? What the hell was she thinking? How could she have done this to
herself again?
She wasn t seventeen anymore, but she was evidently just as stupid with her heart.
 I guess we should get up, she said at last, since someone needed to say something.  If it s
warmed up the way they were forecasting, then the roads might be clear and Mom and Brad will be
coming out.
She almost choked at the thought of her mother and brother finding her and David like this,
knowing what she d done last night.
That gave her enough incentive to stand up. She wobbled a bit, since her ankle was sorer than
she d expected.
David got up immediately, but she was already stable again when he put a supporting arm around
her.
 I m fine. She tried not to jerk away from his touch in an automatic defensive instinct.  Just took
a minute to get my ankle to work.
 You should try to stay off it as much as you can for the next few days.
For a brief moment, she had a crystal-clear glimpse of a future with David. She could see herself
surrounded by his understated kindness, his dry laughter, his absolute commitment to taking care of
her. Even his obnoxious bossiness.
And she wanted it. She wanted it desperately.
Exactly as she d wanted it when she was seventeen.
She sucked in a shaky breath and slipped out of the protection of his arm.  I m going to take a
shower. You re welcome to use the shower in Brad s old room if you want.
She limped out to the hallway, hiding her face behind her hair as much as she could so he
wouldn t get a clear glimpse of her expression.
A few years ago, her grandfather had installed a new tankless water heater for the house, so the
water was almost immediately warm when she turned on the shower.
She didn t start to cry until she stepped under the spray.
As she scrubbed David off her body, she sobbed as quietly as she could. It was exactly like it had
been before. A night full of passion, intimacy, even laughter, followed by David s being as quiet and
considerate as he d been just now.
The day after her first time with him she d been ecstatic. She hadn t been able to stop giggling and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]