“You are incredible,” he said.
She opened her eyes and stared at him. “Me? I was just along for the ride. You’re the one who—” She broke off and motioned vaguely with her hand. What did one say at a moment like this?
“You’re very responsive.” He rubbed his hands along her thighs, then up her belly. “I knew just where you were the whole time. That made it easy to know what to do.”
Nice to know, even if she hadn’t been doing it on purpose. Definitely better than the dream, she thought as he slipped off his jeans and briefs. Comparing what she’d felt then to what had just happened was like saying a cup of salt water was just like an ocean.
The sight of his arousal springing free caught her attention and forced all other thoughts from her mind. He was exactly as she’d known he would be. His chest, the scar on his forearm—she raised herself on one elbow to look—and the one on his knee. Familiar yet different. She didn’t have an explanation and right now she didn’t care.
“We have a dilemma,” he said as he knelt between her legs again. “I want you very much, as you can tell.”
He glanced down and she followed his gaze to his very impressive maleness. The thought of him filling her made her tummy tighten in anticipation.
“I want you, too,” she whispered.
He leaned forward and kissed her, then he touched her cheek with the back of his fingers. “I didn’t bring you up here to make love with you. I’m willing to admit I’d hoped we might end up right here, but I would have politely accepted a rejection on your part.”
“Okay.” She wasn’t sure what he was getting at. “I’m confused.”
He exhaled sharply. “What I’m trying to say is that I want to protect you. I brought condoms with me. But I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I really respect you. I think you’re great, and I—”
She pressed her fingers over his mouth and smiled. “No problem. I’m glad that you wanted this to happen. And to be completely honest, I brought them, too.”
His eyes widened. “You brought condoms?”
She blushed. Thank goodness it was too dark for him to see. “Well, it’s wasn’t exactly my idea. Cassie gave me one.”
That satisfied male smile returned. He reached for his jeans and withdrew the square plastic package. After putting on the protection, he pressed the tip of his arousal against her, then leaned down to whisper in her ear.
“Just one?” he said. “That wouldn’t have been nearly enough.”
Chloe’s giggle of delight only increased Arizona’s need. He’d hoped making love with her would be terrific, but even his imagination hadn’t come up with anything even close to this glorious reality. He’d meant what he’d told her before. He had practically been able to read her mind when he’d been touching her. Maybe it was just instinct, but there hadn’t been any of his usual concerns when he was with a woman. He’d known exactly where to touch, how fast, for how long. He’d known when she was getting close and what she wanted to make it perfect for her.
Now, even before he entered her, he knew exactly how it was going to be. She would threaten to swallow him completely and he would surrender himself to her.
She reached up and touched his face. “Be in me,” she breathed. “Please.”
With that, he entered her. He moved slowly, not wanting to hurt her. But she was already so aroused. Her tightness stretched to accommodate him. He had to grit his teeth against the pleasure. All he wanted was to explode right there, but he couldn’t. He wanted to make it good for her, too.
He opened his eyes and stared into her beautiful face. Dark eyes stared back at him. She was smiling.
“You feel great,” he told her.
“You, too.”
He pulled out, then pushed in again. Back and forth, moving a little faster each time. Her eyes widened. She clutched at him.
“It’s happening again,” she said, sounding shocked.
“It’s supposed to.”
“I don’t—”
Her fingers dug into his back. She raised her legs and wrapped them around him. “Arizona, please!”
He knew what she wanted…what they both wanted. Fast and hard.
He plunged in and withdrew, pumping his hips, taking her with him. She whimpered. Her breathing came in little gasps. He could feel her collecting herself. He swore silently, willing himself to hold back, to give her what she craved.
Suddenly, she dropped her feet to the ground and pushed up against him. He buried himself inside of her. She grabbed his h*ps and held him in deep.
Her gaze still locked with his, she cl**axed around him. Her body rippled, massaging him, drawing him in more, forcing him to give in to the incredible passion surging through him. She milked him until he exploded.
When they had both recovered, he stretched out next to her and pulled her close. He wanted to tell her it had never been like that for him before, but wondered if she would believe him. Even to his mind, it sounded like a line.
The problem was, he meant it. He hadn’t felt anything like this before. There had been a connection, a oneness. The words of the old shaman came back to him. “When you mate with a woman, you give away a piece of your soul.”
That’s what had happened, he realized. He and Chloe had exchanged parts of their innermost selves. He’d never wanted that before—mostly because the thought scared him. But with Chloe, he didn’t mind. He liked the thought of having a part of her soul to carry with him, and for reasons he couldn’t explain, he trusted her with a piece of himself.
* * *
THEY WERE QUIET for a long time. Chloe enjoyed the silence. She needed to catch her breath, both physically and emotionally. She wasn’t sure of everything that had happened between them. It had definitely been better than the dream, which was a little terrifying. The good news was, she reminded herself, at least the best it had ever been was now a real-life experience and not something she’d thought up in her head.
“What are you thinking about?” Arizona asked.
Chloe’s head rested on his shoulder and her hand stroked his chest. Somehow they’d found their way inside her sleeping bag. “That it’s never been like this before.”
“For me, too. Pretty spectacular. And that was just our first time out. Imagine what we could do with a little practice.”
There was something to think about, she thought. “No, you don’t understand. After Billy, there were two young men in college. I’m not a virgin, but I’ve never cl**axed before.”
She instantly regretted her confession, but he didn’t get all weird on her. The hand stroking her hair never slowed and his breathing remained even.
“I wouldn’t have guessed,” he told her, “but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t glad. I wanted to make it perfect for you.”
“Oh, it was, and then some.”
“Good.”
She was on her side, facing him. Her right leg rested on top of his. She bent her knee and rubbed her foot up and down along his shin. Her thigh brushed against a raised ridge in his skin.
“You have a scar.” She made a statement rather than asking a question.
“I was cut with a knife when I was about fifteen. We were in India. A man got sick and had a high fever. He was delirious and thought we were trying to take him away. Several of us grabbed him to hold him down, but he got in a couple of good thrusts. I was in the way of one of them.”
He spoke so matter-of-factly, she thought. As if that sort of thing happened every day. “I don’t have any scars,” she told him. “We’ll have to bond over something else.”
He kissed her forehead. “I think we’ve done more than our share of bonding tonight.”
They had, she thought, realizing he was right. They’d bonded in the most intimate way possible. “I knew it was going to be like this,” she said without thinking.
The words hung in the silence of the night. She stiffened, waiting for the inevitable questions, but Arizona never asked. He only held her tighter against him.
I knew it was going to be like this.
The statement filled his head until it was all he could think about. She’d thought about them being together. She’d assumed it was going to be amazing. He didn’t know why that should matter so much to him, but it did.
Who was this woman who had made a place for herself inside of him? Was he crazy? They couldn’t get involved. She was three different kinds of home and hearth. He’d never lived anywhere longer than six months at a time and he had no intention of changing his ways. He didn’t want to settle down. Except for the occasional loneliness, he liked his life. Especially tonight.
He shifted until he was facing her, then he kissed her. The passion flared more slowly this time. Her arms wound around his neck as she opened her mouth to him. As if she read his mind.
Connected, he thought, distracted by the need building. They were connected. Maybe the thought should send him running for cover. It usually did.
“I want you,” he murmured against her mouth. “I want to be in you. I want to feel you under me.”
Her breathing quickened as her body responded to what he’d said.
They were well matched. She was tall for a woman, and he liked that. He liked the feel and smell of her skin, the brush of her legs against his. He liked her small, tight br**sts and the tautness of her nipples. He liked the way her long hair spilled over her breasts, both exposing and concealing them. He liked her.
Something had happened between them. He knew that now. He didn’t want to get involved, but he couldn’t walk away from her. Not yet. Not tonight and maybe not for a couple of days. He wanted her too much.
As he reached for another condom, he told himself he was risking a lot. Maybe he should back off now.
He tried his surefire method for disconnecting. He pictured Chloe about thirty pounds heavier with a baby in her arms and another clinging to her skirts. He imagined a house, a yard and a minivan in the driveway. In his mind’s eye, he saw the suburbs, his nine-to-five job and a medical and dental insurance plan. Then he waited.
But the arousal didn’t go away and the vision didn’t make him cringe. When she reached her hand between them, he allowed her to guide him inside her. They both groaned as he slid home.
As he began to thrust into her, he moved his hands all over her body. He liked her like this, but the thought of her with rounder hips, gently aging, didn’t distress him as it should have.
He reminded himself that he came from a long line of men who got love all wrong. His grandfather, his father and him. He would never settle down, so this was just make-believe. Not love. Never love.
As her legs encircled him, he told himself this was all he was ever going to have. And for now it was enough.
CHAPTER TEN
DESPITE THE HARD ground, Chloe found herself drifting off to sleep. Perhaps it was a result of the physical exercise from hiking all afternoon. Or maybe it was because her body had been so thoroughly satisfied by Arizona’s lovemaking. She decided she didn’t much care. As long as he snuggled next to her, his arms around her making her warm and keeping her safe.
She lay on her side with him behind her, spooning against her. One arm rested heavily on her waist. She placed her hand on top of his and savored the feel of him. Her mind drifted and images formed. Images of Arizona. They hadn’t know each other very long, but already the man was very much a part of her life.
She slept dreamlessly until well after midnight. Then she sank deeper and deeper into the dreaming place. Unrelated bits and pieces flitted through her mind until they came together to form a picture. Chloe found herself walking toward a vehicle. But instead of her sleek, sporty convertible, she unlocked a Suburban.
“Come on, you two,” she called over her shoulder. “We’re going to be late.” But she wasn’t angry as she spoke. The scene had been played out a hundred times before and they’d never once been late, although the children did love to dawdle.
A girl of maybe six or seven and a boy of four trotted after her, then climbed into the truck. Chloe stepped in after them. She checked to make sure they were wearing their seat belts, then carefully adjusted her own so that it encircled her very pregnant belly.
As she backed out of the driveway, she glanced up and saw the Victorian house where she’d lived her entire life. An upper floor curtain moved and Aunt Charity waved at her. Chloe waved back. Aunt Charity would take care of making dinner tonight, as she had for the past couple of weeks. Chloe was running behind on her book deadline, and she wanted to get the project out before the baby came. Plus there was the party on Friday, for which she wasn’t close to ready. Her daughter needed a costume for the school play; she and Arizona had to make plans to celebrate their anniversary. It was overwhelming.
As she turned onto the main street, she found herself smiling. Yes, at times life overwhelmed her, but she’d never been happier or more content. She and Arizona were so right together. As if they truly were each other’s destiny.
As she drove into traffic, the two children in the back began to sing. Chloe joined in. The words were a familiar rhyme. Then the sound faded and she found herself drifting out of the dream. She tried to call out a protest. She didn’t want to leave. It was perfect there. She wanted it to be real. She wanted him to be her destiny.
Chloe awoke with a start. Cold night air caressed her cheek and for a moment, she didn’t know where she was. Something long and strong and warm cradled her from behind, trapping her in an unfamiliar cocoon.
She opened her mouth to scream, then the memories clicked into place. She was fine. She was in the forest with Arizona. They were hiking to an archaeological dig so he could look at some artifacts. They weren’t married, she wasn’t pregnant. Nothing was different from the way it had been yesterday or a month ago.