“Are you saying you don’t want me in that way?” she asked in surprise.
He shook his head. “I’m sayin’ this isn’t about ‘sex’, darlin’. Or at least it’s not only about sex. I’m not gonna just have sex with you. I’m gonna make love with you. Now maybe those women didn’t know the difference. Maybe your mama didn’t know the difference. But tonight I need you to know the difference.
She shook her head, incredulous. “How can you love me after only two days?”
Luke smiled and brushed the hair back from her face. “There’re all kinds of love, darlin’,” he said. “There’s what we already have for each other, based on courage and mutual respect. There’s what we’re gonna feel come mornin’, when we wake up makin’ love together in that big bed. Then there’s what we’re gonna feel for each other when we’re both old and gray and watchin’ our grandkids play.”
Candace felt tears threaten and reached up to take his face between her soft palms. “Courage and mutual respect is a good place to start,” she whispered.
She pulled his face to her then, and their lips met.
The contact was charged and in no time they were struggling with the fastenings on their clothing. She pushed the suit jacket off his shoulders, he drug her soft sweater up and over her head. Even as they continued the dance, Candace felt her belly clench in anticipation, wanting him inside of her, needing to surround him. Maybe this wouldn’t last. Maybe it couldn’t last. But if it didn’t, it wouldn’t be because of either of them. There might be outside forces that pulled them apart, but she now knew those forces would have a fight on their hands.
In another moment, they were completely naked and tossing pillows to the floor as they rolled around on the huge bed. Luke was laughing, but Candace could only marvel at his physique. Tall, yes, but his body was a miracle of smooth skin over hard muscles that contracted wherever she touched him. His chest was covered with a delicious, dark-brown fur that was incredibly soft and silky under her lips and tongue.
“Ah, darlin’,” he moaned, when she found his nipples with her mouth, “It’s gonna be over too soon, iffen you keep that up.”
She sat up on him, her thighs straddling his. “You don’t like that?”
He grinned helplessly. “What I like doesn’t have anythin’ to do with it, darlin’.
Her smile blossomed, and she shifted, sending a jolt through both of them as her secret place rubbed against that one part of him that was hardest and hottest of all. She took him into her hands then, wanting to know all of him.
“They showed me pictures,” she whispered as her fingers explored him, “but I never knew how it would feel…”
Luke laughed and lifted her off him, tossing her aside then coming down on top of her. She clenched, suddenly afraid, certain that it couldn’t possibly fit inside of her, and the pain many of the women spoke of would ruin this for her.
Luke seemed to feel her withdrawal, because he settled on his elbows and began to kiss her again.
“It’s gonna work, darlin’,” he said as though reading her mind. “I promise.”
His lips trailed over her face and down her neck. When they reached her breasts, she dug her fingers into the bedding, and arching her back, she begged him for more. He gave it to her, but only for a moment before moving on down her body, pausing along the way long enough to nip her ribs and belly with his teeth.
Mad with wanting, she opened her legs wide in invitation, and she felt him touch her there. She gasped as his fingers found her, and wetness gushed.
“Luke!”
“I have you, darlin’,” he said, his voice a husky growl. She felt his big hands lifting her hips off the bed
“Please!”
“We’ll get there,” he promised. “Just wait. But this is your first time, and I gotta make it right for you.”
“No! Please! Don’t wait! I can’t stand it if you wait!”
“Sure you can,” he said on a chuckle, his lips roaming farther.
But when she screamed, he came up over her again, and that part of him that had made her afraid was coming inside her. Her inner muscles clenched around him, and suddenly there was only Luke as they cried out and tumbled over the edge together.
29
The recording session had gone particularly well, today, and Candace thought she might begin to float she was so happy, as she helped Luke pack up his drums. His brothers and uncle were loading the rest of the gear into the van while Mel and Addy sorted the music and filed it safely away. In a few minutes they would be heading out for dinner then going home again.