"Two hundred and..."
"Fifty-nine," he finished.
Finding it just too hard for her poor brain to accept, she asked weakly, "You're pulling my leg, right?"
"No," Decker said solemnly, and then worry crossed his face. "Does the age difference bother you?"
Dani gave a short disbelieving laugh and then frowned and peered at him with concern. "Decker, you've told me about life mates, and I know you think I'm yours, but-"
"I don't think, I know," he said firmly, and then reminded her, "Dani. I can't read you."
"Yes, but-"
"And we're sharing dreams."
She stared at him with bewilderment. The only dreams she'd had since meeting him were the one where she'd been walking a flowered path with Stephanie, and-Dani froze, and then asked with dismay, "The tub?"
"I'm afraid so," he said with chagrin. "I fell asleep on the bed while waiting for you to finish your bath, and..." He shrugged.
She felt herself flush with embarrassment, but asked, "So I experienced what you were dreaming?"
"Not exactly," Decker said slowly.
"Well what exactly?" she snapped.
"From what I understand it's a shared sort of thing. Your brain was supplying what you were doing and my mind controlled me, so while I was soaping your br**sts, it was you who turned and raised your face to kiss me and you who reached back to grab my-"
"I wonder if the rain's stopped," Dani interrupted in a strained voice.
She started to slide off the bale of hay, but he caught her arm to stop her, pointing out, "You can hear it's still pounding down."
"Oh yes," she murmured, licking her lips and avoiding his eyes. His words had taken her right back to the excitement of those moments, and his voice had deepened as he spoke, becoming so damned sexy... She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted to kiss him back. She wanted-Giving her head a shake, Dani pulled her arm free and slid off the bale. She immediately started walking for the open doors.
"It could rain for hours. We should probably go back and..." She paused in surprise as Decker caught her arm and spun her around.
"Don't run from me, Dani," he whispered, his expression intense. "I'll just give chase."
"I'm not running," she whispered, her eyes on his mouth.
"Yes," he growled. "You are." And then he did exactly what she wanted and kissed her.
Chapter Ten
A small explosion went off in Dani's head as Decker's mouth covered hers. She didn't resist or try to pull away. Instead her hands slid around his neck and her mouth opened for him without any urging. Dani moaned as his tongue accepted the invitation and slid in. It rasped across her own tongue, wrestling with it as he began to walk her backward, hands at her hips, guiding her as if they were dancing.
Eyes closed, Dani blindly followed his lead, absorbed in the sensations erupting to life in every corner of her body. They came to a halt when she felt something press against her back, and then Decker's hands began to roam. When they found and cupped her br**sts, she rose up on tiptoe and moaned into his mouth, and then pulled her mouth away on a gasp as he began to knead them. Decker immediately ducked his head to press his mouth to the curve of one breast visible above her scoop-necked T-shirt. Dani opened her eyes and watched his tongue slip out to glide along the edge of her top, riding over the pale flesh and then dipping to lick her cle**age. He squeezed and pushed one breast a little higher and turned his mouth to close over it through the material. She closed her eyes on a moan, and leaned back over the bale of hay he'd backed her into, her hands tangling in his hair. Dani felt him tug at the neckline of her shirt, and opened her eyes as he roughly pulled that and her bra aside to reveal one breast. This time when his mouth closed over it, there was nothing between them, and she cried out, her eyes closing again as his tongue swept over her nipple, urging it to an excited peak.
As quickly as he'd claimed the breast, Decker abandoned it, raising his head and catching her behind the neck with one hand to force her upright for another kiss. Dani went willingly, her response eager and urgent, her own hands slipping from his hair to his shoulders and then to run over his chest. She measured the wide expanse with sweeping caresses that ran over his pecs and then down across his tight, flat stomach, before riding back up to investigate his ni**les through the cloth of the T-shirt he was wearing today. Dani flicked her nails lightly over the little excited nubs, surprised to find it made him groan into her mouth with excitement. She was even more surprised when it sent little jolts of pleasure through her own body as if she were experiencing the caress.
She felt Decker's hands at her waist, and then a tugging as he pulled her T-shirt free from her shorts, so wasn't surprised when he suddenly urged her away to draw it up over her head. He dropped it on the mound of hay beside them, and was immediately reaching around for the clasps at the back of her bra. Dani shuddered, goose bumps rising on her flesh as they snapped free, and he drew the bra off her shoulders and down her arms. His hands were covering her exposed flesh even before the bit of lace had fluttered down to join her T-shirt, and Dani reached for his head, tugging his face back so she could kiss him.
This time she was the aggressor, thrusting her tongue between his lips and urging them apart as he tweaked and caressed her br**sts and ni**les. Decker allowed it, briefly, and then took over the kiss, forcing her head back as he ravished her until she was gasping for breath and clutching at his shoulders to stay upright. Then his mouth broke away and traveled down her throat, just skating over the skin in passing. Decker paused to nip and nibble at her collarbone briefly, making her moan and squirm, and then continued on his way, following a trail to her breast. He divided his attention between each, licking and suckling at one and then turning to do the same to the other as his hands slid away, fingers trailing down over her stomach.
Dani sucked in a startled breath, stomach muscles contracting, but caught at his hands when they reached the waistband of her shorts. Decker let her nipple slip from his mouth then. When he raised his face in question, she lowered her own to kiss him. It wasn't that Dani wanted him to stop exactly, but she was already standing there topless, and he still had all his clothes on.
Decker kissed her back, straightening as he did, and Dani immediately placed her hands on his lower stomach. She caught the material of his T-shirt in her fingers and began to drag it out of his jeans. She felt Decker smile against her mouth and then he was helping, pulling at the cloth and breaking their kiss to lean back as they removed it together. It fell to join her clothes, and Dani stepped closer and pressed her mouth to one of his ni**les to give it the same treatment he had given hers.
Decker groaned with pleasure, his arms closing around her, hands sweeping up and down her naked back as she worked, and once again she was startled to find that the act of pleasuring him seemed to roll through her as well. Caught up in the moment, Dani didn't pause to analyze it, but continued what she was doing until Decker claimed her mouth again.