two of them together, away from the outside world.
He buried his face in the crook of her neck, then kissed his way down her sternum, finally closing his lips over her nipple. Her gasp was one of pleasure and surprise, the sweetest music to his ears. He kissed his way across her stomach, pausing to draw a lazy circle around her navel with his tongue. Her ankles hooked around his calves, hinting at what she wanted next. It was all the invitation he needed.
Chapter Six
It was the quiet that awakened her. The storm was gone. The wind no longer howled outside. The rain had ceased battering the windows and roof. She opened her eyes to a watery light streaming through the skylight above the bed. The power was still out, though. The room was hot and close, and missing the hum of the air conditioning.
In fact, the only sound in the room was that of the man breathing next to her.
Huh.
So that wasn’t all just a dream. She really did stay up most of the night while Ian Youngblood—rock star god—gave her orgasm after orgasm. To be fair, she gave him a few, too.
She luxuriated in those thoughts for awhile. She was definitely glad that destiny or the universe or the cosmos or something had given her another chance with Ian. Even if it was only for one night.
She felt him stir.
Or maybe for one night and one morning. Was that too much to ask of the universe?
He turned his head and opened his eyes. “Mornin’, darling.”
“Good morning.”
His smile was wide and still a little sleepy. “It is a good morning, isn’t it?” He waggled his eyebrows. “We survived the storm.”
“Tropical Storm Ian.”
“Of course, we haven’t checked to see whether we’re still in Maryland or whether we got blown all the way to Kansas.”
“I’m afraid to even think about the sandbags. I hope they held.”
Looking at the deliciously sexy man in her bed, she hoped her heart was going to hold. The last thing she needed was to start wanting something that she couldn’t have, that couldn’t ever be. Ian was a one-night stand. A means to an end. The way to get her man mojo back.
He pushed himself up on one elbow. “After lugging them all into place? I’m going to be seriously pissed if they didn’t work.”
He reached over and pulled her closer. Her hips strained toward him, entirely of their own accord. She moaned as he ran his hands down her spine, slowly touching each vertebra as he went.
“Now that’s what I wanted to hear.” His hands reached the base of her spine, settling on the soft curves of her bottom. “I’m going to translate that as, ‘Ian, please make love to me again.’”
She moaned again as he pulled her hips against his morning wood. “Actually, the exact translation is, ‘Ian, please make love to me now.’”
He rolled over onto her and nipped at her lips. “Mmm, I do love a bossy woman.”
She was about to wrack her brain for a snappy comeback, but the next kiss rendered her brain inoperable. For the next hour, her body did all the thinking. She was coming down from what was perhaps the finest orgasm of her life when the power came back on. The air conditioning unit in the window stuttered to life. Normally, she considered the air conditioner to be one of mankind’s greatest achievements, but not today. The sound of it rattling away meant that their secret night together was over. Ian Youngblood would get dressed and walk out her door.
The irony of that was not lost on her.
They clung to each other for one more long moment, then rolled apart.
“I can go make coffee while you’re in the shower,” she offered.
She showed him where the bathroom and towels were, turned the dryer back on to finish his clothes, and got dressed herself. By the time he came downstairs in dry jeans and a shirt, she had brewed a pot of coffee and tossed together a sampler plate of yesterday’s pastries.
“Hope you don’t mind it black.” She handed him a Two Beans signature brown-and-white striped mug. “I’ll have to go out and get fresh milk and cream later.”
He took a sip and looked around at her shop. “You’re probably one of those ‘coffee is like fine wine and should be enjoyed without alteration’ people, anyway.” He grinned to let her know he was joking.
She responded with a coolly lifted eyebrow. “Actually, altering coffee is one of my