her heart to pound. Her entire being quivered with wanting him, and she could hardly breathe.
She reached out and stroked his cheek, and he turned his head to nuzzle and kiss her palm. Sighing, Meredith tangled her fingers in his curls. “I love the way your hair curls around my fingers. It’s so soft.” His answering smile held such tenderness it brought a lump to her throat.
“I love your eyes,” he murmured. “Did you know they change color depending upon what you wear and the weather outside? Sometimes they’re very blue, and other times they’re more gray.”
He drew her into his arms, and his mouth found hers in a bone-melting kiss, a kiss that began as a tender exploration and quickly turned to passion. Meredith found the buttons of his shirt and fumbled to undo them. The need to run her hands over his bare skin had become an imperative. She groaned. “Help me get this off.”
He chuckled low in his throat, and the vibration traveled straight to her sex, producing a throbbing pulse. They both rose to sitting, frantic attempts to undress each other bringing forth a laugh. “Oh my God, Daniel. How can you wear long underwear this time of year?” she asked as she revealed his undergarments.
He mumbled something about how it got cold in the mountains, and the undergarments being the custom of the day. He tugged her blouse out from her skirt and tried to take it off. She helped, and the blouse fluttered to the floor. She raised her arms and he groaned as he removed her camisole to reveal a lacy blue bra.
“Ah, Meredith, how you move me,” he murmured as he ran his callused hands over her shoulders and down her arms. His eyes were fixed upon her breasts, and he traced a finger along the top edge of the lace, sending electric shivers down her spine.
“How does this come off?”
“Hooks in the back.” Pleasure rippled through her at his touch, and she leaned toward him. More. She wanted skin against skin, heartbeat against heartbeat, breath to breath. She’d never felt so alive or so sensitive in her entire life. “I have condoms,” she whispered hoarsely as she reached for his belt buckle.
“Sheaths do you mean?” His hands circled to her back, finding the fastening of her bra. “We won’t need them, love.”
“We won’t?” She drew back and frowned. “Why not?”
“Because we won’t be having intercourse.”
“We won’t?” Her voice rose an octave. “Why not?” Her tone had turned downright plaintive.
“There are many ways we can give each other pleasure, Meredith, and I intend to bring you to fulfillment.”
“Okay …” Confusion swirled through her mind. “You know attitudes toward sex are much different in the twenty-first century than they are in the nineteenth century, right? I’m freely consenting, and I have protection. What’s your objection?”
“I happen to be a nineteenth-century man who respects and cares deeply for you. The way I was raised … What my father taught me …” He cleared his throat. “Intercourse is reserved for those who have shared the sacred vows of matrimony. I don’t wish to dishonor you or what I feel for you. Besides, our future is not settled.”
“Huh.” She scowled. “So you’re holding out on me until and unless I agree to stay in the past?”
“I am holding out until we are wed no matter what century.” He ran a knuckle along her cheek, peering at her with intense longing.
Her heart stuttered, and she drew in a breath. “You would consider returning with me? Really?”
“Won’t you consider staying with me as well? We’re going to work through this together. We will come to a decision. I will not lose you, Meredith. I cannot.” he said, his voice fraught with emotion.
Nodding, she let his words settle into her heart. “All right. So …” She didn’t know what to say. She studied his beloved face, unsure how to proceed.
“Let me show you,” he said. “Let me adore you.”
“If you insist.”
He laughed and then they came together in a frantic effort to disrobe. She attacked his clothing as if any barrier between them was an enemy to be routed. To her, naked Daniel was perfection. Physical labor had sculpted him into a lean, muscled paragon of masculinity. She couldn’t drag her eyes from him.
“Finally,” she sighed as he drew her to him, bare skin to bare skin. The combined sound of their heavy breathing, the heat and the feel of his body against hers, and their mingling scents cocooned