Lucky Stars (Ghosts and Reincarnation #5)(141)

Finally, he released her mouth but only so he could slide his lips to her neck. He could still smell hints of her appealing perfume that she’d sprayed on the morning before.

It was Sunday morning. He’d awakened curled into her and his first thought was to give into her request of several days before. So he did to spectacular results.

“I like the way you smell, poppet,” he murmured against her skin and felt her limbs convulse.

Then she whispered a sweet, “Thank you, honey.”

He lifted his head and looked down at her to see the storm in her eyes had passed. They were now languid, content.

Happy.

He’d been wrong.

Being buried inside her was magnificent.

Seeing that in his Belle’s eyes, that was bliss.

He grinned at the sight and continued speaking, “And the way you taste.”

A flush of pink tinged her cheeks but she replied softly, “Thanks again. And, um… I like the way you taste too.”

She didn’t have to tell him that, he already knew but his grin got bigger as he muttered, “Good.”

“And that was very nice,” she went on and Jack couldn’t help it. His body collapsed on hers and he burst out laughing.

“What’s funny?” she wheezed, he registered her breathlessness and carefully slid out then rolled them so she was full on top, straddling him.

“Very nice?” he teased when she lifted her head and looked down at him.

Her head tilted to the side and she stated, “Yes, and it was so nice maybe we should do it again.”

“I’m thinking we’ll do it again, poppet,” he informed her, running his hands down her back to her bottom and up again. “It was so very nice we’ll likely do it often.”

When she told him the story of her life, considering her timidity, he was not surprised to learn she had very few lovers, in fact, only two before him. He was also not surprised to learn that Calvin Cole was a selfish one. Although not delighted by the last, he was by the first. This meant he had the honour of initiating her to certain things. Things like they’d just done.

She’d also shared that he was the only man with whom she’d enjoyed sex at all. With her uninhibited response to him, this was a surprise. But she’d explained she’d only had what they had, what they’d just shared, what they would always share with him. Only him.

And this didn’t delight him, it thrilled him.

As he thought these thoughts, she studied his face and her hand slid up his chest to curl around the side of his neck before she suggested, “And maybe we can try some…” she hesitated then finished, “other things.”

Jack’s arms moved to close around her.

“What other things were you thinking, my love?” he asked gently.

“Well,” she began, “I was thinking we could try other things you thought of.”

He smiled up at her. “We can do that.”

It was then she surprised him again, rather profoundly, by announcing, “And you can be adventurous. I’ve decided I’m not Belle ‘Meek and Mild’ Abbot anymore so I’m willing to experiment.”

He was bloody ecstatic she was willing to experiment.

But something else she said caught his attention, his brows drew together and he asked, “You’re not Belle ‘Meek and Mild’ Abbot anymore?”

She shook her head immediately as she awarded him one of her sweet, small smiles. “No. See, earlier this week, I thought about it and all my life I’ve been… well, I’ve let things hold me back. The three times I didn’t, one, I saved some children and a bus driver from drowning and the other two, well,” her eyes went soft and her hand slid from his neck up to his jaw as her face dipped closer and she finished, “the other two got me you.”

Jack felt her words hit warm and heavy in his gut as his arms got tight around her and he rolled her to her back again, muttering, “Jesus, Belle.” He settled partly on her, partly pressed to her side and tangled his legs with hers. He was so moved by her words he was unable to say any more of his own.

Her hand didn’t move from his jaw with his roll but she slid it to his cheek, cupping it and running her thumb along his cheekbone, her eyes holding his, no evasion, straight and true and she whispered, “And you’re gentle and loving and accepting, not only of me, my neuroses, my shyness and my silences but also all the craziness and the crazy people around you. So I figure this means I’m safe to jump in, feet first, to whatever’s next for me,” the fingertips of her hand against his cheek pressed in gently, “for us. So, like I said, I’m willing to experiment. Because, well,” she grinned up at him and tilted her head on the pillow, “I just kind of did and, personally, I think it went great.”

One thing about that, it was a lot better than “very nice”.

The other thing about it was everything.

Jack dropped his head, burying his face in her neck and yanking her body more fully under his before he muttered, “Jesus, Belle, I love you.”

“I know, Jack,” she whispered. “That’s why I’m free not to be what I was before.”

He lifted his head, locked his eyes with hers and reminded her, “Don’t forget, poppet, I fell in love with that woman.”

He watched her beautiful face get soft, her grey eyes grow warm, she lifted her other hand and both moved to curl around the sides of his neck as she replied quietly, “I’m still here, Jack. Just kind of improved.”