Love in the Vineyard (Tavonesi #7)(49)

He wrapped his arms around her and tumbled them both across the bed. Rising up to his forearms, he bent down to take her nipple in his mouth. She arched into him as he sucked and teased with his teeth. His erection leaped against her thigh. With a growl he eased her legs apart, then settled his hips between them. His mouth found her lips, and as he kissed her, he tilted his hips until he rested just outside her opening. She pressed her hips up, and he slipped inside an inch. A ball-rocking inch that shattered his resolve to go slow. He thrust, and her heat enveloped him. She cried out against his lips. Concerned that he’d hurt her, he lifted up so he could see her face. He knew she wasn’t a virgin, not with a ten-year-old son, but he also knew the cry of a woman who hadn’t been entered for a very long time.

She must’ve seen his unasked question. “I’m okay,” she breathed out.

He stilled, then moved, but slowly. Her eyes softened, narrowed with pleasure.

“Better than okay.” Her giggle was more soul-touching than the sound of the most profound prayer.

He gathered her in his arms and silently offered his own prayer of gratitude to whatever mysterious power had brought her into his life.





Natasha woke, disoriented. She’d had the dream again. The delicious dream of making love with Adrian. She started to sit up, but an arm pinned her to the bed. She turned her head. Adrian’s dark curls framed his face, the face of a man she’d never imagined existed. The man who had teased feelings from her that she’d have sworn were impossible, the stuff of tales and dreams. But it hadn’t been a dream. Her body and heart had surrendered, and her mind had dropped the battle if only for a few timeless hours. She shivered at the memory.

His eyes opened, focused, and he drew her closer against his chest.

“It’s still dark,” he murmured against her cheek.

“I have to go. I have to pick up Tyler.”

He leaned up and looked at the clock beside his bed.

“At six in the morning?” He stroked the side of her breast as he rolled so that he was above her. She felt him already hard against her belly. “It’s a beautiful spring morning and I have no flowers to present you. But maybe you’ll accept a different token of my affection?”

Thoughts started to roll in her mind. Reasons why she had to get up, had to dress, had to leave. But as he kissed her and stroked her, she found herself reaching for the condom packet pressing into her hip.

“We’ll need this, then,” she said, feeling less brave than she sounded. “And this time I believe I can manage it on my own.”

She slid from under him and knelt, tearing at the package with shaking fingers. He watched as she unrolled the condom, moaned as she pinched at the tip as she’d seen him do in the night. Then with a smile that rose from the core of her heart, she straddled his hips and lowered onto him, crying out his name as he filled her. As they rocked in a half-waking, half-sleeping dreamlike rhythm, she prayed that she’d never forget the bliss that filled her like an unspoken prayer.





Chapter Fifteen



THAT’S THE LAST OF THE BOXES, MRS. RALEY.”

Natasha never corrected the people who assumed she was married. She gave the man Mary had hired to help her move a ten-dollar bill. From his grateful smile, it was as if she’d given him a sack of gold.

Likely he, Enrique, was another of Mary’s projects, another soul Mary had determined would succeed with just a little more help. Natasha watched him pull away in his battered truck and said a silent prayer that he’d find a good job and get back on his feet.

She stood on the small green square of lawn in front of the row of narrow apartments. Her new place was at the very end and had windows not only in the front but also on the side, facing an open field. She would’ve taken any spot in the housing project, but the added light was a bonus.

And though she was excited about the move, about the new apartment she and Tyler could call home, her thoughts were on Adrian. She hadn’t seen him since the morning she’d driven away from his house, the morning after the life-shifting night she’d spent in his arms. She’d heard love had a double edge, that it held pleasure and pain. She hadn’t expected to feel the pain so soon.

Four days had passed. Had she expected Adrian to call? Life at Casa del Sole had ramped into high gear, so maybe he’d been as busy as she had. She’d barely had time for lunch. And even if she’d had the time, her appetite wasn’t there. She’d crossed the line she’d drawn and now she needed to face reality. They’d shared a blissful, delicious night, but nothing more. Adrian probably had experiences like that all the time.

Hauling in a deep breath, she corralled her misgivings and made an effort to shove them away. She needed to focus. She had a few hours to finish unpacking the boxes Enrique had brought from her storage unit. Closed containers that held bits of her former life. She surveyed the mess on the small front porch. Though she and Tyler had few possessions, she wasn’t sure what was in most of the taped cartons. She found herself reluctant to drag items from her past into their new home. But she had to be practical. Buying anything new wasn’t in her budget.

A cheery hello had her turning to see Mary pull up in front of the apartment.

“I see Enrique did his job,” Mary said as she opened her trunk and pulled out a small cardboard box.