SARAH leaned back against the door to close it. She reached behind her and pushed in the button to engage the lock. The lamp on the nightstand didn’t throw off much light so the left side of Josh was cast in shadow. Before she went over to the bed, Sarah closed and locked the window, then drew the blind all the way down.
Josh piled pillows at the end of the mattress. “Sweetheart, come here. You lay down this way and I’ll show you what the fuss is all about.”
Sarah tried to slow her pulse. This scenario was straight out of one of her fantasies. She curled her toes into the carpet to keep from jumping on the mattress with him and looking like an overeager tart. He held a hand out to her. “Come on, Sarah. Let me make you feel good.”
Who could say no to that? Not Sarah. She sat on the edge of the bed and swung her legs up until they were pointing toward the headboard. Josh took an ankle and pulled until she was flat on her back.
“What are you going to do?”
“Right now, I’m lookin’ up your shorts.”
“Josh!”
“Cute panties.”
“Don’t…” He took that moment to press his thumb into her instep. “…don’t stop doing that!” Sarah felt tingles rush from her foot all the way to, well, all the way to her panties. She closed her eyes and arched her back with the sensation. Are there erogenous zones in my feet?
Josh tugged her a little closer until her foot rested on his chest. Both thumbs worked into her arch and pushed up toward her toes.
“Oh, my God. Oh, Lord. Oh, shit.”
Josh chuckled at her outburst. “Sugar, I haven’t even started.”
“Just don’t stop!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He repeated the maneuver, pushing into her arch with his thumbs and sliding up to her toes.
Sarah moaned. There was no stopping it. Zinging tingles kept shooting up her legs. “Where…oh…where did you learn this?”
Josh’s voice had gotten husky. “I had a lot of physical therapy. Have to say, though, I don’t think I liked it half as much as you are right now.”
His warm hands enveloped her foot, kneading sore spots and pushing erotic buttons Sarah never knew she had. Once she was a boneless puddle of goo, he switched feet and started all over again.
“Oh, my God!” Sarah slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from sounding like an overacting porn star. It was hopeless. She was getting wet from the best foot job ever.
* * * *
Josh had always known that Sarah was responsive, but when it came to her feet, she was one huge erogenous zone. He was hard as a rock listening to her little cries and throaty moans. Part of him wanted to get her naked and the other part wanted to see if he could get her to come just by rubbing her feet. He dug his thumb into her arch, and she lifted her hips. There it was. That was the spot that drove her crazy. He did it again.
Sarah’s nipples were pebbled up and straining against the thin cotton of her tank top. He wanted to get his mouth on them and suck until she called out his name. His mouth watered at the sight of her.
He set her foot down and stopped the massage.
Her eyes opened slowly. “Why did you stop? Don’t stop!”
“Take off your top.”
“But…”
“Take off your top and I’ll keep rubbin’ your feet. I want to see those little pink nipples you’re teasin’ me with.”
“Josh!”
“Do it, Sarah.”
It showed how far gone she was when she pulled the top over her head and tossed it at him. “There!” Sarah settled back on the pillows bare-breasted and glorious. Her golden-blonde hair fanned around her face and trailed over her shoulders. She pushed into his sternum with her heel.
Fair was fair. Josh pressed into her instep again and watched her back arch. Her breasts swayed with the movement. Her nipples looked impossibly tight. Sarah’s pink and gray striped boxer shorts rode low, and Josh could see the subtle points of her hipbones lift when her lower half did a small upward thrust.
The rhythm of her hips matched the circular sweeps of his thumbs. She grabbed on to the carved oak footboard over her head and held on.
Jesus Christ. He was on the verge of climax from watching her bump and grind on the mattress.
“Feel good, Sarah?”
“Mmm.”
“Tell me, where do you feel it when I touch you here?” He pushed into that magic spot on her instep.
“Oh, God!” She’d started panting when he swept his thumbs up and pressed down again.
“I think you’re gettin’ wet for me. You know what I want to do?”
Sarah shook her head, eyes squeezed tight and body trembling.
“Darlin, I want to pull you on top of me and suck those pink nipples until they’re cherry red.” Sarah moaned. Talking to her when he touched her was a turn-on for Sarah. “Then, I want to slide those shorts off that gorgeous round ass of yours and feel all that slick heat between your thighs.” He moved his fingers up to her calves and then slid them back to her feet. “Baby girl, I want to feel all that heaven gripping around me, stroking me, clenching around my cock as I thrust harder and faster…”
“Oh, Josh. Oh, God.” Sarah’s entire body arched up and locked in place. Her breasts and belly trembled while she bit her lip and then gave in to her climax. She settled back on the pillows in a languid pose and opened her emerald green eyes, staring at him in shock.
“That really happened.”
“Sure did.” He slid a hand up her smooth bare thigh. “Want it to happen again?”
Sarah nodded and licked her lips. “This time, you take your shirt off.”
* * * *
Sarah didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or elated that she’d just come—and in record time—off of a foot rub. Make that a foot rub and verbal foreplay. Listening to Josh talk dirty would have sent her to the moon in and of itself. For the moment, she tabled that thought in favor of more important matters. Josh taking his shirt off. She raised herself up on her elbows to get a better view.
He grabbed a handful of fabric and pulled the shirt over his head one-handed. His chest was just as chiseled as it had been this morning. Tonight, she was going to take the time to enjoy it. Josh took her by the hand and pulled until she was sitting up. From there, she took the lead and straddled him. She felt the definite ridge of his erection when she settled on his lap. Feeling him press into her sensitized flesh was so right. It was perfect. This was the man who belonged under her body.
“What are you starin’ at, honey?”
“You.” She ran her hands from his broad shoulders, down the smooth, hot skin of his pecs, and along the corrugated muscles of his abs. He sucked in a breath when she got to his waistband. Sarah popped the top button, then continued her exploration north again. Her gaze settled on his left arm.
“Josh, shift toward the light so I can see your tattoo. I keep getting little peeks of it, and I want to know what it is.”
Josh squeezed his fingertips into her hips before letting go. He angled his torso so she could get a better view of the tattoo covering the muscles from his shoulder halfway down his arm.
“Is that…?” It was. It was a tattoo of the sun. The image was done in an intricate tribal style. Golden rays etched in black shot out in glorious detail. “It’s beautiful.” Sarah took a closer look when she noticed three letters woven into the center. “S.E.B. That’s…”
“Your initials. Sarah Elise Brandon.”
“When did you have this done?”
“It doesn’t matter, honey.”
“It matters. When?” She trailed her fingers over the initials inked into his skin.
“Twelve years ago.”
“After we broke up?”
He held her gaze, raw, honest emotion holding her captive. He traced her jawline with a fingertip. “When I realized I had to go, I wanted to carry a part of you with me. I never stopped lovin’ you, Sarah.”
Sarah was caught between feeling honored and still wanting to smack him for leaving her in the first place. Her throat felt tight and tears pricked her eyes. “Why didn’t you get in touch with me? I would have gone with you.”
He shook his head. “Sarah, you had college. You had plans.”
“I could have gone to college anywhere.” She felt the old anger return. “We could have had a life together!”
Josh closed his eyes and lowered his head. “You don’t know that, honey. I was a different person back then. For all you know, we could be the ones divorced right now. I needed to grow up. You needed to spread your wings.”
“Little good that did me. I ended up with Richard. You saw how well that turned out.”
“Yeah, but you got to stay with your family and run a successful business. Everythin’ you’ve gone through has made you the strong, outgoing, capable woman I see before me.” His lips quirked up in a little half-smile. “You, Sarah Brandon, are a little warrior woman, kickin’ ass and takin’ names.”
She’d never thought of herself that way. Sarah only knew that she had to be strong and stay strong. “I guess you got to witness that for yourself. I still wish I’d never met Richard.”
“I wish things could have been different too. I gotta tell ya, I wouldn’t mind if Richard Alan got erased from your memory for good.” He scooted her closer on his lap. “Think of it like this. After everythin’ that’s happened to the both of us, here we are. You and me, Sarah. Time, distance, hell, even war, didn’t keep us from findin’ each other again. I think we’ve earned a second chance, don’t you?”
He was offering her everything she had ever wanted twelve years ago. Older and wiser, Sarah was scared to death of taking the risk of another heartbreak. Never in her life did she think she would have Josh in her bed, half-naked and telling her he loved her. “I don’t know.”
He cradled her face between his palms. “You do know, Sarah. You know this is right.” Josh pressed his mouth to hers in a soft, reverent kiss. “Give me another chance.”
Sarah held on to his broad shoulders and pressed her forehead against his. They stayed that way, quiet except for the sounds of their breathing filling the room. Josh remained motionless, waiting for her to make the next move. Was there really any other choice? She pulled away until she could see the blue of his eyes. He was watching her, searching her gaze for her decision.
“Okay, Josh. You have your chance.” A slow smile spread across his face and lit up his features. Sarah didn’t want him too proud of himself just yet. “I’ll give you one warning. If you ever leave me like that again, Joshua Logan, I swear you’ll wish you stayed gone.”
“There’s my warrior woman.”
“You better believe it. Now get naked.” Sarah scooted back so Josh could take off his pants.
“Get naked? What about my tender sensibilities? What about the romance? What about…”
“What about lowering that zipper?”
“Ah, to hell with it.” He unzipped and shoved his jeans and underwear over his hips and kicked them to the floor. “You always knew I was easy.”
Holy hell. Grown up naked Josh was a sight different from teenage partially naked Josh.
“Um…” Sarah knelt toward the end of the mattress and soaked in all the bare, tanned, toned muscle on display.
“What’s wrong?” Josh took a negligent look down at the newsworthy erection resting against the six-pack of his abs.
“Did you…uh…get bigger?”
“I gained thirty pounds of muscle in the Marines…” He caught on to where her gaze was locked on ground zero and grinned. Josh laced his hands behind his head and watched Sarah watching him. She was pretty sure he’d gotten even harder. “Ah, that. No, sweetheart, same as before.”
“No, I don’t think…”
“You don’t have to think. Come here, darlin’.” He ran his gaze over her naked breasts and patted the mattress next to him. “Let’s get reacquainted.”
Sarah scooted closer. Josh took her hand and pulled her all the way over so she was next to him. He stared over at her in concern. “Sarah, you said you weren’t scared of me. Is that still true?”
“I’m not scared. I’m nervous. I haven’t done this in a while.” She grabbed a throw pillow and hugged it to her chest.
“What? Had sex with your old boyfriend you haven’t seen in a dozen years?”
“Yeah, that. I kinda feel like a virgin all over again.”
“Me too.”
“When were you ever a virgin?”
“The first time we made love in the back of my Mustang when we parked out by the Falls. It was my eighteenth birthday, remember? Best birthday I ever had.”
“What? No. You seemed so experienced! You had the angry, misunderstood bad boy thing going on. I thought for sure you’d been with a bunch of girls.”
“No. You were the first.”
“You’re serious?”
“Absolutely. You never forget your first.”
“How did you know what you were doing?”
Josh laughed. “I knew the basics, honey. As for the rest, I made it up as I went.”
Sarah thought back to that night. “Come to think of it, that first time was pretty quick.”
“Hey, c’mon now! Give a guy a break. I got better the more we did it.” He stared at her. “Didn’t I?”
“Well, I didn’t have anyone else to compare you to.” She was having fun teasing him. “I’m kidding, Josh. Yes, you got better.”
“I’d say so! You jumped on me enough that I had to be doin’ somethin’ right.”
“I jumped on you?”
“Yes, ma’am. Every time we were alone, you were on me, kissin’ me, touchin’ me, pressin’ that sweet body up against me…Hey, I’m not complainin’. Just sayin’.”
“I think that was the other way around.”
“Hmm…maybe you’re right. Refresh my memory.” He tossed aside her pillow and drew her against him until her nipples pressed into the hard planes of his chest. “Ah, damn. If everything feels that good, I might be havin’ another virgin moment.”
“I won’t hold it against you.”
“No, hold it against me. Hold all of it against me.” Josh flipped her until she was on her back. “This okay?”
“This is better than okay.” The length of his hard-on lay against the thin cotton of her boxers. The heat of him was like a sensual brand against her mound. She widened her legs until he was fully rested in the cradle of her hips. Josh fit perfectly.
“I never thought I’d ever be with you this way again. I’ve dreamed about it so many times…especially when I was deployed, so if this is another dream, don’t wake me up.”
Sarah realized she was trembling. It wasn’t cold or fear. It was the anticipation of making Josh hers again. She smoothed her fingers through his hair and twined her hands around his neck.
“If it’s a dream, we’re having the same one.”
“In that case, you know we’re headed for the good part.”
“I love that part.”
“Then you’ll love this.”