Chapter 10

He woke with a start, an unexpected noise from the kitchen dragging him away from blissful dreams of Maggie and him together.  Dragging him to face the harsh reality of an empty bed and Maggie’s absence.

But she wasn’t far, he thought as he eased from the bed and padded down the hall to the kitchen.

She was wearing his robe and standing at the sink, washing the dessert dishes from last night.  She placed one into the dish drainer as he leaned a hand against the jamb of the kitchen door.  He shot a quick look at the clock just to confirm it was barely eight o’clock before he said, “It’s early.  What are you doing up?”

She shrugged, but didn’t look at him and picked up another dish to wash.  “I couldn’t sleep and I figured I might as well do something useful.”

He walked over, stood behind her, and laid his hands on her waist. “I could have done these later, Maggie.  Come back to bed with me.”

She shook her head and continued washing.  “I just have a few more,” she said, but her tone was strained and he had come to know her well enough to understand.

He bent his head and dropped a kiss against the sensitive spot right behind her ear.  Wrapped his arms around her waist and just held her as she finished washing, her movements punctuated by an occasional sniffle as she battled back tears.

“Don’t cry for me, Maggie.  I don’t want to remember this last time with you as being sad.”

She laid the last dish in the drainer and then gripped the edge of the sink.  “Is that what this is?  Our last time together, Trevor.  One final fuck before you go off to war?”

Her body vibrated with tension beside him and her voice had held a quaver that said she was barely controlling her emotions.

With gentle pressure, he turned her to face him.

She was so lovely, he thought. The steam from the hot water she’d used to clean had roused curly wisps of hair all around her face and he passed a hand across them.  “I remember you with curly hair,” he said and a small hint of a smile turned up one corner of her mouth.

“I straighten it.  The curls are too wild and make me look too young.”

“I like them,” he said and dropped his hand to encircle the side of her neck.  “I like you, Maggie.  A lot.  I want to explore if this could be more, only . . . I have to leave today.”

She nodded and looked away as a single tear escaped from the corner of her eye and trailed down her cheek.  He reached up and brushed it away as she said, “I know.  When are you going?  How are you getting to the airport?”

“I have a car service coming at two so we have still have some time to spend together.  Let’s go back to bed,” he said, but as he went to move away, she grabbed hold of his arm to keep him near.

“I have to go soon.  I’m supposed to go to work today,” she said, sorrow evident in the emerald depths of her gaze.

“I guess that means you need to shower?” he asked, but with a light hearted tone to try to drive away the sadness that had filled the morning so far.

Maggie had planned on going home to shower and change before heading to work.  Especially since it would probably be the last day she went to work, but the thought of a nice long hot shower with Trevor was worth doing the walk of shame into Samuel Mason’s office.

“I’d like that,” she said.

He slipped his hand into hers and teasingly tugged on it, not that he had to battle too hard to get her to follow him down the hall, back through his bedroom and into the master bath.  But as he entered, the large spa tub caught his eye and he pulled her toward that.

“How about a nice soak instead?” he said, but didn’t wait for her reply to open the faucets.

“That might take a little time to fill,” she said as she eyeballed the large tub and snatched up her hair to twist it into a knot at the top of her head.  Despite that, the steam from the hot water was transforming any stray hairs into feathery curls all over her head.

He brushed the back of his hand against the softness of them and said, “What do you suppose we can do while we wait?”

With a wickedly sexy smile, she placed her hands on his shoulders and urged him to sit on the platform surrounding the immense tub.  Stepping up to him, she straddled his legs and with a shrug of her shoulders, let the robe fall to the ground.

His gaze skimmed across her body, full of heat, want and dare she think it, love.

Love, Maggie thought as he cupped her breasts, leaned forward and kissed them.

She ran her fingers through the short strands of his sandy blond hair and urged him on, her body trembling from the mix of emotions and passion swirling together in her core.  They were so strong that they overwhelmed logic as the words slipped from her.

“I think I’m falling in love with you.”

He stopped dead and slowly eased back to meet her gaze, his features as empty as a blackboard on the first day of school.

She worried her bottom lip, afraid she’d just wrecked it all, but then one side of his mouth tilted up and the other quickly followed.  His gaze lit up with what she thought was happiness and a second later, he kind of confirmed it.

“I am so glad because I think I’m falling in love with you, too.”

“Thank, God,” she said and hugged him hard, joy erupting inside her.

He returned the embrace enthusiastically, his hold tight as he rocked her from side to side, a broad smile on his face.

She kissed that smile, wanting to savor that shared joy.  As the kiss went on and on, happiness gave way to desire and they went into it comfortably, already in sync to each other’s needs and wants.

Trevor stepped into the half-full tub and helped her in.  They sank down into the hot water and let it surround them as they touched and kissed. Stroked and built passion until they were both shaking and he guided her over his cock and she slowly sank down onto him.

He filled her physically and emotionally and she never wanted to leave his arms, but knew that she had to.  For now, she held onto him and he cradled her close.  Kissed the side of her face and said, “I’ll always be a part of you.”

She wouldn’t cry and she wouldn’t beg him to stay.  Neither of those things would do either of them any good.  Instead, she put on a brave smile and said, “I’ll be waiting for you, Trevor.”

He kissed her again and she finally moved on him, shifting her hips and riding him.  The hot water sloshing all around their bodies from the gentle rock of her body that grew ever faster, ever rougher, as they both pushed toward a release.

When it came, it washed over them together, tossing them together in a tangle of urgent kisses and murmured promises.

Her body trembling and breath rough, Maggie laid her head against his shoulder and just let herself feel every nuance of being with him.  Forced herself to remember the sensations and store them away for the long months before they could be together again.

As the water reached mid-body, he shifted forward to shut it off and then they sank down into the welcoming heat, still joined physically.  United emotionally.

He caressed her back with long languid strokes of his big hand.  She leaned back a little to gaze at his face and found peace there.  Contentment as well in the warm smile he shot her.

“This is really nice, Maggie.”

It was and she wasn’t going to waste a moment of it.  She laid her head back against his and just savored the moment until the water started getting lukewarm and a quick look at her watch warned she had to go soon.

He must have sensed it as well.  “I know you have to go, but I wish you didn’t have to.”

She shifted back and cradled his face in her hands.  “I do have to go.  I’m sorry, Trevor.  I wish I didn’t have to either.”

Trevor wouldn’t beg or ask her if she’d come back before it was time for him to leave.  He had to keep some dignity after all and she had already promised she’d be waiting for him.  Something told him that Maggie wasn’t the kind to make such promises lightly.

He dropped a quick kiss on her lips and said, “Let’s get moving.  I have stuff to do before I leave, too.”

Slowly and reluctantly, they untangled themselves and rose from the tub.  Maggie jerked her head in the direction of the shower and said, “Do you mind if I take a quick shower?”

“Go right ahead,” he said and left her alone, needing a bit of separation to prepare himself for the moment she’d leave.

He’d expected that the trip to his father’s office would be a difficult one, but he had never expected that it would lead him to Maggie or that meeting her, making love to her, would open him up to an even greater world of hurt.

In his bedroom he dressed quickly and headed to the kitchen to make coffee.  He needed the jolt and he needed to keep busy to avoid thinking and feeling.

When she stepped into the kitchen barely ten minutes later, she was dressed in her clothes from the day before, but her damp hair was a wild mess of curls like in some of the earlier photos he had seen of her.

He walked to her and dragged his fingers into those curls.  “I like your hair like this.”

She offered a watery smile.  “I’m glad. I hate straightening it.”

He stroked the curls and they twined around his fingers as it to keep him there.  “You should get going and I should, too.”

“Yeah . . . well . . . sure,” she said and rose up on tiptoes to brush a quick kiss across his lips, but it wasn’t enough for him.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her close.  Kissed her so there would be no doubt about how much he wanted her and how much he wished she didn’t have to go.  They were both breathless when they broke apart and the sheen of tears in her eyes had grown.

“I gotta go,” she said, her voice husky and all he could do was nod, his own throat tight with emotion.

At the door to the apartment, she turned and skimmed another quick kiss across his lips before she hurried out the door.

He closed it behind her, leaned on it and sank down onto his haunches, fighting the urge to go after her.

What would it accomplish? he asked himself.

Nothing and everything, the little voice in his head replied.