THE SKY WAS full of stars tonight and as they settled on the blanket, Antonio still wasn’t sure how he’d managed to share with Izzy the secret he had been keeping for a long time. She was acting again. Trying her best to be normal and pretend that things were the same, but having seen that tiny glimpse into the genuine woman, he could tell the difference now.
And it hurt to think he’d caused the change.
His drinking had been his one source of weakness for a long time. But he was better. Much better. “I’ve been sober for more than five years now, Bombshell. You don’t have to worry about me screwing up on a mission.”
She turned her head slightly to look at him. He wished he could see her expression more clearly, but his eyes hadn’t adjust to the dark yet.
“I’m not worried about that. You wouldn’t be here in Cole’s Hill if anyone thought there was even the slightest chance that you were going to lose it.”
“Then what are you worried about?” he asked, placing his hands behind him on the blanket and leaning back on his elbows. He looked up at the sky, which was easier to decipher than this woman was.
“That I’ll hurt you. That I’ll do something destructive because I can’t handle us, and it will affect not only our personal lives but our professional ones, as well. I don’t want that to happen. Not at all.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said.
“So does that mean you think I won’t hurt you?” she asked, leaning back on her elbows next to him.
“I know you don’t want to, and I think whatever happens between us is going to do so at its own pace, and there is little we can do to control it.”
She turned on her side to face him. “I don’t believe that. We are two of the most deliberate people on the planet. I’ve never known you to do something without analyzing all the possible outcomes.”
“True. But you aren’t a mission and the parameters for dating as I know it have shifted. You’re different, Izzy.”
“Good,” she said. “I’d hate to be like everyone else.”
“Don’t worry, you aren’t,” he said. “Why did you bring me out here?”
“To see who knows more constellations,” she said. “I thought it would be fun to name them.”
It would be, but since they were on a date and not just colleagues looking at the stars, he moved around until he was behind her and pulled her close. Her back rested against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Okay, so we can take turns naming them until one of us fails,” she said. “I do have an app on my phone we can use in case we need an outside opinion.”
“You want to go first?” he asked.
“Sure.”
They took turns naming constellations, and each one seemed to bring a story with it. Izzy spotted Canis Major first. “This is actually the constellation that got me interested in astronomy and eventually led to the space program.”
“Is it? Why?” he asked.
“My first stepdad, Randy, showed it to me when Mom was adamant that I wasn’t getting a pet. He said, you don’t need a dog on earth when you have this one in the heavens. He was a really nice guy. We sat in the backyard and he pointed it out to me and told me that the best thing about the night sky is that it would always be with me.”
Antonio hugged her close to him. “Sounds like he was a pretty decent guy.”
“He was. Unfortunately, he was nice to a few other ladies, too. Turned out Mom and I were one of three families he had,” Izzy said.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was a long time ago and I found something that stuck with me for life because of him. Mom always says that everyone is sent into our lives to teach us something,” Izzy said. “We learned a lot of lessons over the years.”
“I like that idea,” Antonio said. He thought of the people in his life and how each one had made a difference in who he was and how he reacted to things.
“There’s the Big Dipper,” Antonio said.
“That’s almost cheating it’s so easy,” she said.
“I’m sure you know that it’s called by different names all over the world. Some of my favorites are the UK version, where it’s called the Plough. And the Mayans called it the Parrot, while the ancient Egyptians saw it as part of a bull,” he said.
“Isn’t it fascinating how we all look up at the same sky and see so many different things?”
“I guess the sky is giving us what we need, what we want to see,” he said.
“I think so. Part of the reason I became fascinated with the stars and other celestial bodies was reading about how they are a constant throughout human history.”
Antonio agreed. They lay there for a while talking about their childhoods and remembering stories they’d heard or made up about constellations. And Antonio realized that he was falling for Izzy. The hope he’d had that maybe dating her would make it easier to walk away from her, well, maybe he’d never really believed that.
“There it is,” he said, lifting his arm and pointing to Mars. “The planet that is going to be the focus of our lives from now on.”
“I know. So hard to believe that in a few short years we are going to be halfway there. I love being a part of the space program because of that. Because we get to go after the things that once seemed impossible.”
* * *
“I CHECKED EARLIER,” Izzy said, “and the Comet C/2013 X1 PanSTARRS comet might be visible tonight. I’ve always wanted to see it while sitting under the stars with someone special. My mom isn’t really interested in the night sky. So...”
“I’m glad you chose me,” he said.
He leaned forward and rested his head on her shoulder, and she felt the heat of his breath against her cheek as he spoke. “I haven’t seen that comet. I’ve spent most of my time in the lab or a simulator preparing for the mission in the last few years. I’d forgotten what it’s like to be out here under the stars.”
“I know what you mean,” she said. “So much of what we do is focused on getting us ready to go that it’s easy to lose touch of where we are going.”
He shifted so they were lying on the blanket side by side, and she turned to face the direction that the comet was supposed to be easily viewed. Antonio moved behind her, wrapping one arm around her waist and putting the other under her head. She rested against him, liking the way his big frame supported her smaller one. And the way he held her made her feel safe and cared for.
She turned her head, dropping a kiss on his wrist, and then turned back to the sky. Antonio’s hands drifted over her body, running along her side starting at her shoulder and down to her hip.
“I get the feeling that you aren’t watching for the comet,” she said.
“Do you mind? I can only hold you for so long before I want you,” he admitted.
“Why would I mind that?” she asked, rolling to face him. She put her hands on his cheeks and dropped a kiss on the tip of his nose. “I like it.”
She draped her thigh over his hips and he put his hand at the small of her back and pulled her closer to him. There was none of the urgency that had always dominated their lovemaking before. She wasn’t sure if it was because they wanted to make things last or because they were starting to know each other’s bodies better.
When their mouths met, she dipped her head to the right because she knew he liked to tip his head to the left. The kiss was long and slow and deep, building the tension inside. His hands skimmed down her back and then up again, the caress languid, making her melt into him.
He rolled her to her back and she opened her legs for him to nestle between. He rested the weight of his upper body on his elbows and broke their kiss to drop nibbling kisses along her jawline all the way to her ear, taking the lobe into his mouth and sucking on it.
He whispered hot words of sexual need and demand into her ear, which made her shiver with desire.
* * *
SLOWLY HE MADE his way back to her mouth, lightly rubbing his lips back and forth over hers. She felt the humid warmth of his exhalation in her mouth. He tasted so...delicious. Like the white-hot trail the PanSTARRS comet would leave behind, she felt that everywhere his hands moved left a wake of fiery need.
His taste was addictive. Nothing new there—he’d been addictive since the first time she’d touched him. This felt safe, she thought. Lying in his arms, she knew what to do and how to behave. She didn’t have to second-guess herself or try to pretend she was something she wasn’t. This was where she felt they were the most honest with each other.
His hands moved across her shoulders, his fingers tracing a delicate pattern over the globes of her breasts. He moved them back and forth over the tops until the very tip of his finger dipped beneath the material of her top and reached lower, brushing the edge of her nipple.
Exquisite shivers racked her body as his finger continued its exploration. He found the buttons on her shirt and slowly undid them, pushing the fabric aside and then staring down at her. She wore a balconette bra, which lifted her breasts up and together and gave her cleavage a nice boost. He traced one finger over the exposed tops of her breasts.
He reached underneath her and undid the catch of her bra with one hand and then lifted her with that hand under her back.
“Take your blouse off,” he said. His voice was almost guttural, it was so low and raw.
She shifted her shoulders until her arms were free of her blouse and bra. He lowered her to the blanket. It was soft against her shoulders, and his hands, as they moved up and down her torso, were hot and provocative. He cupped her breasts in each of his hands and ran his thumb around her areola. He felt her nipple bud and she shifted her shoulders, attempting to get him to touch it, but he took his time. Letting go of her breasts, he traced a pattern down the center of her body to her belly button.
His light touch sent ripples all over her body. She scissored her legs underneath him and tried to arch her hips into his, but he kept his just out of her reach.
“Antonio...”
“Sí, querida?”
“I need more,” she said.
“You will get it but not as quickly as a star falls from the sky. This is more of the slow journey of a comet that orbits the sun and travels from the farthest reaches of the solar system.”
His words made her heart beat faster and every nerve ending in her go on high alert. She liked making love with Antonio because, like everything else he did, he was thorough.
He lowered his head and nibbled at the skin of her belly, his tongue tracing the indentation of her belly button, and each time he dipped his tongue into her she felt her clit tingle. She shifted her hips to rub against him.
His mouth moved lower on her, his hands reaching the waistband of her jeans, undoing the button and slowly lowering the zipper. She felt the warmth of his breath on her lower belly and then the edge of his tongue as he traced the skin revealed by the opening.
* * *
“LIFT YOUR HIPS,” he said.
She planted her feet on the blanket to comply. He tugged her jeans down over her hips, moving backward as he did so until the pant legs tangled with her boots.
Taking his time, he removed first one boot and then the other before he got her jeans completely off. He sat back on his heels and lifted her left foot and drew it to one side until her legs were widely parted. He moved back up between her legs and palmed her through her panties, and she squirmed on the blanket. She wanted more.
He gave it to her, his hand on her most intimate flesh, and he drew her underwear down with his teeth. His hands kept moving over her stomach and thighs until she was completely naked and bare underneath him. Then he leaned back on his knees and just stared down at her.
“Every time we make love I want to make it last longer than the time before,” he said in his heavily accented voice.
“Me, too. But then when I see you...when you touch me. It can’t go fast enough,” she said.
He shifted and moved forward again, touching her and caressing her, brushing his lips over her body. “But you also make me want to get inside you as quickly as I can and take you until we both go up in flames.”
He spoke against her skin so that she felt the words all the way through her body. He lowered his head again and rubbed his chin over her mound, a back-and-forth motion that made her feel full and, at the same time, empty.
He parted her with the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, and she felt the air against her most intimate flesh and then the brush of his tongue. It was so soft and wet and she squirmed, wanting—no needing—more from him.
He scraped his teeth over her and she almost came right then, but he lifted his head and smiled up at her. Making her acknowledge once again that Antonio was the kind of lover who wanted to draw out the experience.
She gripped his shoulders as he teased her with his mouth, pushing her fingers into his hair and holding him close to her. He moaned against her and the sound tickled her, sending shivers racing up her spine and to the tips of her breasts.
He traced the opening of her body with one large, blunt finger, making her shift her hips and try to get him inside her. Her breasts felt full and her nipples were tight as he pushed just the tip of his finger inside of her.
The first ripples of her orgasm started to pulse through her.
“Antonio...”
“Yes?” he asked, lightly stroking her lower belly and then moving both hands to her breasts where he cupped the full globes.
“I need more.”
“You will get it,” he said.
She reached between their bodies and stroked him through his pants. She slowly lowered the tab of the zipper, but he caught her wrist.
“Once you do that, it will be all over,” he said. “I have no control when you touch me.”
“Good,” she said, twisting her wrist to free his grip on her hand and undoing his zipper.
He lowered his body over hers so the soft fabric of his shirt brushed her breasts and stomach before she felt the masculine hardness of his muscles underneath. Then his thigh was between her legs moving slowly against her, and she moaned out loud as everything in her tightened just a little bit more.
But it wasn’t enough. She undulated against him so that the sensations were even more intense than before. He moved again and she felt the warmth of his breath against her mound. She opened her eyes and saw the comet flashing through the sky, but she couldn’t process it because his mouth was on her.
Each sweep of his tongue against her drove her higher and higher as everything in her body tightened, waiting for the touch that would push her over the edge. She shifted her legs around his head, felt the brush of his silky smooth hair against her inner thighs.
Her hips jerked forward and her nipples tightened. She felt the moisture between her legs and his finger pushing hard against her G-spot. She was shivering and her entire body was convulsing, but he didn’t lift his head. He kept suckling on her and driving her harder and harder until she came again, screaming with her orgasm as stars danced behind her eyelids.
It was more than she could process and she had to close her eyes. She reached for Antonio, needing some sort of comfort after that storm of pleasure, and he was right there. He drew his hips back and entered her body, driving into her and making her orgasm last and last. He plunged into her again and again until he groaned her name and came inside her.
She held him close, watching the stars in the night sky and stroking her hands up and down his back as he rested his face in the curve of her neck. Tonight their lovemaking felt deeper, had touched her all the way to her soul.
Always after they had sex she had felt exposed and raw, but this time she didn’t feel the need to retreat. She held on to Antonio, knowing he wasn’t perfect and didn’t expect her to be.
She held on to him, hoping that she would never have to let him go.