Love Out of Order (Indigo Love Spectrum) (39 page)

“Something like that.” I grinned, watching my pants
sail across the room. They were soon followed by John’s
jeans.

He laughed softly in my ear before kissing it, pushing
me gently back onto the bed. He suddenly stopped,
giving me a look that was too close to sadness to fit with
the moment we were sharing. “What?”

“That thing Astoria said before. About you crying
yourself to sleep every night. Was it true?”

I
looked away from him. I didn’t want to talk or think
about that. I had him back and that’s all that mattered.

“Denise, it hurts me that I hurt you,” John said
thickly.

I put my hand to his cheek, shaking my head. I’d
missed him so much. I couldn’t believe I was finally getting what I wanted. I didn’t want to think about those
things.

“It doesn’t matter now. All that matters is you’re here.”
He kissed my forehead. “I know about Joe.”

“You what?” I pulled away from him, sitting up in the
bed.

“Astoria told me.”

“She what?” I was furious. It hadn’t been Astoria’s
place to say anything about Joe, or anything else. John sat
back on his heels, looking at me with doleful eyes. I felt
too betrayed and exposed to say anything. “Is that why
you’re here? You feel sorry for me?”

“I’m here because I love you. No other reason,” he
said solemnly, moving over to sit next to me. I let him
take my hand in his, but I didn’t say anything. “But I
can’t stand that he did what he did to you. And that I did
what I did after what you’d been through.”

“John, it doesn’t matter anymore,” I said, while trying
to ignore the pain the memories brought to me. I just
wanted John. I didn’t want to fight. And I wanted to
believe his words whether or not they were true. He
hugged me to his side.

“Yes, it does. I want you to know I’ll never be like him. I never want you to cry yourself to sleep over me again. I’m going to try—I’m going to try so hard—to
make sure it doesn’t happen, okay?” John whispered to
me.

I nodded, and then I felt him kiss the top of my head.

“I’m tired.” I really was despite the long nap we’d had
earlier. The day had been draining and John had completely killed the mood. He stood and helped me to my
feet. I walked to the bathroom to get ready for bed,
making it clear that I needed some time alone. He
respected that.

Joe was from a part of me that I didn’t like to visit.
Astoria had nearly ruined everything again by trying to
help. I didn’t want to feel as if he had interrupted my life
yet again. I really tried to believe that John had come
back because of me and not because of guilt. And on top
of that, I hadn’t wanted John to know yet. That I had
nearly lost my mind once. I wasn’t sure that I had ever
wanted him to know.

When I came out of the bathroom, he was watching
television in the living area of the suite. I went into the
bedroom and lay down. I pretended to be asleep when I
felt him climb into bed an hour or so later. I couldn’t
fight the warmth I felt, however, when he put his arm
around me and drew me close to him.

“I love you,” he whispered as he curled his body
around mine.

I hope so. Because I love you so much it scares me
, I
thought.

The next morning, I grumbled, pushing John away
and rolling over as he teased my neck with his tongue.

“It’s too early,” I complained as his hand traveled
slowly down my back, caressing me as it went. His hand
did feel good against my skin, but eight in the morning
was definitely too early.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,
Denise. I can’t wait any longer. Besides, it’s never too
early for a good morning.”

“A good morning, huh?” I asked as he trailed soft,
slow kisses across my neck.

“A
good
morning.” He threw the blanket back and
pulled me close to him. He whispered against my ear,
tickling it softly. I giggled and shivered all at once. He held my eyes with his as he pulled my panties down to
my knees. He then watched with greedy anticipation as I
wriggled the rest of the way out of them, tossing them off of my foot. He slid his hand slowly up my thigh, pushing my nightshirt up and over my hips. My breathing quick
ened as his eyes devoured the flesh he had exposed. He
bit his lower lip, a hint of white gleaming as he pulled his
upper lip up slightly. Warmth radiated from my center as
I watched desire consume his face.

He moved between my legs, pushing his shoulders
under my thighs. My calves rested lightly on his back. He
teased my outer opening with his index finger as he
looked up at me with liquid green eyes.

“Still mad I woke you up this morning?” he asked as
his finger slipped inside and started making circular
motions against a very sensitive area of my body. I
couldn’t respond. I fell back against my pillows with a
deep moan. I felt his mouth press against me in a slow,
teasing kiss before his tongue took the place of his finger
and his finger slipped inside of me. His tongue flicked
insistently against me, bringing me wicked amounts of
pleasure. He moaned shakily as he slid in a second finger.
I twisted the sheets in my hands as the lower half of my
body rocked and writhed in sweet, hot ecstasy. He
pressed his lips close, kissing and sucking. My eyes rolled back in my head as I held him tightly to me. The pleasure
was relentless. I could hardly breathe as he commanded my body’s attention.

“I’m coming,” I whispered, barely aware of my words.
He mumbled something without his mouth ever leaving its
very important work. The vibrations of his mumbling did it. Waves of pleasure took over my body. My breath came
in short gasps. My body throbbed against his fingers. He continued to hold that part of me between his teeth even as I shuddered with the last, passing waves of pleasure.

He trailed kisses up from my lower abdomen to my belly button and further upward between my breasts. Up
to my chin. He then lay with his body pressed against
mine, his face inches from mine.

“Did you like that?” he whispered.

“I know you don’t have to ask,” I whispered back. We
grinned at each other as he gently traced his fingers along
my hairline and forehead. “I guess I have to do you now,
huh?”

“Not unless you want to. And I think it’d be all over if you did anyway. That made me really—uh—ready to g
o,” he said before kissing my closed lips. That made me
want him even more. He had only whetted my appetite
for him, and his words were making it worse. “I want you to put the condom on, though. I want you to touch me.”

For some reason, that drove me wild. I took the
green, square packet from him while kissing him deeply.
He groaned as I sucked on his tongue for a moment. I
ran my hand up and down his hard length once. He gave
a long, drawn-out sigh, putting his hand over mine.

“I’m serious. It’ll be done,” he said.

I became even wetter for him. I tore the package open
with my teeth while giving him what I hoped was a sexy
look. I squeezed the tip and slid the latex slowly down and into place while still looking him in the eye.

“John,” I murmured as he pulled me close to him. “I need you inside me,” I whispered to him as I sat on his
stomach, rubbing eagerly against his flesh. He put his
hands on my hips, his fingers kneading the flesh there.

“Denise . . .” his voice trailed off as he pushed slightly
against my hips. I needed very little prodding. I lifted
myself up slightly and we both feverishly guided him into
me. He groaned richly as his hands traveled up to my
breasts.

I gasped as mind-numbing pleasure took over once he
filled me. I lowered myself over him, my elbows digging
into the mattress. My hips smacked into his over and
over with need and desire.

I looked into his eyes as I felt the sweat beading on
my forehead and upper lip. His eyes were so full of desire
and love that they made me want him more than I had t
hought possible. I bent to kiss him and as his tongue
slowly pushed over mine; he rolled over so that he was on top without ever separating our lips. He pushed my legs
further apart and pressed his thumb to the area he
exposed, gently teasing me with it as he thrust feverishly
against me.

“I can’t—I’m gonna—” I couldn’t finish my thought
as unreal amounts of pleasure began building inside of me again. I wrapped my legs around him, locking my
ankles. My heels rested lightly against his rear.

My breathing became light and shallow and I trem
bled in anticipation of that final burst of pleasure. John’s
breathing was ragged in my ear. He pressed his forehead
to my cheek for a moment. His thumb stopped moving
against me. He put his arms under me and grasped the
tops of my shoulders tightly. He pushed himself deeper
inside of me. He tried to kiss me, but neither of us could
concentrate on our mouths at the moment.

I cried out, pushing my body tightly to his as the
waves of pleasure hit again. Just moments later, I felt him
pulsing inside of me, which intensified my own peak of
satisfaction. I moaned his name over and over as we came
down from our sexual highs together.

John lay on top of me for a moment, propped up on
his elbows, smiling down at me. I looked up, returning his smile.

“Good morning,” he said, kissing my damp cheek.

“Good morning,” I said, laughing softly as I reached
up and wrapped my arms around his neck. He chuckled
before burying his head in my neck.

BUT IT IS WHAT WE NEEDED

Needless to say, I was no favorite of the Archers. When John, Astoria, Suse, and I returned to Virginia,
John was faced with a very nasty note telling him of the
storage facility where he could find all of his things
from Connecticut, quite a few choice words about him and me, and no Kompressor. They had gone as far as
sending Alex to the airport to pick it up while we’d still
been in Vegas. Not to mention news that he’d have to find his own way to finance his last year of law school, that he had no summer job—he had been lined up to
work with his dad in New York—that his trust fund had
been revoked, and of course that he’d been written out of the will.

But John took it all in stride. He pointed out that he’d
have more time to spend with me since he wouldn’t be spending the summer in New York. And we decided to
move into my new place together. After a lot of begging,
explaining, compromising, and a little lying, I was able to
get my landlord to let me have the apartment I’d run out
on and I was able to get my summer job back.
Considering I had been gone less than two weeks, it
wasn’t that bad to get things set straight again.

M
y mom yelled at me and John. A lot. Especially me.
But then she got more excited for the wedding than I
could have ever hoped for. And my dad gave his blessing
almost immediately. He said that anybody who could
make me as happy as John had was all right with him,
and that what had happened between us was our busi
ness. Ah, that’s why I love my dad.

Suse seemed genuinely happy for me. And Astoria
was biting her tongue better than I’d ever seen before in
my life. Suse had made herself my wedding planner
almost immediately. The extent of Astoria’s input was
reminding me of how hideous she looked in baby blue. I
immediately told Suse that her and Astoria’s dresses had
to be baby blue.

The night that John and I moved the last of our stuff
into the apartment, we sat on the floor with our Chinese
takeout. Most of the furniture from my old apartment had been Tia’s, and John’s furniture had been shipped
back to Connecticut. His parents were determined he
wouldn’t have it because they paid for it even though they
had no use for it.