The Divine Whisper (22 page)

“You’re kidding, right? You are actually telling a 20 week pregnant woman to have patience when you put something like that in front of her?”

He laughed again before moving the confectioners’ sugar and frozen mini raspberries towards them. “They’re not done yet.
Here. Decorate.”

He watched as her delicate hands, very gingerly tapped the strainer to spread around the powdered sugar.
It was much more intricate than he would have been. When he looked up, he saw her bite the tip of her tongue while she concentrated. The sight created an overwhelming urge for him to kiss her right then, and all the forces of heaven couldn’t have stopped him.

By her startled gasp, she hadn’t been expecting it, but she soon joined him and swirled her tongue against his.
The delicious aroma in the kitchen, the taste of the sugar she had snitched, the feel of her small hand going into his hair… all his senses hit him at once and he groaned before pulling her closer.

The kiss became intense, and fast, but he hadn’t lost all his senses and remembered why they were in the kitchen to begin with.
He had been waiting all day for her to see the dessert, so he reluctantly pulled his lips away, but stayed close as they both caught their breath. “Hold that thought.”

He gave her a short but sweet kiss on the lips and stepped away.
“Now, I don’t think you’ll need this, but I wanted to be prepared.” She became wary, and he could only imagine what she thought he was grabbing.

Opening the fridge, he pulled out a sealed container that hid the contents, and popped the top.
Turning to her, he gave her a wicked grin as he pulled out a bottle of chocolate syrup.

First she had a look of shock before mock irritation.
“You’ve been holding out on me.”

“Damn straight.
You’ve would have butchered the gumbo, and I couldn’t have had that.”

She giggled, and grabbed the bottle before realization hit.
“Wait a minute. Are you meaning to tell me that the infamous Gemariah would rather eat dessert than fool around?”

Smiling, he sighed.
“Trust me, it was a hard choice, but I’ve been looking forward to this, and it’s not the same if it’s not eaten right out of the oven.” He waved his hand to indicate the chocolate cakes.

He plopped a couple raspberries on the side of her cake, and pushed it towards her.
When she made a move to grab the bottle of syrup he stopped her. “Try it first without the extra chocolate. You might not need it.” Wanting a front row seat, he walked around the island and sat on one of the stools.

“Okay.”
She picked up her fork, and went to poke into it, but stopped when she looked over at him. “Aren’t you going to eat yours?”

“I will.
I just want to watch you first.”

She looked confused until her face transformed to utter joy.
“Oh my! Look at that! It’s as if the whole thing is filled with chocolate, and it’s just oozing out.”

His cheeks hurt with how big he was smiling.
It was worth the wait. He laughed, but abruptly stopped and had to close his eyes after she took her first bite. Her look of ecstasy and the slight moan she let out were too much.

His lack of sight didn’t help, because it was exactly how he imagined she would sound when they finally were intimate again.

“Why were you still a virgin before we were together that night?”
The question just came out. It was something that he wanted to know, but he planned on asking her some other time. Not when she was finally enjoying his company. “Were you saving yourself?”

She didn’t look up from her plate, but did shrug and answer softly. “No.
I just never wanted to.”

“Have you been with anyone since?”
He really didn’t want to know the answer to that, and was about to take it back, but she answered too quickly.

“No.”

He let out a relieved breath, and started to smile, but her next words stopped him.

“Why would I want to?” Her darker tone brought his eyes quickly to hers.

“I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean that to sound so bitter.”

“I’m confused.”

He watched as she took another bite of her lava cake, and noticed that it was almost gone.
If the conversation wasn’t so strained, he would have laughed. Leave it to her to keep eating her chocolate while they had such an important discussion. Adorable.

Sagging her shoulders, she sighed in defeat.
“Fooling around is okay. I enjoy that, but the actual act of…” she paused and made a vague hand gesture, “being with some… I didn’t like. It was painful, and uncomfortable.”

He could literally feel his insides start to wither.

“Oh, Babe…” He couldn’t think of the right words, and all that came out was, “I fucked up.”

“I didn’t want to say anything.
I know a person’s first time can be…”

“Stop.”
His voice was harsher than intended, and when she jumped, he put his arm out as if to calm her. “I’m sorry. I’m just mad at myself, and it came out. Sorry.”

“I don’t want you to be mad at yourself.”

Before she even finished talking, he was shaking his head. “No, none of this is on you. I was stupid. Our first time…” He couldn’t even finish what he was saying, so decided to start again. “If I could go back, I would have done things so much differently.”

She reached out and grabbed his hand that was resting on the counter.
“I regret nothing. What happened gave me everything I have today. This child.” Her free hand moved to circle her extended belly. “It makes me have to use the bathroom all the time, it’s constantly moving, and it’s causing my sciatic nerve to painfully shoot through my hip, but I couldn’t imagine a world without him
or her
. Plus I got you.” She lifted a shoulder and blessed him with a tiny grin. “You’re stubborn, arrogant and you never pick up after yourself, but you also care fiercely about the people who are close to you. I don’t want to go back to not seeing you or talking to you every day. You’ve successfully become ingrained in my world.”

In all his years, he had heard women sprout off words of love, desire, and passion, but he couldn’t ever remember the feeling he got in his chest after hearing those words from Nicole.
They were so simple, truthful, and exactly what he needed to hear.

Turning his hand around so he held on to hers, he started to caress her knuckles with his thumb.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” Not expecting an answer, he looked at her and tried to show everything he was feeling through his eyes. “And if you give me another chance, I swear to you that it will be something you’ll never forget.”

She was silent, and he could see that she was having an internal struggle.
It was a matter of convincing herself that she could trust him.

Decision made, she raised one side of her lips to create a lopsided grin.
“Is that so?” She tried to sound braver than he knew she felt, but her decision was already made.

“You can bet on it.”

She shrugged and murmured her answer. “Maybe.”

Not letting go of her hand, he stood up and slowly made his way around the island, never once breaking eye contact.
Finally, when he was a breath away, he spoke. “What would it take to sway your decision?”

She briefly closed her eyes, and took a deep breath in before answering him.
“You know, I’ve heard a myth about a kiss that can make toes curl and knees go weak. You think you can show me if one truly exists?”

“And if for some inconceivable reason it doesn’t work… are you going to want to stop?”
As he spoke, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in close.

“Of course not.” She ran her hands up his chest and into his hair. “But think how much fun it will be to try.”

He couldn’t dispute the logic and wasted no time before brushing his lips against hers.
Once… Twice… Finally on the third swipe, he applied more pressure.

They had shared many kisses before, but never with the promise of more to come.
It tasted different. It tasted inspiring.

He gently nibbled on her lower lip, and he felt the vibration of her groan. When he bit down a little harder, she gasped, and it was the opening he needed. Plunging his tongue between her delectable lips, he slowly started to massage her tongue with his, successfully igniting a fire that couldn’t be put out.

He turned her so her lower back was pressed against the edge of the counter, and leaned into the kiss.

Kiss…
It was such a simple word, to qualify as something that felt like so much more.

It wasn’t until he found that he was supporting a lot of her weight with the arms, did he finally submit.
He released her mouth slowly, but not before dipping down for one more taste. When their mouths were finally separated, his arms stayed securely wrapped around her. He laid his forehead against hers and waited while they caught their breath.

“Wow,” she breathed out after a long minute.

Trying to maintain a semblance of control, he smiled before saying, “You can say that again.”

“Wo—”
He didn’t let her finish before his mouth descended back on hers.

Their second kiss didn’t start slow.
It started intense and only escalated as their hands began to explore each other’s bodies. The last time they were together, it was a frenzy of movements, but he swore to himself that if he ever got another chance, he would stay in control.

It was her hands that moved first.
They started at his shoulders, and gently moved down to his chest. He could tell that her movements were shaky, as if she didn’t know what to do and the thought turned him on even more. When her tiny hands gently squeezed his pectoral muscles, he lost an ounce of his control. Reaching between the counter and her body, he slid both hands down to cup her satin clad ass. Still being mindful of the swell of her stomach, he angled her pelvis and lifted her up so his very erect cock rubbed against her core.

Her reaction was a mixture of a gasp and a squeal.
Obviously, he had taken her by surprise.

To him, the sound was one of the sexiest things he had ever heard.
It fueled him, and he became more aggressive. Without breaking the kiss, he moved his hands to her waist and lifted her up to sit on the edge of the island. He then took a step forward and gently spread her legs with his body so he could get closer.

She broke away on a gasp, and looked around the counter where she sat.
“What are you doing?”

Moving his lips to her neck, he took a short pause while nibbling her skin to answer her.
“Tasting the most delectable thing in the kitchen, what does it look like?”

“Well…”
She swallowed, and he felt it under his lips. He then swiped his tongue over the spot where he felt her rapid pulse. It took her a few seconds, but she continued. “I was hoping that we could make it to a bed this time.” She spoke softly, and even though she was noticeably nervous, he was impressed that she could tell him what she wanted.

He gently put a hand on both sides of her face, and hunched over so he could look her directly in the eyes.
What he saw was someone who was scared yet determined. It took his breath away. “Oh, I plan on taking you to bed and keeping you there all night, but right now, I didn’t get to eat my dessert, and I plan on doing just that.”

She initially looked confused until his words sunk in.
Her eyes widened slightly but his were drawn to her mouth where she ran the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip. Before it could disappear back inside, he swooped down and coerced it into his mouth using his own tongue. He kissed her until he felt her relax again, then pulled back to remove some of the clothing barrier between them.

Her small jacket had come off earlier in the evening, so that was one less article of clothing to deal with.
Instead, he brought his hands around to her back and slowly pulled the zipper down on her dress, all the way to her waist. Moving his hands back up, he barely touched her skin, and knew that he got the desired affect when he felt her tremors every time the pressure intensified.

Putting aside her earlier bravado, she had become quiet.
It was as if she had handed the reins over to him, and he was alright with that until she became more comfortable. First things first, he had to show her how good intimacy could truly be.

Ever so slowly, he pulled the top of her dress down to bare her bra clad breasts.
Gently maneuvering her arms out of the sleeveless openings in her dress, he successfully pooled the fabric around her waist. After that, he was quick to unclasp and remove the remaining barrier between his eyes and her skin.

He couldn’t suppress the possessive growl that came out.
Everything had moved so fast the first time they had been together, and he hadn’t got a good look at her breasts. They were on the smaller side, but looked perfect for her. He knew that they had gotten bigger with her pregnancy, and he never thought that that knowledge along the faint blue veins that were visible would be such a turn on for him.